And now for something you'll really like

This week training is starting in earnest, but it has been pretty fun so far. On Wednesday we had our first trip to San José, which took the form of a competition to visit certain sights, and be safe while doing so. I was appointed group leader, and much to my surprise, yesterday we found out that my group completed the activity perfectly. We found out where the medical center the Peace Corps uses is, where the national theatre, cathedral, and museum are, and later how to get to the Peace Corps office. The Peace Corps office is rather a splendid building, three stories high and very open in a nice part of town. The library was pretty extensive, and almost all of the trainees took a book, reading here is probably the main leisure activity, and following soon after are walking, and writing emails or blog posts.

On Tuesday upon arriving in my community, others realized that the bus was not going to their community, but continuing on in the opposite direction. Since it was dark, and a relatively short distance, one of my friends and I ultimately decided to walk them down the hill to their locations. Costa Rican roads are twisting, and Costa Rican fog is thick, and Costa Rican street lights are few and far between. It was a nice experience though, and now I know that walking along twisting and torturous mountain roads is pretty safe, even at night. Dogs are a problem, but ignoring them usually works, and if it doesn't, crouching down to pick up a rock usually reminds the dog that I am not going to its house, and it lets me pass.

Today we observed English teachers in classrooms, and then made a Costa Rican meal at one of the trainee's houses. Five of us were in one teacher's classroom, which was a little absurd, but then again so is classroom control here. Two kids were disrupting the entire classroom (I dubbed them Crabbe and Goyle), and the teacher had little recourse. He was doing a great job teaching though, and it seemed like the students who payed attention were learning quite a bit. Crabbe and Goyle were obviously at least two years older, which means they failed the class several times, and they knew many of the answers. This is going to be a difficult problem to deal with when I go into classrooms, but hopefully we'll get some training.

Cooking was a lot of fun, it was a just a beef soup, with every kind of carbohydrate known to Central America, but it still tasted amazing. I learned how to peel Yuca (Cassava root) although when I got home and told my hmom she explained that the best way is actually to peel it by hand, not using a knife. A drink which is very popular here is a 'fresco' which is the juice of any fruit (usually squeezed by hand) with water, and sugar. Its a little like lemonade, but more easy to make. I'm thinking about finding mint or sage to mix in.

Included below (hopefully) are some pictures of my two dogs, the views from walks around town, and the view from the training center we went to first.

I miss you all very much
-Barton