SAD day*

This last Wednesday we received our site assignments, at an event called 'Site Assignment Day', which lends itself to a rather troubling acronym, for what should be a joyous occasion. Thankfully the first thing they did was tell us where we would be sent to, in my case the Peninsula de Osa, in the far south of Costa Rica. I'll be living in a pretty small town, but it will be a very short bus ride from a larger town, Puerto Jimenez. The Peninsula de Osa is probably best known for Corcovado National Park, which supposedly contains the most biodiversity in Central America, because it is one of the few places where large amounts of North American and South American species coexist: there are apparently scarlet macaws, tapirs, jaguars, and four types of monkeys! I will be working at three elementary schools, possibly teaching in one of them, and working with teachers in the other two.
SAD took place at a country club, and since it was the day before Thanksgiving they served us an entire feast with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, hard boiled eggs with mustard where the yolk should be, and pumpkin pies. We all got sick in the middle of the night. I was terrified that it was something else that I had eaten, but in the morning the realization that it was a collective experience eased my fears.
That experience did not stop us from making our own Thanksgiving meal for our families on Sunday. I was in charge of the Turkeys, and the stuffing for inside the birds. We made two turkeys, and one was ready by the time people showed up, the other by the time people left. Luckily all the food was amazing, only my host dad complained that there were no rice and beans. After everyone had eaten, we cleared out one of the tables and the families started dancing, which quickly became incredibly rowdy. Some of the kids began using a broom as an impromptu stripper pole when the music switched from Salsa/Pachata to Spanish rap. The cleverer of the trainees snatched the broom and started a game of limbo, but that quickly devolved into less and less appropriate dancing yet again. I retreated to the kitchen to dismantle the second turkey. Both pictures are from our Thanksgiving Celebration.

*I am aware that repeating 'day' after the acronym is incorrect, but it completes a pun, so calmanse.