Week 2

During the second week, the comfort level increases and the attention to details decreases. Students start showing up to class late. The partying intensifies. I do my best to keep them on track, but I am powerless; they know this. I don’t have grades to hang over their head.

I also feel my age. These twenty year olds don’t stop. This week, I organized two kayaking trips out the island that guards the mouth of the bay. We go just before low tide, and we go from the south end of the bay so it is a closer paddle. On Monday, the seas are rough, even at low tide. But we get to the island without incident. We beach the kayaks, take some water and walk the small, spit of sandy beach, and the waves crashing on both sides of the long sand bar that juts toward shore. The island is small, just a few acres, uninhabited by people; home to a few pelican, iguanas, and other birds.

The reef where we snorkel is small, and the tide is a bit rough. We still see many fish, and coral. After snorkeling, we head back to the beach where the guides have fresh pineapple and melon cut up. They throw the rinds along the edge of the hill and iguanas scramble down for the scraps. We eventually kayak back and the students make it to class. I wake up the next day and do the same thing the second half of the group who had class yesterday morning. The second day the water is calmer and clearer.

The volunteer project is going well. The students are really stepping up when it is their turn to lead the charge. I am impressed by their creativity and the work. Everyone is pulling his or her weight. We’ve been consistently pulling 25 ish kids every day, which according to the CREAR girls is amazing. I think handing out lollipops at the end of every class is also a good marketing tool.

We took on a side project this Wednesday. An American, Cassie, came to the school looking for volunteers and Laura introduced me. So Alex, Claudia, Jon, and I spent a couple hours, digging post holes, putting up posts, and securing some floor joists for a playhouse for a preschool’s play yard that is open to the public. They will finish the construction this Saturday and maybe a few of us will return next week to paint.

Last night Jon and Claudia cooked lasagna for their Tico family and invited me over. It was really delicious. The two have a great relationship with the family- they are very comfortable and often joke around. I’m really impressed by those two. They’re good friends and argue like an old married couple. It’s funny to watch.

In the down time, I spend swimming, surfing, and reading in a hammock. The weather has been better than I expected. It’s usually sunny in the morning, and then the clouds move in in the afternoon. Rumbles of thunder in the distance in the late afternoon, and then showers and the occasional lightning storm at night. Of course it is hot and humid. And the girls legs are pocked with bug bites, but they seem to endure.