Happy New Year Everyone!
Well, with the start of the new year, I have been thinking about all the changes that will bring this year. I can´t believe that I only have a little more than 4 months left! Two years ago, I though that 2010 was such a long ways a way. How fast time flies when you are having fun.
Things in my site are going really well. I have been busy working with my counterpart, the local development association, on applying for 2 grants. We submitted a proposal to build a kindergarten classroom in mid december and this week we should be submitting a proposal to buy equipment for the community center and kitchen. Both projects would make a huge difference in the community and I am really proud of the association for finally getting their act together and submitting these projects.
I have been most proud of the Comite Tutelar, who have come up with many new ideas to work with the kids in the community for this coming year. They have already been very successful, and have many more to come.
I had a nice, relaxing Christmas in my site with my host family. I am really thankful for them and appreciate that they embraced me as another member of the family from the get-go. It is going to be really hard to leave them in a few months, but I tell them all the time that I will call them on Skype!
So, these next few months I will be wrapping things up in my site, hoping that all of my projects are sustainable and will smoothly continue after I am gone. I also plan to travel around a bit and see some more of Costa Rica. At the end of January we have our Close of Service conference where we will talk about life after Peace Corps...
Speaking of which, my plan is to get an MBA starting in August of 2010. I am still submitting applications to schools and won´t find out their decisions until March. I am keeping my fingers crossed that atleast one school will accept me.
I am really excited about returning home in May and hopefully I will get to see many of you. If all goes as planned, I will just be hanging out all summer, relaxing before going back to school. I also plan to visit Jordan and Chris in Paris for awhile!
I hope that everyone had a great New Year and I look forward to hearing what 2010 holds for you!
Love, Kelsey
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Tamales, Tamales and more Tamales
My yummy cinnamon rolls before adding the frosting.
The whole family loves Legos!!!!!
A Christmas tradition in Costa Rica is to make pork tamales, and my family lived up to the tradition by making this yummy treat on Christmas Day. However first, I brought a bit of my family's tradition to Costa Rica by making a yummy Christmas morning breakfast of cinnamon rolls and giving out presents. It was a lot of fun sharing Christmas morning with my host family.
Then we went to the grandparent's house and made lots of tamales. In this case, pictures are better than words:
The corn meal cooking until it becomes thick in consistency.
My host grandma with all of the banana leaves.
Adding all the ingredients.
Rolling the tamale.
I am very proud of my tamale making skills!!!!
My host mom tying two tamales together.
A nice action shot.
My host uncle roasting the banana leaves, because we ran out!
Ready to be steamed! (only a small portion of what we made)
My other host grandma making a different type of tamale.
Grinding the cheese to make a 3rd type of sweet tamale. The are my host dad's aunt and brother and sister, Lucia, Licho and Analive.
Yummy tamale!!!!!
End of school year activities
The month of December is busy at the school, as it is the end of the school year. I was proud to attend the graduation activities, and witness my host brother, Gabriel, graduate from 6th grade. Next year he is off to high school!
I also finished with Chicas Poderosas and we had a party and I handed out certificates for completing the course. The next two months will be pretty quiet around here, without school in session. Also, many people in the community go south to pick coffee during the vacation.
Also, every year a wealthy man who owns a farm in my town, but lives outside of San Jose, throws a Christmas party with high school students from San Jose, for all the kids in the community. It is a great experience for them and have a look…
Grupo de Jovenes
Isa, Lidiana and Flor, the three core members of the Comite Tutelar.
Some of the youth.
One of the ideas of the Comite Tutelar, the group I helped form to build the playground and work with the children of the community, was to get the youth together and see if they would like to form a group. Our first Actividad Juvenil was on October 3rd and it was a great success with over 30 kids in attendance. We invited all of the youth aged 12 to 18 to the meeting, and over 90% of them came. We played some warm-up games, had a snack, and discussed their desires and thoughts on forming a group. In that meeting we learned that yes they would like to meet regularly, and that their first goal is to take a trip somewhere – either the zoo or the amusement park.
Since then, we have been meeting every few weeks. We still play games and we even elected a President, Vicepresident etc. to lead the group. Our next big project is to throw a Bingo on Valentine's Day. It should be fun!
On December 12th, we had a special meeting to celebrate the holidays. I made chocolate cookies and we worked on an art project. Everyone was really focused and into constructing their star. Here are the results:
Cristo Rey Day
The last Sunday in November marks Cristo Rey day in the Catholic Church. The church here always has a special mass, which includes first communions. It is the one day of the year when I go to mass, along with everyone else in the community.
Enjoy some photos!!!!
¡Maíz!
It has been corn season here for over a month. Almost everyone in my community plants at least a little bit of corn for personal consumption, while others plant fields full to sell. Lucky for me, my entire extended family has planted corn, and at different times, so there is always plenty to go around.
The most popular way to prepare corn is in chorreadas, or corn pancakes. But people also make corn bread, tamales and boil corn on the cob. One afternoon I ate corn in all four forms; I was in heaven! I LOVE chorreadas and can't believe that we don't have them in the US. It is probably more work than we are used to in the land of fast food J
Here is the process of making chorreadas with accompanying pictures.
My host mom and brother, Gabriel grinding the corn.
More grinding the corn.
After being grinded and ready to cook, just add sugar
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