pura vida

11:35am Thursday, Apr 17

Life in San Jose is slow. Really slow. And compared to the excitement, anticipation and break-neck speed of getting here, it seems even slower. It´s eerily peaceful - but then again, peace is the whole reason I´m here.

Tuesday I started my volunteering at Fundacion CEPPA - Centre Etudiates Pas Paix. It´s an organization in Latin America that integrates the Canadian-based Alternatives to Violence Program to ¨transform power¨and encourage creative conflict resolution. Don´t let their zen-like goals fool you - the organization has significantly reduced violence in high schools around the world and has made many countries a litttle more peaceful. Gandhi will be pleased.

Finding your way around San Jose, however, isn´t nearly as peaceful. Street signs are useless as Costa Ricans use landmarks to direct them where they want to go - including incredibly unreliable landmarks like the ¨perro blanco¨`[white dog], and a fig tree that was removed in 1995. It´s easy for me to get lost in Canada, but in San Jose, my fate is inevitable...

As scary as not knowing the language may be, it also makes for some pretty hilarious situations. Yesterday, I took a 20 minute walk to Colegio Mexico with Stephanie, whose English proficiency is limited to ¨Let´s go!¨and öhmygod.¨It was basically 20 full minutes of her asking me questions in Spanish, me being embarrassed at my ignorance, and us both laughing. [Laughter really is universal.] And here´s what we learned:

¿cual es su nombre? [what is your name?]¨

monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday¨

Trying to memorize landmarks and directions in a foreign country while holding a conversation in a language you don´t speak is ... impossible.

Also: Nothing matters [in a good way]. Don´t know how to get home? It´s ok, let´s get lost! We can´t teach our program because the high school teachers are on strike. Muy bien, it´s ok! And living in a homestay is awkward, challenging, and a little bit boring ... but it´s ok, too.

Slow motion. A rooster for an alarm clock. No phone, no internet. No conversation. No matter. Muy bien.

¿pura vida? Si.