So mostly this is going to be a set of pics for you guys to see where I live. I´ll put some pictures of the people who make up my daily life in a week when I can get back to the internet. Just FYI the internet is like 5km away so I don´t get down here too often. Anyways my town is named Garabito de Aguas Zarcas after a pre colonial indian chief. It is 5km away from the small city of Aguas Zarcas which is located like 4 hours from San Jose. Needless to say it is a pretty rural town, but by no means the most rural of all PeaceCorps sites. We have approximately 500 people in the town...which by Costa Rican standards means it is a pretty large town...can you believe that...we think that 3,000 people is small. Even though it claims to have 500 citizens one can not be certain because we have tons of Nicaraguan immigrants who come throughout the year as migrant workers or just to find a better life...much like Mexicans in America. Because there are SO many undocumented people living in my town no one really knows how many people live there. Just as an aside I tried to do a census...being the great PC Volunteer that I am and approximately 40 houses responded...obviously not enough to draw any conclusions. Of the people I spoke with some said there were 300 people who live in 300 houses (yes the math is faulty seeing as there is definately more than 1 person to each house). Some believe there are 800 people in the town...I would like to know where they are hiding all these people!!! There are others who seem to think there are 1,500, and with that figure I usually discount everything that they have previously said to me for the sheer fact that they are bold face liars...hahahahahah no not really but yes hyperbole and overexaggeration is a big part of Costa Rican culture!!! Just for giggles here is an example: there once was a man who was really sick. In on day just from sweating caused by his high fever he lost 22 kilos...conversion rate pounds to kilos: 1lbs - 2.2kg...or like 46 lbs...IN ONE DAY...just from sweating.
Anyways, I love my town. The people are really great. There are a couple of LARGE problems societal problems we will need to face...such as racism against Nicaraguans...you can imagine that this is a big problem with half of the population of this town being Tico (Costa Rican) and the other Nicaraguan, but I have faith that I will eb able to change some people´s (mainly the younger generation) mind. We also have to get a development organization going so that we can solicit the government for funds to fix some infrastructural thing s such as a community center/gym, a park for the kids to play and for people to gather and a soccer field...because what Latin American community could function without a soccer field...i´m not complaining...I happen to love the idea!!! Well that is all for now because my host sister is getting impacient. At least now you know a little bit more about what I will be doing and where I am living...though there is so much more to tell. Hope you enjoy the pictures!!!
