some pictures

here are some pictures from beautiful flamingo beach. also, theres a picture of my holidays in costa rica... the menorah under many christmas decorations haha.

earthquake update

in the last 10 and a half months i´ve been in costa rica (ah!), there´s been a number of floods and natural disasters hitting several towns here. they have all been nightmares for the people in those towns, but nothing on a huge scale. until a week and a half ago... on january 8th, around 1:30pm, a 6.2 degree earthquake hit here. the epicenter was not too close to me, gracias a dios, but it hit a number of small rural towns near volcan poas. towns called cinchona and san miguel de sarapique, for example, have been literally whiped off the map. it´s been a huge disaster here, killing a lot of people and displacing more than a thousand others. the towns were completely destroyed, highways ripped apart - picture new orleans style on a smaller scale, obviously. it´s been a big problem getting a lot of the bodies out since, every day, replication quakes are hitting. the point is, there are still rescue crews from here and colombia looking for bodies and trying to get people out of buses and cars, houses and restaurantes, and so on. but it looks like there are going to be a lot of bodies that will never get rescued since it´s so dangerous for the rescue teams to get into these little towns.
each day, the news here shows interviews of survivors - how they got our of the quake alive and what happened to their families, friends, homes, etc. almost everyone who got out is missing family members or friends who weren´t as lucky. these survivors are living in tents, eating out of meal lines, and wearing on their backs their only posessions.
it´s been hard for everyone here to hear about these stories each day. we feel lucky that we´re all ok and our town, families and friends are not hurt, mostly, but its a helpless feeling. as many of us felt with new orleans, and i imagine many are feeling in israel, its hard to be so close to the destruction and not do anything. but its just not safe to go to these displacement camps yet. the quakes are still hitting each day.
the women´s group that i´ve been working with in my town and i agreed to atleast do a collection drive in my town. the many committees and organizations in my town are great but often get carried away with their own projects and forget to think. so i was able to get the women to agree to do the collection since no one else in my town was doing one. we went literally door to door on thursday and friday, put collection boxes in the local store, and so on. today i was able to deposit close to 400 dollars in the fund for the earthquake victims and on monday, we will be dropping off dozens and dozens of bags of clothing, food, and household items to the red cross. even though my town is relatively poor, it was nice to know that everyone was willing and ready to help, even if it was just with a dollar or a can of tuna.

otherwise, im happy and healthy here. things are going well job-wise, too. hope everyone at home is doing well!

feliz navidad y prospero ano nuevo

happy 2009 everyone! i hope you all had great holidays and are recovering from all the celebrations. i´m on my way home from playa flamingo, where a bunch of us went to celebrate new years. it was super beautiful and really relaxing. we even got to see a concert on the beach, fireworks, and toooons of sand and perfect water.
anyway, i wanted to take advantage of the internet to update you all on my life here. i wanted to post some pictures but it looks like this internet connection is too slow for that...
we had fiestas in our town almost a month ago which involves dances, food sales, and bull riding. it is quite an experience watching the bulls break through really solid walls and run after people. i´ll never understand the people that ride them or the ones on the ground with the red fabric thing. here they say they are valientas, or brave. but i just think they are stupid.
after the fiestas, came graduation. here, the schools and high schools went on their vacation starting the 19th of december and they go back in february. so, we had our kinder and 6th grade graduation. they were held together in the salon comunal and it was really great. the kids were all really proud of themselves as were the parents...it´s a pretty big deal graduating 6th grade and was real hard for a lot of the kids. its also the last formal education that many of them will ever receive.
the next day was first comunion in our church. it was only the second mass i have gone to in this town... there were 5 nicaraguan youth that had the ceremony so i went to see them and celebrate with them and their families. the kids ranged from 3rd grade to 15...
then started the holidays here. everything in the country pretty much shuts down in late december until after the new year, it seems. all the houses have some form of christmas decorations including lights, santas, red and green anythings, etc. also, almost everyone had a portal which is like a nativity scene, im told. they make them BIG though...like with tables or in a HUGE part of the room. lots of that green grassy looking stuff, plastic animals and all the characters. christmas here is for some reason celebrated on the 24th...they make and eat tamales, have bbq ish celebrations with the family, and hang out. we went to my host brother and sister in laws house for some kareoke, dancing, and bbq. for those that can afford it, presents are as big of a deal here than they are at home. the only difference is that no one spends nearly as much as they do in the states buuut they still do what they can. also, instead of saying that santa brought and left the gifts, they say the nino did. the nino brought me some shirts and other gifts which was really nice of him...or the friends in town.
i was also able to get a little hanukah spirit out there too. my host mom and i lit the menorah each night under all the christmas decorations and savored the one pack of gelt that came in the package with the menorah.
anyway, i will try to post the pictures next time i get to the internet. i hope everyone has a happy and healthy start to 2009 and enjoys the rest of holiday season. here things should be pretty relaxed this month with vacations going on. we have another dance in about 2 weeks so there should be some more photos coming soon.
happy new years!!