The "Internship" Part 2

So the last blog was just catching up, I will now resume the story after the incident with Carlos.  After that monumental Monday, the rest of the work-week seemed rather dull; I mean really what could compete with my adventure with Carlos? But as we were nearing the end of the workweek some of my co-workers started talking about their English class and asking me to help them with their homework.  Of course, I was happy to do this, as it is something that I can actually feel competent doing and another way to connect. 

So Friday comes along and they invite me to join the English class, and the experience begins… The teacher is a Tica who has been studying English for four years, she is proficient enough for this group of beginners, but is far from perfect.  Now, I have no place to judge someone else’s language proficiency as mine is so bad, but just to help paint the picture.  As my coworkers introduce me the teacher receives me as a celebrity; exclaiming, “This is such a wonderful experience, they have never heard a NATIVE speaker!” 

She then asks if it would be alright for the students to ask me questions; which I said was fine.  I did not realize the awkward situation I was further putting myself into as the students (only half are my co-workers) start asking me questions.  I feel as if I’m on some pedestal, which of course I don’t feel like I deserve and frankly I don’t.  It is then even more awkward when the professor is yearning for me to speak in English, but is not translating my answers, leaving her very beginner students in the dark.  She continues encouraging this “activity” for 2 hours!  I try to change it up by asking the students questions, but that only worked so well.  For the first time ever, I hated speaking English because I felt I could connect so much better in Spanish and felt as if I was deliberately talking above them.  It’s safe to say this wasn’t my favorite time.  They were also amazed that United States citizens do not eat rice at least once a day, haha.

All in all ASOPROAAA will be the thing I loved most about my whole time in CR.  I cannot say as a Business major that it was the most efficient or well-run company, but at the end of the day that didn’t matter.  I was not there to evaluate them, only to learn, to except and try to understand from their side.  I did my best to put away my preconceived notions of business and simply live and work among them.  I absolutely adore my co-workers; all the breaks provided wonderful time together.  My last day of work fell on the perfect day, as that night there was a dinner for the main contributors and workers.  We were able to sit down to a wonderful meal together and laugh.  I couldn’t have asked from a better goodbye.   If my Spanish was better I would have learned A LOT of dirty secrets about ASOPROAAA, but my Spanish being what it is I was only able to squeak by with the right facial expressions and adding a look or two when someone walked in.  No matter where you are gossip, fashion, and boys will always bring a group of girls together, well… if you’re on the right side of the convo ;).  So at the end of the night as we hugged goodbye the girls made me promise to come back and keep in touch through Facebook and gave me a special Christmas blend coffee.

            That goodbye was then put in second place as my family goodbye was that much sweeter, the bittersweet kind.  For the first time I can say I will miss part of CR, mi familia de Acosta.  As mi padre left for work he said blessings upon my life as well as gave some marriage advice.  He invited me back on behalf of the whole family, saying that I would always have a place with them.  Mi madre, who was a seamstress, gave me a pillow she had made using a Christmas fabric that was used all around the house.  To describe the family as precious is a complete understatement.  I have truly partaken in theirs lives from family celebrations, card games with Grandma, and helping my preteen sister study for her English exams.  I have been so blessed by everything. I don’t think there is anything greater than the love of a family; how much greater is the love that comes from people who were once strangers.

The "Internship" Part 1

Since I´m not good at updating on a day to day basis I thought I´d organize this update by the days...

Day 2:  So it´s only the second day, things are going well, but I´m not sure mi padre understands that I want to learn his business and partake in whatever activites I can with him.  Yesterday he left me at the house with mi madre, which was fine got to talk to her, then she started to work and I tried to ask questions and learn about her work, and that wasn´t very successful.  Today I came to work after numerous conversations explaining that, that was what I wanted.  This morning I got to complete a course about coffee, which I enjoyed and gladly did.  It´s now over and mi padre gave me the option of going home or playing on his computer.  I´m not complaining in the sense of not enjoying myself, but I´m just not sure how to get across that I genuinely want to see as much of the micro-credit portion as possible.  I´ve tried talking to him, but we definitely suffer from miscommunication.  It is obvi the second day and I´m open to learning whatever from whomever and so will walk and seek out others.  I just didn´t know if I should push the matter or you can tell me how to word what I´m trying to say, haha.  I just was looking for feed back.  But regardless I really like my family, and currently am very very happy to be here.

Day 5:  Things are going pretty well (I think...).  I´m getting used to the slower pace and breaks every 2 hours, trying to hold my own with the coffee drinkers =).  I´ve been able to do some work on Excel, making graphs and such, hoping that I understand what I´m being asked to do.  Yesterday precious Vlady explained Micro-credit to me that was a fun time in the conference room with dry erase markers that didn´t work.  I really enjoy my co-workers, and feel pretty good around everyone.  I´m trying to just go with the flow and do what I can when I´m asked or stumble upon a task.

The First Weekend:  Well the weekend has probably been the most difficult part so far.  We came home fairly early on Friday and more usual than not I didn't know where I git in.  IT is a goal of mine to never run to electronics when I feel uncomfortable, and only to choose technology when I feel it is appropriate and I'm not missing out on relationship building.  Now that's my GOAL, it is not ALWAYS accomplished.  Anyways Friday night with the exception of dinner, and all of Saturday morning I just didn't know what to do with myself.  The family did business as usual, which included errands, chores, and going to practices.  I asked to help with chores, but didn't get very far as it was a one woman job.  But mid-afternoon  rolled around and mi madre said, "Vamos, a casa de mi hermano!" So without any further details I went.  It was a short walk, but a long stay.  What she didn't tell me is that I was paricipating in a family tradition.  As we gathered in the living room, with at least 25 relatives, her brother greeted us and added a special bienviendos to me.  He then lead the family in a prayer and the family responded when appropriate; obviously leaving me clueless.  We then had a few appetizers including "ponche crema" main ingredients typically include milk, eggs, sugar, and rum.  First I would like to note that I didn't realize this contained alcohol as it was given to the 3 year old neice, and the preteens, it also tasted like milk flavored cough medicine.  I will be perfectly content to never enjoy this, "rico" drink again.

After the meal I sat down with mi hermano and mi padre, who is trying to learn English.  Mi hermano, Kevin, has studied English, but doesn't speak much, which leads me to believe he is not very confident nor fluent.  So mi padre loves trying to speak in English, so he was even more excited than usual and starts saying "I am HAP-O-NESE!" I thought he was attempting to say happiness, but the he was actually trying to say Japanese... I can not explain to you how entertaining this was as he repeated the phrase multiple times with great excitement, I was in tears of laughter.  It still brings a smile to my face along with a small chuckle.  Afte providing such grand entertainment, mi padre went to converse with other members of the family, leaving only Kevin and I at the table.  We enjoyed a relatively long conversation, which further turned the weekend into a wonderful time.  I am an extrovert and therefore get my energy from others, so being cooped up relatively alone all weekend was not doing me well.  As I struggled with my Spanish to get certain concepts across Kevin gave me much grace, demonstrated much patience, and we both laughed a great deal.  This has been one of the highlights of my time here.

Well this is old news, but I wanted to share.  A newer update will come shortly ;)

Bendiciones para ti,

Hannah

Super Sketch or An Over-active Imagination...

I´ll let you decide....

Today mi padre tells me, or I thought he told me that, that I´d be going to go with a co-worker to one of the farms we work with.  I was fine with this as it would most likely be interesting and something to do.  But the co-worker I went with is kinda a crazy man that I can´t understand very well; imagine a smaller, somewhat smarter, Tico version of Lenny from "Mice and Men".  I´d also like to note that he carries a machete, but I start walking with him up this steep, rocky mountain. We stop by his house to meet his wife, no idea why....  Then we proceed to this other place and he starts to brag about it and show me around.  It is supposedly another house of his that he has built, this is where my mind travels to "Lovely Bones," if you haven´t seen it well... my brief summation of the book/movie would be far to drastic for the point of this blog.  Bottomline, I begin to become axnxious regarding my vulnerability, as I´m in the middle of nowhere with this man a machete, and he is in this fantasy house he´s built.  There are also liquor bottles lining the wall.  I´m not gonna lie, I was real nervous. I was trying to be a realistic, as he is most likely harmless and I trust that mi padre wouldn¨t put me in the hands of a crazy.  However, I had no idea why mi padre would send me to see this place, we left at 8am and he said we would return at 10am!  There was no way in hell I was going to stay there. He asked if I wanted coffee and I politely said I had a big breakfast and was full.  At this time I´m still assuming we are going somewhere else and that mi padre had intended something different.  I attemted to ask this question, but don´t think he fully understood.. He then began sharpening his macheteS, and I wish these were lies.  Irrational or not, I´d rather be crazy paranoid than dead.  So I made nice conversation and then asked if we could return early.  Thankfully after a short conversation he said that was fine...

Trust me when I say it was horribly uncomfortable, and not a situation I want to be in again.  But I´m back safe at ASOPROAAA, and everything is fine.  That is the story of the day. 

UPDATE:  In the Defense of Mi Padre y Carlos
So I asked mi padre why I went with Carlos today, and he said well Carlos asked you to go last week and YOU said YES and so he passed the message along to me.  I responded by saying, well I didn't understand Carlos last week, in fact I never understand Carlos, as he is from el campo (What US Citzens might know as backwoods redneck)  Mi padre also thought Carlos's wife was going to go with us, which didn't happen.  I told mi padre that I felt uncomfortable around Carlos, and he understood and said if there is a next time he will make sure to let Carlos down easy. 

Moral of the story, Carlos is probably a fine person, who is simply proud of his work.  However, men should never take one girl to the middle of nowhere, and said girl should never agree to things she doesn't understand; whoops!

I will later post a more day-to-day update of my past week here.  It will not be half as exciting, but will include a few funny tales.

So Far So Good

So Ive successfully had my first day in Acosta, I really like my family and Im very excited for the next 3 weeks.  I bet you didnt think Id say that!  Today I simply spent time with my new mom, she was welcoming and kind.  Both my "parents" assured me that my Spanish was very good and discouraged me from saying otherwise.  They are obviously being too kind, and can only say this because the students they had before did not know a single word in Spanish and they spent their time playing charades.  Tomorrow I will awake at 5, and will walk to work with my padre, Im praying that I will understand and learn much.  There is no doubt that this will be a challenging, but hopefully, wonderful experience.  Wish me luck. Love you all.

Bendiciones para ti,

Hannah

PS Short and sweet, be glad I posted ;)

Here We Go

So the past two weeks have gone pretty well as the business concentration was able to go on several site visits to local Tico businesses.  These site visits, although few, have been one of my favorite activities.  One included going to the Volcán Arenal and partaking in the beautiful hot springs.  Spoiled, is one word to describe the experience.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early for our internships; there lies a new family, new chapter, and new adventure!  I will be placed in a Tico run company in their micro-credit office.  I am very excited for the opportunity to learn; especially regarding a business I think so highly of.  I am nervous going in, as my Spanish has improved, but I am still so far from understanding everything and being able to produce my thoughts.  Since it is completely a Tico company, there is little hope that anyone will speak English and so I fight and pray against fear and trepidation as I enter this new work place.  I pray to have a flexible spirit and open heart; to learn, observe, and serve in any way that I potentially am able to. So as always I ask for your prayers regarding this.

So I am a terrible blogger, and I may become even worse as I don't know how much I will be able to access the internet during my internship.  So prepare yourself as always for a long period of silence. ;)  Thanks for loving me despite this!

Bendiciones para ti,

Hannah

Nights in Nica

I know, I know, I'm a horrible blogger... As you can imagine a lot has happened since my last post, including two weeks in Nicaragua.  One of those weeks being in the campo... meaning dirt floors and no indoor plumbing.  I'm not sure where to begin my update... my mind is currently filled with so much it is difficult to take myself back to the campo.

I attempted to prepare myself mentally for my week in the campo, knowing I was going into a situation where I would be completely isolated from my comforts.  No internet, no friends, and no plumbing.  However, when I walked into the house I would call home for a week I knew right away my preparation had been inadequate. I stood face to face with a television and two stereos, as I stood on dirt floors.  WHAT?!  This isn't what I had prepared for. Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself, I need to share how I was placed with my new family.

Myself and five other students were brought to the local church by the pastor, slowly members of the congregation made their way to the church.  Once a handful of women were present we were auctioned off, my friend Jenn was the first chosen, because she was short and her new mom really liked that... Yes, this is a factual story.  I was the third chosen, the woman I assumed to be my mom was beautiful, seemed fairly young and also had a one-year-old.  As we walked to the house we began chatting and I found out she was in fact only 22, just a year older than myself.  We arrived at the house and then I met my "real" mom, I realized the girl that picked me up was only my sister and that she and her husband live in the same house.

Anyways, those details aren't specifically important.  So my week was spent with this family, we did next to nothing, but it finished as a good week.  I did not get sick, thankfully, I learned to only go to the bathroom when I had no other choice, and I learned to simply enjoy being--kinda.  It was very interesting to spend what most would call quality time with strangers-- the language barrier more present than ever.  Strangely, the language barrier seemed less of a problem in Nica than in Costa, I think the slow pace and having a one-year-old running around helped everything.  I teased that the little girl, "come siempre," she eats ALWAYS; which was true.  I was very taken aback when the child of 16 months that could walk and talk also choose which breast she would like to drink from, "una, otra" could be heard at all hours of the day.

Once I got over the hump of judging these people's lifestyle and simply tried to love them, things became a lot better and I genuinely enjoyed my time in Nica.  Upon arrival I was counting down the days, but I found that as I made it to the last day there wasn't as much satisfaction crossing it off.  I appreciated my Nica family and the love they shared with me.

Bendiciones para ti,

Hannah 

Spoiled Before the Dirt

So after an exhausting week of papers, Spanish presentations, and tests my beautiful friend Emily invited me to Punta Leona to visit her family friends. What a WONDERFUL get away, I could not have asked for more hospitable hosts.  We enjoyed PB&Js (a very special treat in CR), pizza, fresh fruit, pumpkin cake, and so much more; not to mention two beautiful days at the beach! It was a much needed weekend that left me relaxed, rejuvenated, and refreshed.

Tomorrow we leave at 5AM to go to Nicaragua for 11 days.  This will be a very big change, as there is the high possibility I will be without floors or indoor plumbing.  Our intern at the program said this is where he got over his fear of cockroaches, so as you can imagine I'm VERY excited.  Despite these bumps in the road, I am truly excited to interact with this culture and to leave San José, as it will be a very different experience.  I'm hoping to go in with open arms and a receiving heart for the people and not to be caught up in the less than 4 star environment.  I ask for your prayers for safety, health, and new relationships.

Love y'all so much, and miss you greatly.

Bendiciones para ti,

Hannah