Another trip comes to an end...

I feel like I just got back to Costa Rica--and I CANNOT for the life of me understand how it is already August...but here I am, procrastinating and putting off packing before heading to the airport in the morning.
This trip was great...very different from anything I have done before, since I was here to work, but I still enjoyed myself. We've had a busy final 2 weeks here...last weekend we went to EARTH University (which I talked about last year) where the students stayed on farms and we learned about agriculture, sustainable development, etc etc. And I always love chiling with pigs and cows and goats, so good fun. And I saw the farmer who I stayed with last year, which was really nice, and he told me that the tree's my friends and I planted are growing quite well. Awesome.

The last week the students were finally able to implement their capacity building projects...each group got to apply for a small budget to use towards enhancing some area of their organization. One group was able to purchase supplies for disabled adults who put on educational performances through music and dance, another created a volunteer handbook AND a curriculum for an english-education program...the ministry of education may accept and use it in the future, which is amazing! One group that works with the elderly was able to provide a lot more materials for one of their programs and create a more solid foundation for its implementation. The last group, working with at risk children, used an art activity to discuss important themes and ideas, and left the organization with supplies, so that they can replicate it. There is a lot more that they were able to accomplish, and that was just a VERY basic overview, but i'm tired and need to pack--suffice to say that it was a really nice culmination of everything they have done. After working really hard and putting in tons of effort, it was really nice for the students to see everything come together and feel like they really had an impact. It's amazing what can be accomplished in such a short amoutn of time!

Friday morning at 6am our bus left for Nicaragua! The rainy season had knocked out a bridge or part of the highway or something...not quite sure...but whatever it was, it added a 2-hour detour to our trip. So 11 hours later, we finally disembarked in Granada. I was there last year--it's an adorable colonial town with really interesting architecture, its suuuper cheap, and I was not staying in a cheap hostel, but a lovely hotel. All good things. So pepto bismol ready on my nightstand, Julie and I spent some time wandering around and eating dinner. followed by purchasing what looked like a nice bottle of Chilean cabernet sauvignon. FAIL. It had already turned to something tasting very much like vinegar. oh, well. we just went to sleep, ready for a busy day on Saturday.
The purpose of this trip was to hook up with a group called Global Potential, started up by a woman who used to be a TA for Lori (the professor leading this trip). They work on leadership skills, among other things, with urban youth in Boston and New York. Part of the year and a half long program involves an international experience in Haiti or the DR, and this year, they added Nicaragua. The students get to do "internships" and community service abroad, and then take the experiences back home with them and continue with GP for another 10 months. It's a really cool program. In Haiti and the Dominican they have had Open Space Dialogues, where they bring youth from both countries together to talk about various issues, such as stereotypes, poverty, education, etc. They hope to do this one day with Costa Rican and Nicaraguan youth, which would be really cool. Check out the global potential website for more details if youre interested, I could go on for a while.
Our students went to visit these youth, along with locals from the community. They live in a little rural (VERY rural) community about 2.5 hours from Granada, so off we went on Saturday morning. Once we were about 10K away, we discovered that the rest of the way was a narrow, windy, rocky dirt road, and our big coach bus would not be able to make it. Awesome. I cannot describe the scene that then took place, it is one of those moments that just does not translate well on paper. We knew we needed to find alternate transportation...and after about 30 seconds, so did all of the locals in the area. Guess they all wanted to help the gringos...and make a few bucks. We all stayed on the bus while Lori and our bus driver went to figure things out...there were options involving rickshaws, pick-up trucks, minivans, taxi's, and less realistically, horses and bikes...we ended up finding a guy with an empty school bus (?) who was willing to take us all for a decent price. It was quite the adventure...and there is NO way our big bus would have made it on that road.
We spent a few hours doing some team-building activities that our students led, and then we gave a bunch of community members and GP students a ride to another village near Granada, so we had more time to chat with them. On the way, we also had a mini-lecture from a woman who talked to us about gender roles in their community, and in her village in particular. She is incredible...the first woman from her area to continue on to get higher education. She shared a lot with us about the current situation, which is improving but still pretty sad. And for our social worker/feminist/psychologist/sociology crowd, it was especially moving. Unfortunately, we didnt get to spend too much time with them due to our limited about of time, but it was still a really interesting experience.
The roads were fixed so our ride back to Costa Rica only took about 9 hours, and now I just cannot believe that it's my last night here! It's been quite the experience.

Pura Vida. Next stop...BOSTON!!! Then NY for a while to get my life in order and hopefully see lots of friends and family. Then the real adventure begins in Ecuador!!!

ayyy dios mio. what a life i lead.