When
I was 17, I joined a program called Amigos de las Americas and decided to live and work
in Costa Rica for a summer. While there, I worked with the Costa Rica Ministry
of Health and taught dental hygiene and personal health care in the schools
in Southern Costa Rica. It was one of the most moving and meaningful experiences
I’ve had in my life to date, and was probably one of the most eye opening
and character building as well. I definitely grew to love the people of
my town, Golfito.
Golfito was a little tiny
town, lots of bars, used
to be the main export hub for bananas in all of Costa Rica. That
closed down in the mid 80s but now the town remains small and has some
tourism (though not lots). People come for the huge "duty free"
shopping center, for the botanical gardens, for the amazing deep sea
fishing you can't get anywhere else in the country, and for the natural
beatuty of such a small town in a gorgeous area. It's all palms and
coast, bordered on one side by mountains and rain forest, bordered on
the other by the gulf. Just as quickly as I grew to love the town,
I grew to love the simple lifestyle
and the caring, laid back, hopeful, helpful attitudes of the people there.
They might have been financially poor, but were rich in the love of family
and friends. (I know it sounds extra corny, but I promise it's true). It
was a great summer
and I plan to go back to visit the first chance I get (which on my starving
college student budget might be a while)...
For my time there, my partner in crime was Trista (from Seattle) and
we had fun with everything we did... and we did lots! (Top photo
above is
me, left, and Trista, right). I'm sure you know the usual
life of American girls living in Central America: get hit on by Tico men,
walk to town for real food, get hit on by Ministry men, watch soccer in
the park, get hit on by the CR Guard, buy stamps for postcards, get hit
on, etc. I also
had a great host family - the little sibs I always wanted but never had,
Juan
Luis and Anna Maria, were too wonderful and we sadly have many tickle wars
left unsettled (see photo right of me with Anna and Juan). My
parents,
la Doctoria Loria and Hector, were cool too-
they gave us free rein of the house, took us on unannounced weekend sight
seeing trips (without prior permission, oops!), and even tried to marry
us off to their Tico friends (president of the banc even!). They were
good to us and always well intentioned
(if not a bit misguided a times!).
It was definitely a good summer and much, much fun! I plan to add stories and diary entries (when I locate them from my parent's house) from the summer in addition to the pictures I just added in March. Stop back by sometime soon to see the updated page!
Left: Trista and I drink milk from the coconuts that abound on all
of the palm trees. Right: A fun loving volunteer laughs and jokes as
he's asked to explain the proper technique for brushing.
Above left: Girls playing in the school house during recess. Above right: The Jardin de Ninos (kindergarden) class practices brushing their teeth during a charla while older students peek in throught the windows to watch the activities.
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