Change of Plans

For the last couple of months we had been planning a weekend away from our site - an unusual thing for us (something we have yet to do for anything other than trainings) - and so, we were rather looking forward to it.  However, life happens, or in this case, weather happens, and as a result things don't always go as planned.

Our plans had involved a trip to Puerto to see a kind of battle of the bands at the high school there and we were then going to stay in town overnight.  Then Saturday, today, we were going to go to San Jose for a picnic to welcome the newest group of Peace Corps Trainees.  But, as I mentioned, weather happens.  In this case it was rain, and lots of it.  The government declared a national emergency and as a result volunteers received calls from our Safety and Security Officer letting us know that we were not allowed to leave our sites between Friday and Monday. 

There have been some parts of the country that have received four days of rain and as a result are severely flooded.  There have been landslides and floods, and as a result a lot of infrastructural damage.  In our hot little banana fields we have fortunately been spared an overabundance of rain and have happily settled into a change of plans.

David rolling big numbers.

Yesterday we had a gray day with frequent rain showers, and took the opportunity to play games with our neighbors.  Last weekend we were visited by two of Costa Rica's amazing trainees, and they taught us a new dice game called "Amish Dice."  We had a lot of fun learning, and even more fun teaching our neighbors, David and Luis (Thank you Megon and Kevin!!)

Luis trying to decide if he should keep rolling

The boys called the game casino and quickly showed themselves to be risk takers.  In a game where you can pretty much go all or nothing, the boys would sometimes roll away up to 3000 points in hopes of earning even more.  The looks on their faces were priceless - whether expressing intense concentration in trying to figure out how to best use their points, showing surprise after throwing a big roll, or the look of utter disbelief when they failed to gain any points.  We had a ball, and they returned this afternoon with another neighbor, Andre, and explained to him how to play (sustainability!!)

Learning with Dominoes

We've also been playing cards, dominoes, pick up sticks, and jacks.  The kids float in and out, always excited to try a new game or return to an old favorite.  On deck for tomorrow is more Amish Dice and Uno.

Other adventures that we were privy to as a result of not being able to go into San Jose today included seeing baby chicks make their way out of their shells, watching Maria and the boys harvest yucca, and painting with one of the girls from kinder while her mom helped Maria out around the house this morning.

Chicks working hard to hatch (yes, they're in a Santa hat)

Maria with Yucca

David with Yucca (he almost fell over when the soil finally gave way!)

Yucca! Yum!

Liseth, La Artista

It has been an unexpected weekend, but maybe that has made it even better!