last night I was at a dance party, techno music, not really what a I am into but it was held in the Planetarium at the Natural History Musuem!!!
It was so much fun. It was a really odd mix of people, you had the trendy arty students from Brooklyn, preppy boys and then middle aged women just doing crazy dancing!!!
I am off to Costa Rica in Central America on Saturday to take part in the Insight Abroad program with work.
I will be staying Cartago, check out one of the videos here
I am so excited!! I get in to San Jose on the Saturday and the program does not start until the Sunday. So I am staying at a hostel on the Saturday and Jose the Country Director is taking me out on Saturday night!
My placement is at a school.
The school surroundings:
Most of the children attending this school come from unprivileged homes, mainly from “Los Diques” area. The origins of this community go back to 1962, after the Reventado River`s great flood, caused by Irazú Volcano’s eruption. During the disaster, a group of US Marines came to Cartago to build a large dike to protect the city of new avalanches. Few years later, this area was occupied by different groups of homeless families who decided to live around the dike permanently, generating a high socially at risk community.
This community is the most affected area in Cartago by poverty and violence; many of the children have to deal on a daily basis with physical and emotional aggression as well as sexual abuse cases. Besides these problems, drugs abuse, drug dealing, and urban delinquency are becoming part of everyday life for children, teenagers, and adults.
The school was founded in 1982. There are 26 staff members including teachers and administrative staff working at the school. There is an interdisciplinary team with a social worker, a psychologist and a sociologist as part of the school staff.
Project Description:
The insight participants will paint murals that have been previously outlined. The mural outline is located in the outside walls of the interdisciplinary team, right in front of the kindergarten classrooms.
Insight participants will paint the mural according to the colors that will be selected.
Volunteers will also have the chance to interact with the kids and get to know more about the community and the Educational system in Costa Rica.
General Objectives of the project
1. To promote cultural exchange and interaction among the participants of the project: volunteers, students, school personnel, CCS staff
2. To paint murals
3. To visit the community and its surroundings
I am really looking forward to doing another program and visiting a new program obviously but I looking forward to having my own experience and doing it alone again, like Brazil. Although I recently visited the Guatemala program for staff travel, another staff member was there. I loved the group I was with in Guatemala as it was a small group and we all got on so well.
This is going to be a totally different experience as I will be a volunteer again and the house is full - 38 people!!!
Well the weather at the moment in NYC is RAIN RAIN RAIN, so off to see Sex and the City movie and try to stay dry!
