I’m finally in Liberia!! All of my travels went totally without issues. Planes to San José without any problems. Picked up by the Projects Abroad staff and taken to a surprisingly nice hotel (compared to what I was expecting anyway). Five-hour bus ride to Liberia with another new volunteer. Met at the bus station by another Projects Abroad staff member and dropped off at my homestay. All-in-all, a successful trip.
Even though I’ve only been living here for about 36 hours, I’m already realizing how completely blessed I am by my homestay placement. One of the biggest requirements I had when choosing a service provider was the availability of a homestay, living with a local family, learning the customs, language, culture, and foods of a region. This was the biggest way for me to learn while I was in Argentina and so I wanted to make sure I could do the same thing while abroad this time.
My host mom’s name is Yelba Pomares. She’s a really wonderful woman, although we haven’t started talking too much yet. After teaching at a primary school (the same one where I’m supposed to be working) for fifteen years, she quit her job there to open a Christian bookstore. It’s a lovely little place [Wow- I can hear the influence of my English housemate in that phrase] with Bibles, books, and all sorts of other accessories and fun things. We’ve gotten to talk about our faith a bit and she’s invited me to church and her small group on Thursday. I’m really looking forward to learning more about her and the things that she’s involved in.
Although my primary interaction is with Yelba, she’s not the only one in the house. She’s married to, David [dah-veed], a teacher at a local school. Our time in the house hasn’t overlapped too much yet, so we haven’t seen much of each other or gotten to talk much at all. They also have three sons (I think one of them might only be David’s, but I don’t know yet): Luis David (29), Esteban (26), and Issac (22). All three are studying in San José now, but Esteban was home this weekend when I arrived. Within thirty minutes of walking in the door, Esteban asked if I wanted to go out already. He and a cousin (one of about a million, apparently) were going to a friend’s house to swim. I frantically dug through my yet-to-be-unpacked suitcase looking for my suimsuit and hurriedly got ready to go. Turned out “go swimming” was code for “swim, eat, watch futbol, talk about the news, watch a movie, and six hours later, go home.” After a day and a half of traveling and an afternoon in the sun, I was completely exhausted and was quite happy to get a good sleep in before this morning.
I’m really happy here so far, though my impressions are limited. Besides the sweltering heat (it’s over 90 degrees without any air conditioning) which I haven’t gotten used to yet, it appears to be a beautiful place. My home has 4 bedrooms (some of which have other volunteers living in them) and more than enough space for all of us. Yelba enjoys cooking and makes lots of good food for us three times a day. I think I’m going to get along quite well with all of them. A humongous added bonus is that we have internet in the house! Definitely wasn’t expecting that, but I’m really happy that turned out the way it did. It’s kind of ironic though: only one faucet on any water source, adobe and plaster walls, no air conditioning, no dryer, but- hey!- we have Wi-Fi. I have my own room with a bed, night table, and shelves. Nothing extravagant, but totally sufficient.
I’m looking forward to the next two months that I will be living here, though I’m certain it will fly by. Hopefully, Yelba and I will have a good number of intriguing conversations over the coming weeks and will get to know each other better. Maybe silent David and I can even have a conversation or two. We’ll see!