Carolina, our Projects Supervisor, showing off a great placement in Liberia, which was painted last year by Projects Abroad volunteers!

My first experience in international volunteering and living with a host family was in Costa Rica at the age of 15, so I was thrilled to re-visit this beautiful country as a Projects Abroad staff member. Costa Rica is an amazing place with endless opportunities for volunteers. Our office is based in Liberia, the largest city in the Northwest, though coming from New York Liberia is actually quite a small town. Any concerns I had about finding my way around a place with no street signs and no street names, where addresses consist of number of meters from a landmark or shop, were immediately eradicated on my first walk around town. Everything is centered around the main plaza, and the straight streets and small city are very easy to navigate and learn.

The main street in Liberia

The Projects Abroad staff members here are really wonderful, fun people and I am having a great time getting to know them and visiting projects and host families in the area. Not only do we have projects in the city itself but also in surrounding small towns and villages, which are beautiful quiet places that are really in need of the help of our volunteers.

I’m really excited about all of the wonderful programs here in Costa Rica, in particular the new English teaching program we are offering in Liberia to students of any age and ability. The community has responded really well to this initiative and we already have many people signed up to learn English with our volunteers. This will be a really great service to the community who offer our volunteers so much in the form of incredible host families (and the amazing meals they cook for volunteers). Who knew rice and beans could be so good?

Needless to say, Costa Rica has amazing opportunities to travel on weekends or vacation after volunteers, and I’m really looking forward to visiting the volcanoes and beaches on my days off!

Jessye and Carmen visiting Lomas Barbudal, a Conservation program site

By Jessye Crowe-Rothstein

Volunteers and children, Costa Rica

By Alex Mann, Projects Abroad teaching volunteer, Costa Rica

This title, I must say, is quite misleading as Liberia in itself would be quite hard to get lost in! It’s regular ‘blocks’ make it easy for any volunteer to adapt in a minimal amount of time and it’s size (or relative lack of it!) insures that you will always see people in the streets that you know, whether they are fellow volunteers or friendly ‘ticos’ that you have met along the way.

The average volunteer’s life in Liberia settles into a familiar cycle quite quickly. A school day will usually start at around 7 or 8am and last about 4 hours or so per day. Depending on the school, you may find yourself teaching a group of 30 4 year olds or attempting to teach a group of 5 deaf children anything you can in English while helping the school’s English teacher. I have found myself in a great school teaching children ranging in age from 6 to 12 but more as a classroom assistant to help the individual children who find learning another language harder than others. I have found this to be a really rewarding experience but have had to overcome many moments where I have felt like banging my head against a brick wall – quite literally! I have been here two months now and have established some really great relationships with many children who I will be very sad to leave behind when I go.

Once the school day is over (usually around 12 o’clock) most volunteers will head straight home for a bite to eat or to the local internet café to get all the latest news from home. There are many different host families in Liberia but each volunteer will inevitably create a connection with their family, no matter how long they are here for, quickly referring to them as their Costa Rican ‘mum’.

Afternoons are usually spent relaxing by the pool (after a not so stressful day at work) where volunteers will meet and discuss all the latest gossip and happenings in Liberia. It is here that most decisions about what to do that evening or during the weekend will take place and anyone who is not present at the time will either be called or notified by someone that lives with or near them.
Evenings are usually either spent at home having a quite night with your host family in front of the TV or hang out with the other volunteers in one of the variety of restaurants and bars in Liberia.

It may seem like life here sounds very sparse but the time flies, not only because we are always having fun but also, even though we do have a set daily routine, it seems to be changing all the time with the constant flow of volunteers who are coming and going. I have had an amazing time here so far and know that I have made quite a few friends that I will never forget and always be in touch with. When you share an experience as good as this one, how can you!

Ocatal Beach at Sunset, Costa Rica

Our Assistant Country Manager in Costa Rica, Matt, sent in this post for the blog. It makes me want to leave this weather behind and get to Costa Rica!

It’s been a funny old week here in Costa Rica. We had some baking hot sun from Monday through Thursday then as soon as Friday hit, RAIN! Torrential thunderstorms. It was about 3pm and the clouds came in, the sun disappeared the whole place went dark and just rain and lightning for an hour or so. After that, sun, for the rest of the day, Crazy.
I just realized I started the blog by talking about the weather – how very British of me. Tea?
Well actually, I did bring some tea over with me, and a teapot, and a tea strainer. Is that excessive? Well maybe the bisto gravy was!
Here is Costa Rica the life is nice and tranquil, especially during the dry season here. In the middle of the day, it is much to hot to do anything productive. I presume it is like that in the other Projects Abroad destinations too. Like Ghana, Thailand or Mexico? Am I right?

Therefore, our days start early, at maybe 6.30am with some traditional rice and beans, and maybe a little fruit, and then out to placements. Some of the teaching volunteers have morning placements, and some afternoon placements (some more hardcore volunteers go all day!). Lunch back at the host family is some variation of a Casado. Some kind of protein with a little salad, plantain and beans and rice (I love beans and rice). The afternoon is taken at a smooth pace. Sometimes volunteers visit the swimming pool and sometimes Hermosa Beach less then 1hr away. The sun leaves at about 7pm and then things begin to wind down as dinner is served throughout the country. Later in the evenings is a social time, either with the host family or out and about. We have a fortnightly quiz here in Liberia as well as an air-conditioned cinema (bring a jumper – no, seriously!) and we have been known to organize the odd bit of karaoke. There are also loads of other things to do in the evenings and at the weekends. I am myself a big fan of scuba! When not scuba diving I can go and visit hot springs, cloud forest, volcanoes, rainforest, lakes, waterfalls, National Parks, beaches the list goes on…
You know you want to come over!

Fresh from Mexico, Suzi then headed to Costa Rica to see our volunteers enjoying the good life!

Costa Rica’s national slogan – Pura Vida, literally ‘pure life’ seems to perfectly embody the country’s incredible natural diversity and the simple friendly welcome you receive from the Ticos, as Costa Ricans are known.

I had visited Costa Rica’s capital city, San Jose, five years ago, so had some idea of what to expect from Costa Rica. Liberia, the town where we are based, is a much smaller town, so those wanting a wild nightlife may be better off in Mexico, but I liked the laid back atmosphere. The town is easy to get to know, centred around the shady central plaza overlooked by the distinctive white church, where volunteers meet before a night out. There are a couple of good bars, serving good cocktails and cold beer, with views over the nearby streets. Volunteers can also take part in free weekly salsa lessons that we arrange.

At the weekends, there’s a massive choice of things to do close to Liberia, from sunbathing on nearby beaches, climbing a volcano, swimming in waterfalls or having a volcanic mud bath. During my visit, on the Sunday, Luis – the Costa Rica director, myself and three volunteers visited a volcano crater with bubbling mud fumaroles and two very tame toucans happy to pose for photos (see pic!). Next came the canopy tour zip line, now one of Costa Rica’s top activities. Whizzing through the jungle canopy sat in a harness attached to a thin wire, is quite a way to see the jungle. Especially if like one of the volunteers, you’re a bit nervous and choose to go tandem, attached to one of the very nice guides!

When not zipping through jungles it was great to visit some of the schools, universities and a care centre where we work and get to know the host families, who are undoubtedly some of the most welcoming I have ever met. I also spent some time at the Conservation Project, on the Pacific coast and was incredibly lucky to see some baby leatherback turtles!

As always, the time went far too fast, though lots of work was accomplished with both Luis, our Costa Rica Director and Marianela, the Assistant Manager. Keep up the good work guys and hope to see you again soon! Suzi