Frusterations

I have to apologize for the lack of postings lately… I have been a bit distracted. After Semana Santa I hit sort of a slump. I had begin to realize that the excited talking that people, especially in the government office had been doing for the past 8 months was just that, talk. I began to feel useless, unwanted and unappreciated. Not what you expect of a Peace Corps volunteer right? It definitely wasn’t in the vision that I had in my head for my service, I expected to be embraced into the community and my ideas and projects accepted with thanks. Day by day I was growing more and more frustrated. I continued to go to the Alcaldia to find that usually 90% of the people that I needed to talk to were not there. I began to notice more things that I would classify as corruption. I noticed that I was becoming very bitter. The worst was when my boss came for his 2nd visit (of 3 total visits) I found that my work partners had left without canceling our confirmed meeting. I broke down in tears and told everyone that I was ready to move to a community that wanted a volunteer and wanted to work. I was fed up… Thankfully my boss is a very supportive figure and was able to help me see the good things that I have going in San José.

A couple good things: I along with others have started an Environmental Committee, a group of interested people from different areas of the pueblo. We meet about every week and talk about environmental concerns, especially in relation to trash problems in San José. This is a group of motivated, educated people willing to work together to do something good for the pueblo. I have connections all over the pueblo. If I have accomplished nothing else in the last 10 months in San José I have established relationships in all sectors, barrios and of people of all ages. These 2 things mean that I have opportunities… Thankfully in the midst of my frustration, my parents came for a much needed visit.