Hang on tight

Costa Rica is, well, bumpy. Yesterday I went river rafting on Class 3-4 rapids and it was amazing but I was the only one who got thrown from the raft into the water. I grabbed an oar handle for dear life and then started to worry about hitting a rock as I plunged through the rest of the rapids. Luckily I came out unscathed.

Before that, we were at a remote (and I mean REMOTE) jungle resort called Rara Avis. The only way there is by a 3.5 hour tractor ride. This really means a trailer dragged by a tractor on a potholed, muddy path pretending to be a road. Of course, halfway there the flatbed broke away from the tractor and we walked the rest of the way in our loaner rubber boots. At Rara Avis, we did a lot of hiking and I can honestly say I hope never to get that muddy again. Rather than face the tractor going back, I joined 3 others in walking the whole way--we arrived exactly 2 minutes ahead of the tractor (sigh).

Today I went canyoneering, which is rappelling down waterfalls. It was pretty neat but I wish we could have done more. Before Rara Avis, we were in a town called Tortuguero where we saw green turtles laying eggs at night and walking back into the ocean. The turtles only come on land for laying eggs, probably because they are about 3 feet long and that is a lot to heft around. The conservation efforts for the turtles seem to be a success story for the green turtles, if to late for some other species.

Got to run to go hike a volcano...

Costa Rica...on the Pacific Coast

Less than 5 minutes of internet time, so I'll spit out what I can. I'm on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica right now in a town called Puerto Viejo. Today I got in some snorkling and a coastal hike where we saw 3 toed sloths, howler monkeys, and some pretty insane spiders whose webs I will avoid. There are 12 of us traveling together, ranging from about 20-32 years old and from the US, Canada, UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland. Our guide, Cindy, is Costa Rican. Today was perfect Katie beach weather--overcast. I'm looking forward to moving on to the part of the coast with turtles tomorrow, followed by the jungle. Slowly but surely, I'll transition into the Pura Vida here (I think that's something about being relaxed, which I struggle with sometimes).

Marching orders are in

Peace Corps sent my marching orders this week and my staging (orientation) starts on Friday, September 11th in Washington, DC. Apparently everything we need to know to leave the country for 2 years can be learned between 1:30 and 7:00 pm that day and then we fly on the 12th to Macedonia. After arriving in Macedonia's capital Skopje, my group (the 14th in Macedonia) goes to a city 20 miles north called Kumanovo. The first week our group (about 35 of us) has more orientation in our hub city, then we are split into 6 satellite towns around Kumanovo where we live with host families and do language and vocational training, reconvening every so often in the hub. Training lasts 3 months and then I'll be given a permanent assignment, probably in another part of Macedonia, after I'm officially sworn in as an official Peace Corps volunteer (inshallah).

My preparations for Macedonia center primarily on two areas--packing and learning the language(s). Before I leave, I think I will single handedly restore the American economy with my purchases of long underwear, wool socks, and waterproof boots--I've heard the Macedonian winter can be mighty cold. Peace Corps provides online language lessons which I diligently studied earlier in the summer and lately...well, less so. There are actually two languages spoken in Macedonia--Macedonian (which some say is a dialect of Bulgarian but I doubt the Macedonians would corroborate) and Albanian. Macedonian uses the Cyrillic alphabet (like Russian), so that adds an element of difficulty. One quarter to one third of the population speaks Albanian and once I'm in country, I'll find out if I'll be assigned to an Albanian community and therefore learning both languages.

Now of course my Macedonian/Albanian will be greatly furthered by spending the next two weeks in Costa Rica. I fly out tomorrow for 16 days of just about everything Costa Rica has to offer--beaches, the jungle, a volcano, and many critters.

This weekend, my Kalinowski aunts and uncles came by to help send me off and to meet my brother's fiancee, Jenny. The Kalinowski family motto is "The one who eats the fastest gets the most," which I believe comes from my grandfather being one of 19 kids, and eat we did! So a good time was had by all and I'm glad that we could catch up.

I return from Costa Rica on September 1st and I'll set out for DC on September 8th so I'll have a few days to visit my Beltway buddies. In between, I have one week to figure out what 100 lbs of belongings (plus a carry on) will accompany me to Macedonia!

Where in the World...

is Katie? Portland, Oregon at the time being but only for another 48 hours. I've called Portland home for the last year (this is news to some, I'm sure--5 cities in 10 years makes me hard to keep track of) but I'm taking off soon for Macedonia. Why Macedonia and where is it? Well, I'm following a dream by joining the Peace Corps and Macedonia (north of Greece) is where they've seen fit to send me. My assignment is NGO development with an environmental focus, so I think this will mean working with an environmental nonprofit on things like workplans, fundraising, etc. You'll have to stay tuned to see if this is actually the case--I understand that there can be departures, so to say, from the expected in Peace Corps.

Being the great wanderer that I am, I've sent many dispatches from my travels over the years via email but in an effort to keep up with the young kids and not clog your inboxes, I'm giving blogging a go. I'll try not to disappoint in this new medium.

After I leave Portland, I'll be spending a week in Colorado with my family and hopefully seeing some friends (you know who you are). But you didn't really think I wouldn't leave the country with some extra time on my hands, did you? I'm closing out August with two weeks in Costa Rica, then I come back to Colorado and depart for Peace Corps orientation at a time yet to be confirmed by Peace Corps.

Portland and Oregon may not have pulled me in as a permanent Northwesterner, but I will miss the bike commuting, food carts, gorgeous scenery, diverse microbrews, and entertaining people. Cool and overcast as it is today, it seems like the perfect farewell to my PDX year.