Wednesday, February 18, 2009

¡Bienvenidos!

Welcome to my blog and thanks for taking a second to check it out!

For the next 27 months, I’ll be living somewhere in rural Costa Rica as a community development volunteer with the Peace Corps. I know that some of my time will be spent teaching English, but other than that I won’t know what my main projects are until after I’ve completed the first three months of training, am sworn in as a volunteer, and placed in my community.

My job, as I understand it, is to be a tool to help community members realize their goals. This means I could be involved in just about anything- from business development, to education, to women’s empowerment, to health issues, etc. Anytime a need or an interest is expressed, I will get the chance to work with my community on it. Thinking about the diversity of issues and challenges we will take on together is very exciting (if a little intimidating) and I can’t wait to get started! I’ve wanted to join Peace Corps since I first heard about it in the 6th grade, and now I’m just three weeks away!

With this blog, I’ll do my best to keep you posted on what I’m up to and what life in my community is like. Feel free to ask any questions or tell me if there are things you want me to write about on here. But be warned: I may only be able to update every few weeks because my internet access is sure to be dodgy. I probably won’t have it in my own community and will have to travel to a larger town in order to check e-mail and update the blog.

Now it’s time for me to stop stalling and get back to packing (which I hate). Wish me luck and stay in touch!

5 comments:

  1. This is fantastic news Ashley! You'll have a great time doing good for your Ticos. Cheri's dad, Ron, has remarried to a Costa Rican lady, Roxana. They live in Santa Barbara, Ca. and have built another home in Santa Barbara, CR (a suburb of San Jose). We've visited twice and did some sightseeing and met alot of Roxana's family. She has a huge family, like eleven brothers and sisters, plus all their husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, cousins, etc. They, and everyone else we met, are wonderfully friendly and loving, and I'm sure you find the same of the people you meet. It's a beautiful country. I'm looking forward to following your blog.
    Love, Jeff & Cheri

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  2. Mucha suerte, Ashley! Esperaré leer noticias tuyas en tu blog con gran interés.
    Un abrazo,
    Guillermo (desde Bilbao)

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  3. ashley, this is awesome -- can't wait to see your updates. maybe it's time i apply ;)

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  4. Hello Ashley -- what a wonderful experience for you. I worked the month of August there, outside of San Jose; traveling on the weekends. If you are in need, I met several friends who I'm sure would welcome showing you there Costa Rica. Some of the places I visited, were ruined in the recent earthquakes. However... Enjoy! I look forward to hearing of your experiences.

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  5. Hey Ashley, hope u r doing well over there, i am already missing you here. can't wait to see some pics

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