15/1/2011

5:52pm

Last night was bizarre. I was woken up by the rustling of plastic bags at about 4:30 in the morning. I thought little of it until I realised my roommate was still asleep. After a moment of intense panic, careful listening made me believe the rustling was coming form one of my bags, which I'd left on a shelf, and contained some drinks and food I bought in Heredia - including an opened packet of potato chips.

I mean, I know I left food open at night, but a rat or mouse was the last thing I expected. There wasn't much I could do, I didn't want to wake up my roommate and for all I knew the damn thing had rabies. I just moved shit around and in the end I think I scared it away. Definitely a new experience to add to the list. (I also threw the chips out the next day, just to clarify).

After that I had a restless sleep, and it was permeated with a collection of dreams. Most of them were of people at home; a side-effect of the way I was feeling yesterday, I assume. I guess we all just go through phases, with our good and bad days.

Today was a lot better. We painted a mural, finished making musical instruments and lacquered some benched that we painted yesterday. The school is going to look so amazing when we've finished with it. When the local families brought us our lunch today, their faces lit up when they saw the mural. It was absolutely sensational. Our group discussion in the afternoon was about the women's roles in Costa Rica, which was also really thought-provoking. The pregnancy rate is teens is an astounding 40%, and even though most girls technically have a choice, many are encouraged to get married and have a family rather than get an education or have a career. There's been a lot of progress in that respect though. I guess learning about these kinds of social issues reminds me why I'm studying what I am, to work with people in these circumstances and maybe one day make a difference.

As bad as it sounds, I think it would be easier to just forget about everyone back home. I guess I now know how my friends who live abroad feel. I'm just lucky enough to have a set deadline of when I'm coming home. So with saying that, I'm going to try and make the most of the experience; as thought time is quickly and consistently running out.