What an adventure it has been. I have been in Costa Rica now for a little shy of a year. I didn’t believe our training staff and previous volunteers when they told me it would be the most bi-polar roller coaster I’d ever been on.
I was blessed enough to have been able to go home for about a month over the holidays due to some health complications with some ear pressure that was reoccurring. I was excited but nervous to take so much time away from my projects and community but anxious to spend some quality time with my family after so much time away from California.
My mind was refreshed and I didn’t realize how much good it did for me to go home and come back with a new perspective. Life is funny like that. Things can seem so normal and of the ordinary and when you take a step away, the leap back can be fearful, but once you make it, you look behind and see the growth you have made and it Is all worth it. I remember when I was younger I would be so scared to make the first turn on black diamond on the ski mountain. Every turn would be maticously planned with a random spirt of freestyle. After I finally took those last turns I’d stand in awe at the bottom of the hill looking at the monster of a mountain I just took on. Me, Feeling so small in size against the snow but my satisfaction being as big as the highest peek in the basin.
Sometimes I’m here in Costa Rica. Carving those turns into every inch of my life – my work, my relationships, the present, the future. Sometimes i forget to look back up at the mountain I have just defeated, or even gaze in the beauty of my accomplishments. That’s something i must continue to work on.
Life back in the village has been a way easier adjustment that I had imagined. I guess when you live in a place of less than 200 people it doesn’t take long for everyone to know your back in action!
I finally moved into my own house that my host family and I spent the last 3 months building. It truly is a little slice of heaven. Living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and an amazing balcony with the best views! I’m slowly getting settled in and today was my first day cooking breakfast. I’m not going to lie – it has been a little lonely as I am used to living with my host family but they are always stopping by and a little privacy has been nice.
The kids are still on vacation from the holidays so there aren’t too many people in town right now. I am hoping the month of February will be full of project ideas.
I’m feeling in a great place mentally and physically. I feel lucky. Lucky to be alive. Lucky for my family in the states and the family I have gained here in Costa Rica. I feel lucky to have had the power to forgive and the willingness to open my heart. I’ll be 25 this year. That’s half the amount of time my father lived and a quarter of the time I hope to live. I know he’s with me on this journey. I know he’s taking the turns with me just like he did on those sunshiney days on the mountain. I know he’ll sit at the bottom of that hill with me and we can stare up at those accomplishments together.
Here’s some pictures to enjoy. Love and miss you all.
Peace of Derek 