Last update before leaving

It's now past 2:00 in the morning, it looks like a bomb went off in my room, and I'm currently more concerned with finding random songs that I couldn't live without to put on my iPod (and by that, I mean early-90's rap songs that I plan on using as dance party songs with my students... Snow's 'Informer" is going to take the Costa Rican charts by storm!) than doing any actual packing. The fact that I'm limited to two or three bags is making things a bit easier; when it comes time to actually start shoving my life into some duffel bags, I know that anything non-essential can't make the cut. That means you, Sigmund A . Lavine's 1980 classic "Wonders of Goats" - a Christmas gift from my grandmother that I've held on to for over twenty years even though I never particularly liked goats to begin with. (I think it's the picture of the goat on the front cover... its facial expression conveys anything but wonder. Probably closer to boredom, or at least acceptance of a mediocre existence.)
As it's past midnight, I'm officially leaving tomorrow. I'll be flying to Miami on Wednesday morning, meeting up with the rest of the volunteers, then heading to a town called Orosi (outside of the capital of San Jose) to start training. I'm sure things will be beyond busy during the first week or two, so this could be the last update for a bit.
First off, I'll share some quick info on my site for the year. I'll go into more detail once I get there, but here's what I've learned from the volunteer that was there last year, Kevin. All credit to him, especially for the pictures. I'll be living in Boruca, a town of about 700 in the southwestern portion of Costa Rica. It's in the mountains and a bit isolated, but compared to other volunteer sites (like my friend Becca's from last year) it's relatively large. The Borucans are an indigenous people of Costa Rica, meaning that they were there before the Spaniards arrived in the 1500's. They take great pride in the fact that they were one of the few tribes not conquered by the Spaniards. This puts an interesting spin on things, as I'll get to experience both Costa Rican culture (which they still are very much a part of) as well as their unique tribal heritage. I'll save the rest for later, but for now, here are some pictures of my town and school:

Here's a picture of my host family's house, my home for the year. Pretty large by local standards; there's no hot water, but my years at camp have more than prepared me.


Exterior and interior shots of my classroom. It's not quite Cohasset, but I've been told that Boruca's school is better funded than the average Costa Rican school because of their indigenous status. We have a small computer lab with internet access, which isn't something most schools down there have. Happy days.
And finally, what's a picture tour without a little scenery? Here's a 65 foot waterfall that's a short walk from my village. Notice the lack of townies jumping off of it? That means we're not in Braintree.

Donations Update!

As promised, I want to thank those who have helped make this year possible by donating to the cause. These are the names of the people that have either given me money directly or sent an e-card through Universal Giving. If you sent a check or didn't send an e-card, I probably won't find out about your donation until after I leave. (Don't worry, you'll still get your shout-out then.) In no particular order:

Diane (Scout) and Andrew Osborne
Morven Buchanan
Deborah and Frank Ursino
Michelle, Tori, and Allie Ibrahim
John Coyne
Kathy Marquis
The Schaub Family (all 437 of them)
Sherry and Michael DeHay
Jason McCabe
Bill Fish
Kevin Valorz
Patti Perkins
Bob Blaney
Michael Schaub

If you happen to see these people around, give them a pat on the back and remind them how awesome they are.

..And a special mention for:

Sue Beatrice

Sue is a complete stranger who was kind enough to donate a digital camera so I can share pictures and videos with you. The camera is beyond amazing (even if I'm a poor photographer), and I'm looking forward to posting images of my town, students, and poisonous creatures that I wake up to in the morning. Oh, and because I'm sure you all know how much I love random cultural trivia, Sue was the person who made the Travelocity garden gnome!

Once again, thanks to everyone who has donated so far. If you still want to donate, you still have about a week or so to donate directly to WorldTeach. The step-by-step instructions to do that are in my previous post. After that, my 'account' at WorldTeach closes, but you can still send donations directly to my mother, who'll be handling my US financials and be able to put it into an account that I can access in Costa Rica. And don't worry, I'll be more than happy to let you know what the money goes towards, and it'll all go to the students/school.

Este es todo para ahora. Not sure when I'll get to update this next, but I'm sure it'll be with something so exciting that you'll forget that I ever made a pun about the rapper Snow. (OK... go back and find it... see! Didn't catch that the first time, did you?)

All the best,
Dan