Un Gran Familia

Today was my second day at AMURECI, and I thought, a perfect opportunity for an update.

I absolutely love it here. I enjoy my days here so much, and though I am exhausted at the end of each day, I wake up each morning excited to do it all over again.

My internship at AMURECI is going really well. Today I met 2 more of the women who work there, and they too seem eager to learn English and to help me improve my Spanish. All the women ask me about my family and friends, and seem really interested in getting to know me, which makes me feel so welcome. All 5 women have children, and call themselves "Un Gran Familia" one big, happy family. Yesterday they showed me around the store and their workshop and let me help out by binding photo albums. Marta, a very eccentric and bubbly member of AMURECI, who sings constantly and talks a mile-a-minute has already informed me that she is a genius and doesn't need to participate in English lessons.

On Monday I will start weekly English lessons with them, but for the time being, I get to help out around the shop. Today, I got to help Martha actually make the paper! It was such a neat experience. Everything they use is all natural and recycled and it's clear that they are really dedicated to their mission. The community seems really involved as well. Neighbors drop in to chat and have coffee and children pop in on their walk home from school.

AMURECI's paper-making process consists of many steps, but the end product is really amazing. First, they take a combination of recycled office paper and newspaper of varying thickness and soak it in water. Then, they place the mix in a blender to grind it up into very small pieces. Next, they add pieces of banana leaves, which they get from the banana trees all around the store to make the paper stronger. Then, they put the mix in a huge bin and use rectangular screens to make it into sheets which they press to get rid of the excess water and then lay out to dry in the sun. The process is amazing to see, and though a little bit hard to get the hang of, I had a great time doing it. Martha was really patient as I clumsily spilled water and had to re-do screens and kept saying "Nina, Nina" and laughing at me. Today we added coffee grinds to the paper to make darker sheets. She and I also talked a little bit about politics and agreed that Barack Obama, in addition to being the best candidate, is muy guapo. ;)

In addition to our volunteer work, the program has lots planned for us in the afternoons. Yesterday we had a Costa Rican sign language lesson, and twice a week we have Spanish lessons. At night without the distraction of TV, we all sit around and play cards, which, though it can get a little crazy sometimes, is lots of fun.

Tomorrow afternoon we're going on a hike up to Volcano Arenal, and this weekend all of us are heading to the beach, with a Rui, an American who is currently living with one of the women from AMURECI.

Pura Vida!