Peace Corps/Costa Rica

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or Peace Corps.

October 6, 2010

I am now in day 2 of life in Costa Rica. Peace Corps is something I've wanted to do since I don't know when, and my senior year of college I decided to make it real and apply. This summer, I was invited to Peace Corps/Costa Rica in the Community Economic Development (CED) program.
My background: I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a bachelor's degree in management and an international business minor. I chose Eau Claire because of in-state tuition, their strong business school, and their outstanding study abroad program which I took advantage of.

I studied abroad the summer after my freshman year of college with the Central European Travel Seminar (the reflections of which are on this blog) and then stayed in Riga, Latvia for the fall semester of my sophomore year. During that time, I took a class called "Leisure and Tourism Management" and realized I had a passion for the hospitality industry.

I came back to Eau Claire and got a job at a local hotel at the front desk. I worked there for just over a year, at which point I decided to do an internship abroad through the campus group AIESEC, and moved to New Delhi, India for five months to work at a hotel. My blog for that time is at www.uwec-india.blogspot.com.

I worked at a hotel in Eau Claire upon my arrival back in the States, and eventually took over as the front office manager there. I graduated in December of 2009, and was invited to the Peace Corps in July of 2010.

My time in Costa Rica will consist of five days of orientation (which I am in right now), then 10 weeks in training which will take place in different communities where I will live with my first host family. During the 10 weeks, I will have Spanish lessons three times a week, technical training, safety and security training, etc. as well as go on short trips to Peace Corps volunteers' communities, including five days at my future site!

I've heard the training time is the hardest, but it is necessary to make me a successful volunteer. Today, I learned some more specifics about being a CED trainee/volunteer. (I will not technically be a volunteer until I am sworn in on December 17th.) The three goals of my program are: basic business planning and management, internet communication and technology, and English as a foreign language. One of the industries we're supposed to focus on is eco-tourism. I am so excited right now I can't put it into words. If I could have handpicked a program, it would be this program. I can utilize my Spanish knowledge, I can work with businesses, and I can be involved in developing the tourism industry. It's going to be an amazing 2 years!