All of Tico 21 returned to the retreat center in Tres Ríos last Thursday for a two-day counterpart workshop. Our counterparts are people who are members of each future volunteer site who serve as our cultural and professional link to the community. All were invited to Tres Rios, but not all of them arrived.
The counterpart workshop involved several sessions about Peace Corps safety and security requirements, TEFL and CED project goals, mutual expectations for our work over the next few years, and a few intercultural activities. Overall, it was very informative and fun. I was one of two TEFLers selected at the last minute by our TEFL trainers to give a brief explanation to the counterparts (all in Spanish, of course) about why we believe teaching English in Costa Rica is a worthwhile goal. I talked about language, understanding, peace, and learning. I’m not sure why I was so nervous – I was probably visibly shaking – but I think it was good for me.
Sarapiquí, the region we will call home for the next two years, had severe rains and flooding and a bridge connecting it to San José was damaged, so the counterpart that Kevin and I will share – the principal of my environmental high school – wasn’t unable to make the workshop along with two other Sarapiquí counterparts. Fortunately, our friend Beth’s counterpart, a gregarious and ultra-friendly elementary principal, was a trooper and played the role for all of us.
The two-day workshop ended with an all-TEFL “talent show.” It was more like an “act as ridiculous as possible” show. Our group sang and danced to a retro-mix of Feliz Navidad and The Macarena. Be on the look out for video evidence of it on Facebook.
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