Peace Corps Training - San Jose, Costa Rica

Peace Corps Pre-Service Training is a three-month period you spend in your country of service before officially becoming a volunteer. As an applicant, I'd kind of overlooked this part; it always seemed like a relatively insignificant period of the much larger two years I'd spend at my assigned site. That was a little naive of me. Being a Peace Corps Trainee is HARD work. The days are long and rigorous, you're dealing with culture shock and missing home, all while going back into full student mode from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Despite its challenges, Pre-Service Training was also my first glimpse at Costa Rican culture, my first experience with a host family, and an amazing time for me to bond with my fellow volunteers. I survived and I'm stronger for it! Here's (some of) what I saw and learned along the way:

On the plane to Miami, 3/4/2023

Is this really happening?! Am I really flying to Miami to meet my cohort, join the Peace Corps, and move to Costa Rica for the next two years?! Holy crap! I've been dreaming about this day for years, and it's finally here. I feel so ready, so good, so excited. I'm armored with the love of people in my community, good music, the healing power of the written word, the peace brought about by yoga, and a curiosity/deep yearning to know the world. Nothing can stop me!

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