March 11 Mark's Perspective

I wake up, refreshed, feeling good. I have a shower and eat some fruit. As I finish up breakfast, Manual walks in, it is now after 8:00am and he is late.

“Did you hear the news?” “What news?”

8.9 earthquake in Japan causes a tsunami travelling across the Pacific. Manuel is part of Costa Rica’s Emergency National Commission and he was called at 5:00am to be in a meeting at 6:00am with the commission and the President of Costa Rica. It seems that everything is at a moderate level for the Costa Rica Pacific Coast and the emergency label is at green where it stays for most of the day.

I have a vocational visit set up to tour the construction of the Airport. Slight snag… the contact for that visit was also in the Emergency National Commission and will not be available to take me for a tour. Plan B: Manuel has me visit Grupos Jormar, a real estate development company. We review a large project that they are developing 5 hours from San Jose. I am taken to a construction site for an upper class home. The house is made of concrete and masonry block. There is an interesting method they have for pouring concrete floors that I have not seen in Canada, I will investigate when I return home.

The Team gathers for lunch at a Mexican food restaurant, Doug is still at a vocational visit, he will not be joining us for this meal.

Lucia Uribe picks Kim, Alicia and me up and we are brought to a building – built and maintained by the local Rotary Club for day-activities for seniors. We walk in the door and we are instantly a hit! A group of 30 seniors playing bingo stop and clap – we are a spectacle.

I get some kisses blown at me from a lady across a few tables. I pursue. Now she is puckering her lips and pointing to her cheek! I am so game. I grab her tight, smack my lips on her cheek and go to town. The room roars with laughter and she is now caressing her cheek like she will never wash it ever again; that made her day for sure and mine. Blue eyes and dirty blond hair goes a long way in Central America!

On our way to this area of the city, Lucia would stop the car at the end a few streets and tell us that we would not like to go down there. This part of town is very poor and dangerous, but there is some confidence in the middle of daylight. She continues to drive only on more busy roads.

We continue on from the seniors, across the road to another day-activity center, but for children. In Costa Rica, there are not enough teachers or schools for all the children so there are two shifts for kids in one day: morning class or afternoon class. This center is for the children to do homework, play games and generally stay out of trouble they may get into if they were running around the slums all day. Again, built and maintained by the Rotary Club.

We get to one classroom, perfect age group for curiosity of a camera. I snap as many pictures as I can. I begin to take pictures of kids and turning the camera to show them what they look like. I begin to show them how to use it and before I know it there are twenty little hands all over the camera. There are too many hands so I hold the strap and help them get organized enough to take pictures. The camera snaps a shot, we take a look at the picture and they roar in laughter and point at the kid that was lucky enough to get in the shot. It wasn’t until I was leaving the classroom when I realized that was the closest those kids have ever been to a camera. Humbling. 

 

 

 

MC