MONDAY MUSINGS: CASAS de AMOR

MONDAY MUSINGS: Casa de Amor is where I was assigned to spend Monday through Friday mornings during my month here in Quepos, Costa Rica. A bus ride takes Steve, my co-teacher and me to Paquita, a small town 10 minutes outside of Quepos. 

(How surprising to see rice fields en route! I was then told that in their last rainy season there were 22 days of continuous rain. WOW!)

The bus driver already knows us and where we need to get off...

A five-minute walk then takes us to Casa Amor, a free men's rehabilitation center where patients voluntarily join a 9-month program in search of a life free of alcohol/ narcotics through routine and discipline. 

They have chores/work that may alter their class attendance. The residents hail from mainly surrounding areas but as we listened to their introductions, I  also heard Colombia, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Regardless, many come to consider Casa Amor home. Some have returned to the program more than once... This group's ages range 17- 66 years old with varying degrees of literacy.

Main housing: Great room as  den/class/ dining 
 kitchen and bunk bed s for 

Our job is to equip them with some English which might be useful in their future lives, the service industry, in particular, food service has me scouring the net for useful vocab and ideas. Luckily, the book English for Restaurant Workers has been found and will be a terrific asset, in addition to my fixation with cooking shows and legends like Anthony Bourdain. Wink, wink.

This project is good work, and I feel privileged to have a little part in their program. In such crazy times, we all need to provide 'casas de amor..