Arrival in the Office

Monday was my first day in the Habitat for Humanity International office based in La Uruca (a suburb of San Jose). Maximo drove us both to the office (about a 5 minute drive, which I usually make a 20 minute walk). I met with Wes Weston the International Volunteer Coordinator, and genuine cool dude. Wes and I have a lot in common, and I’m sure will be hanging out together outside of the office, and will probably plan a hiking trip into the mountains one of the weekends. Anyway – Wes took me through the 1st day of my 4 day orientation…introducing me to everyone in the office (about 40 people including volunteers), going over basic things about Costa Rican Culture, discussing the different groups in the office and what they work on, and basically reviewing the Volunteer Handbook that he put together. Everyone in the office is ridiculously nice, and welcomed me with open arms and big, bright smiles :o)

During lunch we took care of some basic tasks, changing $$$, touring the local area, pointing out landmarks and stores etc. We walked back to Maximo’s house so I could grab my computer and get hooked up to the internet in the office – which was much easier then I thought it was going to be. After lunch I tackled the challenging task of writing a letter of introduction to my colleagues here in Spanish (thank god for google translator). Finally I watched 3 HFH videos, that were extremely touching – discussing the founding of Habitat, seeing a build site and watching some volunteers work, as well a meeting some of the homeowners and seeing the hope that HFH gives them. (http://www.habitat.org/faces_places/hom/list.aspx) And just like that my first day was in the books. Tuesday was similar, as I focused my time on the Habitat online University, which was essentially 5 online courses that are an introduction to the organization, it’s mission, it’s principals and values, and the history and how it has progressed and grown over time. I spent the last hour of the day getting organized and planning for my “Build” day (Wednesday) in San Ramon: figuring out the Bus route to the construction site, learning what clothes and supplies I should bring with me, and generally getting prepared for what to expect (a day of hard labor, getting dirty, working side-by-side helping people realize their dream of owning their first house).