The new guy

Sarah: Well, the countdown has begun. We are less than 3 weeks away from leaving our job here in Costa Rica and returning to the United States. More thoughts on that subject later!

As our time is wrapping up, SNU has hired our replacement. His name is Michael Guillot and he graduated from SNU with a degree in Environmental Studies, and graduated from the University of Houston with a master's degree in Cultural Anthropology. Michael spent 6 weeks down here at QERC back in 2002 and is excited for the opportunity to return to Costa Rica and take the job as the Field Station Manager at QERC.

Michael arrived down here at QERC toward the beginning of August, with the idea that we would spend 5-6 weeks with him, training him on everything we know about QERC and Costa Rica. Whew! It sounds overwhelming to me just to type that. We spent the first couple of weeks at QERC and in San Jose, going over building information, some semester program information, and meeting some people and places in San Jose. We even let Michael go on his own for a day in San Jose, to get him acquainted with downtown - much like we do with the students at the beginning of the semester.

This past week, David took Michael to Nicaragua to show him everything he needs to know about leading a group of students there for 2 weeks. David boiled it down to 5 nights, visiting all of our contacts within the country. For David, it was a chance to help make the connections for people and pass the ball from us to Michael, and also a chance to say some goodbyes to friends we had made. They had a whirlwind week with a night in Managua, a night in the remote village of Candelaria, a night at Rancho Ebenezer (both of those are where we've done previous homestays with students), a night back in Managua for some historical tours and information, and a last night in Granada to finish up like we do with the students.

David with his host family in Candelaria

Michael and David at Laguna Apoyo, Nicaragua

Adele and I decided not to go along for that trip - Adele had just spent a week feeling sick with a cold and working on all her new teeth coming in, and I figured some good rest and relaxation time was needed for her here at home.

While we are sad to be moving on from our job and lives here in Costa Rica, we are excited and confident in Michael's abilities to continue the QERC project.