Day 2 in Costa Rica

In our first full day in Costa Rica we awakened to a dense rainfall. After preparing for the day, we headed to the eating area for breakfast. For breakfast, they served pancakes, scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast, gallo pinto and Canadian bacon. After our morning meal and a few minutes of free time, we started to prepare for the big day. We had to pack some required items such as working gloves and rain coat for this certain day. Before we left to go work at the Chilamate School, we had lunch. Today for lunch we had empanadas for the main, and also some smaller items such as pineapple, etc. Then we took the very short stroll to the kid's school. When we arrived at the kid's school, we started by having recess with the kids. We all had an intense soccer match with most of the boys in the school. Their ages ranged from 6-7. This was a great opportunity to use our Spanish ability and talk with the kids. This morning, we learned that a common Costa Rica phrase is "Pura Vida" which can be used for many things. For example, if you said " Como estas? Pura Vida. It literally means pure life but it can be used as a response to how you are doing, as a question to how someone is doing, and to express thanks or wishing someone well. After the afternoon recess, we got straight to work. We worked at the school gymnasium and made and mixed cement. We also transported soil and rocks and into where the seats will be for the auditorium. We worked for about two hours. It was quite hard work. After we finished, we said our goodbyes to the kids and walked back to the eco lodge. We then proceeded to suit up and jump into the river. We only metaphorically jumped but we did encounter actual people jumping off a 25 ft tall bridge bridge into the river and yelling pura vida. Swimming around in the pool of the river for a while was really refreshing because it was such a warm day. Before the rain got summoned and resumed once again, some of us were able to kayak around. Thomas McClellan was flipped by the counselor and demonstrated his agility by escaping the kayak and coming back to the surface. Now we are preparing, for what most certainly will be a scrumptious dinner.  Pura vida!

working hard....mixing cement

toucan at Chilamate School

-- By Cole & Chuck