CAP 2, Maintaining Our Dedication

Another hard day’s work here in Costa Rica! We started off the day by waking our Glimpsers at 6 AM. Some of us relaxed in our patio hammocks as others prepared for the long day ahead. For breakfast, we sat in order of arrival to the airport. On the menu were huevos con jamon (eggs with ham), hash browns, fruta (fruit; pineapple, watermelon, and papaya), pan (bread), café (coffee) and jugo de naranja (orange juice). We played “the Grocery Store game” in the front lawn to energize our minds, and then embarked on an arduous uphill climb to the Escuela Otto Perez, our workplace for the week.

When we arrived at the school, we played a quick round of 7-up as we waited for instructions. At 8 AM we split into four groups. One group continued digging the hole that we started yesterday. Another cleared out a vast grass patch by pulling up weeds and slicing through tall grass. A few also designed and repainted the front play yard. One of our leaders (Ian), sustained an injury early into the session, but after being patched up continued the work. At noon, lunch was served. We enjoyed arroz (rice), pasta, fajitas con pollo (fajitas with chicken), ensalada (salad), one of the many lovely meals provided by our caterers. From 1:00 to 4:00 PM, we got back to work. The dirt pit was finally completed, and team members began to fill the hole with leftover tiling from the school. The painting team touched up the hopscotch squares on the playground and freshened up the colors in the play yard. Many of the groups either finished their work in advance or are very close to finishing. We returned back to the house at 4:00 just as exhausted as yesterday.

Our CAP projects have already transformed us as both leaders and humans. For one, we have pushed ourselves past our physical and mental limits, as we faced blazing heat and stressful tasks. Despite sunburns and pickaxe trouble, we persevered. We found that once we put our minds to our goal, we were unstoppable. We also discovered that sometimes we cannot gain instant gratification and that we should relish in that time. As we spent hours repeating the same movements, we were reminded of how far we had gotten since we started.

Dinner was served at 5:30- lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. Our caterers also prepared us a special treat- they prepared the pumpkin we found in the grass patch for dessert, drenched in sweet syrup and spices! Our nightly meeting was at 7, with the sloth being passed on to our new leaders for tomorrow. At 8:30, we held a game night and played rounds of Celebrity and card games. Now, we will go to bed and rest up for another busy day of work tomorrow!

Saludos from Ian and Tai