Family Time

Luis:

Today is day 5 in Costa Rica and it’s COMMUNITY DAY!!! We woke up to a sunny morning eating breakfast in the outdoor dining room. Following that, we did our metal warm-up where we discussed the quote of the day which is as follows: “It’s not our differences that divided us. It’s our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” From there we all got ready and into our groups where we all visited local families in the area! We got a first-hand experience of day-to-day life as a citizen in the small town of Aquiares! There we got to interact with the family by sharing our lifestyle experiences, cooking, having lunch, playing games, cracking jokes, helping with cleaning dishes, having coffee time, etc. After a couple of hours, we headed back to our base house and we all had a relaxing time during our free time. We played card games, napped, and chatted up with each other and the GGL’s. After a long day, we had an amazing dinner cooked by our amazing cook, Dona Vera, and then to close off our eventful day, we had a MOVIE NIGHT!!!!! We made popcorn, baked brownies, and brought snacks to enjoy the Batman Movie!

Aniza:

Today was community day!!!! We all woke up at 7 am to surprisingly good weather since it’s been raining all week. We then gathered everyone for breakfast and had some rice, beans, and cereal for breakfast! Then, as leaders, we gathered everyone for our mental warm-up quickly after breakfast and repeated the quote of the day and the question for everyone to keep in mind while we visited local families today! As a Spanish-speaking leader, it was my job to translate and make sure everyone was comfortable and understood conversations! We were paired up with Dona Amalia and she made us feel so comfortable and welcomed when we first met her and as we went into her home! Her whole family welcomed us with open arms and then introduced her whole family to us while she explained the meal that she had set for us which was rice, beans, homemade juice, and the best-tasting chicken ever. We played board games and dominos with the whole family and continued to get to know them and their lives. She informed us how there was a lot of tragedy in her family and how at the end of the day life goes on. Around 4:30 pm, we sadly said goodbye and gathered with everyone else back at the base home where we had free time and gladly took a nap. We then had a wonderful dinner of pastel de yuca and some homemade juices and lettuce which was so tasty. We later had our nightly meeting where we passed the torch to tomorrow’s leaders, Ana and Kelly!!

P.S I miss everyone back at home!!! I love you mom xoxoxo

Janet: 

As mentioned before, today was our fifth day in Costa Rica. Before heading out to meet with the families, we had breakfast and did a mental warm-up. Our mental warm-ups are usually a response to the quote of the day and the question. Once we finished with these activities we headed out at 8:50 am and walked to a nearby court. Each leader of the day got split into a group with about six to seven other people to meet with different families. It was very exciting to learn about the local people and their customs. We got to learn from the local families and made empanadas with them! I personally think our empanadas were great. After spending an amazing day with the families we headed back to our residence and had dinner. Then our nightly meeting where we passed the torch to the next leaders of the day! 

Bryan: 

Day 5, Community Day, although it was a pretty long day and we had split up into like 4 different groups, I honestly enjoyed my group, we had lots of fun and enjoyed bonding together. At first, we were quiet but honestly within like 5 minutes we started to talk and laugh a little. We also went on a hike and I had fun seeing some of my group members trip and almost fall (they’re all fine). I was helping them out and team bonding was on a whole next level. Afterward, we went to the familys’ houses and we played some games. I could say we grew closer and had fun. I hope that the next leaders after us do better and have just as much fun as we all did today, even though the theme will be different than ours as we passed the torch to them. I honestly enjoy not having my phone or any type of electronics in times like this.