Costa Rica Epic Service Adventure 2022
June 29, 2022
This morning after having a buffet breakfast, the group loaded up on a bus and drove to Finca Integral Doña Rosa, a coffee farm. At the beginning, we played some icebreakers/name games & got to know each other a bit better. Subsequently, we were met with a beautifully prepared chicken-based lunch, to which we followed up with an impromptu soccer match (we tied).
Post-lunch, we began our tour of the farm, learning about sugar canes & various fruit preparations. Concluding the tour, our team bonded over the process of roasting coffee beans & packaged coffee to bring back home to our families. Finally, after saying our goodbyes to our newly found furry friend, Rufus, the group made its way back onto the bus and to the B&B. After an eye engaging stroll to our group dinner, the team feasted and engaged in table side banter. Tomorrow, we raft.
We send our love from Costa Rica,
Team (written by Philip & Jessie)
June 30, 2022
To everyone who’s reading this,
We started the day with an early morning and at 6am we began our first long car ride of the day. We arrived at our breakfast place at 9:45 and had a delicious breakfast of rice and beans, eggs, quesadillas and assorted fruits. After breakfast we started our second long car ride of the day to our white water rafting place (Exploradores) and split into 4 groups. We had a lot of meaningful experiences and learned things like how to control rafts and work as a team. Halfway through our beautiful journey through the jungle we stopped for pineapples and took a recess before continuing. We got soaked in the rapids and had lots of laughs. Afterwards we went on to do “class 5” rapids. After all of this, we got on our buss for our third long car ride of the day to our hotel.
Love from Costa Rica,
Harriet R and Isaiah G
July 1, 2022
This morning we had a change of plans and ended up heading to a chocolate farm. We got to try the different eras of chocolate. We made super cool designs in the chocolate and added toppings of our choice. Then we explored the farm and tried all different types of food/plants. We proceed to go to a fruteria and experienced grocery shopping in Costa Rica. Once we got back to the hotel we played a boy vs. girl volleyball game in the pool (the girls won, of course). We were able to see all the places we’ve visited so far and our future destinations. We concluded the day with a muddy fútbol game against another Global Works group. Tomorrow we eat cheese (dairy farm)! Yippee!!
With love,
Gracen R and Nick M
July 2, 2022
This morning, we slept in a little extra at our luxurious hotel, had a pancake breakfast, and started the bumpy ride to the organic cheese farm. Crisley, the owner told us how his business has had its struggles, but he pushed through in pursuit of helping his community. At the farm we made friends with the children who lived on the farm and we played card games with them. We got to make some of Crisley’s famous locally sourced cheese. Next we took another bumpy ride to Poco Sol and settled into our rooms that we will stay at for the next 4 days. In the evening we practiced Spanish and bonded over our love of bugs (sarcasm!).
Tomorrow is the first day of service work in the community so we’ve got to get some rest!
Love,
Maddie and Malcolm
July 3, 2022
We started our day earlier than normal. Around 9:00am we headed into the cloud forest to start our first day of service work. The majority of the group went to the lake to bag rocks and sand while another group went deeper into the forest to help restore the walking paths with the rocks and sand. After a few hours of work both groups headed back to the dining hall to eat lunch. After lunch we headed back out to the forest to continue the work we started in the morning. We ended the day a little muddy and exhausted, but very fulfilled.
With love,
Grace M. & Phoenix L.
July 4, 2022
Our day started at 7:30 am with heavy rain and a the familiar traditional breakfast of rice and beans. Around an hour later we had changed into our work clothes and were ready for service work. One group cleaned up the local streams and hiked, while the other group raked and cleared the foot paths. Our intense work ended after around 2 hours due to weather making perseverance difficult. At around noon, lunch commenced. The food consisted of the well-expected and very nourishing rice and beans, in addition to other less-central items. The continuing heavy rainfall cancelled the previously planned service work. Instead, some fun and games in Spanish, reflection on our service work up to now, and a world-record staring contest lasting an incredible hour and 25 minutes (approximately) took place. Although we lacked sufficient video evidence to officially submit the record, the audience can attest to the achievement.
The extra time still remaining until dinner allowed for a creative project. The purpose of the project was to share the significance of the American Independence Day. This took up the majority of the rest of the day. A yoga session preceded dinner, which contained our beloved rice and beans (in addition to slight variations). After some preparation time, it was time for presentations. Each group showed off their posters (in Spanish of course), and in turn the Ticos (Costa Ricans) shared some words about their own national independence day. Reflections and celebratory cake signaled the end of the planned day, and end-of-the-day free time ensued.
privet mom and dad!
Ryabova, Alexandra, and Finn A.
July 5, 2022
Today we ate lots of rice and beans. The Costa Rican specialties are starting to grow on us! Then went out and created some human assembly lines with which we transported a lot of rocks, and sand. It was fun to all work together and finish a job we started. Atticus then did a staring contest with Nick, and they astounded us all with their tenacity. Then after lunch we just chilled for a while and reflected on our last couple of days and slept. Then after dinner we played a really funny game called Telastrations. Then we played war and went to bed exhausted.
Atticus and Ella
July 6, 2022
Today we woke up for our last day at the cloud forest. We engaged in some Spanish learning activities in preparation for our home stays and played some football while waiting for the vans to arrive. We saw a big snake and got in our vans towards our next hotel. We then stopped at a supermarket on our way to Heliconias to get some snacks and other necessities. We got to eat some American style food for lunch and spend some time in the pool. Finally we ended the night with an exciting salsa dancing class.
Jonah S. Sadie P.
July 7, 2022
Today we woke up early and headed to an animal rehabilitation center where we got to see how the workers took care of the domesticated animals. We got a tour of the entire facilities and learned about monkeys, toucans, parrots, and capybaras. Afterwards, we went to a waterfall where we looked at the view and swam. Next, we got to explore a small nearby town and shop for gifts and souvenirs as well as clothes and food. We went back to Hotel Heliconias, had dinner, and reflected on our day.
With love, Theo and Quincy
July 8, 2022
Today we went to a medicinal farm and we learned about different herbs. Then we went back to the nature lodge and chilled and drank this disgusting electrolytes drink because we all felt dehydrated. After we practiced for the talent show, the girls made an awesome song. Before the talent show we had a big pizza dinner and had yummy soda. After we had the big talent show, the boys did an acapella group and the girls made a song to Taylor Swift! Maddie’s birthday is tomorrow and we have a secret surprise party! We will also be zip lining!
By Isaiah G. and Ella H.
July 9, 2022
Today’s we woke Maddie up on her birthday morning, and played dancing queen for her. We had balloons and presents. After we went zip lining on a HUGE rainforest valley! It was very scary at first but after awhile it became super fun! After we went and got loads and loads of sushi, it was very yummy. Then we went on a shopping spree in La Fortuna, and saw a bunch of cool shops. Finally we finished the day with cake and lots of dancing.
By Ella H. and Maddie A
July 10, 2022
Today was our last morning at Heliconias. After breakfast we packed our bags and headed to Cedral. Our bus ride was about 5 hours but included many stops. Before getting to Cedral we stopped at a Walmart to grab any last minute items and snacks. When we got to Cedral we were greeted by all the host families. They had also prepared a buffet of deserts for us. We said goodbye to each other and headed to our homestays for the night.
With love,
Grace M.
July 11, 2022
We woke up today in our new homes for the next week, and ate the delicious breakfast our families made for us. Then we got a tour of the community. Everyone is very welcoming and excited to show us around. Then we had lunch that our host families brought us. After lunch we got started on our first day of intensive labor at Coopecedral including pick-axing rocks and drilling coffee equipment. After all that we were ready to head back and eat dinner with our homestays.
With love from Costa Rica,
Maddie A. and Phoenix L.
July 12, 2022
This morning we did service work after breakfast. Then we had lunch and a break, after we continued our service work. At 4:00, we did activities with the local children to help them learn some English. We then went back to our homestay families to have dinner. A great day in the community!
-Malcolm C. and Jessie S .
July 13, 2022
Today was another day of service work. We helped build a wall and cement a road. After that, we enjoyed lunch made by our host families at 12:30. We tried to continue the service work, but the rain was too intense so we went inside and played some games to improve our Spanish. After that, we made delicious homemade tortillas as a group and enjoyed the tortillas with the host family. At around 5:30pm, we all split up and went back to our homestays.
With love,
Nick M. and Grace M.
July 14, 2022
This is Harriet today we woke up to a delicious breakfast with our homestay and the went to work on building a path. There are lots of dogs here and they hang out with us while we work. After a long day at work we changed into soccer clothes and walked 10 minutes down to the soccer field. This is Atticus today we played soccer with the community it was super fun and they are very good at soccer. The food here is really good. We ended the night with dinner back at our homestays.
Harrier R. and Atticus M.
July 15, 2022
We started the day off at 8am to lay moreeee cement! It has been a lot of hard work but we are started to see progress. Later in the day we hangout with the local kids playing freeze tag, hangman, the animal game, all while practicing our Spanish. We ended the night with a pasta dinner with everyone in the community and went back to our host families house. It was a fun but exhausting, and we are excited for our last day of work tomorrow.
With love,
Ella and Gracen
July 16, 2022
We started out this morning with breakfast at our homestays. Then we worked on our service projects. As it was the last day of work, extra effort was needed to finish our projects. We worked until lunch, which was delivered by our homestay families. After lunch we worked hard to wrap up the final touches of our service. After we finished our projects we imprinted our hands on drying cement to leave our mark on all of the work that we have done for the community of Cedral. We then embarked on a scavenger hunt set up by the members of the community. Team number 1 won! Then we went back to our homestays for dinner and family time.
With love,
Jessie S. and Finn A.
July 17, 2022
We got to sleep in till 10am, and then we got to watch the football game for the town of Cedral.
After watching the game we got to play our own, everyone was happy and it was a lot of fun!!!
Afterwards, shower time and 4 hours of chill and eating lunch with our families (for the last time).
At the end of the day we had our big “goodbye” as a party with all the people in the town until the end of the night. We packed our bags and got ready to go to bed.
With love from Costa Rica,
Alia R. and Phoenix L.
July 18, 2022
After sleeping in from the previous night’s despedida party, we said our goodbyes to our host families and headed to the beach. Along the way we stopped at a burger place for lunch for some delicious food. We proceeded to our new hotel for the next few days called El Tecal. We quickly got our swimsuits on and headed for the beach. We enjoyed an hour of bodysurfing and football followed by a spaghetti dinner. We then wrapped the night up with a Spanish activity. We picked out papers with names from the group and wrote letters to them in Spanish. Afterwards, everyone was exhausted and went to bed.
Love,
Gracen and Jonah
July 19, 2022
Today we went to the beach and were greeted with surf boards and instructors. We learned the basic techniques of surfing and it was fun. After, catching some wave we began doing flips off the surf board. After surfing, we had an hour of free time/good shower, and headed towards our lunch spot. Two hours of free time/nap, and we went to the beach again. More swimming = fun!
Dinner and an hour of Spanish. And soon we will be heading back to our rooms, and getting ready to sleep.
Alia R. and Atticus M.
