Costa Rica: Surf & Service (Session 3) 2016
MEET YOUR COSTA RICA TRIP LEADERS!
Hola CR Surf & Service 3!
Can you believe in just about 1 month we’ll be in Costa Rica eating gallo pinto (a breakfast specialty of rice and beans, spending time in an amazing community, and surfing the endless summer waves! We are excited for our upcoming adventure exploring the beautiful country of Costa Rica and serving in a very special community with you!
Esteban is home in Costa Rica – that’s right, we have our very own Tico (native Costa Rican) guide! Michelle is finishing up some work in the USA and will be headed down soon to join him and prepare everything for your arrival!
We’ll be reaching out to you in the next few weeks to go over trip details and answer any questions! We can’t wait to meet you!
Pura Vida,
Michelle Nance and Esteban Arguedas
July 24, 2016
Today we woke up and had a nicely prepared breakfast that included the famous gallo pinto (beans and rice), it was delicious! After breakfast we played a game of Pedro, Pedro, Juan, Juan to get to know each other better and reviewed our Spanish. We gathered our things and made our way down to the plaza where we watched a local soccer game by the church. We then put on our Spanish speaking skills and ordered food from the vendors. First we ordered some “papas fritas”, then we got some empanadas that were as good as they looked. Finally, we ordered some really tasty ice cream. As we ate our good food and watched the game, it felt great to have accomplished our first task – communicating in Spanish with Ticos!
We headed to the airport to pick up the rest of the group, after a long wait, we were excited to finally see them emerge from customs/immigration! After we said our hellos, we got on a bus to head to our home for the next few days, stopping for lunch along the way. When we got to the nature lodge, we unpacked and went swimming. We finished the evening with dinner, activities to get to know each other better, and played some soccer. We’re excited to get started on our service project and for the rest of the trip!
Pura Vida,
Jonah and Alex
July 25, 2016
Today we woke up and had the traditional and delicious Costa Rican breakfast called Gallo Pinto (eggs, bacon, rice, cheese and fried plantains). After, we went off to Pueblo Nuevo to start our project. When we got off at the community center we were greeted by the community leaders who briefed us not only on our project, but also explained to us everything Global Works groups have done in the past 14 years. We understood that a hard day of work was ahead of us, as one group was going to build two pillars at the church, and the other was going to help paint the school. The Panama squad (Bram, TJ, Zane, & Michael) started making cement out of gravel, sand and cement mix at the church. After a while of tough mixing and adding water, we made a chain-line and passed, bucket by bucket, up a ladder and then poured it into a pillar casing. We repeated this process twice alongside three community friends.
Michael & Bram
July 26, 2016
We opened up the day to a brisk wake up call to go to breakfast to pancakes and bomb huevos. We met the chilliest guy , he was climbing a tree, and he was a sloth. We were slacking work wise because yesterday with the cement was rough. After eating lunch, we played games with the local community. Despite the language barrier, the young chicos loved to run on tires and play soccer. We had to say adios to the hombres y perros and made our way back to camp to splish splash in the pool. Put on the Keens and utilized the “multipurpose” abilities. For dinner we had delish pasta and garlic bread. A special treat after dinner, there were dancers and they were poppin’. Another wonderful day in Costa Rica on the books. 🙂
By: Zane and Tommy
July 27, 2016
It’s Wednesday mah dudes! We started off the day waking up bright and early and packed all our stuff for our next adventure! Once the bus came, we hit the road and began our 5 hour journey. We made several stops for food and bathrooms. On the bus we played a variety of games, sang songs, and grew closer. Near our destination, we stopped at a local beach and walked through mud and trees to charge into the warm water. We frolicked in the water for a solid 20 minutes but had to exit when it began to storm. We booked it back to the bus dripping with rain. We arrived at the hotel and it continued to pour, we strategically unloaded the bus and brought our bags to coverage. After showers, we enjoyed a home cooked meal!
– Kaley, TJ, & Cody
July 28, 2016
We woke up in new beds at Cabinas Alma and ate homemade jams, toast, and hot chocolate to start the day off right. We piled into our stick shift van and headed off to meet our surf instructors at the beach. Our surfing lesson *which has an amazing view of endless water against a back drop of rain forests* was briefly interrupted by a visit from cappuccino monkeys! We continued on with our surf lessons and headed for the water. We fell and got back up over and over, but everyone had an amazing time. We stopped for a snack after an hour of surfing and munched on apples and bananas and played a game of soccer tennis. We got back in the water for a short surf session and then breaked again for lunch and shopping. Again, we headed back to the waves and everyone had more success standing and riding the waves. The bus took us back to our hotel (stopping along the way for the best coconut water ever). We swam and hung out a little before dinner which was fresh fish. The night ended with the movie Limitless and popcorn. We learned that Costa Rica has amazing caramel corn. A great 5th day in Costa Rica!
Pura Vida,
Phoebe and Polly
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