Well it’s Wednesday already and I have no idea where the time has gone. Let me recap the last few days.
Sunday
Sunday morning started off nicely with our last breakfast in Puntarenas. The group was going to Guachipelin and I was headed to Flamingo. Initially, I was supposed to be dropped off in Liberia and catch the public bus to Flamingo using an obscure hand-drawn map that my bus driver Mau drew for me. About half way to Liberia, I get a call saying I need to be dropped off sooner at a crossroad called Mi Finca (my farm). So the driver pulls off quickly, drops me at the side of the road and takes off. Muni was coming to meet me at Mi Finca so I patiently waited…for 3 ½ hours. Luckily, this place has animals to pet, great pastries to eat, and one of the chaperones gave me the book The Color Purple to read. I nearly finished it.
Once Muni picked me up, I was taken to CPI Flamingo to help with an new group coming in. I helped there for a couple of hours and then headed to the Villagio Hotel to room with Muni for a couple nights. I couldn’t wait! We met up with Muni’s group that night (she has 40 kids in her group, I only have 20) and ate dinner and made a campfire on the beach.
Monday (my most hectic day to date, and I didn’t even have a group)
Monday, I awoke and jumped on the bus with Muni and her group and headed toward Flamingo. About 1 km away, the bus dumped me off and I began walking to school while they headed to a snorkel cruise. Thankfully, a Texas guy that I know was coming by in a Taxi and couldn’t figure out which way the school was. He was in luck. I knew the way and he told me to hop in. No walking for this girl.
I spent the rest of the day managing two 2 groups at school, one of which fired their previous CPI chaperone. I ran around like a chicken with its headed cut off trying to find answers for them along with accomplishing my own work. So much for a day off! (Of course, I’ve been here long enough to know that a day off is never really a day off). : ) At the end of the day, I met up with Muni’s group again and we grabbed some food and hung out. Her group was a lot of fun, but I am thankful for the group I have and the chaperones that I have.
However, somewhere in all of this I managed to call home and talk to my Grandma. It was great to hear from her and I got all the updates on what she had been doing lately. I was only sorry that I couldn’t take with her longer.
Tuesday (Surf Day!)
I reunited with my group on Tuesday and we headed to Tamarindo to go surfing. But before this, I went with Muni’s group to their volunteer site. They are painting a community center that is used for weddings and dances and community gatherings. It’s a really important place in the town and it’s a really neat project.
Around 11:00 a.m. my bus picked me back up and I was so happy to see my group again! We headed to eat first at Witch’s Rock and then went on to surfing. It was awesome. All of the girls in my group got up on the surfboard at some point. I was so proud of them. The waves were pretty big and I finally convinced the surf instructors to let me take some bigger waves. I actually got to surf down a wave a little at one point instead of just riding out on the foam. Regardless, it was great and another chaperone and I went nonstop for 2 hours. When they told us we only had 10 minutes left and the other girls called it day, the chaperone and I headed out for 3 more runs. I really like surfing. It’ll never take the place of wakeboarding in my book, but it was a pretty good substitute!
We were exhausted after surfing and once we returned and had a nice dinner at El Castillo (the Castle), it was curfew for the kids and for me too! I fell asleep watching Seinfeld. Of course, not before one of our boys was taken to the clinic because he was jumping on the beds and hit his head on the ceiling fan that was on high power. He suffered a small cut and ended up with a few stitches. I think he learned his lesson.
Today
Today we got to sleep in a little (until 7:00), eat breakfast and then head out to our volunteer project which was at an elementary school. The task included sanding down desks and varnishing them to help protect them against wear and tear. The project was pretty low key and it was good for the kids. We spent several hours on the desk before heading to lunch and later Playa Conchal (the shell beach).
Well, the kids enjoyed a couple of nice hours on the beach and we ended up dodging two rain storms that took place around us. We weren’t so lucky with the third. Around 3:15, the skies let loose and it began to pour. And I emphasize POUR. This wouldn’t have been an issue if we didn’t have to walk a solid 15 minutes to get back to the bus. Luckily, I came prepared with a garbage bag and was able to throw all of my gear into it to save it from the aguacero. Of course we were committing every error in the Red Cross safety handbook you can imagine: walking in a rain storm under tall trees, through deep puddles, next to an ocean. I wish I were joking when I say that one bolt of lightning struck a tree 20 meters away from me. It was unbelievable. We eventually made it back to the bus all in one piece and all accounted for. I’ll be okay if I never have to go through that again!
Now we are getting ready to head to dinner, a birthday celebration for one of the kids and disco night! The kids are really excited for disco night and are getting dressed up and looking cute. I can’t wait to see them dance! Anyway, I will write more when I can. It’s the first day that I’ve had internet in a while.
My family is in Centerhill this week and I am severely missing them and the water. Go big or go home…
One wet fish today,
Jessica Lynn
Sunday
Sunday morning started off nicely with our last breakfast in Puntarenas. The group was going to Guachipelin and I was headed to Flamingo. Initially, I was supposed to be dropped off in Liberia and catch the public bus to Flamingo using an obscure hand-drawn map that my bus driver Mau drew for me. About half way to Liberia, I get a call saying I need to be dropped off sooner at a crossroad called Mi Finca (my farm). So the driver pulls off quickly, drops me at the side of the road and takes off. Muni was coming to meet me at Mi Finca so I patiently waited…for 3 ½ hours. Luckily, this place has animals to pet, great pastries to eat, and one of the chaperones gave me the book The Color Purple to read. I nearly finished it.
Once Muni picked me up, I was taken to CPI Flamingo to help with an new group coming in. I helped there for a couple of hours and then headed to the Villagio Hotel to room with Muni for a couple nights. I couldn’t wait! We met up with Muni’s group that night (she has 40 kids in her group, I only have 20) and ate dinner and made a campfire on the beach.
Monday (my most hectic day to date, and I didn’t even have a group)
Monday, I awoke and jumped on the bus with Muni and her group and headed toward Flamingo. About 1 km away, the bus dumped me off and I began walking to school while they headed to a snorkel cruise. Thankfully, a Texas guy that I know was coming by in a Taxi and couldn’t figure out which way the school was. He was in luck. I knew the way and he told me to hop in. No walking for this girl.
I spent the rest of the day managing two 2 groups at school, one of which fired their previous CPI chaperone. I ran around like a chicken with its headed cut off trying to find answers for them along with accomplishing my own work. So much for a day off! (Of course, I’ve been here long enough to know that a day off is never really a day off). : ) At the end of the day, I met up with Muni’s group again and we grabbed some food and hung out. Her group was a lot of fun, but I am thankful for the group I have and the chaperones that I have.
However, somewhere in all of this I managed to call home and talk to my Grandma. It was great to hear from her and I got all the updates on what she had been doing lately. I was only sorry that I couldn’t take with her longer.
Tuesday (Surf Day!)
I reunited with my group on Tuesday and we headed to Tamarindo to go surfing. But before this, I went with Muni’s group to their volunteer site. They are painting a community center that is used for weddings and dances and community gatherings. It’s a really important place in the town and it’s a really neat project.
Around 11:00 a.m. my bus picked me back up and I was so happy to see my group again! We headed to eat first at Witch’s Rock and then went on to surfing. It was awesome. All of the girls in my group got up on the surfboard at some point. I was so proud of them. The waves were pretty big and I finally convinced the surf instructors to let me take some bigger waves. I actually got to surf down a wave a little at one point instead of just riding out on the foam. Regardless, it was great and another chaperone and I went nonstop for 2 hours. When they told us we only had 10 minutes left and the other girls called it day, the chaperone and I headed out for 3 more runs. I really like surfing. It’ll never take the place of wakeboarding in my book, but it was a pretty good substitute!
We were exhausted after surfing and once we returned and had a nice dinner at El Castillo (the Castle), it was curfew for the kids and for me too! I fell asleep watching Seinfeld. Of course, not before one of our boys was taken to the clinic because he was jumping on the beds and hit his head on the ceiling fan that was on high power. He suffered a small cut and ended up with a few stitches. I think he learned his lesson.
Today
Today we got to sleep in a little (until 7:00), eat breakfast and then head out to our volunteer project which was at an elementary school. The task included sanding down desks and varnishing them to help protect them against wear and tear. The project was pretty low key and it was good for the kids. We spent several hours on the desk before heading to lunch and later Playa Conchal (the shell beach).
Well, the kids enjoyed a couple of nice hours on the beach and we ended up dodging two rain storms that took place around us. We weren’t so lucky with the third. Around 3:15, the skies let loose and it began to pour. And I emphasize POUR. This wouldn’t have been an issue if we didn’t have to walk a solid 15 minutes to get back to the bus. Luckily, I came prepared with a garbage bag and was able to throw all of my gear into it to save it from the aguacero. Of course we were committing every error in the Red Cross safety handbook you can imagine: walking in a rain storm under tall trees, through deep puddles, next to an ocean. I wish I were joking when I say that one bolt of lightning struck a tree 20 meters away from me. It was unbelievable. We eventually made it back to the bus all in one piece and all accounted for. I’ll be okay if I never have to go through that again!
Now we are getting ready to head to dinner, a birthday celebration for one of the kids and disco night! The kids are really excited for disco night and are getting dressed up and looking cute. I can’t wait to see them dance! Anyway, I will write more when I can. It’s the first day that I’ve had internet in a while.
My family is in Centerhill this week and I am severely missing them and the water. Go big or go home…
One wet fish today,
Jessica Lynn
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