Day 3

     We started off the day listening to the kids sing "Santa Rosa," in celebration for a holiday on the 20th, here in Costa Rica. After the kids sang, we had about forty five minutes to play with the kids. They were very enthusiastic to play soccer, so we played a big, competitive game. Today was the day that we split into groups for the three jobs needed to be completed. The jobs were to paint/design the playground, cement the seams of two large pieces on the concrete wall, and finish painting the green that we started the previous day. Katie, Jasmine, and Taylor came up with the design for the playground which was rainbow stripes. The searing sun insured many bugs and hot weather, but everyone persevered through the heat. The goal of the playground was to make the kids more enthusiastic to come to school. After all of our hard work, we got the chance to see one of the many organic farms in Costa Rica.
      The farm was foundered by Daniel after he made a pact to ensure nobody ate chemically treated food and for an end for deforestation. He showed us all of the spicy, hot seasoning peppers that were hotter than some of the ones grown in India. The kids decided to compete to see how long they could last without drinking water. Taylor ate a groundbreaking number of eight peppers without a single reaction or need to drink water. On the contrary, Jake drank his water faster than a camel in the Sahara after just one pepper. As if that was not enough, his nose started bleeding too. After the pit stop for the peppers, we continued our tour with the new project Daniel and his family started. He is growing vanilla beans, which shockingly take 6 years to sprout actual beans. With the money he earns from the beans, he hopes to establish a school where people from different countries could come to learn about organic farming. The tour was concluded with traditional, sweet Costa Rican pancakes and coffee. The pancakes were delicious and many students had more than four.
      To close our impressive tour, we came back to the Eco Lodge for a healthy dinner. The dinner here is outstanding, and everyone always has something to eat. As always, we end our days with ANCHOR, which is a group talk we have every night. Tonight, we learned about True Colors and everyone's personality and mindset. You may have heard about how one might be "right-brained" or "left-brained". This just means that if you are "right-brained" you are more creative and artistic, while "left-brained" is more logical and about academics. We had a wonderful day full of tasty food, a great soccer game, and an educational talk about an organic farm.
-Christine and Jasmine
p.s. I love you mom and dad. - Jasmine