Hola!

Things have been really quiet since all of you left. The monkeys are still screaming in the morning to wake us up but late night dance parties have ceased to exist. Carlos and the Angels crew definitely miss having trap in their everyday lives.

Im sure by now you are all back in your comfortable spaces of home–probably not eating arroz y frijoles for every meal but I’m sure atleast thinking about Costa Rica just a little bit. The students in las delicias and 27 have asked for you all many times by name–I think it’s very obvious that even after weeks of time have past that the effect that each of you had on their lives is evident.

I hope that over the next few months and potentially the rest of your lives that the community here-especially the children-will have impacted each of you as well. You now all have a new place with familiar beaches, familiar birds squawking in the morning, and familiar faces that pass on the street. Maybe in the future you will return to this space and reconnect with the communities that you had the opportunity to live within for three weeks.

I’m sure you miss buying every snack from the pulpería, playing with literally every dog, and listening to the adventures of big mike–I know I surely do!

These connections are some that will be here for a lifetime and that we all got to share it together is really special! The nandamojo Watershed will miss you just as I am sure you miss it as well!

Pura vida amigos!

Love,
Kilee, Jordan and Megan!

 

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Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that we were jumping off the tower into the lake,
playing with the children, and eating rice and beans for every meal? We can’t believe
it’s been so long since our Costa Rica trip ended but you are still on our minds and
we still have such fond memories of our last Initiative for Children Costa Rica group
and the good times we had this summer. You all definitely finished our summer with
a bang!

We hope you all know time spent in the schools really did make an impact. You
brought joy to so many children with your smiles, games, and English lessons and
spelling bees. We learned from one another practicing our Spanish and helping them
practice English. We’ve been practicing all summer for the spelling bee and your
group actually got to see the final results, which was really exciting!

Santa Teresa Norte has a giant garden that slowly but surely is coming together and
soon will be a great asset for the school in terms of fresh food for the students and
extra income for the school. Santa Teresa Sur has a beautiful completed mural full of
handprints that will last years with all of the GLA students who have come and gone.
Also, they are very very close to having their own greenhouse! Bellavista’s garden is
bursting with veggies that the school uses every day for their students, and you all
helped maintain so they continue growing. And who can forget our English Festival
and Spelling Bee that all the kids worked so hard for. Thank you all for sharing your
time and positive energy with the Costa Rican children and us! We hope that this
experience also impacted you and that you reflect on how you can bring the lessons
you learned about yourself and the world around you into your community and
hopefully carry them with you for the rest of your life!

We couldn’t have asked for a better group to finish off our Costa Rican summer! You
all are wonderful individuals and you each brought a unique energy and perspective
to our program. You quickly became a close-knit group and we had so much fun
together! We basically adopted Canelo into our lives and spoiled him rotten! We had
adventures horseback riding and zip lining at the base of the Arenal volcano with
only a few slight injuries (Gabriela is no longer feeling like an old lady). We tasted
some of the best pineapple in the world and got to go out on the farm to pick our
own. We relaxed at Alfredo’s fountain of youth (aka the Hot Springs) after the most
adventurous weekend some of us had ever had. We rafted down the river and saw
some amazing wildlife that is only unique to Costa Rica as well as having water
fights and throwing people overboard with the crocodiles.

That last afternoon and evening was super special to all of us. At night everyone
dressed up to make our final meal together memorable (and to get some nice
pictures). Who can forget our awesome dance party (even though the speaker was
not cooperating at all)? Juan Ca even came to join the party and danced the night
away with us! There were so many tears that night and even more hugs, because we
knew that these relationships that were made would not be easily forgotten. And the
impact that we had on each other’s lives will have reshaped us for many years to
come!

We all had a great time together and made some memories that will remember for
years. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful summer with us!

Some special moments from our trip:
-Karaoke sessions on the Juan Ca mobile
-Watching dance and singing performances from many talented children at
the English Festival. Some of us even got to participate in some!
-Learning all about coffee with Alfredo
-Buying ice-cream at every super market trip
-Playing pranks on each other
-Seeing sloths, monkeys, tropical birds, and SO MANY BUGS
-Pancakes for breakfast EVERYDAY!
-Juan Carlos climbing on top of the bus to get that perfect sunset picture
-Early morning yoga sessions with Rosie
-Night activities like bonfire and Mama Mia
-Eating the best pineapple everrrr
-Learning the most important Russian words in the yellow house
-The alien necklace that protected us during our journey
-The most entertaining debate we’ve ever seen
-Canelo, Brad, and Stella walking us to and from service
-Learning life lessons
-Supermarket trips that resulted in gallons of ice cream being bought

 

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Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that we were hanging out in the treehouse, playing
with Costa Rican children, and eating rice and beans for every meal? We can’t
believe it’s been so long since our Costa Rica trip ended but you are still on our
minds and we have such fond memories of our time together this summer.

Our time spend in the schools really did make an impact. You brought joy to so many
children with your smiles, games, and the lasting impact of your hard work in the
gardens. We learned from one another practicing our Spanish and helping them
learn English. At Santa Teresa Norte Tiffany, Carolina, Julia M., Stella, Elizabeth,
Megan, Brooke, and Ammar did a phenomenal job clearing out the garden,
preparing it for it’s new crops. We also spent time in the classrooms teaching the
students English through activities and games.

Santa Teresa Sur is slowly but surely getting their greenhouse and our director is so
so happy to have a beautiful bright view from her window. The kids loved having
Eunice, Rachel, Jimena, Caroline, Daley, Parker, Lucia, Eva, Viviana, Anna, and
Brandon at their school! Remember our last day of musical chairs and taking like a
bazillion pictures with all the children? Who cried?! It was such a lovely experience
to spend time with them and see how happy they are with the littlest hug or
affection.

Thanks to Sophie, Michaela, Christina, Madison, Maggie, Morgan, Alex, Meghan, Julia
B., Grace, and Francesca, Bellavista the 6 th grade kids can spell every word in the
Cambridge dictionary and the little ones are still dancing along the creepy guy tunes.
All the children are wearing your friendship bracelets and Froilan is keeping his
promise of love to Julia. The bean plants were replanted and are feeding the kids at
the cantine.

Thank you all for sharing your time and positive energy with the Costa Rican
children and us! We hope that this experience also impacted you and that you reflect
on how you can bring the lessons you learned about yourself and the world around
you into your community and carry them with you for the rest of your life!

You were a great group and we are so happy that each one of you decided to join us
for a wonderful two weeks. You are all incredible individuals and you each brought
a unique energy and perspective to our program. You quickly became friends and
we had so much fun together! We kicked off our time together picking our favorite
pineapples and viewing Costa Rican wildlife on our river rafting tour. We relaxed at
hotsprings and learned how to dance bachata and the swing criollo. We had an
action-packed day horseback riding and zipling and some of us even saw sloths! We
all had a great time together and made some memories that will last a lifetime.
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful summer with us!

Some special moments from our trip:
 Running in the mornings with Carlos and Rosie
 Celebrating TWO birthdays!
 Taking so many pictures “in the jungle” at the hotsprings
 Jumping into the lake off the top of the tower
 Searching for caimans in the lake at night
 Trying not to burn ourselves when roasting marshmallows
 Watching Freaky Friday on Friday night
 Looking for your own pineapples at the pineapple farm
 Rowing away from Crocodiles at the boat safari
 Decorating the back window of the small van
 Jamming out in the buses
 Horseback riding in a mostly sunny day
 Going to the supermarket THREE times 😀
 Making endless friendship bracelets
 Seeing sloths on our boat safari and grumpy monkeys
 Learning to Costa Rican swing dance

 

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Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that we were hosting a camp for Costa Rican children,
swimming in the lake, and braving the rain to hike, ride horses, and zip line through
the rainforest? We can’t believe it’s been so long since our program in Costa Rica
ended but you are still on our minds. We had some unforgettable times together this
summer!

Your community service really did make an impact. The garden at Santa Teresa
Norte looked like a different place after your days picking weeds and loosening the
dirt. Thanks to you, the ground is ready for mulch that will allow them to plant
vegetables for food and a source of revenue for their school in their huge garden!
Santa Teresa Sur has newly painted walls and a mural that you and the groups
before and after you will continue to add to and leave a life long legacy.

Your camps were a huge success! The children and their parents were so grateful to be able to
spend that time with us. You all did a great job planning your camp day and leading
your peers and the local children in games and activities. We’ll never forget face
painting, soccer and musical chairs in the rain, and teaching the kids some fun new
phrases such as “I’m dope”. We all enjoyed playing, laughing, and building our
language skills together. Thank you for your hard work in making it happen!

Apart from our hard work in community service, we had an action-packed two
weeks full of adventures. We braved the Costa Rica rainy season to go horseback
riding at the base of a volcano, zip line through the treetops, hike in a national park,
spot sloths and birds while boating down the San Carlos river, and relax in the
natural hot springs at the base of the Arenal volcano.

We all had a great time together and made some memories that will last a lifetime.
Thank you for sharing an unforgettable two weeks with us!

Some special moments from the trip:
-Eating the best pineapple ever!
-“I’m Steven and I’m dope!”
-Soccer games with the local children after service
-Gabriella saving Piño and all of us spoiling him for a few days at our home
base
-Our own personal photographers
-Playing pool by the lake
-Creating new fashion styles such as Rain suits
-Jamming to Cardi B every bus ride
-Pancakes! Every. Single. Day.
-Enjoying Don Alfredo’s coffee
-Seeing so many Costa Rican critters at the EcoPark
-ICE CREAM
-Braiding Carlos’s hair
-Amazing Nurse Sophia taking care of everyone’s bug bites
-Appreciation Circle

 

Feeling nostalgic? You can experience that same sense of friendship and adventure abroad again! Check out all our 2019 programs, or enroll now.

Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that we were kayaking on the lake, playing with the
children, and eating rice and beans for every meal? We can’t believe it’s been so long
since our Costa Rica trip ended but you are still on our minds and we still have such
fond memories of our first Initiative for Children Costa Rica group and the good
times we had this summer.

Our time spent in the schools really did make an impact. You brought joy to so many
children with your smiles, games, and many many friendship bracelets. We learned
from one another practicing our Spanish and helping them practice English and get
ready for their spelling bee. Santa Teresa Norte has a much cleaner and better-
organized school thanks to Sophia’s take-charge group which includes Alexus,
Allyson, Jenna, Jennifer, Anna, Anushka, Caryus, and Dean. Santa Teresa Sur has a
beautiful mural thanks to all the girls who were in Gabriella’s creative group such as
Mo, Amanda, Amber, Bailey, Blair, Caroline, Hailey, Ice, Mary, Raina and Tori!
Bellavista has and up and coming garden and greenhouse thanks to Carlos and his
fantastic group which was Robin, Arianna, Emily, Gracie, Harper, Heath, Jackson,
Jett, Kendall, Olivia, and Siena. Thank you all for sharing your time and positive
energy with the Costa Rican children and us! We hope that this experience also
impacted you and that you reflect on how you can bring the lessons you learned
about yourself and the world around you into your community and hopefully carry
them with you for the rest of your life!

We couldn’t have asked for a better group to kick off our Costa Rican summer! You
all are wonderful individuals and you each brought a unique energy and perspective
to our program. You quickly became a close-knit group and we had so much fun
together! We almost adopted Costa Rican dogs and cats and learned that dogs can
kayak! We had adventures horseback riding and zip lining at the base of the Arenal
volcano. We hiked through the rainforest to see the beautiful green-blue lake at the
top of the Pozo Verde National Park. We relaxed at Alfredo’s fountain of youth (aka
the Hot Springs) after the most adventurous weekend some of us had ever had. On
our last day we rafted down the river and saw some amazing wildlife that is only
unique to Costa Rica.

That last afternoon and evening was super special to all of us, we can remember
celebrating the rise in water level at the lake and FINALLY being able to jump off
from the tower. At night everyone dressed up to make our final meal together
memorable (and to get some nice pictures). Who can forget our awesome dance
party at the end with Carlos and Alfredo singing along to our favorite tunes? There
were so many tears that night and even more hugs, because we knew that these
relationships that were made will not be easily forgotten. And the impact that we
had on each other’s lives will have reshaped us for many years to come!

We all had a great time together and made some memories that will last a lifetime.
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful summer with us!

Some special moments from our trip:
 The spontaneous karaoke session before bedtime at home base
 Watching dance and singing performances from many talented children at
the Art Festival. Some of us even got to participate in one!
 Learning all about coffee with Alfredo
 Bigotes yelling “¡Pura vida!” every morning as we left for community service
 Celebrating two birthdays!
 Seeing a sloth climb up the highest branch of a tree
 Pancakes for breakfast EVERYDAY!
 Juan Carlos letting us stop for churros on the side of the road
 Watching Copa Mundial games inside the house with some very passionate
mentors and local staff members
 Early morning runs with Carlos and Rosie
 The one clear night when we all did star gazing
 Eating the best pineapple everrrr
 Mafia and telephone charades group games

 

Feeling nostalgic? You can experience that same sense of friendship and adventure abroad again! Check out all our 2019 programs, or enroll now.