Hey everyone!
I can’t believe how long it’s been since you guys left Costa Rica – I’m sure by now everyone is seriously missing rice and beans for every meal. We miss you all and hope you guys are doing well back home and sharing fun stories from the trip with friends and family.
It’s funny to look back now on our first day in Alajuela as student slowly from the airport. I remember the name game and the initial orientation as well as our first pizza dinner together. That next day we had out walk through the community walk together and think of how much we learned throughout the week. We got to know the Bodhi team really well and also meet people from Bahía Ballena through surfing and service projects.
We hope that you guys gained a lot through the different service experiences. There may be some lollipop moments that you didn’t realize and we hope that you all treasure the bonds you made with the students at Forjando Alas. Watching you guys work through a language barrier to play with and form friendships with the kids was really special. The Surf and Service project was awesome because we were able to give back to the ocean by cleaning the beach and then put our new surf skills to use by giving lessons to the people that showed up.
In addition to the service projects, we had so much fun during activities with you guys. We got to relax and laugh our way through partner yoga with Pilar and watch (fall asleep to) the movies The Fisherman’s Son, Fish People, and Resurface together to wind down after the long day. We wont forget our crazy day of navigating the rapids and getting to jump through waterfalls on the rafting trip. We were also very proud that everyone rallied for the hike toward the end of an exhausting week. We look back especially fondly on that final day of surfing when we made it out to the green waves.
We hope that you are still reflecting on your experience and learning from those moments. We truly believe that learning happens upon reflection and not in the moment. We did a lot of powerful work! Including stories of self, world cup discussion, values reflection, lollipop moments, the appreciation circle, and more. All of those service hours and videos that Travis showed us are good fodder for more meaningful thoughts and discussions.
We’re missing you all and think of our trip often. We hope you’re doing well and that you’ll send us updates about where you end up in the future! We hope you are all feeling happy and healthy! Best of luck with everything 🙂
Some special memories from the trip:
– Pizza night!
– Two truths and a lie: iron deficiency
– Crocodile bridge
– Opening coconuts on the community walk
– Seeing a sloth on the community walk
– Stories of self
– Word assassin!
– Manual labor at Fojando Alas
– First time seeing the ocean
– Painting and helping out at the community soccer field
– Community soccer game with an ex-professional player (remember the bicycle kick??)
– World cup debate and then video on it
– Talking about gap year programs
– Painting the wall of Forjando Alas
– Rafting! and people falling in
– Beach day! With surfing, surf and service, and beach soccer
– Handstands and headstands on the beach
– Facepaint (sunscreen)… making a political statement!
– Surfing the green waves!
– Saying goodbye to surf instructors and giving them necklaces
– Dinner at Carlitos
– Lollipop moments
– Values exploration
– Compliment cards
– Appreciation circle
– Final goodbyes!!! 🙁
¡Pura vida!
Patrick and Jen
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