Thursday, March 31, 2016

Hola!

Good afternoon families and friends!

We are having a lovely time in Costa Rica.  The weather has been a mixture of sun and rain with very hot temperatures.  The students have been coping rather well with smiles on their faces.  They have all been applying sunscreen and bug spray on a regular basis.  Yesterday, we stayed cool by walking through the rainforest, then swimming in the river in the pouring rain.  It was quite refreshing.

The wifi has not been very reliable, this is why we have not been able to post many photos for you to see, but I can assure you that we have taken hundreds of photos that we will put on the blog once we either get to a stronger wi-fi signal or home.

You will notice that students have been reflecting on the blog. Each day there are two student leaders that work with Javier and Sarah (our World Leadership Guides) to plan the day.  Everyone will get to be a leader before the trip is over.  Today we played with the local school children and presented our gifts to them.  In groups, they played "gato gato perro" (duck duck goose) and soccer, among other games.  I think today may have been the highlight of the trip so far.  Tomorrow, we will be going with  some kids on the boat to look for dolphins and snorkel.  Each day seems to get better and better.

All in all, it has been a great experience and we cannot think of a better group of kids to be here with. Thank you for sharing them with us for ten days. Everyone is eating well and staying very hydrated.  We get to bed pretty early and rise around 7am.  Saturday we will be moving locations from the village with the school to the research station in Piro.

Keep checking on the blog and I will do my best to post whenever we get better service, but I wanted to make sure you all know that everything is going great.

Pura Vida!
Liz and Kathy

Reflection from Kellen


In yesterday’s experience, we visited a local chocolate farm that served us food and provided new knowledge to everyone. When we arrived, the weather seemed impossible to survive in, but the landscapes were breathtaking. The workers there were very generous, and provided lunch, an informational tour, samples of fresh fruit, and a chocolate treat after. Although the tour was fun and informational, it also served as a great lesson. Many of us take food for granted. When eating, we rarely think about the hard work that goes into picking, processing, and shipping each product. For example, our tour guide, Juan, showed us a cashew tree (Yes, there is an actual cashew plant…I didn't know that.) and let us taste the fruit. The stem of each fruit contains one cashew nut, and the fruit itself. Cashews are one of my favorite snacks to eat, but I never realized how many cashew fruits were needed just to fill up a small bag. It may not be wasteful, but it doesn't seem efficient to eat only the cashew nut, but not the fruit. The tour served as an interesting, but thought provoking experience.

Despite the contradiction, I appreciate the suffering. It’s hard to realize how different a culture is until you actually experience it for yourself. The weather, lack of shelter, insects, and many different factors are assumed to hold people back from succeeding, but some how Costa Rican natives happily survive and embrace the love for their country. When visiting this country, you question how one could sleep every night while constantly worrying about mosquitos and the humidity. I have eternal respect for those who can survive these setbacks AND do it with a smile on their face. Also, I can proudly say that I have never met such a genuinely nice group of people. In Los Angles, it’s common to never make eye contact with strangers, but in Costa Rica everyone greets you as you walk and are very patient despite our lack of knowledge in Spanish. Our host moms volunteer to take us into their house and make us excellent food. I just wish I could speak Spanish to show more of my gratitude!

Dear mom and dad,

Thank you for sending me on this trip. I know how much you spoil me, and I also know that I don't express as much love as I should. This trip is incredibly fun, but also makes me realize how much I miss home. Mrs. Hagee says hi! I’ll see you guys soon. Love you.



Reflection from Angie



是我RPH小分在哥斯达黎加的第二天,地和老师们延迟了起床时间,所以小伙伴们都度过了一个充足的睡眠时间,精力充沛的开始了新的一天的活动。早晨,同学们三三两两的聚到了一起,再用过美味的早餐之后,我们做了一些关于左右脑的活动,并且根据左右脑不同的工作和每个人的性格分成了四个不同的小组,有的人是梦想家,有的人是浪漫主义者,有的人是决裁者,有的人则是现实主义者 。在一些活动之后,大家都明白了在左半脑发达的人和右半脑发达人的所存在的差异,也从而懂得了在我们的生命中总会有一些人不能一起共处的原因,还有为什么性格相差很大的人却能成为好朋友。
在短暂的室内活动之后,我们的探险小分队又出发了。冒着微微细雨开启了探索热带雨林的路程,大家一路上欢声笑语互相帮扶,我们渡了小河,看了淘金,拥有了难以忘记的回忆。
最让我惊喜的是在临近中午的时候,我们来到了一个在小河深处的一个天然游泳池,当大家看到它的时候,都不禁有一丝失望,在这个时候雨越下越大,站在水边的人和站在水里的人都是全身湿透的。所以同学们开始慢慢的进入水里洗去了多天来的黏腻和沉闷,在“游泳池”的深处我们意料之外地发现了一个小小的瀑布,享受了天然的冲刷按摩。这将会是我在这趟旅行中最难忘的回忆。然后,我们在回家的路上和寄宿家庭一起用了午餐,收获了很多的乐趣。
经过短暂的休息,我们开始了这趟旅行最重要的目的-帮助当地的孩子建一所学校。同学们都在烈日下怀着对孩子们的祝福努力地工作着,可惜天公不作美,洋洋洒洒的雨滴又从天空中飘洒下来,大家一边在棚下躲雨,一边和当地的小朋友们玩耍起来,每个人的脸上都挂着开心的笑容。

亲爱的爸爸妈妈,我们在这里很好,请不要担心,这对我们来说将会是终生难忘的旅行。请照顾好自己,期待我们的归来。


It is the second day for the RHP adventure team in Costa Rica and the local tour guides and teachers delayed the wake up time so everyone could get sleep.  We started the new day with a lot of energy.  In the morning, students came to the dining area and had a delicious breakfast.  We then had an activity about how the brain works….the left brain and the right brain.  We were put in four different groups based on personalities and the different jobs of the brain.  Some people are idealists, some are artists, some are guardians and others are rational.  After these activities, everyone understood the differences between people who are right-brained and those that are left-brained.  We also talked about why people are left-handed and why some people cannot work together.  Even if people have different personalities, they can still be friends. 

After the indoor activities, our team started a new adventure.  We went to the rain forest and it was actually raining!  On the way there, everyone helped each other get across the river and we saw how to dig for gold.  We had the unforgettable memory.

The most exciting part for me was finally arriving to the watering hole to swim, but when we saw it we were a little disappointed because we were out of our comfort zone.  At this point, it was raining so hard so it did not matter if you were in the water or not…you were soaking wet.  Everyone went into the water to wash off the sweat and bug spray; it ended up being a lot of fun.  We found a small waterfall and we enjoyed the natural massage.  I think this might be the most unforgettable memory of this trip so far.  When we were on the way home from swimming, we met our host moms for lunch along the river.   We had a ton of fun eating even though we were soaking wet. 

After the short break, we started the main idea for this trip to build the classroom for the local kids.  Everyone was working so hard under the sunshine feeling hopeful but it started again, so everyone had to get out of the rain and play with the local kids with huge smiles on their faces. 

Dear Dad and Mom, we are having a lot of fun here, so please don’t worry about us.  This experience is going to be the trip of a lifetime.  Please take care of each other, we are going to go home soon.  

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Reflection from Bria




Hey everybody! Today was amazing! After the surprise of yesterday’s heat, I wasn't expecting to have too much energy or too much excitement, but I believe the whole group was pleasantly surprised. After an early wake up, we all finished packing our bags and piled onto the buses. We arrive at our destination, a chocolate farm, about 15 minutes later. This was where we ate breakfast. The food was amazing: Some fruits, cereal, bread, and coffee. On the tour of the farm, the whole group tried new things. One thing I had never heard of was the fruit of a cashew nut. It was an odd combination of juicy and dry, bitter and sweet. I was surprised to learn about where the fruits came from and why some they looked the way they did. The farmer explained to us that farms that work in harmony with the natural environment usually breed their fruits to be unattractive so that the animals won’t eat them. He explained that sometimes, the most attractive pieces of produce won't have the best taste. After sampling their chocolate products, we were back on the buses. Because I am one of the leaders of the day, I was constantly reminding my friends to put on bug spray and sunscreen (so yes, mom, I have been wearing enough sunscreen). From here, we went and met our home stay families. They fed us all amazing food. My home stay mom gave my group a salad and some rice with chicken. I have been really surprised with how much of the food I have liked here. I was worried about not having much to eat, but I opened up my mind to trying new things and it has been great! My home stay family didn't speak English, and my group didn't speak any Spanish. It was a bit difficult to communicate, but we learned a bit about each other. All of the locals that we have met have been so kind and welcoming. Right now, our group is working on clearing away the wood from the old school house. Although it is very hot, being together with friends has made it really fun. I’m so glad to have this experience, and it’s only the first full day.  I can’t wait for the rest of the trip.




Reflection from Michael



Today in Costa Rica had been a very special and interesting day for me. The time we spent in the chocolate “factory” was the best, we saw the whole process of how chocolate was made and were allowed to taste it. Furthermore, we also tasted all these fresh fruits from the farm: white pineapple, star fruit and the bitter cashew apple. Later on we saw our host family. It was a little awkward in the beginning because they speak Spanish and I don’t, but it was still very nice to know them. They provided our lunch and I think it was traditional Costa Rican food: salad, beans, rice and meat. It is really nice to try different kinds of food. Last but not least, we helped the locals to rebuild their school for the children. It wasn’t easy but I enjoyed the time doing it because we all knew it is something right to do. Overall, today was great, we worked and we also had fun. Oh and it's my birthday!

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Photos from Day 1 at El Ceibo

Here are a few photos from our first day spent at El Ceibo.  Despite the high temperatures, we had a blast, ate well and slept like logs after our long day of travel.