Costa Rica

The past week we have been in Costa Rica revisiting memorable places from last time we were here three years ago. We started by spending 4 days in Tortuguero, a small reggae influinced town only 100 yards wide with a lagoon on one side and the ocean on the other. We spent most of this time swimming in the ocean, body-surfing. We also had the opportunity to go on a night-hike and watch a sea turtle lay eggs. This is an amazing thing to watch and learn about. After our time in Tortuguero we took a series of boats and buses to get to Ciudad Quesada for 2 days, where we had volunteered for 3 weeks when we were here last time. We stayed with the principle of the school that we had volunteered at and were able to see some familiar places and faces. We have now come back to San Jose and tomorrow we fly back to the states.

The Amazon

The last week we have been staying at Sani Lodge in the Amazon Rainforest. We got to do and see many exciting things that were probably once in a lifetime opportunities. We all had a blast swimming in a black-water lagoon that was home to piranhas, caimans (similar to an crocodile) and anacondas. Apparently they were scared of us, and not interested in eating human. However, later we came upon a 15 foot caiman and our guide informed us that when they get that big they´re not afraid of anything. We also got to ascend 150 feet to the top of a tree where a small canopy tower was built and were able to see 3 pairs of Blue and Yellow Macaws fly by. After this, we returned to Quito for 2 days and finally said goodbye to Ecuador.

Ciao Mindo

I leave Mindo this afternoon. It´s been a pleasant and touching experience. I laughed, I cried. ¡Two thumbs way up! These last few days my brother came to visit us here in Mindo and present us with a horse of a different colour. On his way here he did actually see three dead horses in the road, the aftermath of a horse-drawn carrige wreck on the edge of a cliff. He came out on top and is now perfectly fine. I have now jumped off a 4o foot cliff into a narrow gorge on the teetering edge of a waterfall, gone ziplining, rafted through constant rapids during a driving rain, and at last had my final batido.

We are heading back to Quito today, where we will stay for two days, then go to the Amazon (here called the Oriente).

Adjusting to Mindo life

After spending over a week in Mindo, I am beginning to feel very at home here. We have now discovered our favorite batido shop (it´s kind of like a milkshake) and go there every day. On Saturday walked went to the waterfalls about 5 miles from Mindo. They were very gorgeous and fun. The is a water slide made out of concrete that ends in a 12 foot drop into the river above the waterfall. It was very fun but also very cold water. The daycare with the Amiguitos has been going great. They love playing Duck, Duck, Goose and it is hilarious to watch. Last Wednesday we got to celebrate with the whole nation as Liga an Ecuadorian club team beat won in the first of two games in the South American championship for club teams. We also have enjoyed inner-tubing down the river, which is constant rapids. We have also been enjoying playing soccer with the local kids who have a week break off from school.

Now in Mindo

Hola, we have now arrived in Mindo. On sunday afternoon we took a gorgeuos two hour bus ride here. Mindo is a delightful, small town of about 1000 people where everyone knows each other. We will be staying here for two weeks. Our schedule goes like so: every morning from 9 to 10 we go work at a daycare called Amiguitos for small kids who have nothing to do all day becuase their mom´s need to work as maids all day. The kids are hilarious and I am loving this. We started by teaching them colors in English but soon found out that they don´t even know them in Spanish. Since then we have been doing teambuilding games with them. From 10:30 to 12:30 we have Spanish lessons. Then in the afternoon we teach kids computer skills. This is pretty fun, we are just teaching them the basics in Microsoft Word. We have been doing some fun things for them to create, like making a menu for an imaginary restaurant or designing a book cover. My personal favorite was ¨Piter Pan y los Pinguinos.¨ Everything has been going great, and I am loving Mindo.

Arriving in Ecuador, experiencing Quito

Hola amigos,

I flew out of L.A. on thursday the 19th at 2 am. it was only a 7 hour flight (which seemed like nothing after India). We encounted no problems and it all went easily. There was a full moon also, which was cool. We were picked up from the airport by the Surango family, that my brother Caleb is staying with for the whole summer. We got to spend three days with them to get to know them and get a glimpse of Caleb´s situation for the summer. They are an amazing family. The parents are Carlos and Katty and they have kids Jimmy (20), Erick (16), and Genesis (8). They are all very fun and a great family. Carlos is the pastor of their church. They live on top of their church, and a really cool house, that is kind of like narrow maze. The landscape around them is beautiful.

On saturday we had the oppurtunity to go to a small community called Langualo of maybe 50 or 100 people 3 hours away with their church as an outreach project. It was an amazing experience in all. Also, when going there we were warned that we would be eating guinnea pigs. Sure enough it only took Genesis about 5 minutes to show me a cage with about 100 of them in it. I asked her if we would be eating these and she shrugged saying, ¨Talvez (maybe)¨. Unfourtunately we only got to eat chicken, but they said if we came back they would make us guinnea pig.