Where to begin?! Well, first off, it didn't rain today! Not once! Pura vida! It was hot and muggy, but we'll take that any day over torrential downpours.
Our day started off with a 3 hour hike through the rainforest, beginning and ending at the Tirimbina Rainforest Center, where we'll be staying tonight and tomorrow night. Our guide started out by telling us all the things that could go wrong on the hike, to the point where we all shot each other glances as if to say, "Hmmm...should we still go?" I think we can all say in hindsight that we're more than glad we did. The rainforest presented us with one amazing surprise and photo opp after another, and our guides were both witty and informative. Highlights of the tour were walking on suspension bridges over rivers (some with rapids), hearing and finally stumbling upon a family of 5 howler monkeys high up in the canopy, and seeing a viper coiled up on the side of the trail.After lunch, we went to a nearby school and were first entertained by a dance group performing a traditional Costa Rican dance to a patriotic song. The kids were adorable, and great dancers. Afterwards, we divided into groups (Profe Olson's and mine). Profe Olson's started out by painting a classroom, while my group went to the kitchen to "give a cooking lesson on a traditional American snack." Our snack of choice? Brownies. We brought 3 boxes with us to Costa Rica, only to find out that the kitchen in the school does not have an oven. "OKAY!" I thought! Plan B: brownie pancakes, cooked on the stove top. I opted to let the kids in our group mix and mingle with the elementary school students while I cooked, because A) they were having a blast, and B) I figured our "pancakes" would be a dismal failure, and I didn't want anyone to witness the fiasco. Surprisingly, the pancakes turned out fine, and the kids all seemed to enjoy them. I think that chocolate in any form is generally accepted by kids (and most adults, for that matter). On the painting side of things, the kids were able to finish almost the entire room before running out of (very bright green) paint, and managed to get more paint on the walls than on themselves. :) They did a really great job. There were some raucous games of tag and cops and robbers after the projects were finished. It was so cute to see the little Costa Rican kids hauling our students off to "jail" with hands behind their back.
After all this activity, our kids were completely exhausted, especially given the fact that it was 110 degrees with 99% humidity*. Most took a well-deserved siesta.
The plan after dinner was to go to a soccer arena next door to play a pickup game with some local students, ages 10-15. Of course, we all assumed that they would school us "gringos" in their national pastime, but I'm happy to report that we actually held our own and ended up winning (but really, who's counting?...we were.) The kids we played were exceptionally nice and great sports, and after the match, just when we thought things couldn't get any more fun, the local kids invited us to swim in their pool which was right outside the arena. I cannot adequately describe how much fun we had, both Profe Olson and myself taking pictures of the kids having a blast, but also the kids themselves who were having the time of their lives. They took turns jumping off the diving board, and the Costa Rican kids entertained us all with daring flips and dives. This was the perfect grand finale after an unbelievably great day.
Since it is 11:00 and we have to be up by 6:15, I think we'll skip pictures for today, but please know that we'll be putting them all on a website after the trip so that everyone can see evidence of our aforementioned activities.
Take care, and thanks for reading!
Profe Simmons y Profe Olson
*potentially a slight exaggeration, but still...it was HOT.
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