Greetings to all friends and families,

Our names are Helen and Em and we were the LDDs (Lideres del Dia) of day 7 which was Fun Day! Our day actually started yesterday (6/10), when the previous LDDs passed us the torch after presenting our talents. Em did an amazing calisthenics demonstration and Helen introduced herself in four different languages (English, Spanish, Mandarin, and ASL). Later that night, Helen took up the responsibility of making sure everyone was in bed on time, as Em passed out when the nightly meeting ended. The next morning, Em made sure to wake everyone up in a positive and gentle way. As everyone got ready our wonderful cooks Diego and Doña Vera made us a very yummy breakfast. After breakfast, we made a hasty departure to the trailhead for our waterfall hike. Our GGL Nikki brought the sweet tunes so we could jam out on the road. Once we arrived, we trekked down the steep incline to the Las Trillizas waterfall, where we plunged into the icy water for a mid-morning swim. After a delightful few hours of swimming and lounging on the rocks, we made the (twice as difficult) return back up the hill to our lunch reservation. A majority of our fellow Glimpsers bought milkshakes! For our afternoon activity our group had two choices; go to Turrialba for some retail therapy, or return to the base house for some R&R. Helen chose to go to Turrialba and Em chose to head home for the day. 

Turrialba Experience: 

After separating from the groups, we headed to our first stop: the bathroom. Anyone who wanted to use the restroom had to pay 200 colones (38 cents). Then we headed out to the thrift store where we spent a whopping 1 hour looking at clothes. After shopping around we stopped by a cafe where some of our Glimpsers bought boba tea and french fries. Our Glimpsers were convinced that they would have to take public transportation home and were worried about missing the bus. To our surprise, we received a private bus ride home which was much appreciated. On our bus ride, we had a nice sing-along to Baby by Justin Bieber and had a great laugh about it on our walk back home ( from the driveway). 

Base House Experience:

Coordinator Diana, Satya, Maddy, and Em made their way through Turrialba to the public bus, stopping several times for snacks and other goodies. Once back in Aquiares, they made a quick stop at the local store for even more snacks, then returned to the base house. All of us took much-needed showers, then settled onto our respective couches and armchairs for some reading. Maddy read The Women, Satya read Lolita, and Em read The Cactus of Love (which they found on the dusty base house shelves, and actually enjoyed greatly). Then, the rest of the group arrived.

Now that everyone was reunited, it was time for a fantastic dinner of burgers with chips, along with fruit punch and iced tea. Then, our CAP (community action project) seminar #2, in which we created our plan of action for our upcoming school building project. After that, it was finally our turn to pass the torch to our new LDDs, Maddy and Satya, at the nightly meeting. We are so excited to see these Glimpsers take up the roles that taught us so much about responsibility, compassion, and leadership. We wish them the best of luck tomorrow as we learn about environmental justice!

-Helen Perez Jeronimo, Em Wilson

More photos from today here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3cp3y2t4rvFpdR6C6