Hola Familias y Amigas,
It´s Chloé reporting live from Costa Rica. I started the day by waking up at 6:30 to read outside while enjoying the view and listening to the birds chirp. I woke everyone up at 8 am for breakfast at 8:30. On the breakfast menu we had French toast, eggs with either ham or onions, and fresh fruit. The homemade mango juice was a 10 out of 10.
Shortly after breakfast, we had our CAP Seminar to plan our community action project for the next three days. During our seminar, we learned about the “White Savior Complex” which is when people go to other countries to volunteer for ingenuine reasons like, recognition and praise versus actually wanting to support communities in need. We also brainstormed ways to create sustainable change here in Aquiares vs. Americanizing it with change we think they may benefit from. Overall we are going into our CAP Project with open minds and a new outlook on creating change.
After our seminar, we had lunch which consisted of pork chops, sauteed potatoes, and salad. I´m not gonna lie, our Chef Diego put his WHOLE foot in that food and had some of us eating the plates… no names.
After this we had a guest speaker named Rodrigo who only spoke Español, so shout out to Shirley for translating through the entire workshop. Toward the end, we planted a plant in our backyard that could be used to help cancer patients. This was very emotional for him and hit home for some of the group members because he planted it with the intention of helping others fight cancer.
After this, we had some downtime, where some of us took a trip to the mini market down the road, read in the hammocks, played card games, and called home. I know you guys miss us just as much as we miss you all! For Dinner, We took it all the way back to Day 1 and had hamburgers with chips. Surprisingly this is the first day we haven´t eaten rice and beans for at least two of our meals lol. We ended our night with our nightly meeting, where I passed the torch to tomorrow´s leaders. I really enjoyed being the leader of the day and appreciate my peers for making this such a smooth process. We are super excited to begin our CAP Project bright and early tomorrow and are looking forward to setting the building blocks for sustainable change here in Costa Rica.
Last but not least, Happy Birthday to Vicmary who turned 17 today! I hope you enjoyed your small surprise celebration.
Pura Vida, Chloé
I am glad to see the group is so directly engaging CR communities and culture.
I would like someone to please respond back with clarification to: your chef put his foot in the food and had some of you ate the plates?
LOL… I’m Charlene, Chloe’s Mom…
The chef “putting their foot in a dish they’ve prepared” is a mere figure of speech in the African American community to mean that the food was made to taste profoundly delicious. The comment that “he had them practically eating their plates” follows along the same lines to describe the high level of dilectability of the dish… Neither of the two terms are to be taken literally… Just some cultural humor. Thank you for asking… 🙂
Hello Kate and Clive-
We just arrived home from the Dominican Republic yesterday. I hope you are having a wonderful time in Costa Rica; the pictures look amazing. I can’t wait to see you both and hear all about your trip.
As you say in Costa Rica,
Pura Vida!
Ms. Hinson
Kierra look at you. You guys look like yall having a great time.
My Beloved Chloé!!
My heart is exploding with so much emotion after reading this post!! You all are making us so proud and excited for what’s next for each of you.
Happy Birthday to Princess Vicmary!!
I send Love, Hugs and Prayers for Continued Growth and Learning for all of you.
Love Mom!!
Hi katie
I knew that it hit hard for you when they planted that plant for the cancer patients. I could imagine you crying your heart out just thinking about your “lala” don’t worry mija she is doing OK . She was happy that you call and that she was able to hear your voice. We all miss you and we love you .
Mami ❤️
Beautiful Chloe. You are amazing always. I am so proud of you
God bless u all for what u will be doing
Hey Chloe,
Auntie misses you so much. Glad you are loving this adventure. I’m so proud of you. This information is so awesome to hear. Keep being great and wonderful.
I’m UBER proud of you Chloe! Keep being great and have an amazing time!