Today for Community Day, Mario, Alba, Anna, and Oswaldo were the Leaders of the Day! We had four leaders due to splitting up the entire group between four families. We all are fluent Spanish speakers who helped our group connect better with each family. We not only kept our groups involved but also translated questions and answers.

Group #1:

After a delicious American breakfast consisting of pancakes, eggs, and sausage, we left home base at 8:45 am to meet the families at the community park at 9:00 am. The staff members assigned the groups to their families. Our group was assigned to Don Francisco, a 72-year-old man that is born and raised in the coffee fields of Turrialba. We got to meet his family members, Doña Luz, and his grandson, Sebastian. After being shown around the house, we made a quick trip to the coffee shops, fields, and a viewpoint, very similar to yesterday’s adventure. After that, we made ourselves back to their house and Doña Luz already had white rice, mashed potatoes, salad, fried fish, and beans for us to enjoy. For the vegetarian option, she fried eggs and Turrialba cheese instead of fish. While eating, Don Francisco turned on the TV and on the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter. We made sure we cleaned up after ourselves to cause less trouble. Soon after, Doña Luz helped us all cook some Turrialba cheese empanadas with her. She made an empanada herself to show us the procedure and we followed her steps. This was my first big leadership experience which helped me understand what the life of a true leader is really like. As a fluent Spanish speaker, I realized my talent and skill in translating is; it made me come out of my comfort zone and include my team members in every aspect of the day.

WE HAD A FEAST!

Here was Don Francisco’s welcoming family and our little group!

Group #2:

Today I, Anna Torres, was one of the Leaders of the Day for “Community Day”. My partners and I split up when we woke up and I woke up my roommates in what we call, our “casita“. At 8:00 am, we had breakfast and as always, there were many options. We left Casa Aquiares at 8:45 am and met up with some families at the community park, two groups stayed there. My group walked a bit further until we reached Doña Cristina’s house, where we met her grandson Deylan, who took us hiking! We walked for 2 and a half hours seeing the beautiful sights of the river and two viewpoints, while he explained many things to us. I helped translate everything for my teammates!

Here Deylan took a picture of us!

Here is Deylan and our group.

After our hike, we went back to his house with his grandma, talked a bit, and had lunch. We had some fish fillet, rice, beans, and a side of salad, and for our vegetarian teammate, she had rice, beans, salad, and lentil soup. Afterward, we washed our dishes and played games. It was very competitive and while they kept playing, I helped Doña Cristina make empanadas. After their game, I invited the rest and they joined me and watched how the process was done. We ate some empanadas and drank some delicious coffee alongside Guillermo, our tour guide! We did not want to leave, but it was time. We stopped by a store to buy some snacks and later went back to Casa Aquiares. It was a wonderful experience to help translate and see my fellow teammates bond and build connections with Deylan and the family, even though there were some language barriers.

Here is my wonderful group and Doña Cristina! 🙂

Group #3:

Pura Vida which is hello in Costa Rica! My name is Mario Valentin and I was in charge of this group after waking up early in order to get everyone up and ready to meet our families. As a Leader of the Day today, I was able to connect better with everyone since we were in a smaller group. I was able to do a lot of things that may have not been possible with a larger group. We met down on the basketball courts as we prepared to get assigned with our families. Our adventure took us into the Rosales, where we were taught plentiful games and learned about the community in Costa Rica, Turrialba. We meet Doǹa Amalia – she took us in for the day and taught us a bundle of very important lessons about Turrialba. Doǹa Cecillia told us about her story here in the community of Turrialba. Her story impacted us in a way that will last. She mentioned to us how close the community is and how connected everyone is here. The food prepared was phenomenal; we were given beans, salad, and rice with chicken, and the vegetarians had white rice, beans, and eggs. For the beverage, we were given grape juice. We also made empanadas. The ingredients were masa, salt, water, and cheese, which were then fried in a pan for about 4-6 minutes until the empanada looked cooked. We were overfilled with joy to have been a part of something with the locals here as it was a learning opportunity for both us and them. I am very proud to say that each one of my group members stepped out of their comfort zone today in speaking Spanish with the locals.

Group #4:

¡Buenas! Hello my name is Alba and my group mostly did very similar activities as the other groups. I feel like I held a superpower when speaking Spanish! I was able to connect with Costa Ricans and learn about how different their culture is from ours. It made me realize how different my life is compared to theirs. For example, their school schedule can either go from 7:00 am to 12:00 pm or from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Also, their summer vacation is so much shorter than ours as they get about 2 weeks in July and do not get another break until December. We spent most of the time talking and bonding over a game of UNO. We also went on a hike which was very long…although originally it wasn’t supposed to be, the more we walked, the more there was to see and we just kept going! Also, unlike the other groups, my group made tortillas de queso, or cheese tortillas. We enjoyed our creations over a cup of coffee with the breeze and white noise of the rain in the background. The coffee made all of us feel very warm and cozy, and the rest of our time was spent with laughs. Being a leader showed me that I can speak up and I can be more social if I just keep that in my mind. If I keep my mindset on what I want to accomplish, I am more likely to actually do it.