Hi, it’s us: Lesly, Tati, and Stephany! So today we started off doing a wake-up call (the boys were the most annoyed). Everyone was up by 7:30 and all ready by 8:30 for breakfast! We had a deli breakfast that included eggs, French toast – or so here called tostada a la Frances – with a side of fruit and yogurt with cereal. After, we had a quick mental warm-up where we reviewed our question of the day and quote of the day that related to our theme which was community day.

Thus leaning forward to departure to the school to meet up with the families. IT WAS A HARD AND HOT HIKE! Once we got to the school the families right away treated us with love. We split off with 3 different families. In my group (Steph), we were greeted with so much love and we felt so welcomed! We started off with some deli traditional Costa Rican food and later on, we went on a hike. Then, we were taught how to make some empanadas filled with cheese (They were so good!)

In my group (Tati), we were greeted with arroz con leche while we watched Descendants 2, which was so sweet and fun to do! Lots of the Glimpsers got seconds or even thirds lol. But of course, it was so good because Jessica was such a great cook. We talked a lot about where we were from and she tried her best to get to know us so well. She was such a sweetheart to the point where she reminded me of my mom, and I started to tear up. We ate tons of food and Kevin really enjoyed the juice we had. We painted, made empanadas, and even had a mini-concert from her son Owen who is also on national TV! It was such an amazing experience, especially when Jacky also came in and was teaching us her culture. She showed us her paintings her favorite music genres and to the point where I started to dance cumbia with her. I loved it so much and I was so sad to say goodbye:( But!! A huge big love to all the families who welcomed us to their homes.

Once we got back, we had a bit of free time and some Global Glimpsers were in the pool playing lots of fun games and others were enjoying a good book while others also journaled. After all the fun, we also had a CAP seminar where we learned different facts about Costa Rica that helped us understand the community we will be in the next 2 weeks. MAE!!!! ( it means BRO! ) we learned so much! After we had an amazing dinner with pasta and some garlic bread and headed up towards our nightly meeting. We talked a lot more about our question of the day and many said that they loved how the community treated each other like family and how that was a lot different from most of our neighborhoods back home. Leading on to our quote of the day, our peers mentioned that they noticed how the families reflected the quote because of the way they accepted us as family. After we passed the torched to Brandon & Ariana, we had a movie night to end the day. We all enjoyed Princess and the Frog, and we had lots of laughter and joy.

From Steph: muchas gracias a mi mamá por animarme a ir a este viaje, te quiero mucho, estoy muy agradecida!

From Tati: Hola mami y papi lo extrano mucho! Pero creo que me esta gustando Costa Rica un poquito mas que en casa;) Gracias por todo lo que hacen para que yo pueda lograr metas en mi vida. Dios me los guarde siempre los quiero mucho