Greetings families,

Bienvenidos familias, hoy era el quinto día de nuestro curso de 14 días que se llamo comunidad. Today was the 5th day of our 14 day course which was called community. It began with us four leaders of the day, myself Francisco Diaz, Viridiana Leon, D’Anna Acevedo, and Brianna Martin leading a group of students with a family to see their daily lives in Costa Rica. Nuestra aventura comenzó con 4 Liders del día quien fue yo mismo, Francisco Diaz, Viridiana Leon, D’Anna Acevedo y Brianna Martin en que cada uno de nosotros íbamos a guiar un grupo de estudiantes con una familia de Costa Rica y ver su día típico.

After eating breakfast we, the four leaders, were all split into one group each that would be with one family and see their daily lives. I was left with one of the Global Glimpse Leaders, Jeske, and Mrs. Amalia who kindly let me and my group into her house to see her daily life. Our day started with a board game called Rummy-o, that not only sparked the great relationship with Mrs. Amalia but also made my group and I bond with one another. We did all sorts of things on the table and, of course, played different card games, like Go-Fish, Slap Jack, memorizing games, and even some of Mrs. Amalia’s own versions of the games. To say the least, the games were intense, a competition between each and every one of my group members made us bond with each other, like when Ashley and Serenity were competing to win Rummy-o or when Ashley, Prim, and I would play Slap Jack.. Also when Jeske, Monica, and Mrs. Amalia would play Rummy-o each counting all the games we would win. After enough playing, we went to the kitchen to eat some of Mrs. Amalia’s great cooking which was rice, chicken, beans, and salad which was amazinggg. After that, we continued playing more card games and made empanadas which were pretty cool and yummy. Although, our day was full of card games this sort of simplicity in Mrs. Amalia’s life made my group bond with one another and created a strong relationship. To say the least, visiting Mrs. Amalia’s house and playing card games has been one of the best moments I’ve had on this trip sharing with my group made it all so much better.

I D’Anna Acevedo and my group, Eric, Tatiana, Omoeghie, Xitlali got placed with Dylan and his family. We were welcomed into his home and met his wife, 3-year-old son Julian, and his puppies’ Antonio the pug, and Vicente the wiener dog. We talked about how he met his wife in college and how he’s lived in Aquiares all his life. We got to play with the puppies and got to know Julian while playing with his toys. We started to help prepare our lunch of the day which was a rice, tuna, and cheese dish with a side of cas agua fresca. After lunch we went on a walk where we taught Julian to play duck duck goose and red light green light, he was so fond of the game that he wanted to play again as soon as we got back to their house. After getting back we made tortilla de queso and had it as a snack. We then continued our games until we had to say our goodbyes, and Julian was sad to see his playing buddies leave. Then we ran into Don Pancho’s group and talked for a bit and headed back to Casa Aquiares.

My group for community day was me (Brianna), Anaya, Sofia, Princess, Amy, Juan, and our GGL Tyan. We were lucky to be welcomed by Don Pancho and his wife Dona Aida. We walked to their house after meeting Don Pancho at the park and spent a while there. It was awkward at first but we eventually got comfortable. Don Pancho told us about his life, and how he met his wife and their family. Dona Aida also crochets key chains and small plushies, we bought some, and they’re really cute. Don Pancho then asked us what we wanted to do and we agreed to walk around the town. We walked uphill all the way to a soccer field where we rested/took photos. We then walked back to his house where we spent the rest of our time. We rested on the porch and talked for a while, and then Dona Aida brought us some arroz con leche she had made for all of us, it was amazing. After finishing the dessert we all played some games; Anaya, Sofia, and I played a card game while Juan was being taught how to play Jacks by Dona Aida. We then went inside for a while and talked for a bit and helped prepare two dishes, fried banana and fried egg with green beans, but the rest of the food was amazing. We ate fish with mashed potatoes, fried banana, fried egg with green beans, and rice with vegetables, it was delicious. After the meal we played card games and were taught the game “Tontos”, it was really fun to play. After a few rounds, we went back to spoons. Around 2 pm we decided to make the empanadas, we made at least two each after Dona Aida showed us how to make them. We made two types, the normal empanada where you put the cheese in the middle, and the other where we mixed the masa and cheese together. We just enjoyed the empanadas with coffee and a game of go fish, but then we went back to spoons, it was intense. Dona Aida joined a game but decided it wasn’t for her and just watched us play. Before we left Don Pancho shared his experience with other delegations, how he and his wife enjoy having us and past delegations over, words of wisdom, and goodbyes. We got some photos before we left. Overall today was really fun, a lot of bonding with the people in my group. I really enjoyed being with Don Pancho and Dona Aida because they reminded me of my own Titos which was really sweet. I’m grateful that we got to spend our day with them and that they hosted us. It was just amazing.

Hello, my name is Viridiana and I am going to be introducing the last group. My group consisted of Anabelle, Rory, Mieko, and Nova. As well as one of the program coordinators, Dianna. The family we were assigned to was Dona Chris’ family, who is a mother and grandmother, who lives with her daughter and grandson. Dona Chris was willing to share a part of herself with the group as well as be interested enough to learn more about us and our roots. After conversing with Dona Chris, one of her nieces, May, came over to provide us with an amazing hike. The hike involved amazing views of the main city, Turrialba, but also provided us with an amazing experience to really get into nature. After the hike, we all headed back to Dona Chris’ house and ate lunch. We ate a three-course meal involving an appetizer of garbanzo beans and chicken soup. Right after we were given our main meal which included rice, beans, chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad. After eating we cleaned up and played a couple of card games with May. After a very friendly competition of a variety of different card games, we had our dessert, arroz con leche. We also made cheese empanadas accompanied with some coffee. What can I say… so much food!! At this point, we really realized our day with Dona Chris, and May was coming to an end. Being able to experience our day with Dona Chris we were able to have a representation of a grandmother. It was personally really touching to actually see how fortunate families in Costa Rica are to have their families so close by. Which I think is honestly the beauty of being raised and raising the future generation in the exact same town. Being able to come home to a loving grandmother as well as being able to see practically every member at family events is very treasuring. Another thing I realized being out in the town was the sense of community there is within everyone.

After spending a satisfying time with families we all met up back at the home base. Most of us winded down by getting ready for dinner. Most of us spent time on the front porch and the living room. We were able to experience some showers with wild thunder. After dinner, we did our nightly meeting. As a group we were all able to reflect on the question of the day “It is not our differences that divide us, it is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate their differences.” With the experiences we had today, we were able to see in their community similarities to our own families and practices.