Hello! Today we started by going to the University of Costa Rica! We were guided on a tour of the wildlife by an Organization called “Oropopo”. The tour taught us how to find three and two-fingered sloths, the Oropendola Bird, and Carpenter Bees’s favorite vegetation. After lunch, we met with leaders from our partner organization Matzu, who we will be working with for our Community Action Project (CAP). We gained a better understanding of Matzu’s goals and our role in their reality. We discussed the impacts of fast fashion on the environment. They then taught us how to use our plastic trash and old clothing in sustainable ways. Although we forgot to snap a photo (sorry), we reused old clothes and clean plastic to create enrichment objects for people with intellectual disabilities. After this project, the leaders of Matzu rewarded us with homemade sweet bread and two keepsakes for two random students. Before dinner, students had the option of going into town for a sweet treat of either ice cream or local empanadas (which were delicious!). Tomorrow we will start our first day of CAP!!! Everyone is looking forward to giving back to the local people who have been so welcoming. We will be working together with Matzu to create an inviting skate park to be used as a community space and place for teen socializing. Sadly, this is the end for Lolita and Elizabeth; we are happy to announce Matthew and Julia as leaders tomorrow!!

For whatever time friends or family are seeing this, just make sure to check your garbage cans for hungry raccoons. 🙂  As our burglar friend continues to investigate the garbage while we write.