Hello everyone! This is Jessica, a student from Summit Tahoma in San Jose.Today was our very first free day!!! YAY!!! Although it was extremely hot out, we all managed to push through and complete our plans for today. First, we started our day off with breakfast at our typical spot, Sheila’s!! Sheila and her team had a very delicious yuca and salchicha dish prepared for us.

Playing cards... before and during the rain storm

Playing cards… before and during the rain storm

After breakfast, we split off into two separate groups. One group joined Katherine at the internet cafe to catch up on the latest news and gossip, the other followed Richey to a phone booth  to check up on friends and family members. I was in the group that went to the phone booth and I must say that it was one of my favorite moments of the trip so far. Being able to see everyone talk to their families and tell them everything they’ve seen and learned so far, made me so happy. Don’t get me wrong, there were many tears shed during the calls. And I mean MANY, but in the end we all walked out of their with a smile on our faces. After about two hours, we once again headed to Sheila’s for lunch.

At the Cathedral with Junior.

At the Cathedral with Junior.

The second half of the day, we split into about 4 separate groups and explored the city some more. Some went back to the internet cafe and phone booths, while others went to the cathedral, shopping, and milkshakes. Once our 4 hours was up, we had our final meal of the day at Sheila’s and it was AMAZING. They served chicken tacos with tamarindo juice. Dinner was so good, Sheila and her staff had to make more. When everyone finished, we left the restaurant a little early to start the Nightly Meeting a little sooner. At the Nightly Meeting, we discussed the Quote of the Day, and our likes and dislikes about the day. I also passed the torch to the two new Leaders Del Dia. Then the power went out as we worked on tomorrow’s lesson plans, but we kept working, using flashlights and candles!

So stay tuned to see what they have in store for you tomorrow!