Environmental Justicia with a Dash of Karaoke

Hello friends and family, we – the myth, the chosen, the legend, Landon and Chloe – are the Leaders of the Day!

I am one of the leaders for today and my name is Landon Duong. I will share 2 things I love/like and 2 things I do not like. I love Taekwondo and gaming but I hate tomatoes and dancing.

Today is day 7 of our trip, the one-week anniversary of our arrival to Costa Rica. The theme of today was Environmental Justice. Following breakfast, the delegation planted a pitanga tree, which is also known as the Brazilian cherry tree. We took turns digging the hole about the size of the pot which was around 6 inches. Our first seminar of the day was delivered by Luz, one of our program coordinators. She gave us a background on environmental justice and we learned about how pollution affects the nearby inhabitants.

After lunch, our second seminar was delivered by Andres Rudolfo “Fofo” Zuniga Romero. He gave us more information about environmental justice and made it a very interactive presentation.  One interesting thing we learned about was how the Si Como No Resort,  worked with the environment around it. The resort owns 30 acres of land, yet the hotel itself is only built on 1% of the owned land. They work hard to be carbon neutral and in tune with the nature around them by composting, reducing their energy use, and collecting rainwater.  We ended this informative seminar with a group debate on the effects of tourism on the wetlands in the Osa Peninsula, Puntarenas.

During our downtime today, many of us participated in karaoke, card games, and napping. They sang to Adele, Shawn Mendez, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars.

One thing I am most proud of was always pouring juice for everyone during breakfast, lunch, and dinner so I always had to eat food last. This was gruesome but I managed to pull through my desiring hunger everlasting through eternity. Being a leader was okay because of again, the juice and having to eat the meals last but it was alright because I contributed the most (totally).  -Landon

As a leader, I learned how to project my voice more often. It was challenging to wake up early and make sure everyone was on time for meetings, but it was a great experience. I’m proud of myself for making sure the day went smoothly. – Chloe

After dinner and many lectures, we passed the torch to Zara and Sofia. It was a great day, and we wish them and all of you readers the best luck ever that will last an eternity through light and a thousand flames.