One Last Time – Day 13

HELLOO family and friends!! Welcome to the final blog post. YAYYUHH. Thank you for keeping up with all the blogs, and leaving comments, we really appreciated all the lovely comments y’all left. Today your LDD or leaders of the day were Thelma and Janely.  Wake up call today was at 7 am, leaving us 1 hour between then and breakfast,  to finish packing and getting our thing ready. Breakfast was at 8 am, we had rice & beans, fruit, and bread. Our options to drink today were passion fruit, fruit punch, and coffee. (Am miss the Costa Rica Coffee -Janely) It was our final breakfast at the base house. Then at 8:30 am was our mental warm-up, in which we went over the schedule and reminders of the day. After our mental warm-up, we had our final reflection seminar. We wrote our thank you cards to the people who helped make this trip possible for many of us, we reflected on our whole trip, and in 2 of our reflection activities students were split up into 3 groups. The first activity was looking back at all the things we have done during the past two weeks and making a poster of our highlights and struggles. The second reflection activity was called Start, Stop, And Contunie, we each had to write something that we wanted to start, stop, and continue. The third activity was a writing activity in which we all had a paper and would pass it down every minute, and in that minute we had to write a big love about the person. The last activity was blind shoulder tap, in which the whole group had their eyes closed, and volunteers were asked to tap a person who respected the statement. With all this actively we were able to reflect on our actions and everything we have learned.

After we had lunch, at 12 pm. We had rice, beans, chicken (fajitas), and salad. With either blackberry juice or fruit punch. It was our very last meal at the base house. It was a bittersweet moment. Realizing how much we will miss Diego and Emilia cooking when we get back home. SHOUT OUT DIEGO AND EMILIA FOR COOKING WITH SO MUCH LOVE FOR US. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. GRACIAS!! After we had to remind everyone to start getting their stuff ready in front of the base house, we reminded everyone not to leave ANYTHING behind every minute, at 1 pm we all started to go on to the bus to go on our to the San Jose Hotel. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive. When we got to the hotel we had some downtime. During this downtime, we could make our 3rd phone call home, go to the pool, or even hit the gym. Then at 6:30 pm, we had dinner. We had chicken, rice, and salad, with either water or iced tea. The iced tea was really good. After dinner, we had our very last nightly meeting. It was also a bittersweet moment. Thinking back how this will probably be the last time we´re all in the same room together. We reflected on the quote and the question of the day. Then Lolita and Heather gave final reminders and announcements. Heather and Lolita surprised all the students that we were allowed to go to Pizza Hut since everyone wanted pizza because they didn’t get full. The wait was definitely worth it in the end.  Best way to end the trip.

Janely: Today I had the opportunity to be a leader. It was a very wonderful and fun experience. This was due to the fact that I was able to socialize with more people, that I wouldn´t usually interact with. As a leader, I was able to learn things not only about others but also about myself. I learned that I actually like being a leader and interacting with others. My role today I would say was basically just reminding the group to finish packing, getting all their belongings, and reminding them how much time we had left before breakfast, lunch, and before we departed. I also learned to be patient with myself and with others. As a leader, I learned that a leader is someone who just rules and demands. But rather someone who is understanding, humble, compassionate, and someone who inspires others to be the best version of themselves every day. Overall, I would definitely be a leader again and would encourage others to get out of their comfort zone and be comfortable with the uncomfortable. I will use the skills I’ve learned today and during these past two weeks to make and make a positive impact in my life and others’ lives.

Thelma: Today I had the chance to become the leader of the day, it was a wonderful amazing experience. Being a leader helped me be more out of my comfort zone, talk to more new people, and help plan the day out with our lovely GGL and PC. I had an amazing experience, I learned a lot about people and interacted with new people, and I especially looked back on our 2 weeks in Costa Rica (learning about the culture, community, and locals)!!! It was a bit hard for me to become a leader since I have a bit of trouble speaking in front of people and always having to bug them about certain reminders, but I overcame that through the day I learned that it’s not hard the only thing that stops you from overcoming certain things is yourself. A leader can be many things, most leaders can use power negatively or use it positively, but as a leader today I wanted to make a positive impact and make my peers understand why sometimes we were constantly reminding them about the same thing. One thing I most definitely take from today is what I learned from our quote because it talked a lot about leadership and how we should use leadership to make huge positive impacts. I would love to become a leader again, I really enjoyed it and had so much fun doing it!!