Around 7:15 am Maggie, Justin, Ellie, and I convened in the hotel
lobby for a delicious breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, pancakes, and
coffee. Upon finishing breakfast, I felt energized and eager to return to
Colegio and see what tasks that the school staff had prepared for us. We then
met at our usual meeting area to hear the Message of the Day and Justin's
account of the day before. It was quite intriguing to reminisce on the previous
day because I had already forgotten some details associated with it. But, once
we were finished discussing the plans for the day, we left the hotel to once
again volunteer our services to the students and teachers of Colegio.
When walking outside of the hotel, I immediately noticed the warm
temperature, even though it was so early in the day. In the two days that we
have been guests in the Monteverde region, I have observed that there seems to
be very warm mornings with relatively clear skies; however, as the day progresses
the scattered rain showers and the presence of the fog cools everything down. Upon
arriving at Colegio we made our way to Profesora Dulce's eighth-grade
classroom. There we introduced ourselves in Spanish to the students and we then
learned that we were going to help the students clean their gymnasium in order
to help prepare for their science fair that was to take place later in the
week. But, we were surprised by Profesora Dulce when she informed us that we
would be joining some students in a hike along the nature trail that surrounds
the school. We ended up walking about two hours through the forest and were
able to see an environment that was home to many very interesting organisms
such as sloths, transparent butterflies, and leafcutter ants. We were able to
take many great pictures and Professor Dulce was a fantastic guide who had vast
knowledge of all of the plants and animals that we encountered. It was also
entertaining to be able to interact with the children in this environment.
Once we returned back to the school we ate lunch in the cafeteria
and then walked down to the gymnasium. We showed the students how to properly
utilize the pressure washer to clean the gym floors so that they would be able
to become familiar with operating it by themselves. After cleaning for a few
hours, the Monteverde Fire Department arrived and assisted our cleaning
efforts. Once we were finished working for the day, it was very entertaining to
watch the students burn excess energy off by running around barefoot and
throwing water at each other. We had a great day in Colegio and I made some
memories as a volunteer that I will cherish! ¡Pura Vida!
Entry
submitted by: Matt
Message
of the Day - Matt:
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of
others." -Mahatma Gandhi
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