What a day!  We are on the second day of our rotation.  For today’s blog, the focus is on our visits to local elementary schools Escuela Barú and Escuela de Platanillo.  (Our third rotation school was Escuela Puerto Nuevo, a tiny one room, one teacher school with a total of 14 students- an updated set of photos are below.)  We arrived mid morning and immediately got to know the Costa Rican students through games like soccer and hopscotch.  After polishing up the schools with a fresh coat a paint on a few walls and helping refurbish classroom furniture our Convent and Stuart Hall boys and girls handed out the school supplies that they had brought to Costa Rica.  The days were rounded out with a trip to the local swimming hole complete with a rope swing. Four of our students recap their day:

Trinity L.

Today, on our second day of rotation we visited some elementary school students at Escuela de Platanillo. During the service section of the rotation we had the opportunity to interact with some of the students and refurbish some school furniture. In the beginning I was pretty nervous about interacting with the students in Spanish. However once we started to interact with them it became much easier. I taught my new friend, Daira, how to say “You and I are friends” in Mandarin and she taught me in Spanish. By the end of our time at the school, the students and I had become great friends. One day I hope to see all of them again.

Gabriella T.

During our espacio this morning, we were told to do something uncomfortable while doing our activities. Today was our service day and we visited la Escuela de Plantanillo. We played with the kids and refurbished their desks. One of the struggles we had was speaking to the kids. The language barrier was hard because the kids spoke little to no English. We tried to communicate with them as best as we could and frequently used hand movements to try to act out what we couldn’t say. Overall, the students seemed so grateful and it was so nice to get out of our comfort zone.

Nicholas C.

Today was our second day of our trip in Costa Rica, and it was a very special day for everyone. We visited the Escuela de Platanillo where we met little children from that school, and help out with the school. At first we met the children and they led us down to their soccer field where we created teams, and played against each other. I was the team captain of my team, and to be honest my team was really good. After we went up, and we painted the walls of the school, and varnished the desk of the classrooms. We gave the children notebooks and pencils, but the highlight was Carlos Armendariz and Adrian Medina who gave their shoes to two kids. At the end to cool of the heat we visited a waterfall, which was a lot of fun.

Adrian M.

On our second day of transitioning, we visited Escuela de Platanillo, where we did some service for the kids around the school, played soccer, and handed out supplies. Not only was this day special for the kids, but it was also special for me as well because I got to find out who I really am as a person and how  blessed I really am. It was also special  because out of the kindness of my heart, I gave my soccer shoes to one of the most talented soccer players in my eyes. The fact that once I handed him the shoes and he asked for me to sign the shoes, made feel really special. We took pictures, we ate and once everything was over we went to relax at a waterfall and had some fun and swam. I will always remember this special moment forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third Rotation: Escuela Puerto Nuevo.