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It has been the greatest of honors to be entrusted with your students this summer. I know you’ve been missing them at home, and soon will have them back with stories, souvenirs and suntans. This was the first year we (Ade and Matthew) worked with SStS and the first year that we’ve met the wonderful…
For the first time in the last two weeks, the group yesterday had a traditional ¨tourist day.¨ We took a boat tour of Marino Ballena National Park and saw the four principal beaches of the park. Along the coast was a stretch of cliffs with huge caverns. Many of the caverns were large enough for…
This day is one that I don’t seem to have finished processing. Although today wasn’t the most eventful, it was filled with reflection. I see it as the end of an experience that I will hold very close to my heart. I woke up with the mindset that I would take in as much as…
Today we were invited to the talent show of the school of Rancho Quemado in which we saw and enjoyed a lot of wonderful and adorable performances from the children. We even went up and sang a song in German that our fellow traveler Lucas had taught us. It was a super fun experience learning…
Journal entry: After an action-packed day at Corcovado National Park, I was deep in thought on the boat ride back to the bus. As we bounced over waves, I looked out over the majestic green cliffs on the coastline and reflected on the experiences I had today. Our adventures in Corcovado had begun with a…
I felt more connected to the community of Rancho Quemado today, more than ever before. We started the day by laughing out loud when the itinerary stated that WE would be teaching local kids soccer, but of course it would end up being the opposite. The kids were so accepting of our questionable soccer skills,…
To be honest, I truly do not know how to start this. There’s so much I want to say about today. Whether it is going to a farm at 5 am, working with Enrique to clean and preserve the beautiful forest right behind his house, or even cooking in the kitchen and struggling just to…
If I could describe myself in three positive words I would use funny, hard-working, and studious. If I was to describe myself with three negative words I would use worried, fearful, and anxious. Whether I am using positive or negative words, all of these words make up who I am, or so I thought. If…
In today’s blog I, Athziry, will be talking about the wonderful hard working people in this rancho. Everyone is dedicated to their own roles of helping the community and maintaining this biodiverse ecosystem. The first person that comes to mind is a kind elder Felix. We have probably spoken about Felix before, but he is…
The first activity we got to participate in today was farming. It was a strenuous walk full of humidity and heat guided by the farmer’s son Kevin. Finally, we arrived and we’re greeted by Kevin’s friendly father Felix, who was the person in charge of the farm. He let us rest and geared us up…
This morning, the group spent their time on a tour of Rancho Verde’s organic farm. Not only did we see many different plants, but at each new species we paused to learn about the plant’s essential role in the jungle and in the lives of the family that lives on the farm. Our tour leader…
The group is happy to be settling into Rancho Quemado. What a journey!