Day 4: Doing our part

PV kids doing our part!

Today was a day to give back and it was awesome!  Our first stop was the Cebadilla primary school.  They have grades K-6 at their small, rural school.  Kids mainly walk as it is a super small community.   There are only 11 kids grades K-6, and it was their day off, so the moms came, opened up the school,   girls did a few traditional dances for us.  We saw their school - basically 3 buildings (classroom, newly refurbished restrooms, and a cafeteria). We were then treated to some snacks, and then had time to play with the kids.  Some played soccer, others grabbed our frisbees and played with the kids...

PV kids at the Cebadilla School.

We then ended with a big game of hacky-sack! It was cool to watch my PV kids interact with these Costa Rican kids.  They are so precious and loved playing with us!  We brought them many school supplies and had to throw in some toys & games.  Best part was on the bus when my kids asked for their address to send them a thank you card...sigh...I told them that I think we'll send more than a thank you card!

Playing a little Hacky sack with the kids.

Next stop on our Give Back Day was to plant trees in the Santa Elena reserve.  Met some volunteers from the States who were helping at the reserve.  Everyone was given a tree and off hiking we went to plant our trees.

Regan, Mychaela & Sam planting trees.

Brianne planting her tree.

Sam, Mychaela, Kelsey & Regan in the tree at the Santa Elena rainforest.

Next up was the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. Such a beautiful place! It felt like Portland, with all the green, mossy trees.  Saw a Quetzal right away - gorgeous blue!

Our last adventure of the day was a Night walk thru the Forest.  We all got flashlights and off we went at dusk.  It got dark super quickly and we were quickly surrounded by the forest.  First thing we saw was a raccoon. We also saw some tarantulas & some sleeping birds, but sadly that was about it.  Guess you can't "cue the deer" or any other animals.

Getting prepped for our night walk.

Back to the hotel for dinner.  Our hotel has amazing food!  It's a little outdoorsy...a few bugs, not the hottest of water in some rooms, but I think we'll get that taken care of tomorrow!

Pura Vida!