Day 5- Off to Homestays!

Hello everyone, Mila and Kai here. Today each group from yesterday switched locations, Kai’s group went to the school and Mila went to the farm.

At the school, we were greeted brightly by the school children. The school contains 23 students of various ages, grades 1-6th. They were all smiling and speaking Spanish, words that only a portion of us could understand. We played fun games that took us back to elementary school summer camp. We played pato pato ganzo (duck duck go), animal (head shoulders knees and toes), and taught each other songs. After talking with the students, we were welcomed to eat lunch together: spaghetti, meat sauce, and salad, accompanied by tamarind water. The conversations were very fulfilling, and we were sad to see the students go. Even though we had so much fun with the children, we also learned about various ways we could help the school. We will be able to repaint a classroom where the paint is currently peeling off the walls, allowing students to be in a clean and comfortable learning environment. Also, we will be creating Spanish to English flashcards, as the school currently has no English curriculum. All of us left feeling very grateful for the inclusive environment that that students and teachers created for us, and are excited to come back and help.

While half the group was at the school, Mila’s group went to the Organic Farm ran by Daniel, one of the retired plantation workers who is passionate about finding ways to grow crops in an organic and preservative free way. He shared a moving story about how he was the last of the seven other families who initially worked together to build a farm where all the resources were as natural as possible, and even shared some insights about why chemicals in fresh produce are harmful. It was inspiring to see someone so dedicated to his cause and expanding it as much as he can. In addition, he described all the hard work it takes to maintain a farm, with some crops requiring extremely early morning work and some requiring late nights. The group bonded with him over his pigs and even got to feed them, as well as participate in a group activity to make natural soil with nutrients from all the resources just outside the barn. We even got a tour of his land which is mostly jungle and we saw cows, pepper, vanilla, and dragonfruit harvesting, and even past Menlo projects like benches and signs. Even though Daniel only spoke Spanish, the connection he had to the group was so special and he even told us we could consider him like our father. It made us feel at home because of the warmth and kindness he radiates. Because the farm is constantly evolving, our possible projects are helping paint a barn, building ponds for possible water life and fishing, and planting crops in garden boxes. We left with a new sense of knowledge on pesticides and how we can avoid them, and are excited to choose one of these projects as a group to help Daniel and his farm.

Since it’s still midday, we’re excited to see who our home stay pairings are and get to meet the families we will live with for the next couple of weeks.

That’s all for now and we will update you all more tomorrow! Pura Vida!

Mila and Kai