Day 8- A Fork in the Road

 Hi guys, Anya and  Sebastian here. 


Saturday night we celebrated Sebastian, not our Sebastian, but one of the Homestead families kids, first birthday party! Everyone showed up ready for a good time. they brought out one of the biggest speakers we have ever seen and blasted music from sun up to sundown. We did A lot of dancing to both American and Costa Rican songs, Uno, and amazing food. After a night of partying, we spent the next morning with our families often visiting each other for quick games of Uno and chill family time. Some of us made bread, others got up early to harvest sugarcane in the morning or helped their family sell some cows. We all got to know our families even better and are starting to feel even more at home in the jungle of Costa Rica.


Today everybody woke up bright and early to get ready for a day at the women’s co-op. The bus came 10 minutes late as per usual. On our way to the women’s co-op, the bus was buzzing with excitement. It was our first day together as a whole group in two days. When we got there, we stopped to look at five different projects they’re working on. We saw lots of animals, such as albino peacocks, ginormous rabbits, geese, and a bunch of miniature sized dogs and cats roaming around the farm. In addition to this, we saw a water buffalo roaming around the farm alongside a cow. mooooo!! 


After stopping at all five projects talking to Lorena and Mario, we sat down to have a home-cooked lunch by the staff. By the end, we were begging for seconds and recharged for a story time. Lorena, Mario, Jose, and Vicky shared their stories behind the five different projects and how they came to be. We were inspired by the co-op which started with 19 women just 10 years ago. They are now expanding to employ many more. The women’s co-op helps opportunities for mothers who are often traveling long distance to get to work whether that’s in the city or working in the banana farms. Throughout our discussion we could see the true passion and determination behind every story.


We all changed and got ready to go see the most beautiful waterfall in all of Chilamate region of Costa Rica. When we got there it began to rain and pour heavily like cats and dogs! We were making the hike down to the waterfall when we faced a fork in our path. We had to decide whether we wanted to turn around or continue to the waterfall. unfortunately the majority wanted to turn around so instead of seeing a waterfall we got a lot of rain, some good Vlogs, and fun times in the mud. A bonding experience I think none of us will forget. Blasting Katy Perry and Justin Bieber on the way back helped lift our spirits, and we came back to the Eco Lodge ready to devour some more snacks, including some of our favorite fake Oreo cookies :) We are looking forward to officially starting our projects tomorrow. We are now headed back to our homestays for some family time, good food and even more memories.


We will catch you on the flipside! (A.K.A. 14 days) 


BAIIII

Anya and Sebastian









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