Day #2 at the Farm

Somehow the kids were even more impressive in the heat today! We met back up with David, Alfredo and their dad at the farm and grabbed our shovels again. This time we also carried big plastic trays of trees to plant, and trekked out deep into their farm. They showed us their pepper crops and explained how the berry-like bunches growing on the trees get roasted and ground into black or white pepper to put on your food. We tasted it too-- seriously bitter. We planted on a steep hill, because they have to save their flat land as pastures for their cows. Kids dug in despite the conditions and planted away.

After another great lunch in the home of the neighbors, we headed into the little town nearby. Alfredo and David toured us around their school-- where their classes have been cancelled for the last week because their teacher had a baby and there is no system for substitute teachers in the Costa Rica public schools (Rosie, the neighbor, told us that the 11th grade at the regional high school was actually cancelled from January until May because they had no teacher, until the 11th graders protested in the street and they finally got a teacher). We peeked into their classrooms and then some of the kids joined us for a soccer game and an impromptu dance-off in the field across the street.

I'm writing from the porch of the hotel, and this is the view right this minute as I type. The kids are really psyched about all the pools!

Tonight we've got dinner and then our dance-- I'm sure I'll get some good pictures there, and hope there'll be time to post some before we leave Sarapiqui. We are officially halfway done with the trip at this point and tomorrow morning we head out bright and early for a much-anticipated day of whitewater rafting! Then it's off to our final Costa Rican destination before we leave out of San Jose. We're not sure if that last hotel has internet access, so posts may be winding down soon, but hope you've gotten a pretty good sense of what we've been up to! So far, it's been a pretty fantastic experience, and we remain incredibly proud of the Class of 2013, the very cool young adults they are becoming and the way they've represented WCCS on our first experience abroad.