this is a long one. . .

February 22

Today I went with Bellita into San Jose (I don't think I mentioned it before- I am actually living in Ajuelita which is just outside of San Jose) and we walked around looking at the different sights like the national theater and the Jade museum. It was really cool to see some of the history of Costa Rica. I see so much of the sadness and the hardships of this place I am glad I can see some its glory. When we stopped for lunch a guy (who was clearly American) came up to us and said something (I won't go into detail) that was really rude and disgusting and it really bothered me. I think the US has a displayed itself through its politics and media that doesn't always speak well of it's people and as an American in a foreign country I think I have an obligation, as well as the guy in the Taco Bell, to set a good example. It angers me because he is going to make the people that he meets more wary of Americans so when someone like me comes along who is trying to do good it is harder because some jerk was trying to give himself a laugh.

February 23

Right now, I am at the Base and in addition to the other volunteers, Gloria's Aunt and Uncle are staying for the week. They are really funny in their own senior citizen kind of way. They are extremely technology illiterate (they needed help to check their e-mail online, to take the memory card out of their camera, etc.) they are always cheerily ignorant of what is happening around them. I mean, they get the gist of it, just not the details. Glen, Gloria's uncle, is also a little deaf so I kept having to repeat myself when I was around him. Going into this trip, I don't think I thought I would meet anyone like them. It makes me wonder what other people I will meet on this trip!

February 24

Today was sweeeeeeeeeet! I went on a river tour and I got to see all kinds of different animals. I saw fruit bats (about three feet from my face- and really ugly!), white faced monkeys, howler monkeys, and even caymans (they aren't seen very often on the tour). The coolest animal though was the toucan! It was so cool and we didn't see just one. . . . we saw four! Gloria said she hadn't seen so many together before in her life! They were so graceful and happy just hanging out in the forest. It was so amazing to see in real life, in their natural habitats, animals that you normally only see on TV or in the zoo. THEY WERE SO COOL! It makes me excited just thinking about it.:)

oh and I got to see the Oscars and I am really happy that the writer of Juno won. WAY TO GO DIABLO CODY!

February 25

I had so much fun today, We all went to the beach (Jaco, on the Pacific ocean) and I just spent a bunch of time in the ocean because it was way to hot to be on the beach. At first I played with Carmalinda, Delynn and Gloria's daughter, but because she is 7 we couldn't go out very far but we had a lot of fun just playing. After lunch though I went out as far as I thought was safe and just swam and swam and swam. It was my second time at the Pacific ocean and the first time it was so cold I didn't even bring a swim suit (I did get my feet wet) so this time I really just spent as much time as I could in the water. I really like the ocean. I like to swim in general but I especially like going to the ocean. I remember when I went with my family to Florida for Christmas and we would always go to the beach. My sister and I would insist on getting in the water even though it was freezing. We would be so cold but we had so much fun we couldn't not swim. . . we couldn't help ourselves.

February 26

Today I came back to La Tabla. Gloria dropped me off at the church, not at Bella Flor's and Bella Flor wasn't there so I helped out with the task of the day. Through a section of La Tabla there isn't a road and there just is a creek where a road would be on a normal street so cars and trucks can't go to any of the buildings there. As part of the project for La Tabla (they are working on a wall to keep flood water out), a truck brought gravel but couldn't make it to the place where it was to be stored so it had to dump the gravel down the street. My job was to shovel gravel into wheelbarrows so it could be transported. It was really really hot and we were in the sun and I already had a sunburn from the beach and I was with only Spanish speakers but it turned out OK. I was so hot at the end of it I practically collapsed on my bed when I came home but I also felt accomplished (and hardcore. . I even have a blister on my thumb to show my hard work!). The whole time, I only took a break when someone else wanted to work (there were more people than shovels and wheelbarrows) and I worked hard. I feel like I really have to prove myself here. I don't have a history or communication skills so I am going to have to do it by working for it.

February 27

I hurt so bad. It addition to my sunburns (on my face, shoulders, back, arms, and the back of my knees) I now have muscular aches from shoveling yesterday. It's OK I just don't like moving (on the bright side though, if anyone around me is cold all they have to do is stand next to me. . . I have heat radiating from my body). I did take a nice cold shower which helped. Anyway, I went to the church and I had another landmark. I helped cook food. Actually, I just chopped up a couple things but this whole time I haven't helped with food prep at all because either I didn't know what to do, there were a lot of people in the kitchen or I was doing something else. It made me really happy. There is a older lady named Tia who works in the kitchen every day and we get along really well. She always pronounces things out for me and today she introduced me to achiote. I looked it up and the dictionary said it was annatto seed. Does anyone know what that is? I have no idea. Anyway, Bella Flor is using tires to help make the flood wall and so everyone had to get tires that had been dropped off and roll them across the bridge and down the street to the church. It was hard work! It was fun though and everyone was having fun trying to keep their tires going straight. I kind of freaked myself out because one of my trips back to get a new tire I didn't go with anyone and I was about half way there when I realized no adults or kids were close by. I was kind of scared but I just kept walking and no one bothered me and everything was fine. It was another really tiring day and it didn't really matter how much it hurt to lay down. . . I fell asleep so fast I hardly remember laying down.

February 28

Today was cool because a youth group from Montana came and helped out. We did the same thing we did with the gravel on tuesday except with dirt. I had fun talking with them. At about lunch time all the girls left to go to an orphanage and so the guys and I finished off the pile. They were all nice but there was one guy who was a Costa Rican translator for the group. He kept trying to push YWAM (the organization they were with) on me and then just kept talking and talking while the rest of us were working. I also got to know Tomas, a local guy, better. He has been helping the past couple days with the wall but he doesn't speak English and is really quiet anyway so I never talked to him before but today we kind of introduced ourselves. He even showed me a picture of his daughters- they are really cute. Johnny, one of the little kids whose mom helps out at the church really likes Tomas and has kind of stuck to his side. At the end of the day when everyone was really tired, Johnny got Tomas to haul him around in his wheelbarrow in addition to the load of dirt. All I can say is, there is no way that I would of done it but made Johnny really happy. He had a huge smile on his face. Overall, it was a really fun day. . .and I am really excited to go to bed.

Just a note. . . sorry if I worried anyone (my mom said she got some calls) I am fine I just have been really busy the past few days and the person whose laptap I would normally use over the weekend was away. Also, I got a few comments from Annonomus and I think someone told my mom it the site wasn't letting her put a name in so if you want me to know who you are (if you don't thats ok too) you should mention it somewhere in the message. Thanks!