Aragog Jr

March 6

I had a very interesting day today. I had to get up early because a group was coming to help out at the church. They are from a small Christian high school in California and they have been coming to La Tabla every year for 8 years. Impressive! It is really cool that they have been able to come every year. The teacher that leads the group has a relationship with everyone and was catching up. It was really cool to see. The group brought money for supplies so the wall started up again but there were so many people and not enough jobs so I got to play with kids all day (the group also brought arts & crafts stuff). I finally was brave enough to bring out my camera and got some really great pictures of the kids. One of the women from the group (her daughter was one of the students) was taking pictures too. It was nice to talk with her and we swapped tips. She told me that a good way to better understand people speaking spanish is to tell them to use little words. That way they not only are using smaller words but they end up speaking slower because they are thinking about what words they are going to use. I shared with her that one way I get kids to loosen up around the camera is I take a really awful, goofy, weird picture of myself. It was fun talking to her.

After the group left, there was still a lot of work that still had to be done so I ended up working till 8 or 9. It was quite a workout but I don't feel bad about it at all- just a little tired. i do have a couple bruises (who would have thought trying to lift a heavy wheelbarrow with your leg might cause bruising?) which made me feel hard core. Overall, I feel good about my placement now and I know I can stick it out till the end.

March 7

Today was similar to yesterday. I played with kids some more, got some great pictures, but at the end of the day, I went back to the base instead of moving dirt. Later that night, everyone watched a movie together and In the middle of the movie, Delynn saw this huge spider! It was HUGE!!! It was a little smaller than the palm of my hand and it was black and furry and really fat. It looked kind of like a tarantula or Aragog from Harry Potter. In general, I don't think I freak out too much around bugs. . . as long as there isn't a chance they are going to touch me which is why I didn't freak out when I saw the spider, but I removed all the covers on my bed and shook out each layer individually.

March 8

Today was a kind of low key day. I got to sleep in and just hang out and relax which was nice. Later, I went to church (a different one, not the one in La Tabla) and I was so proud of myself because I actually kind of understood the main idea of the sermon! I Kind of feel like I am actually learning a little Spanish!

A new volunteer joined the staff. His name is Chris and he told me that he has never been to Costa Rica , can't speak any Spanish, and agreed to volunteer at Pura Vida missions for about a year and a half! How crazy is that! That is going to be so hard!

March 9

One of the more surprising results of this trip is that I am journaling more. Not for school but for myself. My mom is a big fan of journaling and but I have never been able to get into it. But now, I have nothing else to do in the evenings and it is a good way for me to vent or just talk a little. A few days ago, I wrote 2 whole pages without even trying! Now, I got some interesting news, which prompted me to write more, but I would have never done written about it before this trip.