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The first couple days of my trip were spent travelling, and going on an “adventure day” with the rest of the volunteers.  In addition to the thrill and fear of going ziplining, horseback riding and river tubing all in one day, this proved to be a great time to get to know the people I would be working with for the rest of the week.  Let me ( Read more... )

The poor road conditions on the way to the work site in Santa Cecilia were made painfully clear to me, as the thin seat cushioning on the bus did little to alleviate the soreness from the previous day’s adventure.  I will never again take for granted the paved roads of Los Angeles, potholes and all.  It truly is a miracle of urban engineering, when ( Read more... )

After lunch, our brigade leader Gisele came over and said we were going to visit one of the families where they were currently living.  We had seen some of the thrown-together shelters on the hike over to the site, but now we learned in great detail the situation we were trying to remedy with our service.


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The gusty evening air was punctuated by strains of the Black Eyed Peas covering “The Time of My Life,” as our gracious hosts hired a DJ to put on a celebration for our last night in Costa Rica.  A few of us, preferring to save our hearing, snuck out the back door and let the others dance the night away.

Gabe and I sat looking at photos of his other ( Read more... )

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