Despedidas

Hello everyone,

Our time here in Costa Rica has finally come to an end. We left Matambu early on Thursday morning with tears in our eyes and headed out to Monteverde for a Coffee and Canopy Tour. We spent our afternoon sipping coffee and zooming down zip lines with amazing views of the surrounding mountains and the coast.

Yesterday we headed to San Jose where we spent the afternoon shopping at the Mercado Central. This morning we are going on our big rafting trip before a final dinner and our flight home early tomorrow morning.

It has been an amazing trip. We are sad to leave this wonderful country, but can´t wait to see all of you tomorrow back safely at home!

Best,

Nick, Rebecca, and Costa Rica Community Service E

Goodbye to Matambu

Hello everyone!

We are having an amazing time here in Costa Rica. Last week we finished building cement steps up to the town´s salon comunal, which was very labor intensive and a huge accomplishment.

On Friday we took a well deserved day trip to Playa Samara to spend the day relaxing at the beach. On Saturday, the town of Matambu hosted its third annual Festival Cultural; all day students saw traditional dances and shows, ate delicious local foods, and even organized games for children. We then took a two night excursion to relax and swim at a beach town called Montezuma.

We have since returned to Matambu for our last few days in town and the goal of finishing up our work and saying goodbye to our home for the past four weeks. Today students are visiting the high school, planting coffee at a local coffee farm, and painting benches around town.

Tonight the town is hosting a traditional bonfire and asado in our honor and on Thursday we head off to Monteverde for a coffee and canopy tour before our final stop in San Jose and a day of white water rafting.

There is no doubt that we will miss our friends and the community of Matambu, but we are also excited for our coming adventures. All is well here!

Saludos,
Nick, Rebecca, and Community Service Costa Rica E

Coconut juice and cement stairs

Hello again from Costa Rica Group E!

Everyone has settled into a nice routine here in Matambu and the service projects are coming along wonderfully. During the week we have broken up work days with trips to the river, a girls soccer game, grocery runs, visits to the neighboring, larger town of Hojancha, and taking time out to drink fresh coconut juice with our Costa Rican friends. This week, after hours of sweat, hard work, and sing along sessions, we finished work on the cement stairs and began painting our beautiful salon comunal.

Last weekend we took a trip to the quiet beach town, Playa Brasilito. We had perfect weather, gorgeous sunsets, and great waves to entertain us for hours, as well as a birthday dinner, and an afternoon of horseback riding. After two nights in Brasilito we visited Playa Flamingo for a picnic lunch on our way back to Matambu.

This week, with our group projects underway, students are beginning to work on their independent projects as well. Some are helping out in the local school while others are working on photography projects, laying ceramic tiles in the bathroom, and studying Costa Rican cooking!

We can´t believe how fast time is flying by here-- we only have a little more than a week left in our community. The community leadership is thrilled with the outcome of the stairs and everyone is getting geared up for the yearly Matambu Culture Festival which will take place this Saturday, August 1st. We are expecting visitors from all over Costa Rica, dance groups, tons of traditional food, a parade, and live music. We will also be taking a few days trips this weekend to relax after another week of hard work!

Hope all is well in EEUU, take care!

Un abrazo,
Rebecca, Nick, and the whole crew

Hard work, volcanoes, and hot springs

Hello family and friends!

We are having an amazing time here in Costa Rica! Life in our village, Matambu, is a lot of fun. We are working hard to finish building steps up to the salon comunal, the town's community center and also our home for the month. Students are also painting the bleachers on the soccer field and learning to lay tile in several bathrooms.

This past weekend we took an excursion to the Arenal Volcano. The whole group hiked to a beautiful waterfall (see the photo below!), saw lava flowing from the volcano, and relaxed in natural hot springs.

This Friday we are heading to a small beach town also on the Nicoyan Peninsula, Brasilito, for the weekend. Our students are working hard on the projects and everyone is happy and healthy! Talk to you soon!

Saludos,
Nick and Rebecca

Hello from Matambu!

Hello everyone!

We are writing to you from the gorgeous Peninsula de Nicoya. The group is totally enamored with our home for the month, Matambu!

We arrived on Sunday evening after a long bus ride from San Jose to the community gathered in the salon comunal (the community center) for our fiesta de bienvenida (welcoming party). There were introductions of all the Town Council, a humorous skit about Costa Rican culture, typical and fresh Tico food, and get to know you games with the Matambu Youth Group. We had a wonderful but tiring day and feel so warmly welcomed by the friendly people of Matambu.

We have started work on our first construction project-- building cement stairs up a hill to the salon comunal. Our students have been busy making wood molds, mixing, hauling, and laying down cement, helping our cook Margarita to prepare our meals (she loves teaching us how to make Costa Rican dishes!), and keeping our home area clean and tidy.

In the afternoons after our work is finished, we have been playing soccer, hanging out with the local youth group, and taking trips to a near by swimming hole-- we even saw monkeys on the hike yesterday! Our group loves exploring the community and has said that Matambu is one of the most naturally beautiful places they have ever been.

This weekend we are excited to take our first excurstion to the Monteverde cloud forest and Volcano Arenal to do some hiking, canopy tours, and maybe even relax in some natural hot springs.

We hope all is well in the States!

Un abrazo fuerte,
Rebecca y Nick

Saludos from San Jose

Greetings from Community Service Costa Rica E!

We´re so excited to have everyone here together in Costa Rica! We all made it through flights and customs and arrived safely at Hotel Kekoldi in San Jose. 

The next morning, after an orientation meeting in the Parque Morazan we explored the sights, sounds, and smells of the Mercado Central and had a tipical Costa Rican lunch before our bus tour of the city. After the citty tour we got to show off some dance moves at a merengue and salsa lesson and we topped off the evening with a terrific pasta dinner. 

Today we will we head to the small village of Matambu situated on the Nicoyan Peninsula, our home base for the next 4 weeks.  Everyone is excited to get to know the people in our host community at the fiesta de bienvenida (welcoming party).

That's all for now! 

Rebecca and Nick

The group has arrived

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in San Jose. They will head to their project village, Matambu, on Sunday.