Catching Up...

Where to begin...it's been a while since I actually wrote a post for my own blog.  There has been so much going on over the past month...that I'll try to summarize...

A good place to begin...This is a pic of John's side of the bed getting pooped on by a friendly gecko...good times...ok jk on to the real stuff.

We've been making monkeys, potato turkeys, rainbows and celebrating birthdays and last days in Brasilito with Abriendo Mentes.

My mom came to visit over Thanksgiving. She got to volunteer with me, meet my adult english class student's chancho(pig) for Navidad, visit the beautiful Monteverde cloud forest, go ziplining, and of course we had lots of beach time.  In one of the pics we are even dressed as twins from the hat (thanks to Hanya's gift to me) to our beach cover-ups.

Celebrating our last days with the kids in El Llanito by watching movies and celebrating birthdays.

Helping with sex trafficking fairs for the past week and ending by helping to raise money at the Gala on Saturday night.  Lots of organization's partnered to make the week possible: Light Force Int'l, CEPIA, Global Connections; The Human Traffic Initiative, Serve One, AM, etc.  Costa Rica is actually a hub for sex trafficking and after the first safety fair a few girls were rescued from a nearby club.  During the safety fairs, the kids learn about protecting their bodies along with having a little fun at different stations that reiterate all the main points.

The teachers of El Llanito invited me to their end of year retreat on the beach. They grilled out tons of meat (sausage, chicken, beef, etc), molido/chips, and even had a birthday cake for Stephanie.  They had all drawn names for presents and each said something very special about the person they bought for (a very formal production).  Yentry presented me with 2 Costa Rican displays which were really precious!  A very relaxing afternoon before I headed to Brasilito to play a round of bingo for our last Thrilling Thursday of the year.

We attended the CEPIA end of year party where there were more games for the kids and they were all recognized for the extra curricular activities they had participated in. John's group of soccer guys and our english class kids from Brasilito were all invited and recognized. I am now happy to say that I am a pro at facepainting. I was put on the FP team for the safety fairs and I got to do it again at the CEPIA end of year party. Maybe that's a skill I'll be able to put on my resume one day :)  I loved the ladies and gents that showed us a Typical Costa Rican dance too!

Lastly for this blog...we also attended the Brasilito kinder class end of year party. We made a chocolate cake for the event that was split into 30 tiny slices. They hired a clown and more facepainting (these kids love FP), and we ate pizza, fresco, and icecream. The clown was an absolute hit with the kiddos!

Busy times in Costa Rica....and there is more to come! We had an amazing day with Serve One Ministries in El Llanito and I'll try to write more about that in my next blog. Adios amigos!

Ole Ole Ole....

John just recently wrote a blog for the Abriendo Mentes organization about his soccer guys in Brasilito! Check it out at:  http://abriendomentespotrero.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/futbol-fun-in-brasilito/

Maybe we need the entire Nabers Soccer Academy to visit Brasilito and give these guys some intensive classes...aka Need Ben and Steve to come visit asap!!!

Hasta Luego!

Cancer Walk in Costa Rica

Every now and then all the volunteers at Abriendo Mentes volunteer to write a blog post for the AM website and Facebook accounts so all the donors and past volunteers can see what we are up to. Here is one that I recently wrote and thought I would share with you.

Last Saturday, eleven Abriendo Mentes volunteers and of course Harry Potter (Caroline’s dog) participated in the Caminata por el Tratamiento del Cáncer (Hike for the Cure of Cancer). Las Catalinas opened up their beautiful hiking trails to us for an approximately three-hour hike on the beautiful coast of the Pacific in order to help raise money for cancer research.  A few of the volunteers (Trevor and Sam) were really ambitious by running the very mountainous roads to get to Las Catalinas before the hike even started; I don’t think that would have ever crossed my mind, but I was very proud of them!

A class of students from Potrero helped to support the cause as well. It was so encouraging to see the kids out in the community and running through the trails with all their built up energy.

Along the way there were fruit and water stops, which were so needed and appreciated! For the most part the hike was not too strenuous, and there were some points in the walk that had absolutely stunning views. I think a few of us will definitely be back to explore all the other trails on the property.  By the end, we were all pretty tired but pumped that we got to support a greater cause!