Wed 28 October

Today I woke up bright and early to go to work. There was a new group at the Forestal for experiencia and they were very nice. First I got my Lima and machete back from my co-worker and both were sharp. After checking them over, I helped transplant the small trees into dirt bags in the plant beds. I also helped by creating holes in the dirt for the small trees to go into. After planting a couple hundred trees, I went to go help the students with moving dirt. We worked hard on shoveling dirt from on pile to another so it could be closer to the dirt sifters. It took awhile but up until lunch we worked hard. After lunch I returned and filled dirt bags. After work I went to the gym to work out and then went to dinner. Once I was finished with dinner, I got my mat and went to yoga. Yoga was a bit harder this week because I didn’t go last week and we did a lot harder stretches this week. After yoga I went with my friend David to his dorm to play some music. I brought a small drum, two shakers, and clave. A couple of his friends came too and also brought guitars and other percussion instruments. We jammed for about an hour and one half under the moon light and stars. It was awesome and I can’t wait till we can have another jam session!!

Tues 27 October

This morning I woke up in San José and went on a quick walk with my mom down to the National Theater. Then we went back to the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast my mom got packed and left for the states. After saying goodbye, I went to a block full of stores and bought some clothes and some shoes. Then I went back and checked out at the hotel. I took a bus back to EARTH and then got picked up by Wendy. Later I ate dinner with my friends and then studied Rosetta stone in the Library. After I went back to the house, watched some TV, and then went to bed.

Monday 26 October

Toady I woke up at 5am to go the forestal. When I got there, I bought a Lima for sharpening my machete and then told my co-workers that I couldn’t work today of the next day. I then went home and got packed for the trip to La Paz. Around 7am my mother pulled up with a driver and we headed to La Paz to see the waterfall gardens. Out drivers name was Victor and he was funny and a very nice guy. As we drove, Victor told us that there had been a huge earthquake that had hit La Paz in January and the place was still recovering from it. When we reached La Paz, you could tell that something big had gone through this beautiful place and left it in disarray. The roads were all new and there were roads that were still being worked on because the earthquake taken out almost all of the roads. It was sad to see that about 80% of all the restaurants and other businesses were gone and it was almost a ghost town. When we arrived at the Waterfall gardens, I was amazed to see how beautiful the place was. The front building was located on the hill, overlooking the whole place. It reminded me of Jurassic Park because everything was green it was a park of wild animals. There were huge buildings for the bird garden, butterfly garden, and the other exhibits. We first went through the bird exhibit and saw really cool exotic parrots and toucans. Also there was an owl that flew right into the glass when we woke up. Something must have scared him but he then got trapped in a hole in the ground and one of the staff had to help him back to his perch. We found out that the owl couldn’t see in the day time so that’s why he was having such a hard time. After that, we went to the butterfly garden. There were butterflies everywhere and all of them were different colors and it was really cool to see. We saw a butterfly coming out of its cocoon which was really cool to watch. Next was the monkey exhibit which had all the different types of monkeys from Costa Rica. I never knew how important there tail was until I saw these monkeys. Their tails were like their fifth leg and they used it for everything. After the monkeys, we went through the frog exhibit and then to the water fall. As we walked down the long path way to the waterfall, it started to rain. This was nice because it made the air foggy and showed you that you where in the middle of a cloud forest. When we reached the Waterfalls, I was in awe. They were so tall and magnificent looking. The views were great and I got some good pictures. After the waterfall Victor showed us a model Costa Rican farm house that was up for display and explained the different tools that the farmers used to use. Also the staff in the house gave use samples of sweet bread and a drink made up or sugarcane juice and milk. It was good and warmed me up after being cold from the rain. We then headed up to the cat exhibit which I was very much impressed with. The displays were wonderful the habitats for the cats were dead on and the cats seemed happy. Also the design of theses habitats made so you could go right up to the cats and take great pictures through the glass. Only of the displays let you walk underneath were some mountain lions were sleeping right above. I got some cool shots and was very happy with the turn out. Last we went to the snake exhibit which I like but not really because I don’t like snakes very much. We then went to the restaurant at the place which had an awesome buffet full of delicious food. After lunch I sat by a fire and talked with another tourist from FL. We then went to look at the Orchid exhibit which was disappointing because none of the flowers were in bloom, and then to the humming bird garden which was nice. It was cool how close you could get to the humming bird to see how fast their wings were going. After the waterfall gardens, we headed for the Poás volcano. When we got there, it was too rainy for us to see anything, so we decided to head for Son José.

We arrived in Chepe (San José) around 5pm and got situated in our hotel room. We then went out to dinner at a restaurant called El Patio which was really nice. I had a supreme pizza and my mom had a salad. After dinner we went back and got some rest.

Sunday 25 October

Today my mother and I took one of my family’s cars, and went to the beach in Cahuita National park, near Puerto Viejo. It was a beautiful day and the weather was great for swimming. On the way down we listened to my cd's and jammed out the whole way there. When we got there, we laid out some beach towels and went in the Caribbean ocean. After our awesome swim, we went out to eat at a small Caribbean style restaurant and had the beans and rice dish with Banana smoothies! After dinner we headed home and listened to some more cd's and sang the whole way home. When we got back, we planned out our next day and then I went to bed.

Sat 24 October

Sat I went to the forestal and worked on filling bags of dirt, weeding the trees, and slowly sharpening my machete. After work, I went to go work out and then went home. Later we had my mom and Delaney over for dinner which was a lot of fun. After dinner I went to bed.

Fri 23 October

This morning I woke up and biked up to the campus to fins my mother. I found out what room she was in and went to go see her. I got to room 25 and there she was and gave me a big huge. I was happy to see her and we caught on everything. She told me she arrived around 11:10pm and didn't see me so she went straight to her room. So for the whole 2 hours I was waiting for her the night before, she was about 20 meters from me. We went to breakfast, and she introduced me to her co-workers on the board. Then we took a tour of the Urban Gardens and I thought everything was interesting. It made me excited that I would be working on that project in about a week or so because I like gardening. After the tour, I took my mom on another tour of the places I had volunteered at and introduced my mom to all of my co-workers. After the tour, we looked at the baby sheep that were in on of the fields but quickly left as we felt the first rain drops of a storm coming. We biked fast and right when we were about a block away from my house it started to rain. We biked even quicker and got out of the storm and were ahead of it. It was really cool because right behind us it was raining, but where we were it wasn't. We pulled into the garage right as it started to down poor. We got inside and sat on the back porch and chilled for a while as it down pored. Later I went to the Cafeteria for dinner and my mom went to her first meeting of the trip. After dinner I went to bed.

Thurs 22 October

Today we woke up and right after breakfast went surfing. I finally felt comfortable on the board and caught a few waves with out anyone's help of telling me when to go. Also Eduardo told me that I looked a lot more comfortable and confident about what I was doing. After surfing, we packed up and got everything in the car, then we went out to lunch and had Caribbean style rice and beans with chicken. The food was delicious and I probably could eat that dish everyday. After lunch we drove back to EARTH which took about 2 hours. When I got home, I was told that my mother was going to be arriving around 1130pm and wanted me to meet her at the hotel called PEP on the EARTH campus. So around 11pm I biked up to the campus and talked to Tonio for a couple of minutes, and then got to PEP by 1120pm. I sate down and waited. I waited and waited and waited and finally around 130am, I went home without seeing my mother.

Wed 21 October

Today we helped finish up the glass wall for the bathroom and then chilled around the house. Later Ben and I went surfing at the main beach, where there were a lot of surfers. This made it harder for me because I didn’t know when to go and catch a wave without taking someone else’s wave. After surfing it was dark out and we had to walk home barefoot with our boards. It was a painful walk home because there were a lot of rocks in the road and it was hard to see where we stepping. When we got home, we took a shower outside with the hose and got off all the salt from the previous days which were nice. Later that night after dinner, we went out to the bars to see what was going on. When we got there, there was hardly anyone there. That was a disappointment because Ben and Eduardo told me that there usually were big parties and dancing the whole night. (I guess ill just have to go back there when things are happening!) So after that we went home and went to bed.

Tuesday 20 October

This morning we woke up around 530am so we could be at the beach by 6am. So I crawled out of bed, which was a mat on the floor that I had slept on the night before, and got the surf boards into the car. We drove through the horrible roads at an extremely slow pace of about 5mph. The were pot holes everywhere and a normal 10min drive took twice as long thanks to these wonderful potholes. When we got to the beach, we were a little disappointed because the waves weren't as big as they had been the day before, but we went in anyway. We stretched and put some wax on our board and headed in. As it turned out, the waves were calm but nice for learning how to surf, so I was happy. It was beautiful out in the water and it was a great way to start your day. After surfing we went back to the half finished house and made eggs for breakfast. After we started working on the house and worked on putting up some dry wall and working on the bathroom. A little bit later we picked up one of Eduardo’s friends to help us build the glass wall for the shower. As they worked on it, Ben and I listened to music and helped with what we could. Later that night we had fish and meat for dinner, and then we went to bed.

Monday 19 October

Today Ben and I woke up around 7am so we would be ready when Ben's friend would come. Eduardo came a good 4 hours later because he was running on tico (Costa Rican) time and didn’t think he was late. So we packed everything into the car and headed off for Puerto Viejo. The trip took about 2 and one half hours and wasn’t bad at all. When we arrived to the small town were everything was Rasta and laid back. I could tell that people really took it easy here because the roads were in horrible condition and no one took the time to fix them. It was impossible for the car to travel anything over 10MPH because there were so many pot holes that would have destroyed it. Eduardo knew everyone in town and waved to all of them with the surfer wave that all the Bro's do in California. Also he saw his cousin Adman and told him to hop on the car. So the rest of the ride to the house, Adman held on to the side of the jeep and also waved to everyone he knew. Once we got to the house, we unpacked and then got started on the house. We needed to dig a 7ft deep hole for a drain. The water from the bathroom would go through a pipe and into a machine that filters out the waste and then produces 90% waster without waste in it. The hole would be filled with tires and rocks to help the clean water go into the ground easier. The waste would be trapped in the machine and after two months on sitting in the machine, you can use the waste as fertilizer. After digging the hole, it was time for surfing. I was nervous but also really excited. We strapped all the surf boards on top of the car and then headed for Playa Grande. When we got there, the waves were a pretty good size and choppy. We first waxed our boards, stretched, and then jumped into the water. The first thing I needed to learn was how to get past the huge waves breaking on top of me when I was trying to get farther out into the ocean. The boys taught me how to push down on the surf board to go under the wave and then go through it. This made it easier to get out and saved you from being torn apart by the wave. Next they taught me about timing and when to start paddling like hell to catch the wave. It took me some time but soon I got the hang of it. We left after it started to get dark and went to the Grocery store to buy dinner. We made pasta on a small gas stove and heated up refried beans and chips for a snack. There was no electricity yet in the house so our only lights were candles. The food was great and tasted good after surfing and getting beat up by all the waves. After dinner we drove into town to a hippy hotel/bar. The hotel had two open floors and there we 50 tents that were the rooms of the hotel. Then farther in the back on the first floor were hammocks. In the front there was a pool table that we played some games at. We then decided to head back and go to bed because we were going to go surfing early the next morning when the waves were big.

Sunday 18 October

Today was a very hot day in EARTH and all I wanted to do was swim. So Ben and I went to the river first and swam for a while. There was a rope swing that was attached to a tree so we could swing into the air and then jump in the water. After the river, we went to the pool. When we got there, a bunch of people arrived and we started up a game of water basketball. After we went home ate dinner. Then Ben invited me to go to Puerto Viejo with him to help build his friends house and learn how to surf. I agreed and then started packing. After packing, I watched some T.V. and then went to bed.

Sat 17 October

Sat I woke up and went to the Forest. I slept some more when I got there, and then learned how to use, and how to sharpen a Machete. I then talked to the workers about trees and other topics until it was time to go. After work, Daniel took me to the hardware store where I bought my very own machete and stone for sharpening the Lima. When we got back, the whole family had burgers for lunch. After lunch, Sara Ben and I went to the pool. Later in the night we had family friends over for dinner. I left the house about 9pm to meet up with my group who was going to Sajaterio, the only bar in town that everyone goes to dance. When I got there, there weren't that many people, but it soon filled up. I danced the night away with a beautiful woman from Columbia named Jessica. It was a lot of fun and I love dancing. I got home around 3am and then went to bed.

Fri 16 October

Friday I helped with moving more dirt bags to the beds. Then a group of students who were called preparation students came to help at the forest. They were students who were shadowing EARTH for 3 months to get to know the place before they went their following year. I worked with these students and helped take out all of the weeds from the dirt bags with trees already growing in them. This helped the trees grow because then the weeds wouldn’t be stealing the nutrients and water that the tree needed. We all then went to lunch and watched the soccer game Ghana V.S. Brazil which was fun. I then returned to the Forest and helped fill dirt bags for a while. Then one of the workers gave me a tour of the butterfly garden which was nice to see even though there were only a couple of butterflies. After work I went play soccer at the synthetic field with the hombres de la Lecheria. Then I went to bed.

Thurs 15 October

Today I helped transplant small trees out of the green house into the dirt bags that we filled the day before. We first put the dirt bags into beds outside and then put the trees into them. I transplanted around 150 trees and the other workers did a lot more. After the first 20 I got the hang of it and was almost at the speed of the other workers. Then I helped sift dirt through big sifters to take out all the rocks and sticks so the dirt would be easier to put into the bags. After I filled more bags and also became a lot quicker after about 50 bags. I went to lunch and then returned to the forest to fill more bags for the remaining hour. After work, I went on a fruit tour with a group of people from Florida who was all experts on fruit. It was interesting to be on this tour because everyone was so knowledgeable and knew every single thing there was to know about fruit and the history of how the fruit got here. Also there was a man who was on the trip who was an expert on tropical trees. When I listened to him talk I thought I was listening to Discovery Channel. Also on the trip was a young teenager named Rex. His mom was the translator for the trip and he seemed to be pretty bored of the older people, so I invited him to come to dinner with me that night and then play some pool or ping pong later. He was happy and the night went well. After I chilled with Rex, I studied some more with Rosetta stone, then went to bed.

Wed 14 October

This was my first day at the Forest reserve and I was excited to learn about trees and everything else. I got there at 6am but no one was there. I then went to the office to see if anyone was there. When I got there I found Carlos, the head of the whole forestry project. He was very helpful and told me I went to the wrong place, but then called one of the workers to come pick me up. Once I got the reserve, I met the 4 other workers and then got a tour of the place. Today was the experiencia day so students came and I met them too. The workers took the students and I to another reserve, were we raked all of the paths that had been covered by leafs. After, we went deep into the rain forest to take a look at a huge tree that had escaleras de mono (monkey stairs). These monkey stairs were huge vines that grew out of the top of the tree and then came all the way to the ground. They were thick enough that you could climb up them if you wanted. It was a huge tree and I couldn’t believe how small I was compared to this tree. After the reserve I went to lunch, and then returned to the Forest reserve. For the rest of my time I filled small places bags that were used for growing plants. Once the seeds were past their germination stage and about 2in tall, we would transplant the small trees into these plastic bags to give them more space to grow. After work, I went home and met my new brother Ben. Then I went to dinner up at the Cafeteria were I ate with my friends. After I went to the computer lab in the bibliotheca and used Rosetta Stone Spanish to help my Spanish improve.

Tues 13 October

Today I woke up around 11am at the apartment in San Jose. I had breakfast and then took a shower. Once I was ready to go, Juan got a cab and we went to the bus station. I got a ticket, said goodbye, and I was on my way back to EARTH. On the bus I met a man named Bradley. His kids attended school with my family’s kids, so it was nice to talk to him and hear about his life in Costa Rica. When I got to the front of EARTH, I was trying to figure out how I was going to get to my house because I was on foot. Right after the thought went through my head, Toto, one of the workers at the Lecheria came up and asked if I needed a ride. After I got home I went to go play soccer at the gym. I scored two goals and played a lot more than the time before. I went home and then went to bed.

Monday 12 October

This Morning I woke up, had a nice breakfast with Alex, and then helped him transplant two different trees, and then transplant wild herbs. It was good work and I had fun doing it. Also I got to cut some fresh bananas from a tree and got to eat them. Later we left for San Jose and didn’t arrive there until 830pm because of the traffic. We picked up pizza and went to the apartment. There I met the other twin Fidel, who doesn’t look anything like Juan. We chilled and watched the movie Jumper on T.V. and then started to watch Snatch but then fell asleep.

Sunday 11 October

Sunday my family and I decided to go to another beach that was about an hour and a half drive from Liberia. We went with another couple who were from France. To get to the beach you had to know where you were going because you had to drive through a lot of small towns and back roads. The last stretch to get to the beach was on a long dirt road and it felt like a safari. Once we got there we parked our car on the sand and then set up our area for chilling at the beach. Juan and I went swimming and played futbol on the sand. After that, we went exploring around the beach and saw 3 kids who were snorkeling and fishing. They made up some sort of hook that had a long pull so when they were under water, they could snag the fish and then it would be caught. We tried talking to them but they weren't very talkative. After our adventure, Juan and I returned to our camp site and ate lunch with the family. Then we kicked it and went swimming some more and chilled. While I was in the water I spotted a sting ray in one of the waves. It was so cool because he was in the wave and gliding through it. After swimming, we watched the sunset which was gorgeous, and then went home. Later that night, Juan and I rented the movie Babel with Brad Pitt. I thought it was too long and didn't make sense but that’s just me. Then we went to bed.

Sat 10 October

Sat Juan and I woke up at 9am, had a quick breakfast and then were on our way to the beaches. The fist beach we went to was Flamingo beach. It was beautiful and no one was there. They waves were wonderful and we chilled there for a while and body surfed on the waves. A little bit later, we had coke and cookies for a snack, and then headed off for the next beach. We drove for about 30min and arrived at Tamarindo beach. This beach was huge and had a lot of gringos and tourist on it so we weren’t there for long. Later we went to a bar and had lunch and watched the Costa Rica game against Honduras I think. Costa Rica won in the second overtime which was awesome. You could hear everyone in the little beach town cheering. After the game we drove back to the house and rested for a while. Then, the parents gave me dance lessons and Fiorella, the daughter was my dance partner. After the lesson, Juan, Fiorella, and I went to the bar first, and then went to a disco Tec. We met up with a couple of Juan’s friends from the night before and chilled at the disco Tec. On of Juan’s friends, Enrique introduced me to a couple of girls and I asked them to dance. We danced the night away and then we went home. What a fun night.

Fri 9 October

430am!!! I crawled out of bed and took a quick shower to wake myself up. I had some raisin brain and then saw that a car was approaching the house. I got my things and put them in the car, and then got in. When I got into the car, it wasn’t Alex. I was a bit confused but then figured out that it was a driver from EARTH that would be taking us to Guanacaste. We picked up Alex and then started driving to San Jose. Alex took out a map and showed me the route that we would be taking, and then showed me the volcanoes that we would see on the way. I fell asleep and woke up as we were pulling up to Alex's apartment. We went inside and I saw Alexandra the wife, and then met one of the son's Juan. We ate Gio pinto and bread and cream cheese. After breakfast, Juan and I took one car, and Alex, his wife and the EARTH driver took the other one. Juan and I got to know each other quickly and became good friends. We jammed out to our music that we brought and showed each other our favorite artist's. We drove for about 1 hour and a half, and then met up with the parents at a restaurant on the highway. I had a small sandwich and then we hit the road again. We drove for about 3 more hours and were almost there when we had to stop because of a huge accident up ahead. We sat there for about 10min and then decided to take some back roads. I’m very glad I wasn’t driving because I probably would have crashed. People in Latin America are crazy drivers. There are no lanes and people can go as fast as they want. This makes driving all together turn into a video game except you can’t restart if you crash. We took the back roads for about 30min and then came back on to the main roads about a block away from where the crash happened. We then ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant that was owned by the parents of Juan's friend. While we were there, there was a group of students eating and some of them were gringos so the whole group was staring at me. Finally as they were leaving, they came up to me and asked me where I was from. I found out that 3 out of the 4 gringas were from WI and 1 was from MN. When they were walking out of the door, Alexandra yelled to them in Spanish, do you have emails ladies?? They all turned around and said yes and wrote them down and gave them to me. Also one Tica from the group wrote hers down too. My face was probably red because I was embarrassed and didn’t expect Alexandra to yell that. After the girls left my new family was joking with me and I knew this was going to be a good weekend. Once we got to the house, I met Fiorella the daughter, and Sandra the house keeper. We unloaded everything and then went inside. The house was gorgeous. My family constructed it and it was very tico inside. The house was constructed out of dark wood and windows with only screens to make it very open and well ventilated. After getting settled in, Juan and I went to his friend’s house and we chilled there for a while. After that, we went home and went to bed.

Thurs 8 October

Today I had a normal day at work, cleaning the stables, feeding the animals, the usual. After work I was invited to play soccer on a synthetic field with a bunch of the Lecheria workers. Toto told me to take the bus @ 6pm and his daughter would pick me up on the motorcycle @ 630pm. Also I decided I was going to go to Guanacaste this weekend and I would leave with Alex the next morning around 5am. So after I packed and got ready for my trip, I walked to the bus station around 550pm. I waited there until 630pm because that’s when the bus actually was supposed to come. Once I got to the place where I was supposed to meet Toto's daughter, I waited for about 10min. After that I guessed she wasn't coming so I asked for a taxi to take me to this synthetic field. The taxi took me to this small house with a bunch of people standing in the back. I didn't know what to think because there was no field and a bunch of random people that I didn’t know were just standing there. When we pulled up a bit closer, I realized that all those weird people were actually all my fiends that I work with everyday. Once I discovered that I was relieved and got out of the taxi. When I walked up to them they all greeted me and gave me a jersey. Also behind me lights began to light up and when I turned around there was the field. We got warmed up and then started the game. It was hard for me to adjust because this field was a lot smaller than the normal size fields so my judgment was off. I started at defense but then switched to offense. I did horrible on offense and wished I could have switched back but they kept me up there. In the future, I know now that I will have to play a lot harder because all of the players play dirty. For example when I was jumping to head the ball, on of the players grabbed my jersey and pulled me down. After the game, Toto and I went to the bar and I got some dinner and bought him a beer or two. Then he offered to drive me back to the security office at the entrance of EARTH. We had to take the back roads because he didn’t have an extra helmeted for me and it was illegal to drive without one. During the ride I thought I was going to die because we were going so fast. Not only was it pitch black out, it was raining and the roads were slippery. When we reached the guard post, I was thankful I was still alive. I waited for Wendy and then got a ride home. I then finished up my packing and went to bed.

Wed 7 October

Today was the first day I used a machete!!!! When I got to the Caballerisa, the students were arriving and getting ready for their long day of experiencia. Different groups were sent out to do different tasks out in the field. The group's task that I was in was to cut a huge field of small trees, big plants, and tall grass. John told me to go to the rental warehouse and get a machete for myself, then meet him in the field with the rest of the students. After getting my machete, I couldn’t stop thinking about how nervous I was to use it. I never had before and I was extremely worried I was going to cut off my fingers or slice the blade right into my leg. I talked to John about my problema as he was sharpening my blade and he gave me some good advice. He told me to not play with it but to use it as a tool and be careful. After my blade was sharpened, I looked for a stick that I could use for my catcher. The ticos use sticks with a hook on the ends to pull grass into a pile or other plants together to make it easier to cut. Once I found my stick, I started hacking away at the endless amount of plants and grass in the field. After a while I started getting the hang of it and noticed that if I swing the blade more it less work for me. Also you need to cut at an angle because it cuts more efficiently that cutting horizontal or vertical. After a while I was good enough to switch hands when one of my arms got tired. After work I went to help Tonio on his Pineapple project. Tonio, his group, and I cut all the kings grass that was growing around there project before it got too tall. By cutting all of it now, then they wouldn’t have to worry about the grass taking the sun from the pineapple trees. Once again the only way to cut all that grass was with a machete. After hacking away for about two hours, we were finished and I biked home. My work day consisted of about 8 hours of hard machete labor and now I feel pretty comfortable with using one. Later that night we went to a friend’s house of my family and I had a lot of fun at dinner. My dad Daniel always speaks his mind and has a dry sense of humor, so no matter what he says is hilarious. After dinner it was about 11pm and I was ready for bed.

Tues 6 October

Today Students came to the caballerisa and John and I went with them out to the field to watch there class and see what they were learning. Their objective was to measure and see how tall the grass was for every square meter in different parts of the field. After I helped clean the stable and feed the horses. Later that night I participated in the Ultimate Frisbee Tournament and play almost the whole game. It was a lot of fun and my team mates were fun to play with. We lost by one point because the ref wasn’t keeping score and decided at the end to make up one so that was too bad. After the game, I went home and had dinner with my family and a couple named Alex and Alexia who live in Guanacaste. They were very nice and invited me up to there house whenever I had the time. Later I went to bed.

Mon 5 October

Monday I went back to the horse barn to help John with all the work because Mark was gone. The previous week, Mark had gotten into a horse accident and couldn’t come to work, so I took his place. We did all the normal chores like cleaning the stalls, feeding the animals, and making sure everything was working. After the chores, we went out to one of the fields and dug to a water pipe. Once we got to the pipe, we installed a faucet for water to come out there for the horses. While we were working, a student came up and introduced herself, her name was Mary and she was from Texas. She was here finishing her thesis and wanted to work at the Horse barn also. After work I went home, practiced yoga, and then went to the Cafeteria to eat. After I went and watched a part of the movie 21 and then played pool with Tonio. Right when I was finishing the game with Tonio, Diego, the student how invited me onto his Frisbee team, told me that we had practice. So I finished the game of pool and then headed down to the field. We started warming up then had a practice game to see were everyone was at. I found out I need to practice my throw because it isn’t the correct way of throwing it. Also I need to be more aggressive I was told. Tomorrow is our fist game of the Tournament and I hope we do well!

Sun 4 October

Sunday I slept in late till about 11am. I had some cereal, and then watched TV. for a while. Then I decided to go on a journey of finding a good long stick to pull momonchinos from the tree. I thought I would start at the bamboo forest because the sticks there are long and good for hitting the fruit out of the tree. I put on my boots and started my journey. I crossed the river and then walked a little ways to get to the forest. Once I got there it didn’t take long to pick out my stick. The only problem was that it wasn’t really a stick but a long bamboo pull about 35ft long. So I decided to bring the whole thing home and then deal with it with a machete. I pulled it across the street, through the grass, across the river, and then finally to my house. I was sweating pretty hard by the time I got this huge bamboo pull to the house. I found an old rusty machete on the side of the house and then started hacking away until the pull was just the right size. When I tested it out, it was perfect. The pull was light and strong, and got the job done. After my journey I learned how to play a card game with my family ate dinner (a grommet omelet) and then read and went to bed.

Sat 3 October

Saturday I woke up extra tired from coming home late the night before. I got to work at 6am and got right to work. It was experiencia for the students today so it was nice to have the help. We worked on cleaning the pig stalls, feeding then, spraying the place with molasses, and then just making sure everything was good before we left at 11am. When I got home, I practiced yoga, worked out, and then went to go eat dinner at the Cafeteria. After I chilled with my friends and then went to bed early.

Friday 2 October

Friday I worked in the pig farm once again. Luis had to leave early and asked if I could take over for him. I was stunted that he would ask me to manage the whole pig farm but I gladly agreed. My job was to clean the stalls, spray molasses with a special sprayer all over the farm and the stalls, give the pigs their sugar cane, and then make sure all the doors were locked at the end. After work I went home and chilled for a bit, then went with Tanner to Pequota to meet up with Toto. Toto had friends that were selling sombraros so Tanner and I went and bought sombraros and belts. When I returned to my casa, I ate a home made pizza, then went to my Frisbee practice. When I got to the field, no one was there. There was a soccer game going on for the Tournament so I decided to watch it. After the game I went to Tonio's dorm, and then we went over to Virginia’s dorm to watch a Mexican movie. I fell asleep while watching the movie so I don’t really remember if it was good or not. Then around 1230am I biked home.

Thurs 1 October

Thurs I helped clean around the different parts of the farm. I washed different places and made sure the whole place was clean. One task that was new for me was washing the milk refrigerator. There was a special soap that was used to clean the outside of fridge. I scrubbed the whole thing down, and then washed it. After work around 330pm I got my first hair cut in the back of the game room on campus. I was happy because I liked the cut and I only had to pay $3.00 for the hair cut. After I went and chilled with Virginia and swapped music with her. Later I went to dinner and had once again rice and beans and some sort of meat. After dinner I wanted to watch a movie, so I got Tanner and Daniel to come and watch whatever we could find. I talked to my friend Diego about downloading one of his movies off of his computer and he showed me his selection. We picked out the ghosts of my girlfriends. When we were leaving, Diego asked if I would want to join his team for the Frisbee tournament coming up and I said I would love too! The movie was a really good and I would watch it again. After leaving Tanner's Dorm, I biked home and went to bed.

'Wed 30th Septmeber

Wed was experiencia for the students and I was glad to have more people help at the Lecheria. I worked with Roberto and lineath. Our first job was to brush and clean the baby water buffalo which was a task and a half. Not only did they not want to be brushed, they didn’t want to be near us either. After a while, the baby water buffalo clamed down and it was easy to brush them. While we were brushing them, Roberto helped me with a name for my friend who was the baby calf. We named her Nena, which means cutie or something like that in Spanish. After we retrieved about 30 cows from the field and took them to the Lecheria for milking. Then we put food in the long food bed for the cows. Once everything was finished, everyone started heading over to the pig farm. I didn’t know why but I followed. To my horror, Luis was going to do a class on how to castrate a baby pig. The whole class was in a small stall and watching closely on how to do it because they would be doing it after Luis's example. Luis caught the first baby pig, hung it upside down by its two hind legs, and then tied the two legs to the wall. They baby pig was screaming and going wild but Luis didn’t notice as he was getting the rubbing alcohol. He rubbed the alcohol to clean the area that he was going to cut into. On moment later he had his pocket knife out and was cutting a straight line between the pigs testis. Then one by one he popped both of the testes out with his fingers and then cut them from the pig. At this point, I was about ready to vomit, so I decided to leave this horrible scene and go and get some fresh air. After the students were done with there class, we all went to lunch at the cafeteria. I wasn’t that hungry after what I had seen only 20min before lunch but I couldn’t pass up the ice cream that was being handed out. When I tried it, I was surprised. It wasn’t ice cream at all, it was gross. It tasted like a watered down ice cream with more ice then cream. After lunch I finished work, went home, and then went to dinner. After dinner, Tanner and I went to yoga. I loved it and felt like I was improving. I’m thinking about doing yoga throughout the week to become stronger and get more flexible.

Tuesday 29th Septmeber

Today I made another friend who I was surprised to meet. When we were milking the cows, I took a new role in directing the calf’s into the sides of there mothers to milk. As I was waiting to send in the next batch of calf’s, I felt a nudge on the back of my leg. When I turned around, I saw this beautiful tan brown calf looking right at me. This was the first calf that has ever come up to me or even come near me. I was really happy and started to pet her. When I pet her she came closer and leaned on me. Once the other calf’s saw this, they decided to come over and get massaged too. So thanks to this wonderful calf, I am now friends with all the baby calf’s in the Lecheria. The cow didn’t have a name other than her number tagged on her ear 63950, so I decided I was going on a quest to find the perfect name for her. After work I went to dinner and then chilled with Tanner and Tonio. We chilled up at the Bibliotheca and talked to people that passed by. It was nice and Tonio practiced his English with me.