Fri 25 dec Christmas!

This morning I woke up around 7am and couldn’t wait to open presents. Slowly the family woke up and we had a wonderful breakfast with eggs and bagels and fruit. After we opened presents one at a time which was very nice. I got sunglasses, a knife, two books, chocolate, and a shirt from EARTH, and the first season of Scrubs. After we chilled at the house and watched Scrubs. Later we had an early dinner over at our fiend’s house, and the food was wonderful. After I watched a movie with Sara and Alexandra called 500 days of summer. It was wack! Then I hit the sheets.

Thurs 24 dec

Christmas Eve day, I went to the pool with Zach and grandpa and then worked out for a bit. Later we chilled at the house until it was time to go to our evening event. This night we went to a series of cocktail parties around the neighborhood. I got to try a special drink called Sangria which was a fruity alcoholic drink that was very tasty. Later we enjoyed different Costa Rican typical dishes, which followed to cheesecake and other delicious desserts. At 11pm I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I went home and went to bed.

Wed 23 dec

Today I chilled at the house and watched movies with the family. We watched The Soloist which was a sad movie and I didn’t like it at all. Around 330pm I said goodbye to the family, then went to Jaco to take the bus to San Jose. I got to Chepe around 715pm and decided to get off at the airport which was a good idea because 15min later, my family arrived to pick some of their family up and I knew right were to meet them. I then got a ride back with them to EARTH. After the long trip, I went to bed!

Tues 22 dec

Today I woke up around 8am, helped Alex, the father with painting, then went to the beach and went swimming because the waves were too big for me to surf. After, we came back and painted the second floor all day. It was fun because every time we messed up and dripped some paint on the ground or wood, we quickly wiped it with a towel before Alex saw it. Later that night, the vegetarian restaurant was having an open jam night. Alex and I played with other musicians and jammed for two hours. Then I went to bed.

Mon 21 dec

This morning we went surfing at another beach with wonderful waves for surfing. We went surfing for about 2 hours, then went back and helped the family paint the second floor. After, I went to yoga and felt super relaxed. Then we had a family dinner and then went to bed.

Sun 20 dec

This morning we went swimming and surfing at Playa Hermosa with the family and the dog Buddha. After, we went to Jaco and went around town and chilled with Drew until she had to leave for San Jose. After, we went back to the house and watched the movie the Secret. Then we had dinner and the vegetarian restaurant which was nice for the second time. After we went back to the house and chilled for a bit, then went to bed.

Sat 19 Dec

This morning, we went surfing. We rented boards at a small surfing shop and walked with our long boards to the beach. Malia and Lupe, Malia´s sister, taught Drew and I how to surf. The waves were great and it was super fun. After we went out to eat and I got to eat rice and beans! I had been with out rice and beans for more than 3 days and I missed it. Then we drove home and chilled at the house for a bit. Later in the night, we went out to a bar, then went to a birthday party and danced reggae all night.

Fri 18 Dec

Today I was woken up by Malia around 755am telling me that her mom´s Yoga class started at 8am. I jumped out of bed and got down there as quick as I could. I had to go down a small hill into the lower part of their property. Once I got there, I walked into an open air Yoga studio. Everyone had started already, so I went to the back and grabbed a mat. The yoga was incredible and I got a great work out. Also Rose, Malia´s mom loves doing partner yoga, so she incorporated that into our work out. After I was feeling great and it was a great way to start the day. We took a trip to a water fall about 10min from their house. I was amazing and there was mud that we put on our body because it was good for our skin. I didn´t get and photos because we got locked out of the car for 20min until finally it opened. After we chilled at the house and played with a baby possum named Pancha that the family rescued. Later that night, we went to a party outside of a couple beach houses and listened and danced to live American music. We danced all night and had a blast. Later we drove home and went to bed.

Thurs 17 Dec

This morning I had a change in plans. I had to start at the horse stable to get a horse. The horse I got was the biggest one in EARTH. She was huge, and I was a bit intimidated by her. She back was as tall as my forehead so that meant she was way taller than all of the other workers because they only come up to my chest. After saddling up, I got on her and started to get a feel on how she road. Next I traveled to the Lecheria to meet up with Toto. When I got there, we left to go to one pasture far away to retrieve cattle. When we got to the field, we had to go all the way to the back of the heard of cattle and start yelling and bumping our horses into the cattle to get them to move. Once we got it started it became easier. Next we had to keep them on the right track and keep them in line to get them to the Lecheria. We traveled down the main roads and cars would just stop and let the cattle go by them because there was nothing else they could do. Toto and the other cow boys showed me how to herd the cattle and explained that everyone needed to be in the back in a triangle. One man would be stationed in the way back of the herd, then the other two on both sides. Then if a turn comes, the person on one of the sides will run ahead and direct the cattle to turn. After, herding the cattle, Oskar, another cowboy and I went to search for missing cattle. One interesting thing I learned was that if you do a certain call to the cows, they will respond and that will help you find them. After an hour of searching through heavy jungle and different fields, we didn’t find the missing cattle. Our last task was to get the last set of cattle back to the Lecheria. This time I was more prepared on what I had to do. After getting that taken care of, I road back to the horse stable and then got ready to go. Today was the day I was going to leave for Jaco to visit Malia´s family. It was around 1230pm when I left and I had to make the bus by 2pm. On my list of what I had to get done, it didn’t seem possible. I had to sell my Bike and then pick up another. After I had to pack my bag and then make it out to the main road. I rushed and made it to the main road to catch the bus just in time. After the Bus trip to San José, Malia, Drew, and I took another bus to Jaco. When we got there, Alex, Malia’s dad picked us up and brought us to a house party where we picked up the rest of the family. After we went to there house, got settled in, then went to bed.

Wed 16 Dec

Today I returned to the Lecheria and helped milk the cows. Also I got to play with the baby water buffalo which was amazing because they are so cute and fun to play with. After I helped heard the cattle back to their fields and then clean up. Later that night, I played Frisbee with a couple of friends, and it was so much fun. We had about 4 people on each team and we made the field a lot shorter so it was fast and a lot more scoring. It had rained a couple of hours before so it was super slippery and fun. Later I chilled with my family then went to bed.

Tue 15 Dec

Today I returned to the Lecheria to help the men and to work some more. When I got there, I helped them feed the cows. After, Toto and I went to the pig farm to help Luis. Toto started cooking pig meat for lunch while I helped clean out the stalls. Then I went back to the Lecheria and helped direct cattle into the the barn and back to the field. After work I went home and chilled for a bit, ate dinner at the house, then went up to Chill with Malia while she did her laundry. She had a book named The Secret and I read about 70 pages. It was really cool and I am planning on finishing the book. After I biked home and went to bed.

Mon 14 Dec

Today I woke up around 12pm, and went to lunch. After lunch Drew, Malia, Robin, Daniel, and I went to Matt's apartment to make brownies. While we made the brownies we listened to salsa and then Malia taught me how to dance salsa and all of the basics. Then we went to dinner in the Cafeteria. After Drew, Daniel, Enrique, and I went to Drew’s to make henna but from a different plant. It is more of a die that last for two weeks and is dark blue. We all picked our designs and then painted them on. Tai our friend came over and I told her she could draw SAVE THE SHEEP on my back and then draw a sheep. This is because she’s working on getting better care for the sheep at EARTH so I thought I would support her. She started writing and asked if Save was with an F or a V and we all thought it would be a lot funnier if she put an F. So above is the finished product. Then I went home and went to bed.

Sun 13 Dec

Today I went to a barbecue that had all the families from the neighborhood and they were roasting a lamb for the main meal. We first ate, and then everyone either sat down to play card games of dominoes, or went outside to play outdoor games. I first played Dominoes, then went outside with the dads and played Bache ball. Then we celebrated Sara's 16th Birthday. After the Barbecue we went home and Sara, Alexandra, and I watched movies and ate pizza. I first watched the movie UP, which was amazing and I highly recommend it. Second we watched The Law Abiding Citizen which was an action movie where everything came together at the end. After the movies, we all went to bed.

Sat 12 Dec

Today I woke up and then went to work out. While I was working out, Rina came up to me and told me she was leaving in an hour. She gave me a really nice card, and then we said goodbye. I finished up working out, and then went up to the campus to look for her to see her off. I found her 5min before the bus came and I waited with her until it came. After she left, I went to Drew's Room and watched some YouTube videos with her. After, Claudel came over and we came up with the idea to have a Belizean style dinner tonight. After we got the whole menu written up, Drew and I went with Wendy to Pecora to pick up the food for dinner. Wendy wanted to see how my driving was coming along so I drove there and back and we made it the whole way without crashing! Thank goodness. After Drew and I went and picked up all of the guest's and then brought them to Matt's apartment. We started cooking and other people started playing music. It was a wonderful dinner and the Food was delicious. We had Fried jacks which are like fried dough of bread, with spiced chicken and potato salad. After we sat around and played music, then everyone went home. After cleaning up, I headed home and went to bed.

Fri 11 Dec

This morning I woke up around 930am and got ready for the Graduation that started at 10am. Sara and I walked to the Graduation, and then found seats in the back. It was extremely hot out and being in the gym with 900 other people, it felt like sauna. After the graduation, we ate lunch outside under huge tents that were set up to seat and feed all of the people too. We had chicken and different sides with some sort of chocolate cake dessert. After that, around 3pm, Daniel my friend and I went to the pool to go swimming. He told me when we were swimming, that we could increase the amount of air into your lungs by practicing holding your breath. So what we did was took huge breaths and then held them for a certain amount of time. We started by holding our breath for 20 sec. As time went on, we increased the time of holding our breath and the final time, I held my breath for 2 min and 30 sec under water. It was amazing that I started at 20sec and that was hard, but then when you relax and meditate, and go up little by little, you can go for a long time. After swimming, Daniel and I went to Matt’s house to make brownies. While we were waiting, Matt and I started talking about music. He then told me that he had a piano for making beats on. I couldn’t believe that another person had a piano and it took me all this time to find it. It was a small piano with 24 keys and had a lot of other buttons to make weird noises and cool effects. While I played the piano, Matt would record me on to the computer and then make beats out of it. It was so much fun and we must have played for about 3 hours. After, I went home and went to bed.

Thrus 10 Dec

Today I woke up and went to the campus to buy EARTH polo. After buying the Polo, I went to the Bibliotheca to watch Rina's presentation on Urban Gardening. Then I went to watch the Flag Ceremony were a student from each country would represent their country by raising their flag. It was a very nice ceremony and everyone looked proud of their country when they were raising their own flag. After, I went and said goodbye to my best friend Tonio. He had finished his classes and was heading home to Mexico for Christmas. After sending him off, I went to dinner with my friends. Then, I went home and grabbed the guitar I found in the closet of my room and went to Enrique’s dorm to pick him up. Once he came out with his guitar, we drove to Drew's dorm and jammed with her for about an hour. Then Drew and I went to the Laundry room and jammed their while waiting for her clothes to get finished. Around 1030, we went to Sagitario, the bar in Pacora and danced all night until 3am. I learned 3 new dance moves for salsa and meringue from a local from Pacora and I was happy for the rest of the night!!! After I went home and went to bed.

Wed 9 Dec

Today I went to the last day of Experiencia for the students. I helped trim a certain type of palm tree to help it grow fruit. Then we chopped up all the leafs with machetes and put them into piles. Later,I visited different friends and we talked for a bit. Later that night I went to a cultural Dance in the auditorium. It was a performance from all the students and they showed a traditional dance from each of their countries. I was very impressed and liked how comfortable all the students here are with dancing. A couple of my good friends like Virginia, Jensi, and Carla were in the presentation which made it even better. After I chilled with Drew and Virginia for a while, then I went home and hit the hay.

Tues 8 Dec

Today I woke up, went swimming with Malia for a while then went and chilled up on the campus. I played pool with Kenneth for a while and then went to Enrique’s room with Drew to jam! After I went home and then went to bed.

Mon 7 Dec

Today I slept in until 8am!!! Then I worked on my blogging for a while and got caught up on my email. After I went to the gym and then went swimming. While I was working out Jessenia, a fourth year student came up to me and invited me to come to the bar tonight to go dancing. I was super excited and told her I would be there. After swimming I went up to the campus and ate dinner with my friends, then went to the Bar around 830pm. We danced all night and I didn’t get home until 230am! Good work out!

Sun 6 Dec

We woke u around 8am and made pancakes! After I got money and got packed for our trip home. Before I left I saw Andy, The man from England who had dislocated his shoulder. We talked some more and then I mentioned that I was going to Bolivia. His eyes lit up and he told me about this animal refuge about 2 hours north of Santa Cruise in the middle of the jungle, that he volunteered at for a month. He said it was one of the best things he had done in his life. He told me that you would be walking Jaguars and playing with monkeys and helping other animals get better. I was in awe when I saw the pictures of him with these animals and asked for more information. I am really thinking I want to do this and am now looking into it. After exchanging emails, I said goodbye and Dustin, Matt and I headed for Costa Rica. We took a water taxi back to the main land of Panama, then got harassed by the taxi drivers some more. This time was different though. Before leaving I had been informed that these taxi drivers were a private company and wanted to make you pay as much as you could. So when we had walked down the stairs at the border on Thursday, those drivers were the private ones and wanted to make you think that that was your only option, when really on the other side of the small hill if we would have taken a left, there were all the real taxi drivers who would have charged only $20 dollars for everyone instead of $10 a person. So this time I was very firm and told them that there was no way in hell that I was going to pay $10 a person and said that we were going to get a taxi for $20. They were shocked that we had found out but then gave us a ride. When we got back to the border, I saw another group of poor tourist getting harassed by the same people we had gotten scammed by, so I walked over to them and told them what was going on. The private taxi drivers were furious with me when the tourist walked to the real taxis, but I said Pura Vida which pissed them off even more and then headed out of Panama. After we crossed, we got Dustin on a bus to Puerto Viejo and said goodbye. After, Matt and I went to a small restaurant and had Rice and Beans. Man was it good to be back!!! I felt so much more relaxed because I trusted these people and they were so much friendlier with gringos. At 3pm, Matt and I took a bus back to EARTH. When I got home, my family was sitting down to dinner with some family friends. I also noticed that they had bought a Christmas tree in San José and it was already decorated! I sat down to eat with them and had some good dinner. Later I went up to the campus to visit Drew, Tie and some other people. We chilled caught up, then I went home and went to bed.

Sat 5 Dec

Today we woke up around 11am. Right when I opened the door and went into the hallway, Dustin was walking by and told us we had 15min until we were going on another tour. I then skipped breakfast and we all got on the boat. Our group today was Dustin, Matt, and girl from Finland, and a man named Andy from England. We were heading to Wizards beach and our drivers name was Muy. His name should have been Muy Loco because he was driving the boat like a stunt driver. The waves we huge and he was hitting them at full speed. We were in the front and I almost fell out of the boat two times. It was a rough ride and my butt hurt every time the boat went air born and then slammed back onto the water. I finally told Muy Loco to stop and I gave everyone life jackets for seat cushions. But by the time we got there cushions, we were pretty much there. When we arrived, Loco could only get us so close to the beach without crashing the boat, so we had to lift all of our bags above our head and jump into waist deep water. We stumbled over some rocks but finally made it to the beach. We walked a little ways and reached a nice place were some other people were. Everyone got there suntan lotion on, then went swimming. The waves were strong and about 10 feet high. There was a strong under toe but I managed to swim with out being sucked under. On the contrary, our poor friend Andy had a different experience. The first wave that he jumped into hit him, through him to the ocean floor, and then dislocated his shoulder. He was in serious pain and wanted to go to the hospital to get it reset. In the mean time, one man ran to the only house on that was close on the island, while some other people and I went to give him some company. I talked to him and kept his mind off his shoulder as much as I could. About an hour later a boat finally arrived and we carried his stuff to the boat and helped him get in it. He thanked us and he was off. Later a couple from Germany had gotten robbed while they wee swimming. Some of the locals on the island had waited and watched in the forest behind all of us until people went into the ocean and left there stuff unattended, then they would run out and then run back into the forest and would never be seen again. The local police came and I had to be the translator for the police and the couple. After helping them, I went swimming some more and then our group was ready to go. We caught the next boat and almost crashed trying to get out into the ocean, because the tide was coming in and the waves were big. The diver was amazing because he knew exactly how to maneuver around the waves and make it back to town safely. After we all took showers and then asked some people where to go to dinner. Everyone recommended a Ti restaurant that was on the top of a hill on one island. We were also told that it was pretty hard to get there but we were determined to get some good Thai food. We took the boat and landed on a small town island that was filled with more locals than tourist. It was very nice and everyone was super helpful. It was night time and Matt brought a flash light just incase. We were told to go up this walk way and keep asking the people until we found it. We started walking up this sidewalk for about 10min and pasted houses with people playing dominoes and sitting outside. It was very chill and I liked the walk. Soon we reached the last house with lights and asked were to go. The lady pointed at a small path the lead to complete darkness. Thank god Matt brought his light. We started down the path until we walked right into ankle deep mud. The whole trek from there was through this mucky muddy path and we got extremely dirty. We could hardly see and didn’t even know how much longer we had to walk. Then finally we saw this nice house with lights on in the back porch and we put the flash light up to a sign that told us this was it. We found a bucket with water to wash our feet, then we headed in. When we got there, the place was dimly light and felt magical. Some of our other hostile mates were there and welcomed us. The couple who owned this house/restaurant was very nice and seemed like they had the perfect life. The guy was named Cory and was from the states. He had married a woman from Thailand and they moved here and started their small restaurant. He told me that this was the only really Thai restaurant with a real Thai cook in Panama. Also, through word of mouth of the travelers, this restaurant had been heard of all the way up to Nicaragua. We ordered and told him what spice level we wanted, then sat and talked with our mates on this small porch overlooking the bay. The dim light made everything so cool and I felt very relaxed. Our food came out and it was sooooooooo gooood. The red meat curry I got was perfect and hot and like comfort food. We ate and sat around for a while, then I ordered a big chocolate organic brownie that the lady told us was made down the road. That just topped it off. That restaurant was one of the best restaurants I have been to on my travels so far. Finally thanked the couple and set off into the darkness. The walk was even harder because it had gotten even darker but we managed to get all the way down the mountain back to the dock in the small town. We waited and then caught a water taxi back to the main town. Later that night we hit the Iguana bar first, then went to the Aqua Lounge bar. We needed to take another water taxi to get across the bay to get there. This bar was outside and had a hole in the deck for jumping into. There was an outside dance floor and we danced the night away. Also some crazy people jumped off the roof of the bar into the water and it looked like fun but I didn’t want to get wet. Later we went to the hostile and went to bed.

Fri 4 Dec

Today we woke up around 10am and went down and made pancakes with the rest of our hostile. While we were eating our pancakes, we kept getting harassed by at least 10 different guys who wanted to take us on tours. Once we were finished with breakfast, first switched rooms and got a dorm with air conditioning for two dollars more. Then, we made a deal with one of the men and we went on a tour with a couple other people from our hostile. One guys named Dustin who I later became good friends with, and four Germans, three girls named Linda, Lea, Masha, and one man named Flow. Our first stop was the Dolphins. When we got there, the guide then decided to mention to us that you usually can’t see the dolphins at this time of day, only in the morning. We laughed it off because we got scammed pretty badly there so we decided to take this tour into our own hands, the guy then told us that he was taking us to a restaurant because that’s what all of the tours do. I feel like the whole business is run by some mafia because the trip was already worked out on where we were going to eat and stuff. So when we arrived at the restaurant, we told him we weren’t going to eat until we snorkeled. So he was mad but took us snorkeling, once we were done with that, he took us to the restaurant and was happy that we got off the boat because his plan was working to get us into the restaurant. Little did he know that Matt and I had previously purchased a loaf of bread, peanut butter, Jelly, chips, and a drink for a grand total of $10 at the supermarket. We sat down and shared with everyone in o0ur group. When we did the math at the end, all together we saved about $60 and that just set this tour guide into flames. He wasn’t too happy with us but we didn’t care because we weren’t going to be the stupid tourist who got worked by these tour guides. Our last stop was a beach, we told him we wanted to stay here for three hours and then asked him to pick us up after that. Matt, Masha, Dustin, and I got off the boat and walked to the beach. A man came and greeted us and told us to holler at him if we needed anything. We sat on the beach for a while, then Dustin and I went exploring a little bit and then decided to go to the dock and chill. We told each other about our trips and it was fun to hear his wild stories. After we went to the man and asked him for a knife to cut a pineapple I had brought. He then cut it for us and we shared the whole pineapple with his kids and everyone. We had a nice talk with the man and he told us that some of the Survivor T.V. shows were filmed on this island. Then he showed us his two pet Alligators. They were about a meter and one half long but you could only see there eyes in the water. We talked with the nice man until the boat came and said our goodbyes. After our tour, we took showers and got ready to go out. We went to a Chinese restaurant which was ok, then went to a bar. Dustin and I met two girls from Australia and played pool with them for a while, then went dancing with them at another bar. After I got tired said goodbye, then Dustin, Matt, and I went back to our hostile and crashed.

Thurs 3 Dec

Today I woke up a 5am to get packed and ready to go. First I went to the horse barn to let the guys know that I wouldn't be able to work the rest of the week. After I packed and then waited until 1030am. Then I hit the road and hitch hiked my wait to the front gate of EARTH. Shortly after, Matt came in another car and then we walked to the bus stop right outside of EARTH. We waited for about a half an hour and then the bus came rolling along. The trip took about 4 hours to the border. Once we got to the border, we walked and got our passports stamped. Then we saw that we had to cross a bridge to cross the border. This bridge I will never forget. It was old and had probably rusted from the inside out. Also, there were holes in the walk way that were big enough for someone to fall through that would lead to a plummeting death into the river. To add to this wonderful experience, our walk way was also a road for huge 18 wheeler semi trucks to get across. So when they came, you had to some how get out of the way and also try to not fall. After getting across the bridge, it turned into a scavenger hunt. The first booth we went to told us we had to go buy a returning bus ticket, when we went to the bus ticket booth, they told us we needed a visa, and once we finally figured out the order of what to buy, we had spent about 30min. Finally we got all of our stuff figured out and it was time to look for a way to get to Boca Del Toro. Right when we went down the steps to the right, to men started trying to grab our bags to put them in the taxi, when the guy tried grabbing mine; I threw him off me and told him to calm down. The men told us that they could get us to Boca Del Toro for $10 a person, then a boat ride for $4 a person. It seemed that we didn’t have any other choice. So we hopped in the car with two girls from Australia. There names were Sandy and Amy and they had traveled through the northern part of Central America and we passing through Boca Del Toro before leaving Panama. Once we got to the dock, we got crammed into a boat taxi with about 25 other people. Once the taxi left, we headed into complete darkness. I had no idea how these drivers knew were they were going but I guess I had to trust them. The trip took about 20min and I couldn’t see anything until we arrived on one of the many docks of Boca Del Toro. Once we got off the boat, we walked through town until we arrived at a hostile named Hostile Heike. We got into our room and started unpacking when one of our room mates came in. His name was Aaron and he was from Amsterdam and was very nice. He told us all about Boca Del Toro and where to get good food. He told us to go to a small truck were a man from Argentina made the best chicken sandwiches in the world. So we took his advice and went to the sandwich man. We walked up to the truck and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and the man went right to work. About 5min later he had Matt's sandwich ready but wouldn't give it to Matt until Matt followed his orders. The man explained that if Matt didn’t hold this sandwich the right way, everything would fall out, so the man to Matt to use two hands to hold the sandwich. He showed Matt where to hold the Sandwich and made sure that Matt was doing it right. Talk about pride in what you do, this must have taken about 2min just for Matt to get the right hold on the sandwich, then finally the man let go and Matt finally got to try it. I had watched closely on how to hold the sandwich so when it was my turn I got the sandwich right away. The whole process was well worth the waiting because the sandwiches were amazing. They tasted so good and filled us right up. After dinner, we went back to the hostile, and found out that there was a third floor patio were everyone could hang out. When we went up there, we saw Aaron and he introduced us to everyone. Soon we made a lot of new friends and I almost felt like this hostile was like a family. Later we went with our new group to a bar named Iguana and sat around and talked. Later we traveled to another bar that had dancing. All of the bars were open air and stationed right next to the water and were really cool. After bar hopping, Matt and I decided to go home and get some rest.

Wed 2 Dec

Today I woke up and went to the Horse barn to work with John and Mark again. We went out to the field and cleared a whole lot of different plants that had taken over the field. We used machetes and worked hard for about 3 or 4 hours in the hot sun. Once we were done, I was exhausted and couldn’t wait to have lunch. After lunch we finished up work and then called it a day. Later I chilled up on campus and then went to dinner. When I was in the dinner line in the Cafeteria, Matt told me that he was going to Panama to renew his Visa and invited me to come along. I was more than thrilled because it was spontaneous and it was Panama so I told him to count me in. Later that night, all my friends and I went to a play called "Boda de Sangre" which was interesting and very colorful. In my opinion, it was a mix between a Spanish soap opera and puppets from the May Day parade. After the play, a couple friends and I noticed that there was a full moon in the sky and we wanted to go and look at it for a while. So we climbed one of the buildings and sat up on the roof and watched the moon. It was so nice and a really cool place to be. We were above all of the buildings and we could see everyone who walked by, but they had no idea that we were up there. After Moon gazing for a while, I went home and went to bed.

Tues 1 Dec

Today I went to the horse barn to work with John and Mark. We caught up and finished the work we had for the day. After work, my futbol team was supposed to play the fourth year students but they never showed up. So I worked out and then swam with Matt and Berlin. After we went to dinner and I ate with Matt. We met a girl who was a former pasante and she invited us to go to Montezuma in the near future. After dinner, Drew and I went to Enrique’s room to jam. I couldn't have had a better time jamming with these guys. Enrique had a looping machine were you can beat box into a microphone and then the machine records it and you can add other things to it. Also Drew has an AMAZING voice and I mean amazing! We recorded her for one song and were planning on doing more. After jamming I walked with Drew until she turned down the road were dorm was, and then I biked home and then went to bed.

Mon 30 Nov

Today I went on a field trip to an Organic farm. We left the University around 550am and were on the road for about 3 to 4 hours. We pasted through small towns that were very nice and started to go up hill in the last part of the journey. Soon we were climbing the sides of the mountains and getting higher and higher every minute. When we arrived in the small town in the mountains, we were right next to the clouds. We were so high up that the clouds would climb up the side of the mountains and we would be able to see it coming. Then two seconds later we would be in the middle of one. We wouldn’t be able to see anything for about 5 min and then it would become clear and sunny again. We looked over the valley and different mountains and yelled out as loud as we could. Not only did we hear one echo, but three! It was so beautiful there and the air was cool and fresh which reminded me of the north shore. The sun was out so I felt right at home, when everyone else had their jackets on because they couldn’t handle how cold it was. Everything was green and healthy because it rained there about everyday and then the sun came out right after.

Our first tour was on hill side full of plants. We had to hike up one hill to go to the other side to see the plants. We were so high up that by the time we got to the top of the hill, everyone was gasping for air like a fish out of water. After looking at some other places at the farm, we then traveled to the small town for lunch. The town was famous for it beautiful garden. The garden was made up of different shrubs and reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. We had lunch and then had time to go and check out the cool garden. After the garden, we all got back on the bus and started heading for EARTH. During the trip, my friend Berlin and I were in the back of the bus and he was looking for trouble. So when everyone was sleeping, he started calling for his friend who was in the front of the bus. By the time he was done yelling, everyone was awake and mad at him. I couldn’t stop laughing because he kept doing it no matter how many people told him to shut up. For the next hour and one half he was creating all sorts of trouble and the whole time I was in tears and couldn’t breathe because I was laughing so hard. When we got home, I went to my house and then went to bed. What a great day!

Sunday 29 Nov

Today I woke up around 8am and started making granola cereal so I could have it for breakfast the rest of the week. Malcolm came over and said goodbye, and him and his two grandsons left for San Jose. After breakfast, I went to up to the campus to chill with some friends, Later I planed out what I was going to do for my week. I had heard that all of the first year students were going on a trip to an organic farm up in the mountains so I decided if it was possible to do that. After making the plans to do that I found out that I would need to be at the Cafeteria around 530am to get on the bus. After dinner I went home and went to bed because I would be waking up early the next morning.

Sat 28 Nov

I woke up to my last day in the vivero de frutas and got ready to go. When I got there, we finished up grafting, and then we chilled for a bit. We danced and Don Orlando was showing off his moves so I decided to capture it on film. At the end of work, Omar showed me another way of grafting to broaden my knowledge on the subject. He cut a small slit into the bark and made a small opening to slide something into it. Next he took the top lair of bark from another branch and cut a small square to slide into the first tree. It looked harder but I found out later that that technique is mostly used for the grape trees in vineyards. When I was leaving Omar told me that it was a pleasure working with me and that I was a hard worker. That was a great thing to hear from the man who teased me the most. After work, I helped set up for our gringo Thanks Giving. Then a man named Malcolm who used to be on the board of EARTH came over with his two grandsons’s who were in college. Their names were Conner and Kiel and they went to school in Cal Poly in California. We sat and chatted for a bit, then I took then on a tour of EARTH and where I had worked. After the tour, we went back and the guest's started arriving for the party. The dinner was very good and the pie was even better. We had about 20 to 25 people in the house and it was rockin. After dinner, a couple of my friends and I watched George Lopez stand up. It was hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing. After I drove the student’s home, came back and chatted with some friends of the family, and then went to bed.

Fri 27 Nov

Today We grafted with the branches that we had harvested the day before and worked on it the whole day. After work I chilled on the campus for a bit and went to the ceremony of the lighting of the Christmas tree. There was a family band that sang different Christmas songs in Spanish which was very nice, then the tree was lit. After the party I went to dinner. During dinner I kept hearing a siren from an ambulance but couldn't tell where it was coming from. After dinner I went to the Bibliotheca to talk to some friends but then all of a sudden, the siren started coming towards us. I had no idea what was going on but then from around the corner came a kid on a bike. He was dressed as a medic and had a whole tool kit with medical supplies in it. Once I saw him everything made sense but I couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from. I asked him and he demonstrated. He made it by using ihis voice and it was so incredible because it sounded exactly the same as an ambulance and I couldn't believe it. After I went home and then went to bed.