PURA VIDA!!

Hola!
It has been one wild week. We have experienced so much as a group. We have seen both mother sea turtles and baby sea turtles. Some of us have even seen and held the turtle eggs. We also now know what it feels like to really rough it. From sleeping with 6 of us in one room with only one window (on the opposite side of the breeze) and no fan, to out door showers, to the extreme humidity, to bugs eating us up. It has been one experience. This trip has also given us a lot of exercise with walking the beaches every night for 4 hours. It is a challenge, yet really rewarding when it is finished. Now, don't get me wrong, we are having a great time here. We have met so many new people from all over the place with all different stories. We have all gotten the opportunity to use and practice our spanish skills (the few that we have). We have befriended many of the locals and we have seen many cultural differences. One thing I learned is that the locals of Gandoca love to play futbol (soccer) and they have a great time while playing. We have also had the chance to swim in two parts of the Caribbean Sea with two totally different conditions. Gandoca has black sand while Puerto Viejo has white sand. It is really neat to see the different culture and different enviornmental extremes and how the locals of Gandoca have adapeted to living with both the jungle and the ocean. I really believe this trip has brought us all together so far and has also made each one of us even stronger. Some of us have even overcome our feers of spiders, some snakes, and bugs. There is still much to come with one week left. So, until the next time we get the opportunity to use the internet... :)
PURA VIDA!!!
~ Grace