YouthInkwell Publishing

CATE:

continued from earlier entry…

After enjoying a delicious lunch of chicken, black beans, and rice, we gave our boxes of books to the ecstatic children. Both Maria and Manuel held expressions of shock and excitement as we handed them their copies of Pencil and Watute. However, unfortunately, we were rushed out and again were the last on the bus. The ride back seemed much longer, since our anticipation had disappeared and we were driving very slowly so we did not go flying over the cliff.

Again Matthew and Noel were insane enough to go swimming. Back in Jen’s room, Shaina blogged, Ivy studied for SATs, Jen slept, and, well, I really don’t remember what I was doing. I guess I was just sitting there waiting for Shaina to finish. Finally Matthew and Noel got back and I spent the rest of my time buying Jennifer Diet Cokes in the wonderfully stocked gift shop.

Finally, we left for dinner, where I sat with Ivy and a group of quite interesting people who talked with us about school and college. While dining on coconut candies, we were entertained by wonderful dancers who were accompanied by a wonderful band. Though Jennifer promised us dancing, no one got up. Once we returned to the hotel, I took hilarious videos of Noel and Matthew talking about high school, Ivy randomly moaning and telling Matthew he was awesome, and Jennifer just looking on, wondering what the heck we were doing.

P.S. I completely agree with Matthew. Shaina did have a romantic moment with some guy in a Michael Jordan t-shirt. Though they didn’t say anything to each other, there was definitely a connection…. look out Kevin…

Breakfast was as usual, delicious, except for the minor fact that the kiwis were disgustingly sour. Matt, Shaina, Noel, Jen, Mrs. Mollinedo, Ms. Matsunaga and I were on one bus while Mr. De la Peza and Ivy were on the other bus. Ours contained us + past-Rotary-president Wilson and his wife. To get to know each other a little better, we each gave a presentation about ourselves at the front of the bus with a tiny and quite annoying microphone. Once we had finished, Wilson pointed out various sites of beauty, him being an expert on Costa Rica, and what really happens in banana factories.

Once we got to the hotel on the beach, we ordered delicious seafood while being entertained by a great group of Costa Rican musicians, which resulted in many dancers and a sing-a-long.

There Shaina taught us some very violent finger games including the infamous rock paper scissors where if you win, you get to slap the other person’s hand without mercy. Noel had mercy, Matthew was merciless.

Our first stop was the wheelchair ceremony across the street at the gym.

The five of us (Ivy joined us later) helped adjust the foot rests and arm rests of the wheelchairs for four very nice ladies, who thanked us afterwards. It made up for the huge wheelchair ceremony we missed the day we went ziplining.
Our second stop was to a homeless shelter in the making. Though they had not begun the project itself, I think they had the money and were to start soon. Though we talked to the nuns, we didn’t get a clear answer when. The shelter has a substantial size, and holds much promise in the near future.

Afterwards, we boarded the bus for another long ride home. Noel, Matthew and I played a Jennifer game called Set, where you had to find three of a kind, while Shaina slept. At dinner, we had a huge platter of plantains, chicken, beef and potatoes that Ivy, Noel and I shared. After taking a wonderful picture on the stairs, we continued our long ride home.

That night we all went straight to our own rooms. Jennifer, Shaina and Ivy finally got some peace…and sleep.
Breakfast was quiet and dreary, today being our last day. Yet we were all looking forward to our last event, Nature Kids! Once we got there we met a ton of kids who were very inviting and welcoming. Some of them were shy but most were overwhelmed with excitement as they arrived. They were magnetically pulled to the gloop.
Noel:

Our day begins with another long (even longer than yesterday’s) bus ride. Today we went to Limon a city close to the Caribbean ocean. I’ll skip the bus ride because you probably now all about it by now, so basically when got out of the bus it felt a hundred degrees hotter. But lucky us, we got right back on the bus. The bus driver took us to the top of a far off hill where we could see all of the ocean and Tortuga Island, which means turtle island. Then one of our fellow travelers decided to exit the bus and say hi to a local friend. During this process she stumbled and fell, cutting her arm on the concrete stairs. When this happened her friend was holding a machete (which he was using to cut his fruit with) and Cate thought that she fell on the machete. But she showed everyone that she just had a little cut and disproved Cate’s dire theory. Soon after she was antisepticted up, we ate at a Costa Rican restaurant. Shaina and I ordered shakes, yum. They were delicious and for the main course I had sea bass, which I found quite fishy. For dessert Cate, Shaina and I had tres leches, a milky cake I guess is the best way to describe it.

After that, we ventured to a decapitated (editorial note: I think you meant dilapidated, Noel) building which the nuns told us was the future homeless shelter. Cate, Matthew, Shaina and I all explored the place but Shaina and I were only the bravest to go upstairs where we found even more grotesque stuff.
Following this desolate place we took a long bus ride to our next meal in a small plaza where everything was wonderful. When we sat down we did not sit together but separate, being part of the deal Jennifer made with us. We figured that we would meet more people and make more contacts if we all sat at different tables and talked with different people. It worked. I sold two books and made many friends. I don’t think everyone had the same experience. Shaina and Matthew sat down at a table and people kept sitting next to them and then getting up and leaving to move somewhere else. They felt kind of bad, especially since we’d already been banned to a bus all by ourselves (thanks, Wilson for coming with us! we really appreciated it!!!!) . Then after dinner we left back for the hotel in the pouring rain — a very different ending to the night before when we’d all headed outside to explore a small plaza that was so inviting. At first it had been only Matthew, Shaina and I so Matt took a lot of pictures of us two on the different statues around the place. Soon Cate and Ivy joined in on the fun and we all had a ball around the fountain. What a night. (but that was the night before)

The Last Day… bum bum bummmmmmm. Sadly all good things come to an end, including our trip to Costa Rica, but luckily we got to end it with a big bang. Our big bang was our trip to Nature Kids where we donated more books to kids in need. Also we spent the day with them and I believe everyone had a fantastic time. Shaina drew pictures for all of the kids while Cate and I played soccer with the children. Cate and I were on opposing teams so obviously Cate got destroyed. Although, it was a close match because Cate had a young Beckham on her team who was a soccer star in the making. I can’t remember his name clearly but I think it was Juan. It was an experience I will never forget. Then we went inside where Cate read Watute to all of the little kids. They enjoyed the book and Matt’s dad translated it into Spanish for all of them. Sadly it was time to leave and we were all forced say our good byes. I miss them already.