After a morning of ziplining (and by the way, more photos were just added to the Drive folder), it’s pretty tough to have an afternoon of work live up to the excitement. Our students didn’t let it get in their way, though. They worked hard for an hour before lunch and then nearly two more hours after it.  We again were split into teams, but there were fewer projects - especially by the end of the day.

The first thing on the agenda was only about a 30-minute task. We had to bring supplies (mostly paper) from a classroom to a small storage room. So a bunch of our students began their work in the lower school. They moved up the hill shortly after, joining the group tearing down the bodega.

Speaking of the bodega, it is but a shell of its old self. It’s so odd to see it down to parts of its frame after we fetched so many supplies from it over the years. But times change, and this building needs to go. There was a lot of effort put into removing the roof and tearing down the walls. We even broke a water pipe while trying to drive through the concrete base. While the upper campus lost water for a while, it didn’t seem like it was overall too big a deal. Between the emptying out phase yesterday and the destruction phase today, we’ve come a long way. The ultimate goal is to extend the space adjacent to it, allowing for more people in the room.

 

 

 

 

There was also yet another small bodega up the hill that needed to be emptied. So one group of students helped move materials (mostly wood) out of it and down to the pile of trash and reusable items we have seen grow over the past four days. To be clear, the junkyard, as one may refer to it now, was empty on Monday morning.

 

 

Before the last group started moving items to the junkyard, they were finishing their work on the arts building. The change there over the course of three days has been unbelievable. They have come as far as they can come with that project, though.

 

 

We still had a team painting in the back of campus. Some of our students returned to the playground behind the soccer field to add some color to the area. They surely did achieve their goal, finishing their project right at the end of the day.
 

 

 

Finally, Trini and her crew finished the mural project in the classroom. It looks awesome. Frankly, the photos don’t even do it justice. It’s so cool to see what the group was able to add to this classroom over the past few days.

 

 

After a long day, we gathered at our favorite Monteverde restaurant - or at least the nice Italian one we always visit during our trip. Tramonti has not let us down in the past, and it certainly didn’t let us down last night. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed great food and conversation. There was also an added bonus - the view of the setting sun. Tramonti upgraded its location since our last visit, and it’s now atop a hill with a glorious view of the sunset. What a treat it was.

 

 

 

 

Now, as we prepare for our final few hours in one of the neatest little towns on Earth, we plan to make the most of our morning. We’ll be doing another session of work for sure, but we’ll also be treated to a going away party to thank us for our contributions to the school. The homestay families, in concert with the school, will prepare our lunches, so we didn’t bring any with us today. We’ll eat, talk, and in all likelihood, experience a tearful separation from families we never knew a week ago. Then we’ll be back on the road for around 2.5 hours until we reach La Fortuna. The evening should be a relaxing one, with only a group dinner and perhaps some shopping downtown.