Saturday, June 15, 2019

Regina

Dear friends and family,
Hello! This is officially my fifth day in Costa Rica. I woke up this morning around 5:20 AM. For the past few days, I’ve gotten up a little earlier to help the cooks, Teresa and Andrea, prepare breakfast. Today I cut mangos and pineapple, and helped serve as the rest of my fellow missionaries came in. After breakfast, my group and I got ready to leave for the sugar cane farm. We sang various Disney and ‘90s hits songs during the bus ride (it was mostly screaming not singing), and arrived at the farm around 8:00 in the morning. I’m usually at the San Francisco site, so I didn’t know most of the people at this one (Guadalupe). I made a couple of new friends, and as the workers processed the sugar cane, I jammed out with my new friends. There were a couple of men playing the guitar, and one on the tambourine. They played a few traditional Costa Rican songs, and Brother Francis taught them a few songs in English like “Hey Jude”, “Country Roads, and “Let it Be”. (The Beatles are popular in Costa Rica). The entire community eventually joined in and it was an amazing experience. Music is a universal language, and whether it was music in English or Spanish the smiles on everyone’s faces said the same thing. I also got the chance to play soccer with the kids from the school. I scored a goal! It was an intense game of lots of yelling, sliding, and the ball flying out of control. The little kids are adorable, imitating Ronaldo and Messi with their sliding celebrations and runs after scoring. My team eventually won (6-2), and everyone had a blast. We had a delicious lunch, followed by trying candy from the farm. They melt it in this gigantic pot, and when the mixture is bubbling and yellow, they reach their hands (into boiling water!) and pull out chunks of candy that dries into a hard caramel-like sweet. The workers there were super eager to share their hard work, and all of us filled up on the candy, and left the site with sticky fingers and full stomachs. When we returned to our sleeping sites, I had the chance to go back into the kitchen and make tamales. The other group had gotten a head start (making over 150) but a few of my friends and I learned how to make them. Dinner followed the tamale assembly line, and I concluded my night laughing and talking with my friends. Please send prayers and thoughts as we finish up our time in Costa Rica. The food is
delicious, and the company is entertaining. Bye Dad and Inaki!

Regina