2025 Pennfield Costa Rica Service Adventure

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Blog 6

Costa Rica Blog Day 6, Gus and Grayson

So Friday was one of my favorite days of the trip because we went to the beach and had a ton of fun playing in the water with big waves. We also had a great time ziplining over a forest that I thought was a lot different than I expected. I had a great time in the hotel room that was super fancy and had a big bathroom and beds. I also enjoyed staying with an 8th grader, Gus , who is one of my best friends. I thought it was a great day with one of the nicest hotels. Ziplining was fun because of the high platforms in the trees. At the beginning and end of the ziplines there were metal platforms in the trees. Most of them were about 10-15 seconds long, but two of them were a whole lot longer. There was also one where you descended straight down rappelling. On one of the ziplines we got to go no hands and on two of them we got to go upside-down. One of which was above crocodiles. After ziplining we went swimming on a beach in a huge park. In the park we also saw numerous animals such as iguanas and monkeys. The beach was very big with lots of people and large waves. It was interesting how you could be fully standing up in water up to your neck and be three feet away from someone who is sitting down on sand. We then decided to go to the hotel and relax in the pool and watch Señor cut his birthday cake. We sang happy birthday to him in a restaurant during lunch. The whole day was very fun and we got to have lots of fun with our friends.

Blog 5

Costa Rica Blog Day 5, Camden and Aiden

Today started off by packing our stuff, getting on the bus, and saying farewell to our host families. We will truly miss them.
The bus broke down so we had to wait a little longer. In the meantime we bought snacks and sodas for the drive. Once on the bus, we chilled for an hour and then got off for lunch. People got stuff like quesadillas and chicken burgers. We also had really good smoothies with fruits like pineapples, strawberries, mango, and passion fruit. One was named the quetzal. Half an hour later we got to our hotel, where we had twenty minutes to drop our stuff.
Then we got on the bus again and headed to Uvita beach. There was a quick safety brief and lesson on how to surf. After that, we were put into groups and each had a section of the beach. The instructors gave us some help too. When 45 minutes passed we had a break for watermelon and water. We had another 45 minute session after that. Some people chose to keep surfing while others wanted to swim. Some of the best surfers were Adrien and Fin who have been surfing for at least five years each. Savannah, Isla, and both of us, were pretty good for beginners.
We then went back to the hotel and relaxed in the pool, watched TV, and bought snacks and drinks from the market. Dinner was great with options like pasta or nachos with some meat. And then we had either jello with ice cream or a banana split.
Overall, Costa Rica is such a fun and amazing place and today was a blast.

Blog 4

Costa Rica Blog Day 4, Addie, Lily, and Josie

On Wednesday, everyone woke up and had a nice breakfast with their host family. Then, we met at town hall and walked down to the school. We met the kids, who were all in about 1st and 2nd grade. Next we played Duck, duck, goose, which here is called Pato, pato, ganso. After that we all went in the field and played fútbol. Finally, it was time to work. We chose between jobs of cleaning the church, tiling, and sanding desks. Around 12, our host families dropped off food, and we began to eat. After lunch, we went back to work cleaning up the inside of the church and varnishing the desks. When we were done with work we went to a soccer field and plays some more with the local kids. Then we walked back to our host families and had a couple hours to get ready for dinner. At dinner, we had a delicious meal all together with our host families, followed by cake and a piñata. There was lots of salsa dancing. Everyone got a chance to hit and scoop up candy from the piñata, and everyone had a blast!

Blog 3

Costa Rica Blog Day 3, Evie and Sid

Today we woke up around 6:00 to 6:30 and had our usual breakfast in our host family’s. After that we got ready and set off to the church with our host family’s for the community service. Once we got to the church we had a meeting and figured out what groups did certain tasks. The tasks we had to complete were, cleaning and taping around where we were going to paint, lay down ceramic tiles, weed and put gravel down and collect rocks from the river . All the tasks were somewhat easy and very fun! In between jobs kids found langonstas around the garden and would scare Señor with them. We also took lots of breaks and Carola would cut us up fruit and she got us cold fruit juice popsicles. In between our working hours we had a break and our host family’s brought us lunch. We all had very yummy, home cooked lunches. After we had lunch with our host family’s we went back to work for a few hours. At the end of our work day we had completed all the tasks. Which was very relieving! After our work day we went down to the town center and we learned two types of dances. The first one was Bachata which had four steps and then spins. The second dance was Salsa. Salsa has three different steps that were all somewhat easy. At the end everyone got to complete these dances with different partners. This was fun to see everything come together. After our dance lessons everyone went back to there host family’s house. Some people went out with there family’s and others just stayed at there houses. Everyone at dinner some at home and some at different restaurants and then we all went to bed. We all slept very well since we had been working hard all day.

Blog 2

Costa Rica Blog Day 2, Luca and Adrien

We kicked off the day with a fresh breakfast in La Finca, and played some pool and packed, before heading to the waterfall. It was a beautiful sight and we enjoyed swimming and jumping off the rocks. After swimming, we feasted on packed burritos, apples and a sweet treat. We hiked back to our bus, which took us to our home stays, to meet and spend our first night with them. It was overall a great day, packed with adventure and new experiences.

Blog 1

Costa Rica Blog Day 1, Isla, Savannah, and Ella

Overall day 1 of our trip was amazing!! We started off the day by having a breakfast buffet. Our options were cereal, fruit, rice and banana bread. After breakfast, we went back to our rooms and packed our bags for our next hotel. We then went on a four hour bus ride to our next stay, Pura Suerte. In between our ride, we stopped at the Tarcoles river and saw some crocodiles. We also ate lunch on the way. When we had finally arrived to our destination, we got settled in and met back up at the meeting place. We met the owners of the farm and they took us on a tour to see the wildlife. Some animals were pigs, cows, chickens, bunnies, ducks, and guinea pigs. After, they taught us how to make empanadas and we enjoyed their taste. After a long day of hard work, we finally settled down, showered, and ate dinner. Despite the power outage towards the end of the night, it’s been a great first day!!!

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