It’s still the rainy season here and as I sit in my room, taking a short break from my day, I am appreciating the sound of the water falling on the greenhouse behind the foundation and the feeling of the rehydration of the earth. It has already been a full day for me. This morning, I woke up at 5:30 to see the farm and greenhouse of Don Luis, a 77-year-old man in town. Florence and I groggily walked over to his house, questioning how we could be up so early, only to find Don Luis energetically waiting for us. He was feeding his guinea pigs and told us, “Venga, venga, es el medio dia para mi!”. He had been up since 4:00 am cooking breakfast for us! As we were waiting at the kitchen table, he was flitting around the kitchen, excited to share the meal with us. It was a delicious frittata and rice. Rice always. It was delicious; Que rico! We hopped on a bus and went to his farm about 3 km away from Cosanga. We crossed the river, trudged through the muddy terrain and arrived at his greenhouse. It was my first-time herding cows, I successfully lead one cow. Hah. It was my second-time milking cows. I’m awful. I guess you have to exercise those muscles or something because the woman who was milking cows along-side of us was done in half the time it took both of us to milk almost one cow. A woman that I took a cab with this morning said she can milk one cow in 10 minutes. What?! Poco a poco, I guess. We then helped Don Luis water and tend to the plants. We are going back each Monday morning to help him with replanting trees on his land. It will be early, but such a great experience and lending a hand to replenishing a part of our Earth. I’m in.

Today I bought 100 pounds of rice to give to the school so that they have substantial meals for the next couple of weeks. As I was carrying the bag into the kitchen, all the kids were so excited to have rice for lunch. There was a group of 10 asking if it was for them, when they get to eat it and, of course, what time is curso (today at 4:00)? I could barely get out of the taxi without the kids jumping up and hugging me; I love them so much. As you can tell, we started school. This is our second week and although we don’t have books yet to help with writing curriculum, it’s so nice to be back in the swing of things. I truly enjoyed curso vacacional, but it was a lot of work for me and the kids were here at the foundation for 4 hours in the morning and then sometimes more in the afternoon for our English classes. Now, we have 4 English classes at the school in the morning and 2-3 English/ Creative/ Photo classes in the evening. I like being back in the school because we get to see all of the kids in town. I get 20 times more hugs during my days! I love that I have developed a relationship with many of the kids, too. I know who they are, how old they are, what makes them laugh and if they are shy or outgoing. I know who I can call on to be a leader and who I can spend more time with in order to grow those leadership skills. I feel comfortable joking with them and making fun of myself to make some of them laugh. Most of all, I can converse with them about almost everything they want to talk about. This, to me, is the biggest reward. Of course they still laugh at me when my Spanish sounds funny, but they teach me how to improve and I couldn’t ask for more. One of my favorite activities that we have going on right now is painting the mural. It still isn’t done, but we work on it a little bit each week and it is certainly coming along! I love that time with the kids because they come to work and I get one on one time with some of the older kids. One kid actually said no to futbol in order to paint!! I was so surprised and excited to work with him. If you haven’t seen the picture update, check out our facebook page: Sustainable Roots. You should check it out anyway, because we have a lot of cool things going on right now (shameless promotion)!

I have a new-found energy right now that has been propelling me to do my work with creativity and interest. Two weeks ago, I and 4 others went to the coast. We visited Puerto Lopez and Montañita. I was in sweet, sweet paradise. In Puerto Lopez, we stayed in a tree house hostel! We drank delicious drinks on the beach and ate delicious food. We went on a boat tour to Isla de la Plata (also known as the cheap Galapagos). We saw whales, sea turtles, blue-footed boobies (cue thousands of jokes), and went snorkeling. Being around the whales brought a sense of awe for me. Here were these ancient creatures, not more than 10 feet from our boat, swimming together and waving their fins and I, a small human who has inhabited this planet for a minute amount of time. I could have watched them for hours. I wanted to listen to their song and tell them how I wish the human species didn’t harm them in so many ways. I wanted to tell them how magnificent they are and how grateful I am that they let me be in their presence. The stillness they provoked in me was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I want to go again. In Montañita, we spent three days relaxing on the beach. I was so relaxed and happy to be near the ocean. Some people told us that the first day we were there was the first day they had had sun in a month! I told them it was because I brought it. We had sun the next day, too and surprisingly I didn’t get burnt. While my friends learned how to surf, I made a sand castle that was quickly whisked away into the sea. I jumped through the waves and serenaded the sea shells with my ukulele. The first evening, I won a karaoke concert while singing with a live band! Free drinks for us all night! The next evening, we spent at this lovely restaurant that had great music, delicious artisan beers, and the best sushi I’ve had in a very long time. YUM. We had to leave too soon, but it was time to get back to work. The 14-hour bus ride explained to me that, as my family says, the merry-go-round had to come to an end. I feel refreshed and focused.

I have decided to come to the states for a week in October for Ed & Caitlin’s wedding as well as to see my family and a bunch of friends. I had told myself that I could make it to Christmas or even longer without returning to the states, but the idea of this event going by where many of my loved ones would be celebrating a beautiful ceremony made me sad. I am more than happy to be in Cosanga doing the work that I’m doing, but the one thing I’ve learned from moving so much in my life is to weigh the option of moments spent with the ones you love. This life is short and, for me, when there is an opportunity where people are getting together to celebrate life, renewal, unions, great accomplishments and so on, it’s worth standing alongside of them and rejoicing in the celebration of all that is wonderful in this life. I thought for a moment that this could be due to a fear of missing out that graces my attention every now and again, but for this time in my life, it means so much more. I am going to see some of the people who have seen me at my worst, my best, and my weirdest. These people are the ones that encouraged me each day and kept a smile on my face even when I thought it was impossible. To get to share a moment in time with them in the same place is a blessing that I have actualized. I am going to be able to see my parents who always affirm that I am exactly who I’ve always wanted to be. I also look forward to returning here to Cosanga with the revitalization of all that is important to me and the ability to connect the work that I’m doing here with the freshness of love, compassion, and empathy.

Until then, my spirit is high, my light is strong, and my smile is constant.

With Love,

Krysta