Hola! We survived our first night in Costa Rica; although there were many new sounds we aren't used to we were able to sleep soundly. We got up at 8 am (9 am in the States) and had breakfast, which consisted of bean, rice, scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit. Then we had a meeting with Pablo where he gave us a cup of cacao, which is essentially hot chocolate but a so much richer and ten times better for you. After finishing our cups we went for an adventurous hike around the La Anita farm. We crossed a river, went through the rainforest, and got to see how the cacao beans (raw cocoa beans) are grown. After we got back from our adventure in the rainforest we took walk to the near by village, Colonia Libertad. While we were in the village we met some of the women and children, and bought some handmade souvenirs. We came back from the village and ate lunch, which consisted of chicken with a type of gravy on it, rice, beans, salad, potatoes, and carrots. After lunch we had some free (mainly relaxing time) and then we had a lecture/science time with the chief scientist Andy Bouwma. He took us on a short walk over to a close ant colony. This ant colony must have been around 500 square feet just on the surface and hundreds of feet below ground. Andy hit the top of the colony to let us see what soldier ant look like. The soldier ants are about the size of your thumb nail and look vicious even though they cant do much damage. After the seeing the colony some people went for a walk, other just relaxed, talked to Andy, and some even took a swim in a pond next to cafeteria. After our free time we had dinner which consisted of chicken with salsa on top, potatoes, green beans, and a salad. A Peace Core volunteer named Amy joined us for dinner and afterwards talked to us about her experience in the Peace Core and the service project we will be doing with kids in the village. After our talk with Amy we had more free time and time to type this blog. The sky is clear and the stars are out tonight so we are going to bed now. Buenos Noches!
Kelly and Anna M

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The village women's garden 

Girl's in the village