Day 7 - Welcome to Paradise!
First, we finally have WiFi so I was able to go back and add some more photos to our blog about the PE classes!
Today Bre, Emma R, Ronny, Josue and I woke up early to head to the airport. The girls had to fly back early for an important club volleyball tournament this weekend so Mr. Richardson flew down to pick them up! It was SO sad saying goodbye to them at the airport and Emma had tears in her eyes, but we remembered that we’re just glad they were able to come at all, instead of having to stay home all week because of it.
We got back to the house, packed up, and started the drive to Limon, Mrs. Harrison’s home town. This drive is beautiful because you are traveling through the cloud forest the entire time so you see lots of GIANT trees and plants along the way. Currently the Chinese are investing in new roads here to expedite their shipment of items across the country, so there is a ton of traffic and what should have been a 2 hour trip quickly turned into a four hour trip!
We stopped for lunch once we got out of the cloud forest and immediately knew we were close to the coast because the humidity hit us! We were not okay at lunch, it was hot and humid!
We got back in the bus and drove the rest of the way to Limon. When we pulled into our hotel it was beautiful, a picturesque Caribbean beach hotel up on the cliff. Our kids had a couple hours to hang at the pool and the boys spent hours filming a trick shot video (will post later). We then all showered up and drove to Mrs. Harrison’s sister’s church!
When we arrived we hung out for a while chatting waiting for the rest of her family members to arrive. We were laughing because Tico time is real, but Tico time plus island time is something else! They were told to be here at 5 and I think everyone was here by 6:30! We got introduced to many of Senora Harrison’s sisters, nieces, and nephews, and we all introduced ourselves as well.
Next we learned a little bit about the history of Limon. This is a predominantly black community because when they were building a railroad across the country about four generations ago, a bunch of people from Jamaica came to work on it. At the end of the project the railroad couldn’t pay the workers, so they just gave land to the Jamaican people and they ended up staying and bringing their families over. The first generations only spoke English (or creole) but the younger generations now speak Spanish and creole. It is really interesting to be in this part of the country because it is completely different than the pacific coast!
Our dinner was traditional—rice & beans with coconut milk, Yuca Salad (like potato salad), smashed green bananas (made like mashed potatoes), chicken, plantains, and salad. After dinner the music was turned on and we had a full on dance party/worship session! It was SO fun to see Mrs. Harrison’s 90 year old mother out there dancing along with her young niece and all her sisters! We worked up quite the sweat!
We then headed back to the hotel and spent some time debriefing and then played a game of triple threat before bed. We did get a call from Mr. Kuiper regarding the coronavirus and, while we feel totally safe right now, he did ask us to look into coming back sooner. Our trip is almost done and we called the airlines and they said to keep everything as is right now and we feel totally comfortable with that. We’re not close to anyone who has a case of coronavirus and in fact feel the chances of us getting sick will increase when we get home!
We had a great day and we’re excited to help paint the church tomorrow!
Today Bre, Emma R, Ronny, Josue and I woke up early to head to the airport. The girls had to fly back early for an important club volleyball tournament this weekend so Mr. Richardson flew down to pick them up! It was SO sad saying goodbye to them at the airport and Emma had tears in her eyes, but we remembered that we’re just glad they were able to come at all, instead of having to stay home all week because of it.
We got back to the house, packed up, and started the drive to Limon, Mrs. Harrison’s home town. This drive is beautiful because you are traveling through the cloud forest the entire time so you see lots of GIANT trees and plants along the way. Currently the Chinese are investing in new roads here to expedite their shipment of items across the country, so there is a ton of traffic and what should have been a 2 hour trip quickly turned into a four hour trip!
We stopped for lunch once we got out of the cloud forest and immediately knew we were close to the coast because the humidity hit us! We were not okay at lunch, it was hot and humid!
We got back in the bus and drove the rest of the way to Limon. When we pulled into our hotel it was beautiful, a picturesque Caribbean beach hotel up on the cliff. Our kids had a couple hours to hang at the pool and the boys spent hours filming a trick shot video (will post later). We then all showered up and drove to Mrs. Harrison’s sister’s church!
When we arrived we hung out for a while chatting waiting for the rest of her family members to arrive. We were laughing because Tico time is real, but Tico time plus island time is something else! They were told to be here at 5 and I think everyone was here by 6:30! We got introduced to many of Senora Harrison’s sisters, nieces, and nephews, and we all introduced ourselves as well.
Next we learned a little bit about the history of Limon. This is a predominantly black community because when they were building a railroad across the country about four generations ago, a bunch of people from Jamaica came to work on it. At the end of the project the railroad couldn’t pay the workers, so they just gave land to the Jamaican people and they ended up staying and bringing their families over. The first generations only spoke English (or creole) but the younger generations now speak Spanish and creole. It is really interesting to be in this part of the country because it is completely different than the pacific coast!
Our dinner was traditional—rice & beans with coconut milk, Yuca Salad (like potato salad), smashed green bananas (made like mashed potatoes), chicken, plantains, and salad. After dinner the music was turned on and we had a full on dance party/worship session! It was SO fun to see Mrs. Harrison’s 90 year old mother out there dancing along with her young niece and all her sisters! We worked up quite the sweat!
We then headed back to the hotel and spent some time debriefing and then played a game of triple threat before bed. We did get a call from Mr. Kuiper regarding the coronavirus and, while we feel totally safe right now, he did ask us to look into coming back sooner. Our trip is almost done and we called the airlines and they said to keep everything as is right now and we feel totally comfortable with that. We’re not close to anyone who has a case of coronavirus and in fact feel the chances of us getting sick will increase when we get home!
We had a great day and we’re excited to help paint the church tomorrow!
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