Chilamate 3rd Day, Service Project, Swim & Leadership Continued

This is Caelin and Alexa reporting live from Chilamate, Costa Rica. Today we got up at 6:30am and had a delicious breakfast. For breakfast we had pancakes, bacon, cereal, and any kind of fruits you could possibly think of. Then we walked about a mile to a farm where we learned how to make cheese. First, Jenna and Caelin milked the cows. Ben and Brigid proceeded to milk the cow next. Ben asked Ms. Hytken if chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Then Ben also said, “My utter isn’t working!”  Ms. Hytken turned around and nodded her head in silence. When we had enough milk we headed to the outdoor kitchen to place the milk into buckets and sit for 30 minutes. We went over to a pen with two big mommy pigs and a lot of adorable little piglets. We also captured some eggs in the barn. When the 30 minutes were up, we went back to remove the foam from the cheese then took another 20 minute break. All of the kids including Mr. Wooden played taps with a soccer ball and enjoyed some fresh coconut water.  When the 20 minutes were up, we went to the kitchen and drained the cheese from the water. She placed the cheese in a box, wrapped it with a cloth, closed the top, and let it sit there till the morning. We then left and set off back to the lodge for lunch. 

Lunch consisted of empanadas, guacamole and chips, fruit, salad, and rice. After we finished eating we got ready and went to the school. At the school we swept the soon to be basketball court. Also we dug up some tires and put in new ones for the kids to play on. After we finished with the school, we went back to the lodge and got on our bathing suits to go for a swim in the river. Mr. Wooden jumped into the river from a 20 foot bridge and finally redeemed himself for his lackluster rafting skills and fear of bats!  We all had a little sand war and it got in some girls hair.  After we got out of the water, we took our first shower for the whole trip. It made everyone feel really clean! Before dinner we had an activity where a team of 3 had to build the highest free-standing structure possible with 20 spaghetti pieces, some tape, string and one marshmallow. The marshmallow had to be at the top.  Brigid, JT and Ellen were the winning team. 

We finally had dinner and Jenna was very excited. Our dinner consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes, yuca casserole, salad, rice, and mini green bean omelets. After dinner was over, we headed back to the house for some rest. We wrapped up the day with our group A.N.C.H.O.R. reflection and journal time. We are all looking forward to working at the school tomorrow. This is Caelin and Alexa signing off from Chilamate, Costa Rica.