Art and Food

This last week has been a blast. The five new volunteers arrived on Sunday. They are all over 55 but are still kicking it like they are twenty. We worked this week at the local woman's co-op. Global Volunteers has worked with this cooperative for many years and through this collaberation many great projects have been accomplished. It was wonderful to add our own layer of work to this effort during this week. The building in which the co-op resides was actually constructed with the help of GV. Over time new improvements have been made. The co-op is made up of all woman artists who sell their wares at this co-op to make a living or to generate a little more income for themselves and their families. It is also very empowering for them because they support each other emtionally and learn to becoming a little more self sustaining by learning a new skill. We spent the week painting the backroom of the co-op. The future plans for this room involve turning it into a cafeteria where the women can sell traditional Costa Rican food.

Everyday we ate a delicious meal prepared by some of the ladies. We sat together and ate and talked about our families or hobbies. The ladies wanted to practice English and I practiced Spanish.

The weather has been really cold and rainy lately but today the sun finally made an apperance. I went for a long hike today after work with Elle, one of the volunteers. We hiked in the forest to this beautiful look out. Today is my last day in Santa Elena but it could not have ended more perfectly.