First Full Day in Santa Maria

The crew in the ditch of rocks they moved.



Olman lowering the septic tank into the hole.



Clare painting a red-eyed tree frog on the side of the new classroom

            At the beginning of the first full day in Santa Maria, the Costa Rica Crew awoke at the unearthly hour of 7:00 and headed to the San Rafael School to begin its first day of work. Upon arriving at the school, the crew was introduced to the school’s principal, Omar, and the head contractor, Olman, who explained the group’s project. After applying supple amounts of sunscreen and undergoing intense hydration, the crew began its work day under the hot sun in the “cool”, “dry” environment of Santa Maria. The first task of the day was transferring stones from a gigantic pile in the school’s courtyard to the drainage channel for the septic tank that the crew aims to install.



The crew moving rocks - nice squats!



Using squat techniques that would make the infamous Ian Healy proud, the crew was able to lift the heavy stones and escort them to the channel via wheel barrow. After the crew “handily” diminished the large pile of stones, it began the task of removing water from the hole for the septic tank. At this time, the very artistic Clare and Mrs. Bauer began painting in drawings of indigenous Costa Rican animals on the walls of the classroom that last year’s group completed. In the manual labor group, Eleanor courageously stepped up to the plate and voluntarily jumped into the murky, water filled hole to become the key link in a quite efficient bucket line. After some tedious, wet work, the crew was able to mostly drain the hole through its bucket line in which Eleanor filled each bucket from the source and passed it down the line of workers where it was finally emptied into the drainage channel. At this time, Olman and the crew attempted to install the septic tank only to discover that the hole was much too deep. Consequently, the crew broke out the shovels and began the difficult task of filling the hole with rocks and the hard, rocky soil. After a few hours work, the hole was raised to within half a foot of the correct depth. At this point, the crew had been working hard for hours under the hot sun and had accomplished much more than expected. Therefore, Olman ended work for the day and the dirty, tired crew returned to their home-stay families for showers and lunch.

After a few hours, the crew was picked up from their separate homes and brought to the center of Santa Maria for an urban scavenger hunt. Prodded by the promise of prizes for the completion of the hunt, the crew broke up into groups divided by the home-stay family arrangements and quickly set off on the hunt. After about an hour and half of discovering Santa Maria’s history and key land-marks, the crew arrived at the Santa Maria’s Coffee Coop Café for the conclusion of their quest. In the end, each group accomplished the task and attained the prize of a delicious beverage at the Café Privilegios, a shop that the Lonely Planet travel guide rated as one of the top ten places to have coffee in the world! In addition, Javier passed out tickets for a hyped soccer match for later that night. At the conclusion of their coffee break, the crew had a deep discussion about world issues until returning to their home-stay families for a quick dinner before the match. Although it was tiring and busy, the Costa Rica Crew had a great first full day in Santa Maria.

-Hale

Hale, Felix and Nick enjoy their post-race treats

Vince, Ryan, Eleanor and Clare opt for cake and milkshakes