Post by Alana Schaffer

Already the trip is half way over and I´ve gotten so used to the rhythm of life here. There are so many differences and so many similarities. I was struck by how much a community the people in Santa Ana live in. When they drive me to places, they honk and wave at almost everyone. On Saturday night I went with them to mass at the local church. They introduced me to so many people and were excited to show me their culture and way of life.

It´s so hard to know how to help people. And what´s so amazing about working with Gail is that she knows. When I see us making a difference and giving something back to the people of Costa Rica, it blows my mind. I feel like I´m actually making a difference.

Everything is so colorful here. So bright and full of new and exciting surprises and possibilites. We walked down a street in La Carpio and each house front was paintd a different color. To the people living there a sense of ownership and also maybe a feeling of being different and standing out. Rather than blending in with all the other hodge-podge house fronts made of anything they can find. And then I thought about how in the U.S. most of us paint our houses with light faint colors so as to bland in and not stand out. Something about this has always bothered me. Why don´t people paint their houses in bright colors? To me that is so much more beautiful.