Hi! Hannah and Tyler here to give you some highlights from our day! We started our second day in the beautiful Guaymí territory at 7:00 am with an amazing breakfast cooked by our host family. We had scrambled eggs, sausage, gallo pinto, and fresh fruit. There was also a fire mango juice (freshly pressed!) that everyone particularly enjoyed. We hopped in our transportation for the day- two open bed trucks. We did an off road trek through the mountains for an hour and a half before we reached our first destination.
We arrived at a small elementary school in the middle of a valley in the rainforest, and began to play all kinds of sports with the kids. They were HYPED. After about 45 minutes of playing all sorts of stuff with them, the kids were gassed so we had a great opportunity to teach the kids how to get their own fresh water with our Sawyer filters. They were beyond joyful to receive this life altering gift. After we finished at the school, we loaded back into the trucks and locked back in for the next leg of the journey.
Our drivers were AMAZING!! The muddy roads made for a difficult trek, but they navigated it like champs. We headed to the second elementary school. The school was placed on the side of a mountain so the views were crazy. Here, we played with the kids again. They enjoyed the game of lacrosse and picked it up very quickly. A couple of us even got a new experience with a primitive bathroom (aka a hole in the ground). After playing with the kids, we again passed out water filters for them to take home. They were amazed at the demonstration showing how the water can filter muddy water into crystal clear drinking water.
We loaded into the trucks one last time, and with some white knuckled driving up muddy hills, we ended up back to the pastor’s house with some of the most incredible views in the world behind us. We had an amazing lunch waiting for us, rice with beef and vegetables, IT WAS GAS. After that, we had free time to do whatever we wanted and everyone split up to do some incredible things.
One group decided to hike back up the mountain (the best group, since we were in it!) The pastors little tiny dog even trekked the mountain with us. The views were absolutely breathtaking and totally worth the muddy slip-and-slide back down the trail. Another group decided to swim in the river and they got to see Carl catch a fish with the pastor’s son named David (it was David’s first time catching a fish!). Another group bought sugar cane at a local grocery store and even got to see it cut in front of their eyes. One of the best things about Guaymí is that the people are in touch with nature and utilize it well for cooking and other aspects of their life.
We all converged back at the house, showered and cleaned up for dinner which consisted of some pork which was smoked all day under banana leaves and tasted fantastic. The food here has been absolutely incredible and so different from what we eat at home. After dinner we got together for team time and listened to incredible testimonies from Audrey, Caleigh, and Kali. We continue to be incredibly thankful at how close our team has grown in the short time that we have all been together.
As we close out our last day in Guaymí we continue to be grateful for the experiences we have been given and the ways we have seen God work this week within our team and the people we have gotten to meet. We are both sad to leave and thankful for the impact that this place has had on our lives.
Adios amigos!
-Tyler and Hannah