Teens traveling

Elli left for her trip to Costa Rica this morning.

Sigh........

Don and I didn't say much on the car ride back to Mill Valley. It will take a day or so to get used to her not being here.

It's not like she's ever home that much any way. But she's in our town. Or close by.

Not 3,919 miles away.

Eeks!

I am really proud of her for wanting to go on this adventure with Cross-Cultural Solutions. She worked hard for months to raise the money needed for the trip with her GoFundMe campaign. Now she's on her way with one of her best friends.

They will be with a group of teens from all over the United States. Their purpose is to lend a hand to under-resourced organizations. It will be an eye opening experience being in a country where 1 in 5 people live in extreme poverty. Their home base is in Cartago, an historic, bustling city located within a more rural region of the country.

The volunteer assignments will be in Orosi, one of the oldest communities in Costa Rica. Orosi is situated on the Reventazón River in the Orosi Valley a deep valley and humid climate, surrounded by hills and lush vegetation. (I hope Elli doesn't get eaten alive by bugs! They do love to bite her.) Their work assignments will focus on Education/Literacy and Global Health.

The itinerary for the two weeks sounds amazing.

Week 1: Volunteer at the Loaiza Elementary School every day. Every afternoon they will be going on adventures in Cartago, taking cooking classes, latin dance lessons, going to the Irazu Volcano National Park, the National Museum, visiting the arts and crafts market and going on a canopy tour in La Carpintera Mountain.

Week 2: Volunteer work at the Manos de Jesús Nursing home every day. Then lots of fun adventures including visiting the La Paz Waterfall Garden, an excursion to Charrarra Pura Vida Park, Ujarras Look Out Point, and a trip to Fia in San José.

So that's it! It's going to be a long two weeks waiting to hear about everything. I'm not loving being an empty nester. Don and I better figure this out because in 2 years we really will be empty nesters.

waaaaaahhhhhh