There just aren’t words

And for the rest of our time in Costa Rica, there were no words, at least not on WordPress and my blog. The internet went down and never came back the same. I’m safely in Charlotte now on the way home. The story continues, beginning with the post I was writing as the sun rose on Wednesday morning.

To reach the Guanacaste area, we traveled northwest, losing elevation and gaining some impressive heat and humidity. We passed the Pacific port of Cartera and saw the sea. A showy flowering tree in yellow or pinkish-white (Corteza amarilla or blanca) kept company with plantain, mango, pineapple, and teak trees for lumber export.

We were welcomed with such love into three villages. There were heart-wrenching stories and heart-warming fellowship, home visits and Circles of Hope hard at work. And if you gave us music, we had to dance!
  

The Guanacaste tree inspired the name of this, the farthest west of the country’s seven provinces. In the local indigenous language, the word means “ear,” the shape of the tree’s shiny brown seed pods.

And if you gave us food, boy could we eat. Fried fish, fabulous fruit, local cheese, and below, samples of local treats, the gift of a group of mothers. I tried their rice pudding and papaya salsa on tortillas – both yummy!
  

The Juvenile Leadership Academy brings two young people from each project together to inspire and equip them to teach their peers back home. Within Unbound and also the universities, volunteering is a huge component of their programs. All of our young translators earned nothing for their week of helping us to understand not only the words, but also the culture and realities of life there. Just one of many reasons to rededicate myself to the mission of Unbound. More soon!