Estevin

Here is Estevin.  From the moment I walked in the door Los Patitos I knew I loved him.  As all the kids were telling me their names Estevin was standing in the front shaking his hips back and forth.  He had my heart right then.  He is definitely the naughtiest of the bunch.  He loves to steal crayons and color on the other kid's pages.  He's just so cute I could never get mad at him.  I tried to teach him how to wink the entire time I was there.  His eyes just wouldn't do it, but him trying sure made me smile.  When Flory was in the room he immediately went to his best behavior.  Whenever I would catch his eye he would stick his tongue out at me and smile. He LOVES pictures.  Every time he would even see my camera he would run over to me saying, foto foto!!! 

In time out of course.

Hats and suckers everyday!

After he looked at this picture he told me I was beautiful :)

I can't believe it's over....

I just finished my last day of volunteering at Los Patitos. What a crazy but amazing 3 weeks. Those kids are amazing. They will never know how much they have taught me. They live with next to nothing with no complaints. At lunch time they get their food, never complain what it is(rice and beans everyday), and quietly eat everything on their plate. I never saw them hit each other. They all worked well together and treated each other with respect. Walking in there every morning greeted by 15 loud voices and big hugs made everything worth it. When I signed up for this I never imagined it would be this amazing. I have learned so much about myself. I am overly grateful for this opportunity.
Not only has my volunteering been amazing but the people I shared this experience with are so special to me. I have made so many friendships here that I will cherish forever. I could not have lasted here without them. I feel like I have known all of them for years. It's still unreal I leave tomorrow and don't get to see them everyday.
I decided I want to do individual posts about the kids I have felt a special connection with. I don't want to forget the little things each of them did to make me smile. They are the reason this has been the most amazing 3 weeks of my life.

Orosi Valley <3

I've fallen in love with Orosi Valley.

Pictures of my kiddos....finally!

Coffee Tour

Last Wednesday we went to a coffee plantation. Costa Rican's love their coffee! I don't like coffee but it was cool to see everything! We got to pick coffee beans right from the plant, see where the farmers bring them in, how they get the bean out, how it's dried, and how it's packaged. Watching them package it made me miss Bowles Packaging! After the tour we went to the coffee shop for a drink. I got an Oreo shake. :) On the way home we made the driver stop on the side of the road to take a picture of a rainbow. It was amazing. I can't even explain how beautiful it is here.