June 13, 2013- Kelly M

Today we visited Cuesta Arena. We toured the school, dug some holes, killed some spiders, played with the kids, saw a dying parrot, and played some baseball! Then we eventually made our way back down towards Los Cocos again. Once we arrived all the kids flocked around us to greet us, which makes me feel super special and famous, even though I know I’m not. I helped some kids color, attempted to speak some Spanish, and was told I was an extremely white American! As today rolled by, I realized many things, things I wouldn’t have ever realized before. Sarah taught us, and really helped me especially; to notice what assets other people have instead of looking at what they don’t have. I realized as the day carried on that the simplest of things are taken for granted. For example, the kids got all excited over chalk—I mean it seems so basic to us, but to them it was like they found some from of a golden treasure!  I learned that those kids cherish everything they get, unlike us. Personally, that really hit home because it made me feel selfish. Long story short I finally was able to understand that even the smallest things can bring us joy in life.