Written by Lissa
We’ve arrived at our host community and have spent our first few days here working, playing football (soccer 😊), eating platanos, and hanging out. The 8 of us are split into 3 houses with varying numbers of siblings and pets.
Top Highlights This Week:
🐮 Learning how to milk a cow: It was way more difficult than it looked, and our feet were all covered in cow poop, but we loved it!
🏊🏼 Swimming in the river: We followed a cool trail behind the houses to get to this beautiful river with a bridge over it, and it was surrounded by trees. Wading in the water was refreshing and peaceful—minus the water fight!
⚽ Helping to represent this community, Las Mercedes, in a football game: Despite being a men’s game, they allowed us girls to play too. Shout out to Petra’s amazing header!
Challenges We’ve Faced:
A challenge this week has been our bug bites. No amount of bug spray keeps the mosquitoes away, but we’re able to manage them thanks to anti-itch cream. Your kids may come home looking like they have chicken pox, but I promise it’s not. The mosquitoes just love North American blood.
Surprising Discoveries
Something surprising about Las Mercedes is how safe and comfortable everyone is with each other. Doors are open from wake-up to bedtime. Cousins live in the house next to, in front of, and behind your own. And pets roam free on the roads. The Las Mercedes community has made us feel welcome and a part of the family. We can’t wait for more adventures to come.
Hasta luego,
Lissa y mis amigos
PS – Mom, please water my plants. Ashlynn’s mom, don’t water hers!
