7/2/14
I woke up in the morning and ate a nice big breakfast of huevos (eggs), gallo pinto (rice and beans) and orange juice. This was not just any old breakfast though. This was a breakfast made on a wood-fire stove probably using the eggs laid by the gallenas around the farm and the best rice and beans I've ever had. I don't know how they do it, but the rice and black beans in Costa Rica are just so much better than in the U.S. it's ridiculous.

In the morning heat us girls went to a very tiny little pool, but it was cool and refreshing. We played many games including flipping our wet hair over our faces so we couldn't see and then walking around trying to catch someone, splashing games, and the girls had contests swimming through natalie and mine's legs. Alexa and Aleyra are 11 and 8 respectively. After swimming, we laid in the most comfortable hammocks you could ever imagine, slowly swinging and listening to the incoming thunder storm. By afternoon it was raining so heavily that little drops would fall from the roof every once in a while. Once the rain calmed down, we all went for a walk along the gravel road in search of culantro (cilantro) and jocotes. On the side of the road in a tree there were little green oval fruits called jocotes that we picked. These fruits are NOT SWEET. They are extremely sour and have a weird texture. At first, I didn't like them much, but after we returned to the house and ate them with salt, they were much better. We also found the cilantro on the side of the road and used it in the soup later that day.

There is a patch of flowers in the yard that attracts mariposas (butterflies) and they were flying around everywhere. They were of all different shapes and sizes; they were beautiful.