Back from Punta Mona

Hey everyone! So we are back in San Jose now, in our favorite Hostel Bekuo. The last week was basically our spring break, with a little environmental education thrown in.

We drove from San Jose to a small coast town called Manzanillo, and from there began the 3 hr, 5 mile hike to Punta Mona. During the course of the hike we held a few Golden Orb spiders, saw howler monkeys, sloths, leafcutter ants (its just like watching A Bug´s Life!), bullet ants, poison dart frogs and eyelash vipers. We also sampled three different kinds of coconuts, and saw countless other fruits growing along the way. We really were living in a tropical paradise....walk two minutes from the bungalow and you are at the ocean. Look down the beach and see Panama about 10 miles down (no, we didnt go visit it).

When we reached Punta Mona, we were welcomed by the staff and interns, about 20 people in all. I have never experienced community as we did at Punta Mona. Everyone living together in a few big rooms and an open-air yoga hut, preparing and eating every meal together. It really bonded our group, as well as allowed us to make relationships with the others living at Punta Mona.

Punta Mona is a self-sustaining community and jungle farm. (I don´t remember the exact words they used to describe it, but it was along those lines). It was really interesting to get to see how they are living, almost completely off their own resources. We learned about all the technology and techniques that they use to conserve and maximize their energy use and natural resources. There were some great lectures about composting and permaculture. I would say that we learned a great deal about environmental stewardship, and now have more practical ideas about how we may be better stewards also. (Don´t worry, it doesn´t mean we have all become raging environmentalists, maybe just a little more thoughtful about our relationship with and to creation).

Overall, it was a marvelous week of ocean swims, early morning yoga, healthy (but great tasting) food, a little learning thrown in here and there, and lots of hammock time. It was also great to spend some time debriefing with the group and really sharing about our Honduran homestays.
Now we´re back in San Jose, gearing up to start going hard again, with lots of lectures, embassy visits, and museums packed into this next week.

Prayer Requests
While the meds from the doctor seemed to be working, my diarhea has returned. I finished off the meds yesterday, so please pray that they will clear everything up. Please pray for health for everyone, as there is always something going around, or someone not feeling the best.
From this point on, we have atleast one paper due every week. I spent the first two days in punta mona writing our first 6 page paper about poverty. We have one due this thursday regarding development agencies, and two more next week. (they just keep coming after that). So please pray that we can be good stewards of our time and that we may be able to think clearly and organize our thoughts well....sometimes we forget that we are actually getting letter grades from this trip!

love you guys,
Emily