As promised, we woke up at about 5 in the morning to rain and wetness. It was kind of freaky to sleep under the mosquito netting, but I was so thankful for it that it didn't matter. I have to admit, I wasn't feeling too happy, Jesus had told us that we would have to cross a river. We thought he meant a creek. Oh no. He meant a river. That we had to cross with a zip line. Ok, I'm a big fan of zip lining now, but this one was sort of old and rusty. And not very well designed. Oh well. That was the only way I could see the cows, so I did it. And it was pretty fun. Even so, I'll be honest when I say that I really really wasn't the happiest camper that morning. There were so many mosquitos and it was just so humid and muddy and my skin sticky and I had a sore throat and my head felt like it was disconnected from my body. I think that sentence was enough to convey my displeasure, so let's move on. We traversed some pasture and woods after the zip line to reach our destination: dairy cows. Oh yes. And let me tell you, the creatures have no manners. At least dogs will poop on your lawn. But not cows. They will go right on you. They're not too modest. Then again, if someone was grabbing my nipples and milking me, I think I'd be pretty disgruntled too. So yes, I milked a cow, though I did it completely wrong and Bombero, the father from the house next to ours, had to show me like 5 times how to do it. But I completed my mission. After we milked, Bombero took us through the woods to see some plants and animals. We saw an armadillo, which was pretty cool. I had never thought of them living in a rainforest environment. They also found a plant that's good for the sinuses, so I definitely used that. The mosquitos were crazy though! And the black flies bit too. I was glad to be wearing pants, even though there was some cow poop on them. I think Bombero was sort of upset that we had to leave because he had a lot he wanted to show us. But we left to go to the medicine women and see some herbs. It was hot and sunny, but the women were really awesome people. They talked about how they've had to struggle to do what they believe in, and that really inspired me. Sandra's been through so much just to be a working woman who doesn't stay at home all day. And she couldn't care less whether her husband approves or not. I thought she was an awesome person. We identifies several types of herbs and what conditions they remedy. Everyone got really excited when we got to the citronella, and Nisha covered herself in it. Later at the house she actually made jewelry from it to keep the bugs away. It didn't really work, but it was still pretty funny. After we got back from the medicinal herb garden, we ate a fantastic lunch served by Berta, and played with all the kids. Nisha had brought a soccer ball, so we played a game of soccer with the kids and Pacha, but Amy didn't play. I was barefoot and their front yard where we played was muddy and had huge puddles. I hiked up my pants and didn't really even worry about it. Actually, that soccer game meant a lot to me. I'm a pretty bad soccer player, and while I do like the sport, I haven't played in a number of years. But the game was so much fun!! The kids were funny and we all splashed each other. Then it started pouring rain and we kept playing. We were all soaked, and I'm sure I looked like hell, but it was one of the most fun things I've ever done. After the game, we decided to go down to the river. I swam, but only a little because the current was strong and I really didn't feel like it. Everyone else (but Amy) was jumping off of things and finding rapids, but I was feeling sort of ill, so I decided not to. Looking back on it, I think maybe I should've done it anyway, but in that moment it was the right decision. When we got back we played with the kids some more. Erinn had brought a whole package of colored thread for making bracelets, and the kids really liked it. They made us bracelets, and I think the fact that they were all messed-up made them a lot better for me. Those bracelets mean a lot more to me than anything I could've bought at a store. José made me a grasshopper out of two long blades of grass and it was amazing. I passed out little cars, which the kids seemed to like playing with. Earlier I had given Jesus some bubbles and he really loved those. That night we watched some TV, which had some bad Spanish dance party shows that were really funny, including one with the fly dance, which can't be described with words, but trust me - it's hilarious. Like a combination between American booty dancing and the funky chicken. Oh yeah, it's that good. Later Nisha and I watched the intro to the Costa Rican national games, while Karen fixed my extremely messy hair. That night it was July 4th, even though we'd been so busy that we almost forgot about it. We all had boxes of sparklers and we went over to Bombero's house with all the kids. We had fun with the sparklers. Even though I was still feeling sick, I danced with Karen and Karla and Nisha, and it was a lot of fun. We went back to our house sadly because we knew it would be our last night there. We stayed up as late as we could even though we were dead tired, and we played with the kids and made more bracelets. I'm really going to miss my family and I think it has been the most meaningful experience of my trip so far.

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