Day 6

We woke up to go white water rafting and we had to pack all of our stuff up (blah) to go to our dairy farming families (yay!). When we got to the rafting spot on the Sarapiquí river, I was a little afraid because I've never gone white water rafting before, but it's just another in a string of firsts for me. Our guide's name was Guaco, and he made sure to get himself in a boat with 4 girls - including me, Veronica, Emily, and Amy. None of us had ever rafted before. Guaco was actually an interesting guy. He told us about his family (his mom is from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, his dad is from a Colombian farm. He doesn't know where his father is, but he says, "It's a good family.") and about how he's lived all over Central and South America (according to him, Costa Rica is the best). He also said there are swarms of bugs at Pacuare. Great. There was a jump-off point during the rafting where we could jump into the water, swim back up to some rocks, and climb up. I jumped 3 times. Afterward, we ate some fruit (the pineapple was like heaven - Marion and I both agree) and we had a food fight (Karla started it!). We finished the raft ride and ate lunch. I sat across from Christian and he was hilarious, as usual. He always imitates me in a high-pitched voice and it's sooo funny. After lunch, we went to the Centro Neotropico Sarapiquí, which had some cool archaeology, but I think I would've gotten more out of it if I hadn't had to take notes. I was so busy trying to jot down all the main points that I missed a lot of the details. We went into the botanical garden and looked at all the plants that were around when the indigenous people lived here. I would say that I really enjoyed it, but I'll be honest instead. I was bug-ridden, hot, and it was rainy. I didn't really care about the plants. So there, I was honest. We left Miah there at a small lodge at the center because she had to get some work done, and continued on to visit. Once again, I was excited yet a little apprehensive (is that a word? well, it is now) about going to stay with a family that only knows Spanish. I can't fall back on my English to help me like I can with Karen, 'cause she knows both. I'll have to try to explain what I mean - in Spanish. Whoo boy. It was dark and pouring rain by the time all the girls got to our houses. And to top everything off, I'm sick and I can't even deny it anymore. Bah humbug. I guess I should've expected it since I had to room with Ashley twice in a row and she was sick. Oh well. Anyway, we (Amy, Nisha, Erinn, Laura, Karen, and I) like our new family which includes our father, Pacha, our mother, Berta, and the children: Jesus, José, Vanessa, Lissette, and Greta. At first it was a little awkward because we were so tired and wet, but we really tried to be cheerful. That night we ate and played cards. I played war with José and Erinn. The kids were so great. We stayed up until about 10 o'clock and we were really tired. I didn't think it was possible to feel that tired that early. We were told that we would be getting up at 5 o'clock the next morning to milk cows. Believe it or not, I've never milked a cow before, despite living in New Kent. It should be an interesting experience, to say the least. But I'm quite glad that my family is so nice.

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