Day 13: Second to Last Work Day!

Hi parents!! 

Today we kicked off our penultimate work day by splitting into three groups, each assigned to a project: continuing to map water canals through Zurite, pruning and weeding baby pine trees at the tree nursery, and finishing up our signs for the trails to the hummingbird terraces and the cave paintings. 

The group that worked on the water canal map walked up to the reservoir and followed one canal for about a mile and a half before realizing that we had forgotten to plug in the SD card into our GPS, meaning none of the data was saved. After retracing the steps and continuing our descent, we ended up all the way down the mountain in the neighborhood known as Miami (which is not quite the same as the city in Florida). From there we twisted and turned along the dirt roads, trying to keep track of the canal which was now buried underground. Along the way, we were joined by dogs and saw the only taxi-cab in Zurite; it was definitely an adventure. After the 6-7 miles of walking, we finally returned to Don Tomás's house for a delicious lunch of soup as well as chicken and potatoes in a pesto sauce. 



In the tree nursery group, we made our final hike up as it was the last day to get to work with the saplings. Taking extra care to appreciate the view and snap extra pictures, we learned that the director hadn't arrived yet. After the long hike up we were eager to make the most of our time. We picked up our work gloves and pruning scissors and got to work managing the tiny pines. We basked in the sun, snacked on local treats, and finished off our work by our lonesome (no one showed up except us in the end) before meandering the hike down (we missed the turn a third time with Oliver leading us, but generally appreciated the scenic route). We arrived to meet the painting and canal groups for a few moments of relaxation before a phenomenal lunch. 

The group in charge of the signs finished painting their bright arrows and kind quotes and eventually hiked to the base of the mountain to cut down some eucalyptus for the sign posts. They then applied varnish to seal the paint so it can withstand wind and rain. We created a Menlo sign as well with all of our names!



In the afternoon, we were planning on hosting the president of the Water Committee and we had prepared questions to ask him about his work. However, he had an emergency meeting come up and was unable to attend. Instead, we ended up reserving the soccer field and had some free time to hang out together. 


¡Buenas noches!

- Claire and Jordan




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