This post features student writing.

Our Tuesday morning began with the most delicious breakfast of the trip, which included eggs on toast with pineapple-banana smoothies. We students gathered our bags, sad to leave the beautiful cloud forest, but eager to visit the coffee plantation. As we arrived at the plantation, we were greeted by the charismatic owner, Pepe. We were all amazed to see all that he accomplished in just 15 years. At the end of our visit, we all got to taste the coffee he harvests and even buy some to take home — you are all in for a big treat. Next, we drove to a nearby restaurant that also had hot springs. The restaurant was beautiful, with a river beside it. As we finished lunch, we crossed the street and swam in the hot springs. Our drive back to Iltaqui had many twists and turns. We stopped for dinner at a cute roadside BBQ and continued our drive back to the village. Although we got back to the village at 7:30, many of us went straight to sleep.

We awoke the next morning ready to work, as we had a couple days to rest. Unfortunately, our group was running low on supplies to continue working on the fence, so we began painting the local school house. With our teamwork we finished painting three buildings! After lunch, we played many games, such as “Inventor.” In the afternoon, we were tasked with harvesting corn. We finished the afternoon with a nice cold shower, to wash off the paint that we had gotten on ourselves earlier that day, and then headed to dinner, which was a hearty soup filled with beef and potato. After dinner, we had a jam session on the guitar, singing favorites such as “Hey There Delilah” and “Wonderwall.” At 9:30, we all tucked into our sleeping bags for a nice sleep.

We woke up in the morning to continue our work painting the schoolhouse and mixing more cement for the fence. At 2, Moriah, Ally, Annie, and Tal, accompanied by Dan, drove into the nearby town, Cotachi, to acquire more croissants and also paint for our schoolhouse mural. Adios!

XOXO, Ally & Moriah