La Laguna Brava (The Brave Lagoon)

I went on a trip with 15 teachers from my big school last weekend to a place called La Laguna Brava. I've been trying to organize a trip to this lagoon for nearly two years, so it was great that it finally happened. And it was totally worth the wait.

There is no vehicular access to the water. The hike down was really muddy and took us more than three hours. A lot of that had to do with poorly packed supplies. Carrying costales (durable plastic bags with thin plastic over-the-shoulder straps) filled with hot dogs and cooking utensils doesn't make for easy hiking. Nor does carrying a bucket filled with 12 pounds of meat, marinade and veggies to split between six people over a period of less than 24 hours. Still, I have to admit it was worth the hassle once we got down there and had tons of delicious barbecued food at our disposal.

The lagoon is the definition of bliss, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. The guide lashed together some logs to make a couple rafts so that we were able to paddle around and explore. I spent a good four straight hours in the water. It was amazing.

Lots o' lodo

River that feeds into the lagoon

The Gringas and the bucket of meat

First glance of the lagoon

Underwater camera fun

Marisha, me and Kristin with Director Ramón

Mornin'!

Me hidden behind all my teachers

I was also pretty happy with the time we made on the hike out, which was pretty much uphill the whole way. I was hiking with Kristin (one of the new Jacal volunteers), and although she was holding back so that I could keep up, I thought our time of two hours and 15 minutes was rather impressive, considering we shaved an hour off the time it took us to get down. The fact that most of the mud had dried was helpful, but the uphill was still killer.

More than anything, I'm glad I had this opportunity to convivir (hang out) with so many of the teachers from that school. As I've mentioned before, our professional relationship hasn't been without its challenges, but I've formed some great friendships with many of them and so I was really happy to have a chance to say goodbye this way. In the evening, they all gathered around to say some parting words to me and another teacher who will probably be leaving the school soon to work closer to where she lives. I truly could not have asked for a more perfect despedida. I can't think of a better way for us to mark the end of our time together.

I'm really in the homestretch now. This is my last week at my schools and we're cramming in all the paperwork that needs to be done regarding projects and figuring out if I can recommend them for certification as healthy schools. Spoiler alert: I will not be able to recommend my big school before I leave, but if they take care of the requirements that still need to be filled, maybe they can do it with Damian and Kristin. Provided my small school fixes and starts using the new stoves in the kitchen that were improperly built, I will be able to write them a recommendation. But they'll be finding this all out tomorrow and Wednesday.

I can't believe this is all coming to an end.

Peace out,
Kristina