My fingers are still covered in paint as I type this post five days later. But a good time was had by all! Helping Hands Costa Rica and the Tropical Adventures Foundation joined hands this past Saturday and really got down and dirty!

We all ventured out into the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation for a day of painting at the Bambu Retirement Home. We were able to get a lot done. Truthfully, I was really amazed at how much thirteen people could accomplish in a short, 7-hour period.

This retirement home is actually a pretty huge place. And we were able to paint three out of four wings, as well as 8 out of 16 bathrooms. In addition, two of the volunteers worked out in the back of the property scraping and painting the chain link fencing and metal bars that enclose the entire laundry section. Both of them went to visit their chiropractors this week!

Yes, I admit. My muscles did ache a bit the next day. But it really was a lot of fun. We had such a great group of people with us. Everyone had a wonderful attitude. We danced, laughed, listened to music, made a big mess and got to know one another pretty well.

Many thanks again to the Iain Programa for their generous donation of $1,000. It was exactly enough to buy us the paint and supplies we needed. And, of course, we can’t thank all our volunteers enough for taking the time out to come all the way out to help out these great folks — who, by the way are extremely grateful for everything we did. A big Tropical Adventures / Helping Hands hug goes out to:

• Meranda Glesby
• Matteo Brancacci Soto
• Evangeline Mathura
• Tamara Day
• Margaret Gibson
• Philippa Wildash
• Allen Vinicio Meza Sandino
• Alison Smith
• Willy Rojas
• Silvio Antonio Duran Salinas
• Isaac Garcia Gutierrez
• Scott Pralinsky
• Maria Jose Cascante