Dinner with Andrea and Beto

We were invited to have dinner with our friends Andrea and Beto. Andrea and Beto run Casa Al Revez, which is a rural camp for teenagers and young adults. They receive groups of travellers from all over the world who have booked a holiday through an organization called ISV. The program is comprised of three parts: 1) Spanish lessons and living with a host family so they can practice their new language 2) volunteering in a rural community 3) adrenaline-rush adventure. The groups come to Andrea and Beto to experience the rural community portion. These groups have painted colourful murals on the school walls in Copey and in Rio Blanco. They learn about agriculture, gardening, organic farming and how to care for animals. It's an enriching experience. Last season, we were asked to give a tour of our property to several of these groups. The idea is to give an expat perspective as well as being an example to these young people that anything is possible and maybe inspiring them to follow their dreams. We didn't get paid for giving the tour. Although the tour takes nearly two hours, we figured it was a great way to spread the word about the B&B. Andrea and Beto said they'd like to give something back and maybe the volunteers could help us in some way.

So tonight, we went over to Andrea and Beto's for dinner and to brainstorm possible ideas. Kevin and I suggested their groups can make and paint signs for our trails and maybe make benches out of logs so when our B&B guests go on hikes, the trails will be clearly marked and they will have somewhere to sit and rest. Andrea and Beto thought this was a good idea and something that wasn't too difficult to do. One group can start the project and the second group can takeover wherever the first group left off and so on. The first group of volunteers arrive sometime in January. It should be fun for them while we, in turn, get free labour. Sounds like a great plan to us.