Picture above is the end of her trip where you can see the Isla de Ometepe behind her, and the picture below is her first day in Jinotega, Nicaragua. They went to wherever the top picture was taken to "relax" and hiked up to a dormant volcano. (You can count on me to get the pictures in the wrong chronological order. Sorry 'bout that!) She refered to this as an "easier day on my back than usual" in her letter. Whew! She was filling in between the cinder blocks with mortar using relatively primitive tools, as you can see. These pictures show how important even simple pleasures, such as blowing bubbles with children, can be . . . to adults and children! I was impressed by the nice looking school in San Lsidro--but equally saddened by the existence of street children . . . anywhere. (The "I" in the caption refers to Rachel, of course.) These pictures help round out our from-a-distance view of Rachel's time in Nicaragua . . . and then a couple pictures around Brandon with her mother, her Aunt Carol and her "Moey." Joe Jr. enjoying a game of chess with Ryan Lee, plus Johnny and Moey (Matthew) enjoying Grandma's kitchen in Brandon (Taken August 7-8, 1999) Some nice pictures of Jack and Sherry and their family . . . plus Lizzie (Taken August 7-8, 1999) Click here to go to a webpage where I have posted about two dozen pictures that I took when I (Rachel) went out to Corvallis and Seattle in late November 1999. Dad captioned them, so they aren't necessarily situated in proper place and time sequence, I'm sure. But Madeline doesn't need great captions anyway, does she? Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: Eric showing Rachel the latex inside a leaf that is toxic to some caterpillars Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: Josh and Rachel at a frass trap site having a discussion before cleaning 30 frass traps Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: Pat, Amanda, Rachel and Eric resting by a stream during a nature hike Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: Pat and Rachel inspecting the zebra swallowtail caterpillar and "frass" -- a handful of fresh frass :) Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: Amanda and Rachel with the 5th instar zebra swallowtail caterpillar and fresh frass. These guys sure eat a lot and excrete a lot!! Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: Rachel, Amanda and Eric -- Eric teaching us something about the plant Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: Ryan and Rachel taking a break after a morning of work Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: A white-faced monkey at Manuel Antonio National Park Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: My new friend, Flory and I at one of the beautiful beaches at Manuel Antonio National Park Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in early summer of 2000: An overlook into unmarked territory of dry tropical forest in the wet season. A collage of almost all of the above pictures taken during Rachel's trip to Costa Rica in the early summer of 2000!