Cartago

This is a picture of me and some of the single students at ILE jumping in front of the Catholic Church in Cartago that holds the patron saint of Costa Rica. Cool . . .

Pineapple juice, thunderstorms, Easter baskets and new vocabulary.

These are the things that my day has consisted of. I am struck by the many different kinds of juices I drink here, most of them fresh and homemade. My favorites are jugos de fresa, mora, y pina - or strawberry, blackberry and pineapple. Although I also drink mango, papaya, cas, watermelon, guava and passion fruit juices. Yum.

Today was hot and sunny all morning, then after lunch someone decided it was a better day for a thunderstorm. Crazy how quickly the weather can change here. Actually, I'm grateful for the rain because it has cooled things down considerably.

One of the best things about being in Costa Rica is getting mail and packages from home! Today I received my Easter Basket (of sorts) from mom and grandma! I am so not ready to be an adult who has to give up Easter Baskets and Christmas stockings, and May-Day baskets! Of course my fellow classmates where excited about my Easter basket as well, especially when I opened the big bag of Starburst Jelly Beans! They are half gone already, shame on me. This is the first Easter I will have spent away from home (like every other holiday this year I suppose), but I'm really thankful that being absent did not mean that candy would also be absent!

Today also consisted of learning Telephone Etiquette vocabulary. How valuable! This is so basic, yet it has never been taught to me before. I am grateful that my lenguaje teacher, Eugenia, is willing to take time to go over basic and daily vocabulary with us. Who cares if I can lead a bible study in Spanish if I can't answer the phone properly!

Pensamientos

I was struck today about how I've transitioned into life here in Costa Rica, and how even in the midst of difficult days, God was faithful to provide for my every need. I've come to love it here, something I had decided not to do before I arrived, and there is a part of me that will grieve to leave, even with all the anticipation of arriving at the place it has taken me nearly two years to get to. I tried really hard not to enjoy people too much, and to not get too involved. Unfortunately God created me with a desire to love people and be involved in their lives, so my plan did not work out too well. But as always, God's perfect plan is better than mine, and it will be far better for me to grieve the loss of new friendships and this unique culture, than to shake the dust of Costa Rica from my feet. Praise God for these people, and this culture. I feel like I've "learned" a lot of lessons here. God has given me insight into how He created me, and has nurtured me through healing different areas of my life that were broken. He has allowed me to experience Him in some very unique ways, and He has forced me to trust Him when I try to look for provision in other places.

Sometimes it's funny to me how much I love the Latin culture. Sometimes I wish that God had created me differently, so that I would fit in more easily here. I know that there will be aspects of this culture that I will bring home with me at the end of my ministry, and I realize that there will always be a little Latina inside of me. But something unique that God has done in the midst of being here, is open my eyes to the blessing of being exactly who He created me to be: a gringa. I will probably never speak Spanish with a flawless accent, and no matter how tan I get, my green eyes will always give me away. But these things ultimately do not matter because in spite of being a gringa, God has blessed me with this chance to live and serve in Latin America. What a gracious and awesome God!

Culture Day

Every trimester the staff at ILE put on a culture day for the students. Classes are canceled and in their places are workshops and activities directed toward helping the students to better understand Tico culture. Last Monday was Culture Day for this trimester, and it was a nice change from a normal Monday routine. Unfortunately I've been having problems with my internet over the last week, and I haven't been able to upload pictures and video until now.

Culture Day was a blast. It was hilarious seeing these posed and proper Tico professors singing mariachi and dancing in the Chapel, as well as two of the three men teachers cooking in the kitchen. Actually it was a wonderful chance for us to get past the professional barrier and experience more of the lives of our professors. The day began with a bilingual presentation of what the day was going to offer, followed by the choice of two of four workshops. This trimester the workshops that were offered were: Recycling & Home Remedies, Music & Dance, Tico Cooking, and Sports & Games. I attended Music & Dance and Tico cooking. Check out these videos of Culture Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QpwawytUVY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLYxmavEBDo

Rafting the Rio Pacuare

Saturday of this past weekend, I went on nearly my final paseo here in Costa Rica. I was super excited when I saw that there would be a chance to go White Water Rafting here, for it is something I've always wanted to do, but have never before had the opportunity.
So at 6:00am our small group of 17 students loaded up into a van and drove the hour and a half out from San Jose to the Pacuare River located in the midst of the Native Indian National Park. After a quick breakfast of the ever famous Gallo Pinto with Scrambled Eggs at a road-side restaurant, we arrived at the river bank and went through the basic safety measures of rafting. You know - what to do if you lose a paddle, if your instructor should fall out of the raft, if you would get trapped under the raft . . . basic things :)
Actually, we didn't have any of these problems, Gracias a Dios, and had a really pleasant trip. It was rather cool and cloudy, and the water was a cool 65 degrees which made it a somewhat chillier trip than we all anticipated. We were on the river for approx. 4 hours and traveled 18 miles of lever 3 and 4 rapids. For those of you like me who have had no prior rafting knowledge, the hardest and most dangerous rapids are rated level 5's. So we were doing pretty well!
It was so much fun, and for me it was quite possibly my favorite trip I've taken so far. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, but I do hope that there will be more opportunities in the future to do more rafting.
We arrived at the end of our journey around 2:30 in the afternoon, and after a quick change and a short drive, we arrived back at the road-side restaurant to enjoy a delicious lunch of carribean chicken and rice and beans! Once we had eaten, we said our goodbyes to the river guides and hopped back in the van for the hour and a half ride back home. The majority of us conked out as soon as we started moving and slept most of the way home.
We arrived back in San Jose around 6:30 and the rest of the evening was super tranquilo. After a hot shower, and a hot dinner, I settled into my room to get enjoy a VH1 rerun of Sleepless in Seattle. But I am ashamed to tell you that I was so exhausted that I fell asleep with the remote in hand at 9:00 and slept solidly until 10:00 the next morning. Rafting is one of the best workouts I've ever had!

Birthday parties and Bible studies

A few weeks ago, my host family celebrated the first birthday of their daughter, granddaughter, and niece. I was so blessed to be able to join the family in the celebration, and had even emailed a friend from home to send me some of the cutest little baby shoes from her children's boutique "Scout". I am still very fascinated by the importance place on the first birthday here. The majority of guests were adults, but the theme was still that of a child (Costa Rican cartoon characters). Check out this short video of the birthday song being sung in Spanish, and of my super cute host-niece!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=028HOxvItNk

Also, I can't remember if I shared with you all that I was starting a new Bible study with a group of women at the school. It's a Beth Moore study on the Book of Esther, and I'm pretty excited about it for a couple of reasons. The first being, that I've only ever viewed this book as a book of history. I've never seen any practical application from it other than following the example of a woman of faith. I'm really looking forward to studying the culture behind the history, the meaning of names and all that is hidden within the text. Secondly, I'm excited because this is the first opportunity I've had to study the scriptures with women from different seasons of life. The ages of the women range from 21-65 and I'm thrilled to have the chance to glean wisdom from these women that have more life and faith experience than me.

Ceviche

This is what I had for dinner tonight with my Tico family. Enjoy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche