ciao tiff.

literally right now, tiffany, you are sitting in the plane about to take off from SJO. its crazy that for the first time since i got to costa rica that i am the only american in the house. im sitting in the room, by myself (still on the top bunk of course) and just in awe of this idea of being alone. i dont have anyone to watch dr house with, or go to the puparia (spell ?) and now i especially cannot go anywhere alone, no one to laugh ridiculously hard with at the pjs lis gives us, nor play uno with. no one to eat chikys with, or share mangos since i cant eat the whole thing. tiff this is WEIRD!

but you, my friend, where such a blessing to have. im so glad i got to have this experience with you and so thankful for how you challenged me in ways you never knew. hope being home is the greatest thing and cannot wait to skype with you!

chapas forever :)

love.

crocs!

After a day of translating lots of articles for the website we headed out on an adventure with pastor’s fam, which also turned into a surprise sleepover. Love them. They are great. Just so you can get a picture in mind, this is Tiffany with the fam: Bryan, Pastor and Lis.

Today was another bright and early start to head to Quepos. We also have to leave early to get to projects and get them done before the rain comes since its rainy season here. This go round we had a group of middle school girls, all girl scouts, and I loved it. Made me miss my little wyldlife girls form blowing rock. Kylie: I swear there was a girl here from california that was an exact replica of you (but since I know you would as, you are cooler im sure). Miss you girls a lot though, and seeing this other middle schoolers made me want to be sitting on the parkway bright and early eating chickfila breakfast.

Anywho, in Quepos we did more of the painting project in the church, trying to add extra coats to what the group did on Monday. It wasnt nearly as hot today which was pleasant and the girls were all really hard workers. We got most of the rooms a second coat and that puts us one step closer to finishing the church up. Im excited to be here another 3ish weeks and hope to see the final. I know all the local kids have been stopping by to see what we have been doing. I love knowing how excited they are for this, which is always great encouragement to make things look well.

On the way how we stopped at this bridge over the river to see the infamous crocodiles that Jherson and Conrado and Jossel have been telling me about. Those things were huge! So these are some of the pictures from them.

For other news, Conexión just made a huge purchase that is truly going to advance their ministry here! No, it wasnt a church or anything like that, but an indoor soccer field! In reality, its the turf under a tin roof, but this is going to be incredible. Soccer is such a big part of their lives here in Costa Rica and this is going to be a great ministry tool. They want to allow schools to host P.E. Times here and to use it as a Christian evangelistic sports camp area too. So something to be praying about is that funds will be provided to reemburse the organization after such a big purchase.

Its been awesome seeing the faith conexión has. I think one of my favorite things about being here is getting to hear different testimonies from around the world. Jherson is a man of HUGE faith and it has been so encouraging to hear what he has to say. Like with the soccer field thing, he just said I know God wanted us to have it, therefore I know he will provide the funds. That is how Jherson works. They always start with nothing and simply watch how incredible the Lord is and how He provides all that is needed for each project. Ive been learning a lot just by listening here.

And I suppose I will end tonight with fun times with Conrado:

Today we were working on the project, and since Conrado is close to 80 he kind of just hangs out, which is good, so occasionally I will go and sit with him. Today we danced. Which was hilarious. And he growled at the middle school girls. I also discovered he is ticklish. OHHHHH BOY. Love him.

Thats all for now.

Love.

la cumbre

Sorry I havent had internet for the past few days then wasnt feeling to great, but here is the latest update :)

Wednesday was the hardest day I think I have had since I got to costa rica. We had the opportunity to teach some english classes so that the kids got the chance to hear native english speakers. We were thinking telling a bible story maybe 2 or three times, but no, we taught, count them, 9 english classes to kids all under the age of 11. I lost my voice halfway through the day, and if yall know me, that only happens when I get swine flu. But it was a good experience and was a definite confirmation that I am to teach high school kids, not elementary :)

Thursday morning we got up and headed out to an adventure came called “la cumbre,” meaning “the summit” although it was in a valley. Tiffany came here 2 years ago, so she wanted to see some friends she had at the camp, and I tagged along. We got the chance to do a lot of rock climbing in their gym and hiked to a waterfall, where the others got to go down behind it. I had to wait because they didnt know if I had experience doing these kinds of things. So you know, I just sat down and read and finished my book, “the Help.” I thought it was incredible, so if you are looking for a good book to read, go grab it :) But, yea, I did discover that I really like climbing, so friends, when I get back I want to go, even though im no good at it.

We also did a little bit of work at camp, to help them get ready for new groups to come. They dont exactly have a lawn mower for the huge areas of grass that they have, so instead they use weed eaters. And me and tiffany’s job: raking grass. Yes thats right, we raked fields of grass on hills, on flat lands, on rocks, raking. It was fun though. Just to be outside and the weather was beyond beautiful. I think it was the first day I was here that I did not see any rain. Literally I have been here for almost 4 weeks and it has down poured every single day. We took a slight nap in the grass outside of Tio and Tia’s house (the aunt and uncle of the camp I guess you could say). And one afternoon we did a deep cleaning of a campers cabin to get everything ready for the groups to come. At night we would hangout with Tiffany’s friends Vince and Efrain and watch movies and drink hot chocolate. I may have forgotten to tell you that this camp was about 8000 feet in elevation so at night it got down to about 40 degrees. Efrain gave us a little heater after the first night. And I think besides the times we were outside cleaning up around camp I did not feel my toes for 4 days straight. I slept in 3 pairs of socks one night. No joke. Hot chocolate was my best friend this weekend.

Overall though we had such a fun time. We rode there and back in a little pick up truck with our luggage in plastic bags in the back so that they could stay dry. But as you can tell, me and small backseats dont like each other. A little thing called claustrophobia. It was so great being back in the mountains and out of the city for a few days. Here in Tres Rios we cant just leave the house and walk around whenever we want because its not necessarily the safest place in the world for 2 gringos to be walking around, so it was nice to be able to go for a walk at camp.

Sunday when we came back I started feeling kind of sick to my stomach and had a really bad headache, so that was no fun. Being sick is not fun, being sick at school is really no fun, and being sick in another country just stinks. Mom gave me a hug over skype though. Monday was a hard day of working since I really couldnt eat anything. Jherson told me I could just hangout so I kind of did, but thats awkward when everyone around you is working, so I did a little work too. Monday was our day trip to Quepos (pronounces KAY-POS) where we met up with Outward Bound and their group of about 20 kids who were backpacking around Costa Rica for different amounts of times. We painted a church and Tiff and I went on a little photo adventure of the island we were on.

But a little about the island we were working on, its name was Cocal. Here is a beautiful island on the pacific coast that is under a lot of poverty. The people that live here, simply live here because its where their family lived, and so on for generations. No one really owns the land, but they have lived there for so long, that they basically take it as there own. But the government came by recently and saw that this place was no an acceptable place to live. They were given a certain amount of time to fix everything up or the government was going to not necessarily take over the land, but basically something like that. And when we were walking around taking pictures I just cant get this voice out of my head asking us “when is the housing exam?” The lady thought we were from the government or something. And its just crazy that these people are trying to fix their homes and still dont know if it will e good enough. But seriously, I can shake that voice. Cocal was a beautiful place but the beaches were completely empty and people there just had faces of desperation when we would walk by. It was a hard place to be, but there wasnt much I could do.

Today has been a fun day in the office just translating things for the website since Jherson likes things to be listed in English and Spanish. We have just been helping out with that and are getting ready to go over to Pastor’s house to have dinner with him and his family. Sunday was his birthday and we made him chocolate chip cookies and a great card that said “feliz cumpleaños pastor” love, your favorite chapas (since thats what he always calls us. So thats all for now!

I also may have forgotten to mention a dog at the camp that let me do whatever I wanted to do with it, like climbing a boulder and pretending it was Pride Rock from the Lion King.

Love.

fun facts about conrado, which make me love him even more:

1. he says "suave" every time you get in the car, multiple times.

2. his driving skills are awful

3. he loves to sing to me in the car, also at completely random times

4. his car itself (it shakes like crazy, which makes for a bumpy ride)

5. his love to make fun of my spanish accent

6. he openly tells the guy at the meat shop that i am a gringo with no shame.

7. conrado loves to whistle

8. him and his wife used to be dance instructors, so i have set up a time to have dance lessons with conrado 101

9. he likes his headlamp.

10. when he walks out of the bank, he likes to walk like a macho man

11. and last but not least, he has been married to his wife for 57 years in september and it is the most precious amazing thing ever.

so love can live to tell the tale.

ive been playing teacher assistant the past 2 days at a local school to a kindergarten classroom and that has been quite interesting. tiffany and i have done every type of cutting out letter or organizing that is possible in two classrooms. but we also go to play with some really sweet kids.

so i want you guys to meet derrick. he stuck out to me almost immediately after i walked into that classroom. all the kids needed help getting into their snack, but he was the only one frustrated and getting fussy about things. so i came over and asked him if he needed and he basically ignored me until after i asked a few more times he gave it up. getting him his cookies made us best friends. from then on he was attached to my hip. if the kids were supposed to sit on the floor to sing a song or play a game, he was sitting in the chair beside me ignoring anyone calling his name. he didnt even pay attention to me, but felt the need to be there. out on the playground he didnt play with any of the other kids and had a funny habit of scratching his head and shaking his fingers through his hair. and i loved him. i dont know if he had some type of disability, but i felt like there was just by his actions. im no professional, but its just what i thought. if yall know, let me know please :)

anywho, meeting him and spending time with me just made me so happy. today when we went back he was right by my side still just in his own little world. even if nothing was wrong with him, it made me question how kids with disabilities are treated here. its so different here, because no one has anything and then if you cant add to help your family you are useless and really not wanted. like for instance, there was this man downtown that everyday faithfully, came and played his ukulele by this bull statue.

everyday, that is his life, and has been for sooooo many years. i know that in the states, people with disabilities get treated really bad, but here, in a country that can hardly fend for itself in some places, i dont know. at one of the churches we did VBS at, there were i think 3 kids that had some disability, and we just not treated good. i guess its just been eye opening to see these kinds of things. and hard, but in the same way, such a blessing to see all the different ways the lord creates people to show how crazy his love is if that makes sense.

i was listening to this song by needtobreathe called "garden" today and i love the lyrics in it and thought it would be a nice little ending to my blog for the day:

‎"give me strength to die myself so love can live to tell the tale.

let the songs i sing bring joy to You. let the words i say confess my love.

Father let my heart be after you."

love.

traveling and such

since i last blogged we have been all over the place. i have had two adventures in downtown san josé. lots and lots of walking around. we saw the national theater and we went to these great little market places to get some fun local things. best purchase i made: a hammock. yep, i totally bought a hammock in costa rica. and it folds up small so that i can take it home without taking up too much space in the suitcase. and i got something that i decided i wanted to start collecting :) my friend blaire last year gave me a beautiful cross from ethiopia when she went with the cherokee house. and i think i decided that i want to start getting them from all over the world...just seeing how different people from all over make the same thing look so incredible and to show their own culture in it. so the one i bought from the market is full of color and had like a costa rica scene with a church at the top and little feet. which made me think of serving, and being here. yep.

ok, so wednesday and thursday i got to see two different volcanos. the first one was irazu and the second was arenal. the first one we went to was more like a crater thing. jhonny and dayana took us and they were saying its going to be really cold so be prepared. well thanks to mom (love you) i only had a long sleeve tee and jeans. nothing warmer, which you would think would be fine in costa rica, but thats false. we have had some chilly nights. and on top of this volcano it was probably 50 degrees with 50 mph winds. FREEZING. but like isaid, this one was basically a big crater and it was freezing. jhonny is huddled up behind a wall thing to stay warm. costa ricans and cold weather mixed together is hilarious.

thursday morning was when we set forth on the big adventure and mini vacation. the volcano we saw this time was INCREDIBLE! Jherson said he has been coming here for 16 years and had never seen it this clear before. Words cannot describe what that sight was like and pictures do it no justice. That night we went to the hot springs and oh boy that was so great. We spent about and hour and a half just enjoying time there and discovered that the higher on the trail you went, the hotter the springs. we stayed at the top :)

the next day the clouds were back and you couldnt see hardly any of the volcano. we packed up and headed around the volcano and to la playa flamingo! yay for a beach day. it was rather cloudy the whole time, but still absolutely beautiful. we soaked up some rays and enjoy some solid time of r and r. we went out to eat at this one restaurant and i always forget that im in a country that has the best fruit in the world, but this go round i remember to order fruit juice. mango was the flavor of choice, as well as cos, and pineapple and mixed fruits. all kinds to have at every meal :) i love juice now and it will be close to the top of my list of things i will miss so much when i leave here.

we got back to the house saturday night and sunday morning we went to the fruit market. ohhh boy that was the most exciting thing just because you could try anything and everything you wanted, and it was so cheap! our fridge is full of fun things now for snacks. thats about all I know for now. hope everyone is doing well. miss you guys!

Love.

Yay we finally have internet at the house! Just a wonderful PTL so that I can get the chance to chat with some people.

So for now: meet Jherson and his wife Yolanda (left 2) and Jonathan (in the middle) and Tiffany (on the other side of me). Just so you can put some faces with names. This was the last night before Jonathan left. ¡Que triste!

Sunday was a good day of rest for all of us. Jonathan left and then the Carolina girls packed up and headed to the beach for their last few days in costa rica. Sad day, but me and Tiff have our own room now, and could finally unpack everything. And major unexpected plus side is that they put a little tv in our room. So now we can watch SOME US shows that just have Spanish subtitles. That has been a great way to learn new vocab words or phrases (like the times we have gone to the movies have been in English only with Spanish subtitles.)

So yesterday we watched the final World Cup game. Good job España. And moved around all of our stuff to the new room. I got a new bed and back to comfort in a twin size. I dont know why, but big beds are just too big for me. But after the game and moving, we were told that Pastor and his family w

anted to hangout with us and to be ready at 330. Just a taste of Costa Rican time...Pastor did not come get us until 5. But he came and picked us up and we went to His church for their evening service.

One really cool thing I have learned is their process of timing. Jherson told Tiff and I why they do church on Saturday nights most of the time (even though Pastor’s was a Sunday evening). But most people work 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday. And they have a lot of broken families and problems to where people simply dont have time to see one another. So they hold services on Saturday nights or Sunday nights because Sunday is the only time ot spend with family...that why they have the whole day to go to the beach or get things done around the house, together. They didnt want church to be a conflict with family time. I just thought that was really great.

So after church we went to Pastor and Bryan (his son’s) soccer game. That was real fun. So I dont think I told yall this, but they both love to call me “Chapa.” Its a costa rican name I guess, and its really hard to compare it to english...Its like saying you are worthless but wayyyyy less harsh. Its constantly used jokingly. So since they call me that, I call them it right back. Bryan is an all star soccer player and scores goals all the time, so this one time after he scored I yeld “Bien Chapa” except the whole place was quiet as I said it. Needless to say he laughed on the field and I was a tad bit embarrassed because I am this American girl yelling Chapa at players. So that was fun. We have a great relationship, I know.

After soccer we went over to Pastor and his wife, Lis’ house for dinner. Pastor was just up in the mountains with a group and caught a fish so thats what we had for dinner. Now I have never really had a fish that I liked so I was nervous because I didn’t want to be rude and not like it. But that fish was good! Accompanied by rice and beans of course. Bryan showed us some pictures and we all chatted for a bit, then He took us home.

Today was an official organize and clean up day for me and Tiff. Since the fam has just recently moved things had not been placed in order yet, but that was done today :) And dad, you would be so proud because your baby girl but 3 pc’s together in the office. Yep, thats right. THREE.

And as promised, these are some of the pictures of the rope game that would never be allowed in the States. Sorry they are kind of fuzzy.

Also, I want you to meet this little boy that I have no idea what his name was, but was by far the cutest kid in the world. Mainly because he loved to give hugs and kissed.

thats all for now.

love.