Limon Trip

Hola!

To sum up my weekend: awesome! I honestly had a great time, and I praise God for the opportunities we had this weekend. I also praise God that he has given me so much healing and the pain in my neck/shoulder is very minimal now. This has been such a huge relief and blessing for me. Thank you so much for all your prayers—God is good!

On Friday morning, we left at 8:00pm for our 3 hour road trip. We took off in 2 small buses, and made several stops along the way. We stopped at a coffee plantation and learned about coffee. We also stopped at a pineapple plantation, and this was very informative. Did you know that pineapples do not grow on trees? You would think that being a farm girl I would know more than I do…but nope. Thankfully, I was not the only one who assumed pineapples grew on trees. They actually grow on the ground above the ground! How interesting, huh? Next, we stopped at a Delmonte banana processing plant. We went out in the field among all the banana trees, watched the workers in the processing plant, and learned about how bananas get from the field to our tables. I do not think I will be able to eat a banana the same way again. It was really informative, and I love learning…so it was great!

During our ride to Limon, we saw beautiful landscape. It was just gorgeous. We were driving through the mountains, saw monkeys hanging out in the trees (literally), a sloth chilling in the tree, and tons of beautiful plants and trees. When we arrived in Limon we went to our hotel and checked in. The hotel was nice and clean, and each room had 2 small beds, which means I had 1 roommate. When we got there, they gave us money and sent us off into the city of Limon. Throughout the evening we had a few objectives: randomly go up to at least 3 different people and ask them about poverty and discrimination, eat supper, and explore the town. The town of Limon was really different than San Jose. First of all, we stuck out like a sore thumb even more. Limon is a lot slower pace and even more diverse. In fact, the majority of the people are from AfroCaribbean descent. This means that it was really obvious that we were not from around there! Anyway, we walked around town, went into cool little shops, went to supper, went out for ice cream, and talked to different people. It was a great night.

The next day we got up early and went to an indigenous reservation. This was fascinating. I was just totally fascinated by the woman who talked to our group. She is the leader of their tribe called the BriBri. We were at this reservation for a couple hours while she talked to us and showed us their iguana farm, which has a lot of meaning and symbolism behind it. I would love to talk about this more, but it is difficult to sum up this woman’s story. I also run the risk of going on and on…so if you are interested, you will have to ask me about it later :)

After the indigenous tribe we went to la Playa Cauhita. It was beautiful! The weather was perfect, and it was a wonderful afternoon. For those of you who know me well, you know that I do not like to swim. In fact, I don’t really even like water. However, I would like to proudly inform you that I was in the water for a lot of the time playing in the waves. Yeah, I know…I was shocked too!

After the beach, we headed back to the hotel for showers. Next we went out for supper at this community center place that was the starting place of Marcus Garvey’s plan (he is a famous person in African American liberation history). At this community center, a woman from Limon brought us some homemade food. The food from Limon is different from the other food in Costa Rica, and it was really good too. The best part of this night, though, was this band of 5 older Afrocaribbean men. They were retired men who have this band and play Calypso music. So here we were: a group of white American college students being serenaded by 5 older gentlemen while we ate our homemade supper. It was just so fun. After we finished eating, we all danced for a long time. Again, I do not dance. I hate dancing. But….I did. And you know what? I actually had fun! I think part of it was that the music was 100x better than the music played at dances at home. With this Calypso music we were able to dance in a fun, goofy, and completely wholesome/clean way. If you don’t know what this is, you should look it up on youtube because it’s great! We had a great time, and went back to the hotel where we hung out for awhile before calling it a night.

This morning we went to an African American Methodist church. The people were so kind and welcoming. The service was actually very similar to the Methodist churches at home with a slight African American twist. However, this was not the Pentecostal feel often associated with African American worship. Nonetheless, it was a good service. When I was walking into church, one of our professors asked me if I would get up and introduce the group to the church (the church was all in English because that is the first language of the people in Limon). Good thing I don’t have a fear of public speaking because I was up there on the spot with virtually no warning :) After church, we traveled home and stopped for lunch on the way home at a restaurant. When we were full and on the road again, the director of LASP actually came and sat by me. We had a really good conversation for about 2 hours...one of my most memorable times of the trip.

In addition to this awesome conversation, I really got to know a few girls better. This has been a blessing to get to have some really good conversations throughout the weekend, talking about really good and challenging topics. Right up my alley :) God has truly blessed me with these relationships, especially with the girl that I shared a room with.

Now that I’m back, I have a 5-7 page paper to write about poverty, and this paper is due on Tuesday…and it has to be in Spanish. Bummer. Anyway, I feel blessed from this weekend, and I am honestly feeling better and better about being here. I like it more every day, and I just feel so much more comfortable being here. In addition, I feel healthier and have more energy throughout the day. I also do not feel so out of place, and I am starting to make good friends. When I got back this afternoon, I also realized that I missed my Tica family while I was gone this weekend. I think that’s a good sign :)

Thank you so much for the continued prayer support. I ask that you pray for a good week as it will be a heavy homework week. Please pray that I can appropriately balance all the things going on in my life, and please pray that I will have time to think about the stuff that is floating around in my head from this weekend. I’m fully aware that processing the information I’m learning this semester is going to take months, even years. However, I also know that I need to at least somewhat organize the information in my head in order to reduce my overwhelming feelings and stress. Therefore, please pray that I would continue to seek God’s truth in the midst of all the different things I’m hearing and being exposed to. My bubble is being popped, and I have to decide what is Biblical truth. Please pray that God will sustain me in this process and guide me through his Spirit.

Ready for the Weekend!

Buenos noches!

Today was the last day of classes for the week. Hallelujah! Tomorrow we leave for a field trip to Limon, which is a province in Costa Rica. This area has a lot of indigenous people, and the culture here is very different from San Jose (where I am now). I’m really looking forward to this trip, and I think it will be a really interesting experience. As part of our assignment, we are required to conduct 6 interviews with random people (3 people in San Jose and 3 in Limon). My partner and I have already done 3 of our interviews, and it is incredibly interesting. We go up to random people and ask them if poverty exists in Costa Rica, if there is discrimination, what causes poverty, if there are solutions to poverty, and other tough questions. The people we have asked have been so kind and willing to talk. The answers are just really fascinating to me! Limon is about 3 hours away, but we are stopping at various plantations and fincas (farms) on the way. We also get to spend a few hours at the beach on Saturday…yeah, the beach in January :). Overall, the weekend will be full of talking with people in Limon, working on projects, listening to speakers, going to the beach, going to church, and other various things. I am looking forward to this new experience! We will be coming back on Sunday late afternoon/evening.

Speaking of weather, the Ticos kept saying that today was “hace frio” which means that its cold out. Although I don’t know for sure what the temperature was, I would guess it was still about 65 degrees. I will take that any day compared to the weather I’m sure you guys have at home :)

My neck is feeling better. Thank you for all the prayers that have been offered on my behalf. I am sincerely grateful for those prayers, and I can feel the prayer support. Thank you. The pain right now is much less intense, though it is still very present. Please pray for continued healing, and praise God for relieving me from the intensity that I had earlier! To God be all the glory for he is good!

Humility...again.

Hola!

Well, I’ll just cut right to the title: I was due for another dose of humility I guess. Monday morning I woke up, and I did feel some better. The pills that my mom had given me on Sunday did help take away some of the pain. However, the professor Laura said that she would feel better if I just went to the doctor to make sure nothing was awry. She said that she didn’t want it to end up being an infection that festers for too long. Also, we have a trip planned for the weekend and she said it would be good to get the pain under control before that.

So Monday night, my mom and sister accompanied me to the private hospital about 5 blocks from their house. This hospital was unbelievable. It was the nicest and most luxurious hospital I have ever seen. Yes, I have seen bigger hospitals, but this hospital did not feel like a hospital. It was more like a hotel. Actually, that’s because part of the hospital IS a hotel! There is a hotel connected and my mom said that a lot of people from the US come to this hospital for surgeries. They will stay in the hotel and then come to the hospital the next day for surgery. If you are hungry, there is also a fine-dining restaurant with table clothes and fancy menus attached too. There are also 2 pharmacies inside the hospital. It was something!

The process of seeing a doctor was interesting at this hospital. I was so glad my mom and sister were with me. There are times when I want to just be independent and try to do things myself, but I was totally willing to let them take the lead while we were at the hospital. The mom was just Johnny-on-the-spot with asking people for directions inside the hospital and talking to the receptionist and telling me what I needed to do. I wondered if they would come into the examining room with me, but they didn’t’ seem to wonder about it at all—they just came right in! The first question everyone asked me there was “Do you speak Spanish?” and I would always respond “A little.” The doctor said the same thing to me, and then proceeded to ask me what was going on. So I actually talked directly to the doctor and told him all that I knew. He was really nice, and I was really grateful. While he was poking my neck and shoulder, he went on to encourage me and say that I actually speak Spanish very well. That was nice of him…I needed some encouragement about that time :)

The doctor decided to do an X-ray to make sure nothing was fractured in my neck (there is one particularly sore spot), but the X-ray was normal. In the words of the doctor: “puro estres” which means, “pure stress.” Great. To be honest, part of me was hoping to get a diagnosis: an infection or a virus or something. I wanted to prove that I wasn’t making up intense pain. I wanted there to be a “real” problem. (And yes, I see the hypocrisy in my voice. I am a psych major, and I definitely have a heart from those who are overwhelmed with life and mental suffering. I totally believe their stress and sufferings are real and valid. That’s where I see the unfair expectations I have for myself.) On the other hand, it is awesome that I’m totally physically healthy. I know… this is wonderful news: I’m fine! The problem is that I still feel like a bum and a baby. What a long drawn out ordeal…just because I can’t handle my own stress. Are you catching where my humility lesson is coming into play? No matter what type of physical or mental illness I endure, I need to be reminded that my worth and value come from Christ alone. If I am looking to “prove” myself to others or myself, I am not solely thinking of my identity in Christ.

I am also realizing that my way of “coping” is not really working. My body can’t handle it. Therefore, please pray that I can ways to cope with my stress in a healthy way. Please pray that I find my satisfaction in Christ alone and trust what he is doing in my life right now. Pray that I will be open to the ways that he is changing me in this journey, even if it’s scary.

 On another note, classes have been well the past 2 days. This morning our class was on the economic system. Those of you who know me well can agree that I don’t really know squat about economics. However, I am learning that ignorance is not an excuse. In the past, I have told myself “Oh, I don’t know much about economics. That is not my passion, so I don’t need to get involved in that type of stuff.” I don’t really agree with that anymore. I am a Christian, and that means I have a duty to be a stewardly citizen and represent Christ in my life. The reality of my life is that it includes economics. Therefore, I have a duty as a Christian to be educated about what is going on economically so that I too can be responsible in this area. It does not mean I have to be passionate about it, but I do have a responsibility to be educated. Ignorance is not an excuse.

So today I learned. I embraced the economic jargon and listened to a passionate lecture from one of our professors. I feel like this really made a lot of sense, and he really did a good job of keeping everything simple. I feel like I really have a good handle on a lot of different economic things, at least in a nutshell. The next time someone asks me what socialism is, I will have an answer :)

K that’s all for now. I thank you all for your prayers and encouraging emails. I appreciate them far more than you know. Also, please pray for one of the girls in our program. Due to the overwhelming experiences that we are having right now, she decided to return home tomorrow and take classes at her home college this semester. Please pray for a smooth transition for her.

Church (2nd post today)

This morning I was able to go to church with the parents. My sister went to her nephew’s soccer game, but we decided to go to church. It was only about 4 blocks away, and it was in a building that definitely did not resemble any churches I had ever been too. In fact, I would have had no idea it was a church! Obviously, a church is not a building. The service was definitely Pentecostal, and it was really a breath of fresh air. I truly enjoyed the worship service, and I actually felt comfortable there, despite looking completely out of place in my white American skin. There are a lot of things that go through my mind in a service so unlike what I grew up with, but one thing was for sure: these people had the love of God. They loved God and his love was displayed in how the treated each other. I really feel like I have a lot more to process with this service, but I know that might not happen right now. God will help me work through the questions I have when the time is right. For now, I know that I felt love when I was in that church.

After church we went to the supermarket to get food for lunch. I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I used to think that food was cheaper here. That’s not true. I think there are maybe like fruits and vegetables that are cheaper, but overall, the food is actually really expensive here. Now that I can exchange the prices in my head easier, I am learning that things cost a lot more than I thought. For example, while we were walking through the grocery store, I was trying to do some quick math. Just one example, a 2 liter bottle of pop is $2.50, and a ½ gallon of ice cream is $9!

Physical update: yeah, still struggling. This morning my dad actually noticed by the way I was turning my head (or actually not turning my head.. I look kind of like a robot!). He asked me about it and then really got concerned when we realized the whole left side of my neck/shoulder is really swollen. There are 2 little bones that stick out from neck, but you couldn’t see the one on the left side because of the swelling. Usually, Advil helps a lot…but today it didn’t really do anything. The muscle relaxants don’t seem to help at all either. So after church, my mom and sister kept ironing towels and putting them on my neck and stretching my arm. It did feel good, but I don’t’ think it is going to help long term. They also told me to take this pill. Yeah, not sure what it was, but I took it! They seemed insistent, and I was not about to say no :) My Tica mom thinks that she knows what I have, and she said that it is Tendonitis. The problem is, I have no idea how I would have gotten this, nor do I know how to make it go away! So I’m not really sure if that is what it is or not, but my mom was so excited about helping me that it’s hard to tell her that I don’t really think the warm towels and pills aren’t really helping. She is just absolutely sure that it is going to be better after this pill I took and after the warm towels. She is so sweet :) She said if it doesn’t feel better tomorrow, we will go to the doctor.

The rest of the day I think we are just going to be spending time at the house. I finally am going to get to talk to my family again on Skype today, and I’m very excited for this! Please pray for continued healing in my neck/arm as this is really just a burden and distraction. I can honestly say that I didn’t think I would have something like this while I was gone. Please pray for God to give me healing and peace during this time. Please pray that I will truly find contentment in Christ and not in my circumstances. I know that my health will come and go, but Christ is the only one who will stay faithful forever. Like Paul, may I learn to be content in any situation, whether rich or poor, hungry or full, in sickness and in health. Jesus, may I reflect you in this journey.

Enjoying my Tico family

Hello all,

Thank you for all your prayers. Quick update on my physical situation: I’m doing okay. The muscle relaxants do not seem to make much of a difference, but perhaps they are helping a little. Ibprofen is definitely a constant companion for me, and I just ask that you continue to pray for healing. Good news is that its highly unlikely that it would be shingles again…which means that we are probably down to the fact that my body thinks I’m extremely stressed :) crap. The problem with this is that I’m not sure how to tell my body to relax and calm down! I don’t exactly know how to just “stop” the stress. I don’t know exactly what I’m stressed about either…well, I realize there are a lot of differences in my life right now. But honestly, I do not feel overly emotionally stressed. Obviously my body knows me better than I do, and right now my body disagrees and believes I’m stressed. Please pray that God would relieve this and that I would truly find rest and satisfaction in Christ.

This morning was wonderful as we all slept in. I actually got up quite a bit earlier than the rest of the family and took advantage of the alone time. It was wonderful to start the day off by relaxing in my room and spending time in prayer and reading the Bible. I really appreciated this time alone with God and thank him for it. After my wonderful alone time and a shower, we had breakfast and the family started rolling in! I have mentioned this before, but I just love how the family comes over all the time. There were 4 different family members here by 10:30! I love talking to the family members. They are just so nice. The cousin asked a lot of questions about farming and agriculture in Iowa. And dad, if you ever need a crop duster for the crops, he is a pilot and interested in making a deal :)

After chatting with them all for awhile, I ended up going to the open-air market with my dad and cousin. This was great—I love this environment! It is only like 1 ½ blocks away from their house. We ended up filling up a grocery cart full of fresh fruits and vegetables! (There are men at the market that rent grocery carts to different people). This is so cool to me. Instead of buying everything from a box at the grocery store, they go to the market! It was also fun because the dad and cousin kept trying to get me to guess the different names of the vegetables and fruits. There are soo many things we don’t have here! Of course I usually didn’t know, but if I did recognize something the cousin always wanted to know what it was called in English. I love hearing them pronounce English words—its so precious. They have such strong accents and I tease them about it. I tease them when they try to talk in English, and they make fun of me when I make up words in Spanish :)

This afternoon my parents all of a sudden ran out of the house and said they had to go to a reunion at their aunt’s house. I didn’t fully understand where they were going and why I hadn’t heard anything about it, but off they went! I was home with my sister for about 4 hours by ourselves this afternoon. We ordered Chinese food (yes, in Costa Rica!), watched TV, and I worked on homework some. Then she asked me if I could help her with something. I said of course, and she said she needed me to translate something. She said she just got this new game on her computer last night, but the directions were in English. I figured I would just need to translate a few lines and then that would be it. Nope! We ended up playing this game together for over 2 hours! It ended up being all in English and there were constantly little bubbles popping up with instructions. I really enjoyed this, and I was so happy to be able to help her. I also think this was a really good opportunity for us to spend time together. She’s a great girl. :)

Humility

Hola!

This week has been so busy and full. I get home at night and I’m pretty wiped out from classes and walking. However, the classes (especially in the morning) are just so interesting. I love them so much. Yesterday we had a man who lives in poverty come and talk to us about living in poverty and what it was like. It was so moving and so humbling. This man just has an incredible story. It was so humbling and eye-opening to hear a first-hand account of what it is like to live in poverty. We talked about his life, where he came from, what he is doing now, and his faith in God. Right now he is a painter, a poet, a writer, and a security guard. Even though he has an incredible story, it does not end in a fairy-tale, happy ending. The reality of poverty is that it is incredibly difficult to overcome. Even despite all Elmer has accomplish in his life, he still lives in poverty. As a security guard, he works for 36 hours and makes $24 American dollars in that time. Doing the math, Elmer makes about $ .67 per hour. For those of you who are interested in Elmer’s story, I would love to share more. :)

I feel very blessed to have heard Elmer talk, and I think one of the most important things I took away from his story is that I need to work harder at breeching the gap of rich and poor. I have a question for each of you to think about: Do you personally know someone who is poor? This is humbling for me to consider, and I realized that I honestly do not personally know someone who lives in poverty. The easy thing to say is, “Well no, but I live in a rich community where there are not a lot of poor people.” I don’t believe that for a second. I feel personally challenged to be more intentionally about meeting people who are poor and building a relationship with them. I do not want to be friends with them so I can give them things and give them hand-outs. I want to talk to them. Ask them what their name is. Show them that I care about them. Listen to their story. Let them feel dignity and respect because they too are a child of God.

So that was part 1 of my humility lesson. Part 2: I really need some prayers on my physical health. Honestly, I have not been honest about this at all. Every day since I got here, I have had very intense pain in my left shoulder and neck. I thought it was from sleeping in a new place, or maybe from stress. The problem is that it is not going away, and it is only getting stronger. I just ask for your prayers that God would heal me and not let this be such a strong distraction for me. This is a humbling thing for me to ask for prayers about because I hate complaining about physical pain. I just want to suck it up and deal with it. Well, I´ve been trying strategy of dealing with it myself and keeping it all inside for over a week now, but I have not experienced any improvements. I´m still in a lot of pain. I actually get up at least 15 minutes early in the morning to stretch out my neck because I cannot move otherwise. I take Advil all day long, and yesterday I took a muscle relaxant. So I just ask that you would please pray for healing with me and please pray that it would not be a reoccurrence of shingles (which I had right before I came here). Please pray that this will not distract me from the things God wants me to learn here in Costa Rica.

Thanks for your prayers in advance.

Busy days

Hey everyone!

I don’t really have a lot to report. My days have been really full and tiring. On Tuesday and Thursdays I have class from 8:00 until 4:30. Mondays and Fridays I just have class in the afternoons from 1:00 – 4:30. On Wednesdays (like today) we had worship service for all the students from 10:00-11:00 and then we have lunch and head over to classes in the afternoon. On top of the classes and long days, the homework is steadily increasing. This takes time at night where I want to just rest and be with my family. I have been mostly doing my homework with my family while they watch TV. Everyone sits on the bed to watch TV, so I just sit on the bed too and read my assignments. So far this has been working well, and I know that physical presence means a lot to them.

Here’s the kicker: travel time. This adds an insane amount of time. It takes me 45 minutes to walk to class in the mornings (and a lot of this is uphill…and I mean, uphill!) Classes in the morning and in the afternoon are in different places, and it takes us 45 minutes to walk that as well. Then when we are done with classes at 4:30 in the afternoon, we have to walk home…which takes 1 ½ hours. If you do the math, that means we walk 3 hours a day. The sad thing is, walking home at night (which takes 1 ½ hours) takes less time than riding the bus! Walking also gives us a chance to move around, and we get to enjoy the beautiful weather here. So by the end of the day, I’m exhausted. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, and my butt hurts. :) But it’s all part of the experience, right?!

Other than that, I’m doing well. This morning was really wonderful to have a time of worship together. I really valued this time, and it was very refreshing. Please pray that I continue to seek God in the hectic days, and please pray that I can keep up with the long days (leaving my house at 7:15 and getting home just after 6:00 at night). Please pray that God would give me the energy and the strength to make it through these really long days. This schedule is taxing already, and it has only been 3 days. Just please pray that I will seek God, even though it is so busy. I cannot lose sight of God. I can gain the whole world and gain wisdom and knowledge about Latin America and the world, but if I lose God, I have gained nothing. God is the most important thing in my life. He has to be the one that always gets my first fruits and my whole heart. Nothing else compares to the joy of knowing Christ. Please pray that I may feel this truth.

First day of classes

(again, 2nd post today--same reason!)

Today was the first day of official classes. I left my house at 7:15 to meet someone else and make sure we made it to class on time. I actually found the bus stop and we got there in plenty of time! Yeah! We then had class straight until noon, and then had 30 minutes for lunch. After lunch, the intern here showed us the walking route to get to our other site for classes. It takes 55 minutes of brisk walking to get to this other site. We could walk, but many of us are itching to do something physical, so we welcome the walk. We arrived here at 1:30 and had class until 4:30 straight. This intense schedule of classes (basically from 8-4:30) will be like this for 2 days a week. On the other 3 days of the week we are only going to have class from 1:30 – 4:30.

The class that I have in the morning from 8-noon is going to be really interesting and challenging. We are going to be talking about a lot of interesting topics, and I am honestly excited about this class. Some issues include: US and Latin American relations, poverty in Latin America, and culture diversity in Latin America. We started the day off by talking about our awareness of world issues, and it was incredibly humbling. Here are a few things we talked about:

-         The worlds 3 richest men have wealth equal to the combined GDP of the poorest 47 nations

-         An annual 11% tax on the world’s 225 most well-to-do people would suffice to provide the following essentials for all those in developing countries: adequate food, safe water and sanitation, basic education, basic health care, and reproductive health care

-         The military spending of the United States is approximately 35% of the world’s total military spending

When I am reminded of the injustices of the world, it makes me angry. It makes me almost physically sick to my stomach. As we were discussing these staggering statistics along with others, we were just reminded that we are going to be talking about these difficult things all semester. It is not like there is just going to be one hard day and then we are off free. No. this entire semester is intended to challenge me to wrestle through issues instead of merely accepting them. After some discussion, we had a passionate talk from one of our professors. It is so obvious that they love what they are doing, and this is so awesome! He talked to us about how our whole lives we have heard the story of our country from a very biased perspective, and he said that it was far from the truth. We went through some things we had learned in past history classes, and he told us how they were totally incomplete. Even though I hate history, I was totally into this lecture because some of the things he said here unbelievable. It is scary to think about how I have always learned things from a biased perspective of a middleclass, white American.

Honestly, I’m going to try to refrain from talking on and on about the things we cover in class. I feel like I could probably write pages on the things we talk about, but I know that most of you are probably not that interested. I know that I was gifted with a special mind that just goes and goes, analyzing everything…so I’m going to keep most of my thoughts to myself. :) I already know that I am going to genuinely thank God for the mind he has given me at times during the semester, as it will allow me to delve into these topics with passion and a genuine desire to know the truth. However, I know there will also be times when I despise my mind because it makes my life so much more difficult. It is much easier to just accept things and go on living my life comfortably, but I know this is not how God made me. Having said that, please forgive me if I go off on a tangent sometimes about what we are talking about. :)

At our other site for class, we met with our other teachers. Every single afternoon from 1:30 – 4:30 I will be in Spanish class. This will last for 5 weeks straight. Wow. That’s a lot of Spanish! These classes are really unique though because my class has only 4 other students. On the 1^st day here, we had evaluations on where we were with our Spanish skills, and they put us in groups according to our levels. Today we met with our groups (the other students are all in this program with me), and we also met the professors. There are 38 students and 10 professors. Doing the math, that makes for a very intimate learning relationship, and I’m really excited about this individual attention. The professors will rotate every week, so I won’t have the same professor for more than a week. This is also nice in case I don’t particularly learn well from one of them. It is also going to be primarily oral learning. II think I will really learn a lot in this type of setting, even though it will be intense!

After class, 7 of us students who live in the same area-ish took the bus home. This sounds easy. It’s not. We first have to take a bus downtown to San Jose, and then we have to get off, walk several blocks to a different bus stop, and then get on another bus for home. Once we got downtown, we definitely had some confusion on where the next bus stop was, and I am convinced that we did not hit the nearest bus stop! Oh well. We got on a bus, and the traffic was nuts! Oh my goodness! We had been on the 2^nd bus for almost 45 minutes, and I was really wondering when our stop was coming. I thought I saw something familiar, but it did not agree with where we thought we were. Anyway, I ended up talking to the lady next to me on the bus and asked her for a long time about where we were and where I needed to go. She was probably 30 and so kind! She was just very helpful at explaining to me where we were and helping me figure out where different landmarks were that I knew could remember seeing by my house. Not only does it stink to be lost and not recognize anything, it is hard to ask for directions when you don’t know where you are going and you are speaking a different language. Anyway, praise the Lord I asked her when I did because we were 1 block away from where I needed to get off. So I got off the bus and walked about 5 minutes alone to get home. This was very stressful because seriously the sidewalks are even packed and you have to like maneuver your way through them, not to mention crossing the streets is virtually impossible. Oh and did I mention it was almost dark? By the grace of God I made it home 1 hour and 45 minutes later :)

The Weekend

Hola everyone!

Here’s a run-through of the rest of my weekend. Saturday afternoon we all got in the car about 3:00pm and I was told we were going to drive and go have lunch (a little later than we are typically used to!) Well, we took off and drove through Costa Rica. It was so beautiful! We drove up through the mountains and through the various cities. The cities are really fully, colorful, and busy. The country does not really have the spacious area like Iowa, rather it is covered by mountains and green trees. So beautiful! Pictures definitely could not do justice to this country.

After awhile, I realized that once again, I was kind of in the dark about what we were doing. We actually ended up driving to a couple’s house who had bought my dad’s car that morning. We were driving to their house so his wife could see the car. The day ended up being far from a short jaunt! At 6:30pm, we got to a restaurant where we had lunch/supper! I was really enjoying the experience though and did not mind at all. It was really fun to drive around for 3 hours and just see everything. We ended up driving through 3 provinces (Costa Rica is divided into 7 provinces), and it was a really good opportunity to see more of the country.

We stopped to eat at a restaurant that overlooks the airport in San Jose. We watched the planes come in and leave, and it was really cool. The planes were super loud, and the weather was perfect for sitting outside and eating.

On the way home from the restaurant, we ended up stopping at the supermarket to get a birthday present for one of their little relatives. This was so interesting to see! It was like a huge Wal-Mart (called Hiper-Mas). We parked in a parking garage and took an escalator up into the store. We were there at 8:30 at night, but it was totally packed. We waited in line at the checkout for probably 15 minutes because there were people everywhere! It was really interesting to try to compare what prices are like here versus what they are in the United States. From my rough conversions, I would say that things are a little bit cheaper here, but they are fairly similar to what they would be in the United States. However, food in restaurants is not as expensive here.

Saturday night I asked my family if we were going to their church on Sunday, and they said that we were not going because we had a birthday party. It was the 2^nd cousin of my sister (I’m not entirely sure about the connections, but that’s what I got!) She was the little girl that we had bought the present for the at the supermarket. The little girl was turning 3, and her party was on Sunday morning. The party was going to start at 8:30am at Pizza Hut. I’m sure you can see the many ways that this is different than something I would typically be used to!

So birthday party it was! We were going to leave at 8:20 but didn’t leave until 8:45. Time is not as restrictive here! We drove to Pizza Hut where about 40 relatives gathered to have a party for this little girl. When someone arrives to a party in Costa Rica, you go up to each individual present and greet them and kiss them on the cheek. Clearly, this is not something that is comfortable for me to do, but I tried to be a champ and go up to probably 20 people and give them kisses and greet them. I’m trying to fit in as much as possible!

 The Pizza Hut had a play set like McDonalds, and it was cute to watch all the little kids running around! The party was so interesting. People were still rolling in around 9:30, and we started eating about 10:00am. They served everyone pop and breadsticks, and then they served each person 1 piece of pizza on an individual plate. Next, the little kids went out in the play area to hit the piñata (a must-have for birthday parties here). Once the y broke the piñata and gathered all the candy, we all returned inside to eat cake. After a little bit more socializing, we all took off. I can honestly say that was the first time I have had a birthday party on a Sunday morning at Pizza Hut! But that’s why I’m here: to learn about another culture and to gain a deeper appreciation of their values. One thing was certain during our time there, family is central. Family is important and dearly loved. I love that.

After we got back home from the birthday party, we all kind of had some time alone. I took advantage of this time and worked on my homework and spent some time with God. At 1:30pm they told me we were going out for lunch. Off we went again! This time we arrived at the restaurant about 20 minutes later. After lunch, we started driving again, and we again took a road trip to Cartago, another province of Costa Rica. Now I have seen 4 of the 7! Cartago looks different than the others because you can see many more mountains. The mountains are a lot more bountiful, the streets are wider, and it seems less packed (although still very busy, even for a Sunday afternoon). Cartago was beautiful. After driving around for a long time again, we got back home around 4:30 in the afternoon. I love how they randomly just get in the car and drive. They are perfectly content to have no plans and just do whatever happens without being rushed. It’s really a refreshing thing.

A little later that night, my mom’s brother and his wife stopped by (I’m guessing this was unplanned :) They stayed for about an hour and a half. I love how the family just drops by all the time and how they spend so much time together. There is probably some relative that comes by every day. I think that is so awesome and so welcoming. They are so inviting and welcoming to their family, and they just sit down and talk. I love the family emphasis here. Like tonight when they came over, we just sat in the living room and talked. This is where I wish my Spanish was better than it is. I can make out most of the main ideas, but there are definitely times when they lose me. When they are talking really fast together it is really hard to keep up! I really hope that this is an area that will really improve over the next few weeks: I want to catch all of the conversation comfortably.

Thanks for checking in on what’s happening in my life :) BUT I also love to know what is going on back home…so any emails telling me what’s going on with you guys are awesome! :)

2nd post today :)

The last post I just uploaded was actually written yesterday, but I just now got access to the internet to post it! So here is another post that I wrote this morning :)

Today is a pretty relaxed weekend, and I love that. Last night I was able to call my mom for a few minutes (still haven’t had access to Skype, but hopefully this weekend), and then afterward I enjoyed my first good cry :)  I hadn’t had the alone time or the opportunity to even cry yet since being down here, but finally I got that out of my system. Soon after I talked to my mom I told my host family that I was just exhausted. They told me I could sleep as late as I wanted today, and so I graciously accepted this offer, knowing that my sister would sleep until 10:00 too! Thankfully, I was able to get about 10 ½ hours of sleep last night…again, this was just what I needed. I am feeling a lot better today. All week I have not been feeling very good physically, and I know it is from stress/tension buildup. Praise to God that he gave me that good emotional release and also a physical release through a good night of sleep.

When Melissa and I got up this morning, we made breakfast together. Okay, I mostly watched :).  We had gallo pinto, which is a very traditional breakfast food for Costa Ricans made of rice and black beans. I’m definitely learning to like beans! We also had scrambled eggs, fresh bread, and juice. I finally decided to be honest with my family about how I like to drink water. They always drink coffee or tea, and I was getting really dehydrated. This might seem obvious that you just say what you need, but it honestly doesn’t work like that here. But my family was really fine with me drinking more water than tea, even though they laugh at me :)

This morning after breakfast we went to the market. There were so many vendors and people everywhere selling all kinds of fruits and vegetables, most of which I had never heard of! That was a really interesting experience, and it was really fun to see them all buying their produce for the week! Surprisingly, I do not feel that out of place. I know I stick out like a sore thumb, but I do not feel in danger at all. I just look funny :) I’m not sure what the rest of the weekend will look like, but we will find out! Thanks again for your prayers… I really do need them and thank you for them.

Buenos dias!

Buenos dias!

I realized later that my last post highlighted some of my struggles I’m having here, and it sounded like I’m hating it. That’s not true! Even though I’m homesick, there are still many things I like about being here. There are things that are wonderful , and I want to make sure I mention some of those too!

First of all, the weather here is amazing. It is just beautiful! It is probably like 70s during the day and 60s at night. The Ticos keep saying how it is so cold here right now, but I really love the weather! It is definitely going to heat up more, as this is the beginning of their summer. They also said this is unusually cold right now. I also really do like my family. They are very kind and easy to understand. I feel like I  can be fairly honest with them and they won’t be offended (this is not the case with all latino families). I am feeling more and more comfortable with them, and I am enjoying them. My father is really a jokster, and they always wait to see if I get what he is saying, as everything is in Spanish. I’ve caught him doing this several times, and it is almost a way of testing how well I know Spanish! I think it is also a good sign that they are comfortable enough with me to tease me. In fact, last night at supper he gave me a high five because I had a good comeback for him after he tried to trick me. It was one of the best high-fives I’ve ever received.  :)

So as you can see, there are things that I really like, and as I mentioned earlier, there are things that I am having more of a hard time adjusting too. This does not at all mean that those things are bad, it just means they are different than I am used too. Therefore, it takes time, an open mind, and a lot of patience.

Some of you are probably wondering how the language barrier is going! Well, actually, I thank God so much for how well it is going. My ability to speak in Spanish is not where I want it to be, but I really thank God that this is not a huge barrier for me when communicating with others, especially my host family. I am able to ask questions, and they really do understand what I’m saying most of the time. This is a huge blessing because there are students who do not know much Spanish at all, and I know that is a really difficult struggle to not be able to communicate basic things. Several people have told me that I am good at Spanish (understanding and speaking), and they are all encouraging when I try to speak it. The philosophy here is to just jump in and try it. So I’m learning to apply that to my Spanish as well. Instead of worrying about saying it all right, I just start talking and see what comes out. Nonetheless, I am very excited to learn more Spanish in class in the next few weeks so my Spanish improves. There are still a lot of times when I get lost in conversation when the people talk among themselves. They can really get to talking fast when they forget I’m trying to listen!  

Another huge issue is the food. All the students and staff here will tell you that this is one of the biggest issues for us students. They give you soo much food, and you are expected to eat it all. it is incredibly offensive to throw away food. Food is seen as a valued commodity, and it is to be enjoyed. Food is also a bridge between us and the Ticos, so we are expected to really engage in this well. The difficult thing is that they give us soo much food, and you eat several times a day. They also drink very little water.

Another thing that I am struggling with is that there is no plan a lot of times :) In fact, I have no idea what time to tell people to be on Skype because I never know what we will be doing. For the most part, I’m okay with not knowing what we are going to do. However, I wish I at least knew a time to tell my family when I could Skype with them, as I have not done this yet.

Overall, I’m still homesick, still overwhelmed, but functioning well. :) Please pray that God gives me himself and that I continue to adjust to life in Costa Rica. Thank you all!

I´m here!

Hola!

Well, two days have passed, but most of it is a blur! On Tuesday morning, we were up  at 2:00 in the morning to make sure we could get to our flight on time. To sum up a really long day, all of my flights were delayed, but I was able to meet with my team in Miami. After 23 ½ hours of traveling, we finally made it to our retreat place where we all spent the night.  

Yesterday we spent the day in orientation, where we were actually told very little about what we could expect. In fact, it was overwhelming because they would not tell us very much at all. We had a time for questions, but they would not answer them. The staff believe that the best way to learn is to figure things out for yourselves. All day long we were told over and over again how we would fail. Now this was difficult for me because I am a perfectionist and a planner. I am not used to hearing that I am going to fail, rather I am always told that I will succeed. However, they kept saying ¨You will fail, you will fall, you will get dirty, you will make mistakes.¨Ah! So much for getting more comfortable from orientation!

Many times during the orientation, it took everything I had to keep from bawling. I was overwhelmed and felt so far away from home and anyone I loved. On top of that, I had gotten very little sleep the past 2 days, and I was feeling exhausted. Needless to say, it was a difficult day.  

Around 2 in the afternoon, we met our host families. This was an interesting process. In the morning, we prayed together as students and faculty, and then each student picked a name randomly (like casting lots). When it was time to meet our families, we went to a room where the students filed in. All the families were sitting inside and started cheering and clapping for us as we entered! One by one, a student name was called, and then the name of his/her family. They walked to the front of the room while everyone clapped, and you hugged your family for the first time. After that, you went to your room, got your suitcase, and left with this family for the rest of the day.

I was really suprised by my family. Obviously, I had no idea what to expect, but they are different than I was figuring on. First of all, I have my own room. I was expecting to share a room with other kids (and some students do, depending on the family). My family will also have internet access soon (although I don´t know when that will be, but I was told we are getting internet). My family is more well-off than I expected. Our house has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. We also have a patio outside (their version of a backyard) where we have a poodle and a little poodle puppy. My family consists of my dad, who is 55 years old and a social security director; my mom, who is a stay-at-home mom; and my sister, who is 16 and on summer break. The family is very nice. I really do think we will be a good fit, but it is also just so much different! One thing that was awesome is that they have been working with this program for 10 years, meaning they have had many many host students in the past! This was wonderful because hopefully they won´t be as offended by different things I do. The culture here is very different, and there are many things that we do that are definitely considered offensive here.

Last night we sat around and talked for awhile, and they actually let me just unpack my stuff and I had a chance to sit for 1 ½ hours which was so wonderful and much needed. After that, we had supper together (rice of course :) and then we watched a soccer game on TV (they are super into soccer!) I went to bed about 10:45 and was ready to greet the day again at 6:30!

Today has been an interesting day as well. This morning we left my house at 7:15 (Ticos, the name for Costa Ricans, get up very early!), and we were divided into groups in downtown San Jose. My group consisted of 5 students, and we had a sheet of things to do during the day. This was kind of like a scavenger hunt, but the items we were supposed to use and find were things that we will need to know during the semester. So all day I have been with 4 other people trying to find our way around San Jose. We have taken various buses to different stops (the bus system is ridiculously difficult for me), exchanged our money, went to different places, and things like that. The point of this day is to get us acquainted with San Jose. I really do feel like it has been a good way of learning, but it is not my preferred style! I would much rather have an idea of what I´m getting into, but they just threw us out there with a piece of paper and off we went. I feel a little less overwhelmed after this day, but there is still so much to learn. The city is busy, active, and people are everywhere. Like I said, the bus system is also very difficult to learn because there are tons of different stops and different busses.

What are some things that are different? Well, a ton, but here are a few: you don´t put toilet paper in the toilet, your shower has wires all around it, rice and beans are common for breakfast, they rarely drink water, all the houses are touching (the concept of a ´yard¨is nonexistent),

So that is pretty much a summary (and a lengthy one at that!) of what I have done so far, but I also want to address the huge emotional piece of this experience. As I mentioned briefly, yesterday was tough emotionally. I was exhausted and really missing home. I called home for a few minutes to let my family know I was safe, and that ended up being really tough. I am overwhelmed at how many differences there are, and I am realizing how spoiled I am in the United States. In orientation, another point that they really emphasized is this: ¨When you stepped off that plane, you left many luxuries behind.¨This is so true, and I am learning how many luxuries I had that I took for granted. It´s hard for me to admit that it is difficult to live without luxuries because I was excited about leaving my luxuries and living simply for 4 months. However, it is harder than I expected. The thing is, I can live without a lot of clothes, few shoes, and no makeup or blowdryer. Those things aren´t the problem. The difficult part is that I had to give up luxuries that I was not even aware were luxureies, things such as the option of having time by yourself, being able to speak honestly and in a straight-forward manner, the ability to chose what foods you eat and when, the ability to walk around without having to always be on your gaurd, having a pillow to sleep with, and the option of saying ¨no¨if you don´t want something.

Wow this is getting long...but if you are still haning in there with me, I want to end by asking for a few prayer requests. Pray that I learn how to adjust to this very different way of life, and pray that things go smoothly with my family.  Most importantly, please pray that I find time to connect with God. Being in a new place and a fast-paced city, it is sooo difficult to find time to sit with God and be with him. I long to for God to fill me with himself, but I find myself being overwhelmed with me. Please pray that I gain perspective on how big my God is and how small my problems are. Please pray that I will see God´s faithfulness in all the bustle of this new transition.

Just 3 more days!

Hello everyone,

I thought I’d get this blog started while I actually have some time to write in it! I only have a few days at home to get things ready to go, and I fly out of Des Moines at 6:30am Tuesday. From Des Moines I fly to Chicago to Miami. In Miami, I will meet the rest of the Americans going to Costa Rica, and we will all fly into Costa Rica together. Just yesterday I found out a little bit more information about the rest of my team. There are 38 students total that will be studying in there, and they are all from Christian colleges in the United States. I do not know any of them, and this kind of makes me nervous!

Actually, nervousness is just one of the emotions that I have felt in the past few days. I am also excited for the new experiences I will have. I am afraid of the unknown. I am anxious to meet my host family (who I know nothing about). I am worried about my inferior Spanish speaking skills. I am content to live simply for 4 months (I have 1 suitcase with all my things). I am happy about starting a new chapter in my life. I am looking forward to learning more about Latin American culture and meeting the people. I am sad to leave my friends and family. I am thrilled to miss another Iowa winter! Even though I am feeling a wide range of emotions, I am overall doing great. Yesterday God gave me an unexplainable peace, and this peace has really trumped the intensity of my emotions. This sense of peace is something much deeper than just a brief emotion. It is truly a gift from God, and I am grateful.  

As I prepare to leave in the next couple days, please pray that God empties me and fills me with himself. Please pray for safe travels and for everything to go smoothly. Please pray that God sustains this sense of peace that he has given me, and pray that I truly find my contentment and satisfaction in Christ alone.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me :)