Reflections on Week One

My first week here in Costa Rica is finished. It's hard to believe that I've already been here for a full week. It's been a fun week, full of many ups and downs and I've learned a ton. Here are just a few things:

I learned how to take a shower. I know that may seem silly but it took me a few times. They have hot water here but it's REALLY hot. You have to turn on the water, let it heat up (the first time I stuck my hand in it and it was really red when I pulled it out and started shaking; the water is hot.) Then you have to keep turning it cooler a little bit at a time. I pretty much keep it at the same temperature the whole time because a tiny turn can be the difference between comfortable and scalding. I also learned how to turn on the hot water, after taking a VERY cold shower on Thursday.

How to wash dishes without burning my hands. Again the water is hot, Juanita saw how hot it was and came over and kept saying "poor girl" (in Spanish) and helped make the water bearable!

How to do laundry. This is very exciting. I did my first load of laundry on Monday. They have a washer but no dryer. However, it's still not as simple as just throwing the clothes in the washing machine adding some detergent and then hanging them out to dry. I have to hook the hose up to the spicket and then the washer will fill with water. After the washer beeps I take the clothes out and hang them under the roof over night. In the morning they have to be moved to different lines in the actual sun (or else they just stay damp). However if it starts to rain they have to go back under the roof. Then I can fold them and put them away. It's not hard, but it's not as fast as at home.

I have learned to be comfortable and to be my self. It took me awhile because I felt awkward not knowing what was going on, but the family has made me feel very comfortable. Ana views herself as my surrogate mother and she is worried that other families are not going to treat me as well as she has. She's trying to make sure that I'm looked after.

I have learned that teaching English is going to be awesome. Erica and I are going to work on plans together. I will be teaching children (ages 7-12) and she will teach their parents or any adults who want to go. We think it will be neat for the parents and the children to practice together. Our plan is to work together on our plans and teach generally the same thing each week. I will teach from November 8 until February 28 with two weeks off for Christmas.

One of the most important things I have re-learned this week is that God always provides and in strange ways. Saturday and Sunday were hard days. I really wanted a hug. I think one of my love languages must be touch because I miss hugs the most. I was praying that God would provide someone to give me hug. On Sunday morning a woman at the church came up and gave me the usual kiss on the cheek, started to walk away, and then came back and gave me a huge embrace. I couldn't stop thanking God for it.

I have gotten used to bugs. There are ants, moths, and unidentifiable bugs around. They don't bother me, and I no longer care that there are ants in my room. I also learned that winter/rainy season (now) there are lots of frogs and that the scorpions will come out in the summer. Christian warned me to be very careful when I put on my shoes because "sometimes they will be in your shoes or clothes and it's very painful when they get you." Great...

Last I have learned how to eat things I don't like with a smile. Most of the food I've had has been amazing. There are only a couple of things I don't like. Tomatoes are the worst. They eat tomato slices with their salads. However, I discovered that if I cut it into small enough pieces and eat it with other things it's bearable. Other then that I can't get enough of the food here. As Erica says "it's dangerous" and as Orlando says "it's good, but it's a problem." :-D

May the Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

Monday, the beginning of the sunset from Erica's house.

Being Touristy and Enjoying Family!

The Internet is working at the house now! Yay! First, I'm sorry that I didn't do the blind copy on the last email. That must have been annoying to scroll through! :( I'll do my best to remember from now on. Second, for those of you who know Spanish, sorry if mine was wrong! I'm working on it! :-D I did my first "touristy" thing yesterday. After work Ana and I went to San Jose. We went to a museum where I was able to learn a little bit of Costa Rican culture. One exhibit was the history and connections between Costa Rican money and Ecuador(ian?) money. It was really interesting. The cool thing about spending time with Ana is that she helps me with useful everyday Spanish. As we walked around she taught me how to read dates (which included more numbers). Even though I don't remember everything that she teaches me a lot of it sticks. Already I'm understanding more in conversations and I'm able to add to conversations (a little bit!!). We rode a bus, which really was not as exciting as I'd hoped. We went to a bank to get out a little bit of money. Ana was appalled that Orlando had been waiting to let me get Colones (Costa Rican currency). She said that it was important for my independence. I really appreciate her a lot. We understand each other and have started talking to each other through looks, it's really neat to be able to communicate with broken Spanglish and facial expressions! After going to San Jose we rode the bus back to Alajuela. Alajuela is the town that I'm actually living in. It's hard to distinguish town from town. We live about 20 or 30 minutes from San Jose. All the towns are so close it's like one big one. We waited at a mall for Christian to pick us up and take us back to the house. While waiting Ana taught me the tenses for "Conocer" (to know). It's so nice that she is teaching me some grammar along with just conversational! When we got home I went up to Erica's house to talk about teaching English. She teaches English and gave me some fantastic resources. Teaching is a bigger deal then I imagined. My students are paying to come and many of them don't go to Church. This will be an evangelism tool as well as teaching English. I will be teaching about the Creator as I teach flowers and shapes etc. I'm not sure exactly how to do this, but I know that God doesn't call us beyond what we can do (through Him!) and that he will give me the words to say. I'm much more confident now that I know more about what I'll be doing. November 1 is going to be an enrollment day and then November 8 is when I'll actually start teaching. Later, Ana, Christian, and I went back to San Jose for worship practice. I'm not singing in their praise team yet, but on the way home Christian asked if I would be interested in leading worship with Ana and him in November. I'm SOOOOO excited about that. He is excited about letting me help pick songs and it may be a bilingual service. Both Christian and Ana are extremely talented. Ana has a gorgeous voice and Christian plays the keyboard well (he also has an amazing voice). We got home around 11 and ate Chinese food. It was really late and so I just went to bed exhausted! Saturdays are restful days around here. We got up and I played with the girls for a long time. We threw a ball around the house for awhile. Ana kept saying that she didn't know her daughters and that they were crazy. I told her that it made me feel at home because my family was crazy too. She laughed and said "yes, I remember that pictures." Fabiola was hilarious this morning. She likes to dance and especially likes to "break dance," where she goes on all fours and sticks her butt in the air. It may be the cutest thing ever! Fabiola acts just like I did when I was little. She is loud and in your face, they have stories about her that sound just like the stories about me. It's really fun! Today we had breakfast at Orlando and Ligia's house. It was really fun. I sat in the kitchen with Ligia, Ana, and Juanita. They talked and laughed a lot. I followed some of their conversation but not much. They talked about me and I have no idea what they said! :) We ate Gallo Pinto (rice and beans). The food here is AMAZING! I love all of it! I honestly have not eaten one thing I didn't like. At two I'm going with Orlando and Ligia to the Church. They have asked me to speak at a Global Teams meeting about my call from God and why I'm here. That should be good!

I'm Here!

Hola, Amigos!
Como estan? Yo estoy seguro y feliz (I am safe and happy). The newest thing I have learned: Yo estoy lista (I am ready). Another really important phrase: Yo estoy llenga (i am full)!!!!
Okay, enough practice for now. I´m afraid that this email will be a book, there´s so much to tell!
Mom sent out an upadate saying that we had adventures in the airport on Tuesday. That is probably an understatement. I pretty much cried the entire time because I was so stressed and worried that I wouldn´t even be able to leave on Tuesday. But I finally got off and I couldn´t thank God enough that Mr. Priddy was there to help me through security. The poor guy sitting next to me on the airplane must have been wondering why I was so upset about going to Atlanta. :) After the initial craziness the rest of the trip went well. I got to Atlanta with plenty of time to eat breakfast (my last American meal was McDonald´s I thought it was fitting... no cinnabon, i was sad haha), talk with a woman going to Hawaii, call my mom, and read for awhile.
The trip to San José was nice, I slept a little bit and read, nothing really exciting to report. I flew over cuba, so now i can say that I´ve seen Cuba. About thirty minutes before landing in San José I was praying and I looked out of the window at the clouds. When I looked down I could see the shadow of the airplane and a rainbow encircling it. It was a cool reminder that God is with me even though this adventure is kinda scary.
Getting through customs and immigration was as easy as it could be with 3 rolling suitcases and a backpack (and only 2 hands). I found Orlando easily at the exit and we went to his house. On the way there he told me all about his family and grandchildren. I have now met most of them, but not everyone yet. They live about 10ish minutes from the airport and throughout the day I hear airplanes landing.
His property is beautiful. There are four houses on the land. The first belongs to Orlando´s mother-in-law, uncle, and sister-in-law. The second belongs to Orlando, Ligia and Erica (Orlando´s youngest daughter). Erica is married to Alberto and they have two children, Christina (9-she speaks a little English) and Samuel (2). Erica and Alberto speak English well.The third house is for Jody and his family (i have not met any of them except for Jody-- Orlando´s son). The last house belongs to my host family. Christian, Ana, Juanita, Tamara, Camila, and Fabiola. Christan is Orlando´s son (Jody´s twin) and he speaks English well. Ana is his wife we practice on each other, she teaches me Spanish, I teach her English. Juanita is Ana´s mother and is very sweet. Tamara is 9, she speaks a little bit of English. Camila is 5 and speaks no English except ¨Hello, Bye¨. Fabiola is 2 and barely speaks Spanish much less English. The children are all adorable and we communicate through smiles and laughter. On Wednesday I had a small conversation with Camila. She was absentmindedly playing with a butterfly so I sat down next to her and said:¨que es mariposa?¨ (trying to say: this is a butterfly?)¨si¨she responded with a huge smile. I then listed all of the colors on the butterfly. She really liked that I was trying!
I have my own room here, which is lovely. It is Tamara´s room normally. You can tell it belongs to a 9 year old. The main colors are purple and pink and disney princesses decorate the walls, along with a barbie poster and a high school musical 2 poster. Tamara and Camila have both drawn pictures for me that say I Love You. They are so precious, and make me feel very welcomed into the family!!
I have unpacked everything which makes it feel more like home. My closet is the top bunk and I sleep on the bottom. I have to keep everything out of reach of the 2 year old. She is very curious according to Ana. Christian keeps repeating that I should feel at home, and I´m getting there, but no where could ever replace the home I have left.
The weather here is strange. It rains a lot, and it is hot in the mornings and chilly in the afternoons. It´s winter time now and I´m comfortable in pants and a shrug. Summer should be interesting. It gets muy caliente (very hot) but there is less humidity so that should be nice.
I went to the church on Wednesday night. I didn´t understand any of the preaching except that Orlando was preaching on ¨the Great Comission¨ (Matthew 28:16-20). I did understand the worship time. We sang for about 45 minutes. I only knew 2 songs that they were singing (Lord I give you My Heart, Lord You are Good and You Mercy Endures forever) but easily followed the rest (the words were on a powerpoint, so I could sing along relatively easily!) It was really neat to worship God that way. He is the same God in any language!!! After, we went out for pizza. It was yummy. Orlando likes CiCi´s pizza. That was the only thing I understood at dinner, haha!
I met the 12 year old who will be helping me. She may be more of an extrovert than I am!! I spend most of the time quiet here (I know hard to believe!!!!!). I don´t know what´s going on in most conversations, and don´t know enough Spanish to add to them anyway. But I´ll get there!!
Yesterday I went for a walk by myself down to the river on the property. It was so nice. I didn´t know how far the path went, so I just went back to the house. Juanita mimed that we would all go for a walk. Juanita, Camila, Fabiola and I went and walked around the entire property. It was BEAUTIFUL! I loved every minute of it. They grow many things on the property, they have chickens and geese, and all kinds of things running around! It´s so neat. Fabiola reached up to hold my hand as we walked, that was VERY cool to me.
I have been struck so many times by the beauty that surrounds me here. Beautiful people with beautiful spirits, beautiful flowers (flor bonita), beautiful trees, beautiful landscapes hardly touched by human hands. God´s fingerprints are all over the place. I know that God is everywhere, but right now it´s impossible to miss him like it is so easy do at home. I think there are many reasons for this.
1. A lot of the time here He is the only one who understands me. If I get lonely He is all I have to talk to (except myself, but then I just look muy loco!).2. There´s plenty of time. I´m not rushing from function to function, place to place. I have time to breathe, to think, to pray. I´m journaling a lot which amazes me!3. God´s peace envelops this place. I have only experienced this Holy and amazing peace in a few places like my house, St. Peter´s (and a couple other churches), and a couple other places.4. Viewing God´s creation that has been cultivated and not perverted by human hands. Don´t get me wrong, I like technology and I´m pro innovation but not when it replaces everything God has created. Here it is impossible to have your eyes open and not see many things created by God.
I miss home, but not too much yet. I miss silly things like puns and Cheesy Bible jokes. :) They don´t get my puns here because they don´t know enough English, and I don´t get any of their jokes because I don´t speak Spanish. Pretty much I laugh at the silly things that Fabiola does and at my mistakes in speaking. I also miss being hugged. I get a kiss on the cheek as a greeting, but hugs are rare.
On learning Spanish: I think I´m picking it up. It´s hard to understand Ana and we often use our Spanish to English dictionaries. I am trying to think in Spanish because Orlando says that will help. I can say a few things and I´m trying to be very confident in what I know. The hardest part is verb conjugations and trying to figure out past and future for verbs without having it written out in front of me. I have found myself speaking with an accent in English and thinking with an accent too. That amuses me to no end!
I haven´t had too much culture shock (at least that I can recognize), except for yesterday. Orlando, Ligia, and I went to the mall to see a movie. We watched ¨The Contract¨ I still haven´t decided if I liked it or not, haha. We then walked around the mall (after I ate a Subway sandwich). The mall is HUGE (including a cinabon!!) and is 10000000000 times better then the malls in Tallahassee, and even better then anything I´ve seen in Jacksonville. Then we went to PriceSmart. I almost passed out I was so shocked at the fact that I had just walked into a Costco or Sam´s Club. It was Crazy. It looked just like either of those. Probably the biggest culture shock for me is how westernized the city is.
Well, I think that is about it for now. The internet is out at their house, but should be restored in 10ish days. Hopefully I will be able to get to an internet cafe again before then.
I love you all so much! It has not hit me yet that I will be here for siete meses (7 months). I know that it will eventually. But so far I´m really loving it. I will begin teaching in early Noviembre (November). Orlando wanted to give me time to get rest and be comfortable here, which is nice. I have started developing lesson plans and I hoping that they work out well.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! I´m praying for you as well. Please keep me updated with what´s going on in your life (including prayer requests). I need to stop myself now becuase I keep thinking of things and adding to the email. :-D
Adios!

Here we go... well, here I go

My departure date is approaching quickly (9 days, October 21). I am amazed that it is so soon (it still has not sunk in to be completely honest). This weekend has made the trip even more real. I traveled to Orlando, FL to meet with Orlando and Ligia. It went so well; I have many more details and I feel more prepared!

We spent about 2 hours discussing what my time would include, asking questions of each other, and providing answers. I learned so much and I'm still processing all that we talked about. We decided that I would be teaching the children in two different classes. One class would be composed of 6 to 9 year-olds and the other class would include 10 to 12 year-olds. I will have access to a white board and some sort of projector (I'm not exactly sure what that means...) I will have a young teenager (I think she's 13) helping me. She is fluent in English so she will be a very helpful bridge person for the first few weeks when I will still be struggling to grasp Spanish. Orlando told me that she was excited to be asked to help me. He asked her if she wanted to help the missionary teach English and that she started jumping up and down saying "yes! yes! yes!" I will teach Saturday mornings from about 9 to 12. Sundays will be busy all day as well. The rest of the week however will be full of preparing my lessons and I'm not sure what else yet. I need to find a cirrculum for teaching, so if there are any ideas please let me know!! I

will have plenty of internet access while I'm there. The city has an abundance of internet cafes and Orlando and Ligia's house has wireless internet. So you will be getting many updates! :)

I am staying with several families from the church. It was hard at first for Orlando to find people willing to help becuase they have a very specific idea of how an American missionary will act. Many families have been insulted by Americans in the past (for example, one family was offended when they served their normal breakfast of black beans and rice to someone who thanked them and then asked for cereal). Orlando assured his parishoners that I was not like this and that I wanted to live as they live and eat as they eat so they had nothing to worry about. I assured him that he had not lied to them!

Another thing that I am really excited about is a people group that members of La Casa del Padre (Orlando's church) are reaching out to. It is a small tribe that is a four hour hike from San Jose into the mountains. The tribe is called the Cabecares. They are an animistic people group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism). The interesting thing about this group is that they are tired of missionaries coming into their culture and they have learned to work the system. Many missionaries would come into their culture always bringing things (medicines, food, clothing, etc.) They eventually came to rely on these gifts and became lazy. They knew how to raise their hands and say "amen" at the right moments with out any real change; therefore they kept the gifts from the missionaries and satisfied them enough so that they would leave. The missionaries who came in never really developed relationships with the people. Eventually the Cabecares got tired of these missionaries. They have cut all visitors off from coming onto their reservation now, except for the two missionaries from La Casa del Padre. Pablo and Alba are different sorts of missionaries then these people have ever encountered. They spend time with the people and get to know them. They don't simply give physical gifts but they give the gift of time and energy to understand them. It's so awesome that the Cabecares are still allowing these two people into their midst even when no others are allowed. Orlando assured me that I will get to travel with Pablo and Alba to visit them. I have no idea what to expect but I'm really excited!!

So yea, that's all for now. Please be praying for me as I make my last preparations, especially that I would remember all the details I need to remember!