Safe, Sound, and Back to "Normal"

I am back safe and sound in Costa Rica after a wonderful weekend.

I have reached the half-way point and that is unbelievable to me.

I returned yesterday from Nicaragua after a few much needed days of R&R&E (rest, relaxation, and English). I can`t express to you the pure joy I felt in talking to people for whom English is their first language. There is no way to put into words the excitement I felt to talk and listen without having to translate in my mind or getting a headache from concentrating.

More about the trip later! I am sitting in an internet café with Nicole (the little girl I live with) and she is bored out of her mind. So hopefully I will be back here soon (and alone) to send a better update but I wanted you to know that I am safely back to Costa Rica and life has returned to my new definition of normality.

I hope all is well with you!

Holidays, Pictionary, and More

I hope this finds you and yours happy, healthy, and maybe a little bit heavier after delicious food over the holidays. (I know I am all 3 haha)

There is so much to tell, but I'm guessing you don't want to read 20 journal pages worth of my life because I know that you have a life as well (which I'd love to hear about, nudge nudge). So here is a summary of the past few weeks. The other details will have to wait for the book that many of you have asked me to write.

I sent my last email almost a month ago and at that time I was feeling pretty sad and lonely. Well, God in his great mercy and infinite wisdom knew that and sent me a huge gift the next day at church. A man came up to me and said this to me during worship: "I know right now you feel alone, but don't need to because God is right there with you holding your hand. He loves you very much and loves your heart. You shouldn't be scared. He wants to use you and you shouldn't be afraid of that or what you are experiencing right now." It was amazing and definitely an encouragement to my heart.

Skip ahead a few days: Wednesday 17. We (Gretel, Estefany, Fredito, Steven, and I) went to Tirasses (the neighborhood of Gretel's family) to attend a memorial service for her cousin. I had a long fight with myself about what to do because here many people believe that Catholics are not Christians (including the family I was living with at the time). So during the service I didn't know what to do. If I cross myself or bow to the crucifix I jeopardize my testimony to those I live and work with, but not doing those things goes against what I believe to be an act of reverence and a beautiful dance-like form of worship. I only finished fighting with myself when the service was over and it was too late to do anything anyway. I still don't really know what to do if I'm in that situation again. I'm glad that Jesus still loves me either way! (Any thoughts on this would be appreciated...)

Okay, skip a few more days to Sunday December 21.Today was a very important day for the family I lived with and the church. The Christmas Play. It was the story of the Prodigal son, Tico Style. It was very well done and I enjoyed it a lot, a good mixture of humor, while still encompassing the serious message of the story. I don't know if I could sound more like a theatre critic.

Tuesday, December 23.

Javier is a neighbor of the family I was living with in December. He is very nice and enjoyed practicing his English with me. He has a guitar and brought it over and I was able to play and sing (playing for the first time in 2 months). It was WONDERFUL. I have missed my guitar a ton, not realizing just how much I used it to worship and as a way to relieve stress.

Wednesday, December 24.

We (Estefany, Steven, Fredito, Javier, his Sister Maria, and me) went to see Madagascar 2. We had decided to split up 3 seeing it in English with Spanish subtitles and 3 watching it dubbed. Well the person responsible for buying the tickets decided that it was a bad idea and bought 6 tickets for Spanish only. So I understood some of it and and the songs. I'll have to watch it again when i get home to really appreciate it.

After the movie we ate Burros. DELICIOUS! While the name means donkey it has nothing to do with donkeys. Then we opened presents and I was surprised when I was given a gift of a doll (to remind me of them when I return home) and a cute polo. They were equally surprised to receive something from me which I had successfully hidden for two weeks! :)

Thursday, December 25.

I talked to my family for awhile that was neat. We ate more yummy food (including Tamales that I helped to make). One huge Christmas tradition for the week before Christmas and a few weeks after is to watch Turros and Chinamo. Chinamo I liked, it was lots of silly games and fun things that people were doing and dancing and music. Turros, not so much. In fact I think I offended the family by admitting that I didn't like it. It's a part of the tradition here, but it's hard for me to watch people getting skewered by bulls, especially when people are dying. I tried to like it or come up with something to say when they asked if I liked it that wouldn't be a lie but wouldn't be offensive either, but the tears in my eyes and the look on my face gave me away. The family really wasn't deeply offended, but they did make sure to tell everyone who visited or who we visited that I didn't like it.

Friday, December 26.

We visited Freddy's brother. I played my first game of Futbol (Soccer in US) and had a lot of fun. I made 15 goals but I know that some of them were illegal and i deserved several penalties (including kicking Fredito really hard in the shin, totally an accident that made for many laughs later). They were surprised at my aggressiveness and competitiveness (learned that from my dad) including two falls (totally dirtying my pants) and running into one tree with prickles resulting in a cut and a splinter, but no pain no game right? It was a fabulous first game of futbol.

Saturday, December 27.

We had to drive to Gretel's mother's house to shower because there was no water at her house (the 3rd time that month). We then went to visit some family about an hour and a half from their house. The drive was beautiful. I can't describe it, but it was breathtaking. After we returned home a family from the Church visited. I really enjoy this family a lot but we played pictionary, in Spanish. This may have been one of the most frustrating moments in my entire life. Seriously, I can't express the torment I felt in losing points for my team (there's my competitiveness) because I can't guess things like "TV Screen" (need to work on Spanish vocab) or I don't hear the difference between words when I'm drawing (after looking the word up in my dictionary to understand what I'm drawing.) For example, I didn't hear a difference between the words "Faros" (the word i was drawing-- the headlamps on a car) and "Farols" (another type of lamp). I was thrilled when it was over and I could go to bed.

December 31- January 1

Many people came over from the church. We had a huge bonfire and ate, laughed, danced (I can now do some of the traditional danced-- horribly but i can do them) and counted down the new year. A new experience saying "cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno" but many people wished me a "happy new year" instead of "feliz año nuevo" which meant a lot to me for some reason. I have now moved and I really enjoy my new house. I live with three women, each from a different generation which is cool. They are super sweet and have welcomed me in. We have enjoyed doing touristy things together like visiting an important catholic church here (GORGEOUS) and going to the National Museum.

We were going to go to a Volcano on Thursday, but all praise goes to God that Sylbia changed her mind. Near the volcano we were going to visit occurred an earthquake, 6.2. It's absolutely devastated the area and it's been a really hard thing for this country. The news is difficult to watch because the scenes they show are very graffic. My heart is broken for this country and the loss of nearly 200 lives and for the 2000 people who have now been left homeless. It's a horrible tragedy, but I know God is in control of everything, even situations like this. Please be praying for all of those affected by this.

I hate to end on a sad note like that, but that's the most recent thing that has happened.

I am glad to have my own room in this house, which includes time to think and pray and be alone. I guess all of my thoughts will have to wait for the book.

For now I will leave you with this:

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14

You are in my thoughts, prayers, and love. Thanks for yours!

This email was sent in early December, I apologize for only posting it now. If you want to get more timely updates send me an email at angelagracehobby@gmail.com and I will add you to my email list.

Don't worry. I'm fine! My new house does not have internet and we are not within walking distance of an internet café, so updates will be very few this month. I really like this new family. They are very funny and fun to be with, but it's difficult to find alone time as I am now rooming with a 15 year old. Our room is pretty small, barely enough room to pull out my trundle bed. Gretel and Freddy are the parents. They are very sweet people. They have an 18 year old son, Steven, a 15 year old daughter, Stefany, and a 12 year old son Freddy. Both Freddys are very entertaining and keep the family laughing constantly.

I am afraid that the first part of this email is not happy. If you are not in the mood for sad news I suggest you skip down a few paragraphs until you see the words "I am very excited..." After that it's happy news.

After a few days of living with Gretel, Freddy, and family I had met several other family members-- including grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Last Saturday we were planning on visiting a place called Cartago. As we drove along laughing and joking Steven's phone began to ring, not out of the ordinary. However, he did not talk long and quickly passed the phone along to his Dad. I didn't understand much (only "Ay, Dios, No" -- "Oh, God, no") but I could tell by the tone of his voice and the change in car atmosphere that something terrible was happening. The mood in the car quickly changed from lighthearted and full of laughter to somber and silent.

We pulled off the highway and began traveling in the direction we had just come from. All Stefany was able to tell me in her limited English vocabulary was "Cousin with accident." I immediately started praying, for the family but also for our safety as the normally dangerous streets turned even more dangerous in Freddy's agitated state.

A few minutes later we arrived, not at a clinic like I thought it would be, but to a small, extremely congested street, full of cars and full of people. Gretel jumped out before the car even stopped, Steven, Freddy, and Fredito (little Freddy) quickly followed. Stefany and I stayed with the truck but were soon joined by a woman and her child. The child only a year and the mother weeping uncontrollably. Stefany was handed the baby, but I could tell she wanted to console the woman so I took the baby and held her.

A couple minutes later the woman and the baby left. And we learned that the cousin had died. Gretel grabbed my hand and we started walking in the direction of her mother's house. Freddy picked us up in the truck on the way and we drove quickly to a house. We walked up a flight of stairs to a room. The same woman and child were there. I then realized that this was the wife and child of Gretel's now deceased cousin and his mother was there as well. We were there to deliver the horrible news.

I held the baby again. As I held her I realized that I had held her as her father died. At that point I couldn't hold back my tears. It was really difficult to be apart of these moments as an outsider, so life changing for the family-- for this little girl I was holding-- and here I am in the middle of it. I learned that he was 32 with 3 children. He was electrocuted while fixing a microwave oven.

Everything eventually calmed down and we returned "home." The funeral was the next day. It was hard to be at the graveside for two reasons. 1. His mom came up and held my arm as she watched people say their last goodbyes to her son. 2. We all watched as the tomb was slowly sealed brick by brick. An end to a long two days.

Okay, enough sadness now. The family is doing much better and has returned to it's happy self, with moments of grief, but laughter again.

I am very excited about both my trip to Nicaragua in January (a few days with a North American family, yay!!!) and working at Roblealto. This is a foundation that works with the poor in San José. It is a free day care on the outside, but so much more then that. They work with the families to get them the help they need to be able to sustain themselves. They work with Christian therapists, financial advisers, and social workers.

They also have a shelter for children who should not be living with their parents (due to extreme poverty, drugs, alcoholism, or prostitution). They remove the children from the homes and work with the family to create stability before the state takes the child away for good. 95% of the time the family is redeemed and are able to stand on their own. It's a very well known foundation here and they are doing awesome things in a very Christ centered way. I cannot wait to start working with them, but I must since they are closed during the holiday season.

It's quite amazing what they do there. I will start in January after my trip. Until then I will continue to teach and build relationships with the people I am with. I am glad that God is working here, and I am glad that he has everything under his amazing control.

Blessings to you this advent season!