Culture Day

Today was our first cultural immersion day for class. It was great for us because it meant we did not have to sit in class for three hours! We also got to do a lot of exploring, shopping and eating, and I am always ok with those things as well. :) So at 9:30 this morning we set out for our four-hour cultural immersion trip near the Capitol. We met our professor at the bus stop in San Jose, and then as we were walking to the bus stop for Moravia we stopped at a bookstore where I bought Anne Frank to read to improve my Spanish reading skills, and we met a local author. He used to work on a banana plantation and he wrote about his experiences. Maria bought one of his books and got his signature, so I am hoping to borrow it and read it as well. Now the first thing about Costa Rican culture is their laid back approach to what needs to get accomplished, and I think that my professor got her masters in this. She is much more concerned about what is in front of us than the objectives on the syllabus. Sometimes this is beneficial, and sometimes this is very challenging for us study abroad students, but today it was a good thing. So after the bookstore, we went to a store to buy shoes for a girl that goes to the place Maria and I volunteer at, as Maria discovered she has no shoes that fit her well, so all of the students are chipping in to help pay for a pair. Now remember we were not in a hurry to do any of this and by the time we got off the bus in Moravia to start our cultural immersion it was already noon.

Once we arrived in Moravia we went to a Christian bookstore at mine and Emily's request and then to a different store to buy an umbrella for Maria, and then we went to Los Machetes for lunch. Los Machetes offered us a nice, quiet place out of the rain, and good typical food. I got to have some of my favorite Mora (blackberry) juice, and plantains! I am getting very accustomed to the food here and find myself enjoying it a lot. In fact after last weekend and eating a lot more United Stated cuisine I was actually excited to get back to my host family and have rice! My stomach was too, the rich food is kinda hard to digest.

You can see that Maria is enjoying her fresh juice too!

So after 1 pm we were finally ready to start the actual immersion activities my professor had planned, but since we had been talking about rescue workers during lunch she decided to go across to the street to the red cross and see if we could interview someone there. Well she found a very unlucky volunteer medic that was forced to sit down with us. He is a 20-year-old medical student, and his supervisor made him speak in English, while our professor made us speak in Spanish so we all could practice. It was a great time and we learned a lot. We learned a lot about the emergency response system, funding, ambulance system, and education for medical careers. After spending at least three hours a day together, not including extra activities or weekend trips, my classmates and I know each other fairly well and have developed many jokes. Fortunately, he was not deterred by the four foreigners battering him with questions and he laughed (a lot) at many of our jokes. In the end another medic and their supervisor came in and talked more about Costa Rica in general and we pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon there.

After the Red Cross, we went and spoke with the Vice Mayor and her secretary, but our professor said, we had to keep it short! Well she spoke quickly, and had an accent I am not accustomed to, so I understood little of what she said, and in general, we were all pretty tired by this point so we kept our questions for a minimal, but it was a very neat experience.

After this, we went to a church and a park to see a little more of the city. I have come to appreciate the honest view that Latin Americans have on life and death, and that they do not try to sugar coat things the way that I am accustomed too. I am not sure if it is just their culture, or perhaps the Catholic Church, because I am not accustomed to that either, but at the church, they had fairly graphic statue displays of different pieces of the passion of Jesus Christ. I really enjoyed going around and looking at them and being reminded of the price that Jesus paid for me, and what that cost Him. There was one of Pontius Pilote washing his hands while looking at Jesus, and this one stuck out to me the most.

To finish up, here is a picture of my with professora Carol, she is a patient and loving women! After everything else, she took up to the Artisan market, and waited patiently while we shopped again. I am pretty excited because I wanted two traditional dresses for my nieces and was able to barter for the price I wanted! :) Profe was pretty proud too. I made it home after 7 pm, from our four-hour immersion day. All said and done, I would rather do this every day, than go to class any day!

Hummus

What does Hummus have anything to do with anything? Well I have been enjoying all of the sights, sounds, and smells of a different country I often pause and realize that I have not thought about my own or the things that I enjoy there. Last week I asked my parents if they knew what hummus was and they said that it is a slang word that they use here for drunk. I asked them if they knew about the food hummus and they stated they did not. That evening when we went to the supermarket I found some hummus in the refrigerator section, so they bought it and we brought it home for a snack. They really enjoyed it and it was fun to share even a small thing with them about my life at home. Later I made a joke about three women on tv that looked hummus-ed and they laughed. It feels good to actually be able to make a joke in a different language.

My evenings are usually spent with family and since all the family lives in one compound I have cousins over at all times of the day. My cousin Yadiella is a few years older than my sister Anahi, but they get along great. They have been teaching me the popular school girl hand games that they know and I taught them Miss Mary Mack. The other morning when I was getting ready for school I heard them playing Miss Mary Mack with the few words that they remembered. They reminded me to just give life a go, and not be worried about knowing all the correct words or even worry what others think about my language skills. 

Being a language learner is very hard and sometimes it gets very tiring. For example, sometimes I am simply too tired to be able to think or speak in Spanish, or when I am somewhere where there is a lot of background noise and I simply cannot understand anything, or when I am at a family gathering and there are 10 Spanish conversations happening around me and I cannot follow one. I often have to remind myself that I am not just learning another language, I am learning another culture. Languages often have rules and guidelines you can go by, but cultures do not and there are many things that just cannot be communicated in words. However, many of my high moments happen when I understand what my 2-year-old tico brother is saying, or when I can have a conversation with a person on the street, or when I read the newspaper article and learn something new about Costa Rica, or I learn to communicate something I could not communicate before. I have learned so much and still find myself needed to learn more, I have to trust that God has a plan and place for me that will incorporate all of the things that I love. 

 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

As I hear people telling me their goals and plans and ambitions I realize that I have many, but I do not have my life plan laid out, and I realize that I once did. I realize that my plans have changed a million times over and that Gods plans are so much better than my one. So while I do have things that I want to do, and places I want to go, I want to trust God and follow Him, because His ways are far superior to mine. 

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

Punta Leona

Hello everyone, this weekend we went on a class trip to the beach! Sounds amazing right? It was. It was half way through the program and our coordinator packed up 26 college students on a bus and drove us 2 hours away for an all inclusive weekend. It was beautiful! On the way there we got to stop at rio Tarcoles and walk across the bridge to be greeted by these smiling faces. We counted over 30 of these bad boys and girls. There was a local man there who was letting children throw in pieces of chicken and he told us a little bit about them. There is one that they believe is over 15 feet long. He also explained to us the difference between salt-water crocodiles and freshwater. At least I knew which ones to expect when arriving at the ocean....

When we arrived at the resort we had a 10-minute drive from the road to the resort. It was really nice we all were split up into groups and each group was given food to cook for the weekend, so we were self-sufficient and yet didn´t have to worry about anything. Well almost... remember it is 26 college students we are talking about, but I went to bed early so I missed out on most of the drama.

Maria is in my class and we were room buddies this weekend and spent a lot of time together. She has a great sense of humor and we did a lot of exploring together!

I love hearing and seeing the toucans flying around, it seems so surreal that I am in the same place as them and they are wild and free! They are beautiful and I love listening to them squawk! At 5 am we woke up to them flying and talking outside above the pool. Then the pool man spent a couple hours cleaning it every morning. It seemed strange to have pools so close to the ocean, but I guess that is a thing, I am new to the ocean life, but I do not expect to get used to it.

Here I am remembering why I love the ocean so much. I cannot describe the overwhelming sense I feel of God's presence, I cannot imagine looking at it and imagining its existence in any other way than the supernatural power of God. It is so big and powerful, and yet calm and tranquil. It's loud and crashing and yet quiet and mesmerizing. I am very thankful for every opportunity to spend near it. 

Friday afternoon we went to the smaller beach and walked and searched for sea shells, and then headed back and made supper and went to bed. Saturday morning I woke up bright and early with the birds and then we headed to playa blanca, which is a very large and beautiful beach. We swam and explored to our hearts content!

Alas, we were worn out by lunch time and after lunch, we did more exploring, ice cream eating, and pool volleyball until supper, than we did more ice cream eating and exploring until bed. We were the little shop keepers best customers that day between the ice cream, drinks, snacks, and water ball we bought. We got up bright and early on Sunday to have one more walk by the beach before leaving. It was a full but beautiful weekend. I am so thankful that God always provides companions that want to explore and walk with me. Maria and I are drinking fresh coconut water from coconuts that are sold like juice boxes, with the disposable straw. They just have a small hole for you to poke your straw through and drink away!

I am so enjoying the Spanish that surrounds me and the relaxed Hispanic culture. I am already extremely sad about leaving, but a little homesickness is also hitting me. I especially miss being in church and having Christian friends around me. There are some Christians in our group, but I am realizing even more so, how important it is for Christians to be involved invovled in their local church.

Pura Vida is a favorite saying in Costa Rica that they say in greeting, in departing, and in the middle of sentences. Its catchy and when you are surrounded by so much beauty it is easy to understand why they say it so much!

Well, it was a close call, but all the college kids survived their weekend with minimal internet, and came home exhausted!

Gleaning from Job

I started studying through the book of Job, and God is challenging my and my ability to praise Him in every circumstance, but these verses in the second chapter stuck out to me. I cannot imagine God saying this about one of His servents. It has challenged me to hold fast to my integrity and bless God in every circumstance, no matter the pressure, and people that surround me. O that I would be a faithful servant like Job.

3 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”[a] In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Weekday fun...

        I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

I can't believe that I have been here for nearly a month, and am almost half way through my program. I have settled into a fairly regular routine that gets mixed up enough to keep things exciting, but yet fairly predictable. School, hiking, volunteering, eating, spending time with my host family, and eating again.... :)

This week I have been struggling with a cold and sore throat so I have been a little more tired and wore out. Today I was not able to go out and volunteer so I came home and took a long nap.

Before we came to Costa Rica past students warned us that all of our shoes would start stinking, and I did not really believe them.... but now I do. After this past weekend of hiking and climbing in the dirt and rain I have just smelt this constant odor. I have now scrubbed all of my sandals and I probably would scrub my backpack if I felt it would do any good, but it wouldn't. I wear it on my back everyday, and it collects sweat and rain, and then because of the constant dampness, I am not sure if anything truly dries out. I have gotten accustomed to the constant dampness and sweat, but I guess I have yet to get use to the odor. When I say this I do not mean that this is a dirty culture, far from it. They clean and scrub everything very consistently. Everything is made from tile or concrete and gets a good scrubbing including the garage floor and the driveway.

Pictures from another long hike up the mountain.

Tico food day

 Friday was tico food day, so we all went to the house of one of the students to prepare typical Costa Rican dishes. My group made salchichón, which is basically a cabbage and tomato salad with lime and salt as a dressing, and fried ring sausage in a small corn tortilla. It was easy enough to make, and fun to interact with many of the host moms and professors.

The family that hosted us have a large home and property and on the other side of the street they have what is commonly known here as a rancho. It is basically a piece of land large enough to host people. He has put a lot of work into his ranch and is very proud of it, so he took us on a tour.

There is a small stream that runs through the back of the property.

He has everything lined with stones to add style, and the newly built pavilion.

The road is made up of cement lined with stones, and the holes in the middle are dirt. I am not sure why they do that, but it is very common. They receive a lot of rain, so I am not sure if it is to help with drainage or not.

Then he took us into the jungle basically and we came upon these Tarzan swings and saw a monkey! It was amazing, we were almost just in their backyard, and experiencing this!

After the tour, two of the host dads set up some games for us to play. They were far more thrilled than we were! They stated that one game is an extreme sport of Costa Rica... I think they just wanted a good laugh at our expense. We had to run with wooden stick horses with a pointed stick in our hand and try to put the stick through a ring that was attached with velcro to the string tied across the yard. It was very hard because we couldn´t slow down, so you were basically just jabbing! I did actually catch one of the rings though, so I guess I am an extreme sportsman.