I'M THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLET

The longer I've been in Costa Rica, the more I'm convinced that God does not call people to be missionaries to serve people. If God just wanted us to serve, most of us probably won't ever leave our own neighborhood. There are people to serve everywhere. I've decided that God calls us to be missionaries so that we might be better formed for the purpose he has for us while at the same time bettering other people's lives. My experience in Costa Rica is definitely shaping me into a better person; one better equipped to make a difference in the world.

So what are you doing? How are you been changing the place you live in for the better? If you're not, WHY not? You have been blessed - unfairly blessed. It's a beautiful thing to share what you have with others, even those who may not deserve it. You will not regret it.

So I'm throwing down the gauntlet. I'm challenging you. Are you fulfilling the life you set out for yourself? Are you really all you can be?

Think about it. It's never too late to make life better than it was yesterday.

Respect

How long has it been since you sat down and thought about what you learned in elementary school?

To be honest, I can barely remember what I learned about from class but I do have distinct memories of learning SOMETHING. I remember learning how to be nice to my classmates, not to lie, and how to deal with disappointment. Most of the memories I have from elementary school are wrapped up in my mind with some kind of lesson. And most of these lessons were taught by my teachers.

I had a lot of respect for my elementary school teachers before this year but now that I've taught a little myself, there's just no comparison. Kids can be awesome but they can also be AWFUL!! How anyone could decide to spend their entire lives with these children/creatures is just incredible to me. I'm SO thankful that someone is willing to do it (it means I'm off the hook).

So just in case you've lost respect for the people in this world, remember your elementary school teachers. Whether you had bad ones or good ones they taught you something. Be grateful to them.

THANK YOU TEACHERS!!

Field Trip to the Reserve!

LEGALITY

Once every three months, Nickele and I must leave the country or suffer the wrath of immigration when they discover we’ve overstayed our tourist visa. Nickele and I don't complain - I love any excuse to travel.

Granada, Nicaragua

November came, signally our first trip out of the country, so Nickele and I headed off to Nicaragua. Even though Nicaragua is only a few hours away from Monteverde, public buses make the traveling MUCH longer. Nicaragua is lovely – rolling green hills and volcanoes dot the landscape. It is cheap and the people are friendly. Not a bad place to vacation.

The one story worth sharing happened while we were at the Lago de Apoyo, a lake made by the nearby volcano. Nickele and I thought it would be brilliant to kayak across the lake. Of course we got warm about halfway there and jumped in the lake for a swim. It was at this time that we realized the plug on my kayak had come loose and my kayak quickly became swamped with water. The next half an hour was spent using the small cloth bag attached to the kayak to bail water. In spite of the difficulties, Nickele and managed to kayak across the entire lake although it did take more than three hours and our legs were sunburned in the process. So worth it!

2 scoops is a dollar - we may have had a lot of ice cream

We may have been having fun with the robe we found in our hotel....

tHe EsCaPe

Question #1 - Have you ever lived in a place where everyone knows each other?

Question #2 - Have you ever lived in a place where the only way out is a gravel road filled with potholes that takes an hour to get down?

Question #3 - Have you ever lived in a place where downtown is actually one triangle shaped block?

Question #4 - Have you ever lived so close to where you work that you only have to walk 30 seconds each way?

If you answered yes to all of these questions you can understand why Nickele and I were ready to escape Monteverde for a couple days. Nickele and I had been in Monteverde for a month and a half and had barely left the mountain. We needed a breakkkkkkk.

So one afternoon, Nickele and I packed our bags and headed to the beach via public bus. The public bus system here in Costa Rica is an adventure – only because there are no schedules posted so you never know when the bus is coming or going. You have to be willing to wait for as long as it takes. Nickele and I got good at waiting.

The beach was fabulous! We made two stops on our tour of the west coast of Costa Rica.

First stop, Playa Hermosa: Very chill, not many people, no town really. Nickele and I lazed around, watched pretty sunsets and snorkeled.

Second stop, Playa Tamarindo: Very touristy but not that many people since we went in low season. Lots of surfing bums, souvenir shops, fun restaurants, and quirky people on every corner. But really the best part of Tamarindo was the ability to cook our own food and to go see a movie in English.

Final Question – Are you in need of a relaxing vacation where the water is always warm and relaxation is your ultimate goal?

If you answered YES, I think Costa Rica will work for you.

The Movie Theater!

Big Fish

Beach!!!

Once again, a really big fish

Do you see it? The BEACH!!

The Little Children

It’s a little appalling that I’ve been in Costa Rica two months and still haven’t written about my students and what I do here. Here’s a sample of what a typical day is like….

6:30 Rise and Shine! (Perhaps more appropriately, Rise and Rain!)

7:20 Eat breakfast of Gallo Pinto (Beans and rice mixed together)

7:45 Arrive at school (I’m supposed to be there at 7:30 but no one has ever arrived on time EVER. So I’m trying to adapt and fit in)

8:00-8:10ish Bible class in English begins (I teach grades 2-6 = 18 students)

8:40ish Math class in English begins

9:20 Snack time for children!!

9:40 Some days I’m helping in the other classrooms, other days I’m working in the library, and

still other days I’m sitting in the office. It just depends

11:00 Another break for the children!

12:20 Lunch (More beans and rice)

1:00 English class with the other English teacher. (I continue doing odds and ends which might include helping kids finish their homework)

3:00 School is Over!

Of course, this schedule may change at any time due to any whims of the teachers. Costa Rica is a VERY relaxed place.

The kids are very cute. Some know lots of English and speak to me in English almost all the time. Others know hardly any and look at me like I’m crazy when I talk to them. I’m learning that each one is different and very unique. There are the studious students, the screamers, the ones who have yet to sit in a chair for more than 120 seconds, and the ones who like to draw pictures and daydream all day. Each one has a story to tell and if you listen and watch them, you can learn a lot.

Red, White and Blue

Even though I’m technically a teacher here in Monteverde, I think I learn more than the students. I learn something new about the people and the culture of Costa Rica every single day. For example, did you know that most of the countries in Central America, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, celebrate September 15 as their independence day and all except Costa Rica have a white and blue flag? I learned all this while sitting in the kids’ social studies class. As you can see, I’m learning lots.

In order to celebrate “el quince de septiembre,” the kids in our school participated in the Annual Independence Day Parade. The day consisted of a patriotic program in the gym (when I say gym, I’m referring to the local high school gym which happens to be the only gym in town) and a parade around downtown. To get the right idea, you have to remember that “downtown” is only one, triangular shaped block. As you can imagine, the parade went pretty quickly.

The weather was great, the program was fun and the kids did well. What more could you ask for?

La Escuela

The reason I came to Costa Rica is the school. The Adventist School has 38 students, four of which are Adventist. There are two full-time teachers, one part-time, the principal (who teaches sometimes), and an assistant. With so many workers, you may wonder why they needed me and Nickele to come in the first place. It turns out the most important thing these kids learn is English, and many of the employees don’t speak English. And there’s nothing like having a Native English Speaker. Even so, I’m glad there are other teachers here. They are all very sweet and help me and Nickele a lot. Here’s an overview.

Dulce: I’ve already talked about Dulce but just in case you’ve forgotten, Dulce comes everyday to teach the kids in English.

Doris: Doris teaches the 2^nd and 3^rd graders. She’s very sweet and probably the most patient with the kids.

Nadir: Nadir is awesome. She’s from the States but has been living here with her family for a couple years. Sadly she’s headed back to the states with her son to be with her husband in December.

Tere: Tere does everything. She is definitely the reason our school is clean.

Yolanda: Last but not least is Yolanda. She is the principal of the school and keeps the place going.

All in all, we have a good group here at the school and I know that each of them are working hard to make a difference in these kids lives.

Dulce in so many ways

One of the people I met right away when I came to Costa Rica was a lady named Dulce. Dulce is a wonderwoman – she does everything. She works at the local public high school, works at the Adventist school teaching English, runs the local Pathfinder group (which has 50 members which are all trained in first-aid/CPR so that they can go help in a national disaster), and she does night tours at the reserve. One of the first things she did with us was to take us shopping so we could try the local fruit. Here are the results:

Mango: They are cheap and they are YUM! I could eat them everyday and be happy.

Banana: Again, cheap and plentiful. Nothing wrong with them at all.

Pejibaye: Pretty good. They kind of taste like potatoes. I imagine they’d be delish in soup.

Jacote: They weren’t my favorite but I will try them again when they are riper.

Guayava: Not my favorite.

Granadía: Weirdest fruit EVER!! I mean really, tadpole looking seeds inside and coral like shell. Odd!

Mamon Chino: SO good! Pink and spiky on the outside, white and gooey on the inside. They are marvelous and ubber fun to eat.

Life is good - and life is even better when you can take the time to just enjoy the differences in the world. Fruit seems like a good place to start.

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Adventures!!

Even though Nickele and I have been here in Costa Rica just over a week, I feel like we’ve been here for months. We’ve done a LOT in that amount of time. The most notable thing probably has to be our weekend camping trip with the youth group. Even before we left the church we knew this was going to be interesting because it was definitely going to rain and it never rains lightly here in Monteverde. When it rains, it POURS.

We were not disappointed. It rained all night and when we woke up the next morning we were surrounded in mud. And of course, the camping trip would not be complete without traipsing out into the forest where we eventually did some jungle vine swinging and some waterfall swimming. Definitely an adventure to remember.

I also have to share a little about the family I live with. I live with a single mom named Yolanda, her 8-year-old son Fabian and another renter Ivan. Yolanda is a cook at one of the local restaurants and is very sweet. Fabian is like any other 8-year-old, very cute and VERY curious. I think he knows more about the things I owe than I do….And I suppose I can’t forget about the dog Toulouse. I have no idea where they got the name but every time I hear it I think of the movie The Aristocats.

Monteverde!!!!

For those of you who haven't already spent hours researching it online, Monteverde is a Forest Reserve up in the northern mountains of Costa Rica. It's a small town pretty much in the middle of no where. It is however quite lovely - lots of jungle, animals, bugs, birds and butterflies. So far the coolest thing I've seen was the toucan I saw yesterday by the side of the road. The town has one post office, a few shops and then lots of restaurants/hotels/shopping for all the tourists that come here during the year. It's definitely a good place to visit.

Even though Nickele and I have been here for only three days, it's like we've been here for forever. Everyday is full of new things to learn and to experience. The two most notable things would have to be that it rains here everyday. But when I say rain, I don't mean sprinkle. It POURS!! It's usually for just a few hours at a time but the amount of water that comes out of the sky during that time is amazing! The other fun thing is that Nickele and I had to opportunity to go to San Jose yesterday with local Pathfinder group to see a music group called MasterKey. Apparently they're pretty famous here in Costa Rica. We got back home ridiculously late but it was worth it!

We're here!!

The National Theater

Inside the National Theater

What you can do in Monteverde

Monteverde!