Pura Vida Mae!

As I sit on my bed trying to think of what to say at 2:00 a.m., while having received a grand total of zero hours of sleep this past evening/morning, I am struck by the sheer fact that I have only a few precious hours left in this country. Three months of new studies, people, and places have boiled down to this one hour before I head to the airport and 4 hours until airplane wheels will be lifting off the ground. 

I have been thankful for my time in Costa Rica. It was unlike pretty much everything that I had in mind, but in a good way--a way that reminded me that, in life, a lot of your expectations will be broken. And yet, somehow, when one has faith in the fact that whatever happens happens according to a greater plan, it doesn't matter which way the scales tip. God is able to bring joy and the building of character in the midst of it all and that is what matters.

Looking back on these three months, I have a lot to be thankful for. My two lovely roommates were a blessing beyond what I had dared to hope for. They were not only somewhat normal, but they became good friends too. And I definitely couldn't leave the Rivera Romero family (Frank, Nielsy, Kevin, Gabriel, Maria Jesus, Diana and Juan Daniel) off of this list of people I am thankful for from this trip. They not only drove out of their way to take me to church, but they brought me into their lives and let me become a part of their family. The youth group from their church was also extremely welcoming, which was a huge blessing to me because it was hard to make friends with ticos my age while being here. They even made me a goodbye poster with pictures from my 4 Sundays with them. 

Altogether, I can say that I am leaving Costa Rica a richer person--definitely not monetarily, but in the relationships I have been blessed to have and lessons I have learned. Thank you, all of you who have been praying for me or have stayed in contact with me throughout my time here in Costa Rica. Your prayers and words have meant a lot and I look forward to being able to maintain that contact this summer as I start my next adventure. And now, 20 minutes until I start to close this chapter and begin another, I will bid you all adieu and go brush my teeth, so I don't have funky breath on the plane. 


Pura Vida Mae! Chau!






P.S.--'Mae' is a slang term used here in Costa Rica to mean friend.

And here is a final picture. I took it from a hill overlooking the Orosi Valley when I was hiking around with the Rivera Romero family.

Coffee Steeping on An Open Fire and Saying Farewell

Easter this past Sunday was much different than the Easter that I have grown up with. In all reality, we didn't celebrate it. I went to church again with Frank and Nielsy's family and the pastor of the church didn't even mention the fact that it was Easter. At first I was slightly shocked and frustrated that everyone was discounting what I had seen my whole life as the basis of the Evangelical Christian faith. But, as I have been thinking about it more, I came to realize that the Easter we celebrate is a a time to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection, but is, nonetheless, an American-made holiday. Nonetheless, we spent wonderful time as a church congregation lifting our praises up to the Lord and then, in the afternoon, hanging out with the youth group at a local park. 

I got to bring Dominique along, which was a lot of fun. She still has a hard time understanding Spanish but I think she enjoyed herself in spite of it all. My favorite part of our time at the park was when we built a fire in an old tire wheel and made coffee with a traditional Costa Rican coffee maker (a chorreador). As we were making it, it started to rain, but we continued with our task and it was lovely drinking hot coffee in the refreshing wetness of the rain. 

Today is the last full day that Jo will be here in Costa Rica. She leaves tomorrow for the airport at 3:30 in the morning. It doesn't feel real when I think that, tomorrow when I wake up, someone who I have gotten to know really well over the past 3 months will be gone and I may never see her again. 2 thoughts come to mind however, in regards to this topic. The first is the quote, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." The second is a hymn called, "God Be with You till We Meet Again". Though I am sad to part ways, I have been so incredibly blessed these past few months with two roommates who are wonderful, funny people and who made my time her memorable. I couldn't have asked for better. 





Pictures from Easter Sunday are attached here:

Dom laughing after having fallen from kicking the ball. This is probably the best picture of her smiling that I have from the entire 3 months. Yippee!

Fire Roasted Coffee!

Soccer!

Nielsy embracing her inner-child.

Nielsy y yo.

The lovely ladies of the youth group.

The family dog, Blackie.

...and the men of the youth group.

A beautiful tree-scape. 

The coolest root system on a tree that I've ever seen!

5 more days...

Chau!

4 Ladies and A Dutchman Take On the Caribbean

Holy Week, known as Semana Santa in Spanish speaking countries, also doubles as Spring Break in Costa Rica. Almost everyone gets the week off or, at least, Good Friday through Easter Sunday. It's a time when everyone travels to visit family and, on Good Friday, almost everyone in Costa Rica heads to the beach. Pretty much everything is closed for the second half of Semana Santa and it is illegal to see alcohol then too. 

To kick off our Semana Santa, Jo, Dom, Kate, Leonard and I headed to Panama, specifically Bocas Del Toro--a set of islands located in the Atlantic just off of Panama's shoreline. We stayed on the main island, Isla Colon, in an apartment right next to the beach. It was an awesome little apartment complete with a kitchen, beds for all, and a back porch filled with hammocks and couches. Aside from lunches, we got to cook all of our own meals, which was a lot of fun since we haven't really been allowed to touch the kitchen since we came to Costa Rica.  

The day after we arrived, we went on a day long tour that took us dolphin watching, snorkeling and to a gorgeous beach called "Red Frog Beach". After that eventful day, I can officially say that I have seen a sloth in the wild! This is quite exciting for me because sloths are one of my favorite animals. I was quite tempted to climb up the mangrove tree it was in and cuddle with it for a while. Sadly, though, it was a rather steep climb and we didn't have much time otherwise I may have done so. 

Our time was not complete, though, until our last night when a serious rainstorm hit the island. I had been a little restless that evening and had wanted to get out and go to the beach. So, when the rain started, something clicked and I knew it was time to go. I leaped up, got ready in about 30 seconds and, then, Dom and I ran through town in our swimsuits to get to the beach where we frolicked in the waves as it poured. It was glorious. 

Altogether, going to Bocas Del Toro was well worth it. The five of us had many fun moments and good conversations revolving around topics of politics, religion, educational systems, race, the environment, and culture. I'm glad I got to share so many new experiences with them. 

And now, Jo, Dom and I are at home for the rest of the week, working on final projects and tests, exploring San Jose, catching up on sleep, and starting the packing process. It's strange to think how quickly the end is approaching. I have 11 more days until I will be back home in Oregon. How crazy is that!

For your viewing pleasure, I have attached some photos of the trip to Panama. Espero que distrútelas!

In order to cross the border between Costa Rica and Panama, one has to walk across this bridge. It's about a quarter mile long.  

At first sight, it looks quaint. But, that illusion is quickly dissolved, as you realize that the bridge is actually made out of old train tracks and loose boards. There are holes literally a foot wide waiting for unsuspecting walkers. Needless to say, this would not pass U.S. safety regulations. 

My favorite animal crossing sign ever! (Yes, that is a sloth).

Snorkeling!

A star fish that could crawl. It crawled right off the bandanna and plopped into the water. 

Jo and Dom relaxing in hammocks after snorkeling and lunch. Dom was getting sassy because I was taking too many pictures :)

The place where we ate lunch on our day tour. 

THE SLOTH!!!

Red Frog Beach

A group photo. The second male you see in the picture is a guy named Sam who we met on the bus. 

(From Left to Right: Leonard, Jo, Me, Kate, Sam and Dom)

Chau!

A Toast to 27 Years and Organic Farming

This past Sunday easily ranks at the top of my list for days spent in the lovely country of Costa Rica. I wrote in my last post about the Romero Rivera family--Frank and Nielsy and their 7 children. This past Sunday, I got to experience round two. I didn't think it could get any better, but I was seriously mistaken. 

This past Sunday was the 27th wedding anniversary of Frank and Niesly. They had never gotten each other wedding rings when they were first married, so they decided to get rings for each other and renew their wedding vows in front of their church congregation. It was a beautiful to see all of their family up next to them as they recited wedding vows to each other and then we, the congregation, extended our arms and prayed over them. 

On top of feeling extremely privileged to be a part of this celebration, I also found out that the church youth group was going to be meeting at their house that evening. There were about 25 of them in total and we got to do all sorts of random things from jumping rope to kicking a soccer ball around to dancing to making pyramids of people. And then, at the end of it all, we toasted to Frank and Nielsy's marriage. Several of the students talked about how much of an impact the witness of their marriage had made in their lives. It was really cool to see how a couple who was much beyond their stage in life still invested so much in the lives of the youth at their church.  

It was a long, but good Sunday. I was gone for a solid 12 hours before getting back to the house and crashing out of exhaustion. Below are few pictures that help put paint to my experience. 

A wedding toast

Jump Rope!

Part of the youth group--mainly the female part :)

Sebastian and Marianela--Frank and Nielsy's grandkids--and I blowing bubbles. 

On a completely separate note, we have spend approximately 6+ hours in a tour bus for my Español para Negocios class going on field trips over the past 3 days. It has been kind of insane. But, there have been some fun moments, delicious food breaks and good pictures. Here they are:

The first field trip was on Monday to an Organic Farm called "El Rinconcito Orgánico". It is locate on the hillside of El Volcán Irazu in Cartago. 

The hills of Cartago. 

The owner of Rinconcito. We are in the greenhouse. 

Workers picking cebollas

(They dry out and reuse all of their own seeds for their harvests)

And today, bright and early at 6:30, we headed to an organic pineapple farm in Southern Costa Rica. The really awesome part that I didn't realize until we were there was they produce DOLE pineapples. So, here are a few pictures from that adventure. Oh, and Ian Smith, if you end up reading this, I have some pictures of a lovely lady (Katie)just for you :)

The place where they box up all of the pineapples that have gone through a quality check station. 

Crazy Katie!

A place where they line up the leaf heads of all the pineapples that have been rejected because they aren't perfect. They reject 14,000 pineapples every day (Of course, though, the rejects are used for other purposes like juice, ice cream, etc.).

A pineapple plant.

Katie and I in our super attractive hair nets. 

Serendipity

Before I delve into the heart of what I want to say, I would like to first reflect upon the word serendipity. 

According to the ever-reliable dictionary.com, serendipity means: "making fortunate discoveries by accident". Aside from it being one of my favorite words (along with shenanigans), serendipity or serendipitous, in this case, also aptly describes my experience this past Sunday. Though, with the twist that I don't believe it was accident, but, rather, divine appointment that directed my plans. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I met a wonderful man named Frank and his wife, Nielsy, as they were the ones who took me to and from the airport during my quick interlude to the U.S. During the 45 minute ride to the airport, I discovered that Frank and his family are strong Christians. He invited me to join his family the following Sunday at their church in Cartago (about 30 minutes from where I live in San Jose). I accepted and, thus, I found myself waiting at 8:30 this past Sunday for Frank to pick me up. I had no idea what to expect. 

In short, I was overwhelmed by the generosity and love I was shown for being the newcomer, both at the church and with their family. Nielsy told the pastor that I was coming that Sunday, so when it came time for first-timers to raise their hands, I was called out by name and introduced to the church as the "amiga de la familia de Frank y Nielsy de los Estados Unidos". After the service, I was individually introduced to a good 30 people, all of whom warmly embraced me and placed a traditional kiss on my cheek. I even met tico Christians my age! But, if that wasn't enough, I was constantly under the watchful eye of Nielsy who never hesitated to link arms with me or wrap her arm around my shoulder and give me a hug. 

One thing I have really missed while in Costa Rica has been physical touch. It just doesn't happen as often here, as when I'm back in Oregon or Wheaton. It felt like I had a mama tica who was looking out for me. 

After being introduced to a large portion of the congregation, we headed back to Frank and Nielsy's home. I realize I forgot to mention it, but Frank and Nielsy have 7 children, two of whom are grown and have left the house. When we reached their home, I was warmed by the modest, but happy structure that I stood in. All 7 of them live in a casa consisting of only a few rooms, but they are so joyful in their circumstance and generous with what little they have. They just love to sit and talk and tease one another and they welcomed me into that ritual. Two of Frank and Nielsy's grandkids were also over and I was touched to see their two oldest boys, of 18 and 16, spending the majority of their time playing with them. 

We spent a good 3 1/2 hours enjoying one another's company and eating a delicious garbanzo bean and chicken soup. I showed them pictures of my favorite beach back in Oregon (Pacific City Beach) and they showed me pictures from their recent vacation to the coast. Eventually, Frank needed to go back into San Jose to take someone to the airport, so he drove me back home. But, not before Nielsy invited me to come back to church with them this coming Sunday. 

I have been so encouraged from my time with Frank and Nielsy's family. They demonstrated what I see as a beautiful picture of Christian community and family. Not only that, but they have welcomed me in as a part of both. And for that, I am thankful.  

To Build A Home--The Cinematic Orchestra

After 5 days in Chicagoland, I find myself sitting on my bed in Costa Rica wishing for more. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited to spend another month in a still somewhat foreign place learning how to speak Spanish and exploring. But, when it comes down to it, Wheaton holds a unique place in my heart and getting to go back and experience it for a few days brought a rush longing and also a lot of new and wonderful memories. Thank you those of you who made my time special, who agreed to sacrifice precious studying time before finals to, instead, spend time with me. It meant a lot.

As far as the re-assimilation process goes, I still have a ways to go (particularly in the realm of sleep). I landed this morning at around 1:30, had my luggage and went through customs by 2 and was home at around 3.* I set my alarm to get up at 6:30 for my new 4 hour intensive Spanish course but, as fate would have it, I turned my alarm off in my sleep. Dom woke me up 30 minutes before class announcing that breakfast was waiting for me. Somehow, I managed to shower, eat and find my new class on time. Not too long after, my afternoon class came and brought along the joys of test taking. However, I finished with only slight cramping in my hand from the excessive amounts of writing and, then, went back to the house to do homework, which I worked on for 4 hours. Afterwards, I unpacked, cleaned my room, de-spidered my ceiling (with the help of Dom and "Multi-Action Insect Repellent") and have been blogging ever since. All I have to say is that I am really excited to put my head on my pillow tonight.

In fact, it is on days like these that I am exceedingly thankful that I lug my pillow with me wherever I go. Though bulky and slightly inconvenient at times, my pillow and I have a great relationship. It provides a comfortable and familiar night of sleep and, in turn, I take it with me all over the world (my pillow is well-traveled).

Before I decide collapse from exhaustion, I will leave you with a link to a rather amusing video sent to me by Leonard, our friend from the Netherlands. In case you don't know much about the Netherlands, you will after you watch this--and you may laugh a little in the process too. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?eature=player_embedded&v=eE_IUPInEuc

Chau!

 

*As a really awesome side note, the man who took me to the airport on Friday, Frank, is a wonderful man and great company. He also picked me up this morning to take me home. On my way to the airport, we got along really well and I learned all about his family, including that they are strong Christians. On the way from the airport, then, this morning, he brought his wife who greeted me so warmly that I almost forgot it was 2 in the morning and that I was exhausted. They were wonderful company on the way back to the house and they even invited me to come to church with their family on Sunday. I am excited to see what it's like.

**The title of this blog is of song that came to mind when I thought about my recent time in Wheaton. It's a good background song.

A Walk in the Rain

Over a yummy dinner of meat, veggies and rice, a wonderful smell floated to my nose--the smell of steam rising off of wet pavement. Until it hit, I didn't realize how much I missed it. But, once it did, a warm feeling of familiarity and longing rose in my chest. I jumped up from the meal and rushed outside, Johanna in tow. 
Once outside, memories poured through my head and I was reminded of all the fun times I've had in the rain--when I was little with my brother on the back deck, dancing in thunderstorms in Wheaton.... It was glorious. 
For pretty much the first time since I've been in Costa Rica, I felt completely free and alive. 




36ish more hours until I'm in Chicago!!!

The Craziness of It All

Wow, it has been quite a while since my last update. I'm sorry to all of you who have checked my blog in the last two weeks to find nothing new. Needless to say, "crazy" has been a great way to describe my life as of late. 

Starting a new class (Tecnicas de Expresion Oral) that is 4 hours every morning, Monday through Friday, is a first for me and it's not easy. My class is basically speech class in a second language. This equates to my preparing some sort of presentation almost every night on top of all the normal work that I have from the two electives I started last month. 

However, there have been some fun moments in the midst of it all. Two weekends ago, we went to visit the Contemporary Art Museum. It was AWESOME! The architecture of the building was lovely.  

We also went to the zoo, where we were 3 of probably 10 people in the whole place. That was a little creepy, I won't lie, but it was also sort of surreal to have an entire zoo to ourselves. 

This past weekend, we went to go see "Les Miserables" in theaters. It was incredible and I definitely teared up at a few points. We also went to Volcan Poas, an extremely active volcano about 1 1/2 hours from San Jose. While there, we met a Dutchman from the Netherlands named Leonard who hung out with us most of the day. He is here for 6 months on an internship through his college researching teak wood for a company in the area.

A slightly random side-note, that will be of interest to some of you, is that I will be returning to the Wheaton from March 1st through 6th. It is definitely a last minute trip, but an internship that I applied for with the FBI requires me to return the states to take a polygraph test if I want to continue in the process. So, if you are in the Chicagoland area during that time, I will be making my best efforts to find you and say hi. 

As for this weekend, Johanna, Leonard and I intend to go to a local beach and soak up some sun. It seems fitting to me that if I am going to be heading into negative temperatures, I should take advantage of all the warmth possible while I can. 

If you think about it, prayer for the huge amount of homework that needs to be accomplished in the next week and a half and for my flight to the states and polygraph test would be much appreciated. 

Attached are a few pictures from recent shenanigans:

A sign on the front door of the Contemporary Art Museum.

The museum from the outside--told ya it was really cool looking.

A snake that really creeped me out at the zoo because it looked like it was staring at me.

A really awesome frog that posed in this position for about 5 minutes.

The monkey and I had a bit of a staring contest. I won.

This is to protect the government against lawsuits in case the active volcano decides to erupt. I'm still contemplating how much it would really help the situation.

Jo and I with Leonard (in the purple) and Jeff, Dom's boyfriend at the volcano.

Though it was cloudy most of the day, there were about 30 seconds in which one could see the crater of the volcano. Thankfully, we picked the right 30 seconds to be standing right next to it. 

A spider's web caught in the sunlight. I thought it looked really beautiful with all the water droplets reflecting the sun. 

Chau!

My Fear of Heights and A Taste of Home

This past weekend was definitely one to remember. The most exciting part was definitely when I went on what they called a "canopy tour"--including 7 zip lines, several rope bridges and a "Tarzan Swing". 

Zip lining was incredible. The park where we went has the longest zip line in Latin America that stretches for 1590m. It took me and my partner, Megan, 1 1/2 minutes to get across it. If it weren't scary enough to be this high off the ground, though, imagine jumping off a platform at around the same height. That was my experience with the Tarzan swing. As I walked on a suspended bridge to the edge of an abyss, I was strapped to a bungee cord. After looking down to see what awaited me, I suddenly remembered why I strongly dislike heights. Then, before I could say a word in protest, the gate protecting me from my fate was opened and, in one quick moment, I was shoved into a free fall. I am still alive to write this, so that's obviously a good sign. But, regardless of whether I intended to or not, I let loose a blood curdling scream and, when I think about it now, I can still feel the sensation of my stomach shooting up to my throat. However, if the chance came, I would totally go again. 

My memories of home came on Sunday when we went on a hike in the National Cloud Forrest. In so many ways it reminded me of Oregon. The sky was cloudy and misting; it was chilly but not cold; we were surrounded by lush foliage in all shades of green and there was a wonderful fresh woodsy/wet smell emanating from the ground. There were two things that were very different about this forest, though, from back home. First, there were swarms of hummingbirds  that huddled around the feeders at the entrance to the park (they weren't even scared of humans so I go to stand about a foot away from them to take pictures). I have never seen so many hummingbirds in one place in my life. Second, the size of everything in the forest was far beyond normal. I'm not talking about the trees being tall, but more along the lines of ferns the size of my body or flowers that were larder than my forearm. It was beautiful to see God's creation and I'm thankful we got a chance to go. 

Overall, this weekend was one of excitement and beauty and I feel very blessed that I got to go and share it with my two roomies. 


Attached are a few pics of what I referred to above:

The Tarzan Swing

The longest zip line in Latin America

Megan and me on the zipline

A picture of a leaf that I liked

The sunset on Friday night from our room

Sorry you have to look at this one on its side. This is what I was talking about with the extra large foliage. It's a leaf that Dom and I found on the ground.

A random caterpillar that decided to grace us with its presence while we were waiting for the buses to come.

Chau!