catching up.....Wed. and Thurs.

I HATE it when I don't get a chance to blog the day of, because then I forget about all the food that I eat, and almost every day I get to try something new and I want to write about it!! AHH!!!

I'm just going to bullet the events of Wed. and Thurs. below:

WEDNESDAY

• 8 am class - International Political Economy. We watched a movie, I forget what it's called, but it was about a Swedish ambassador living in Chile, I believe, who helped all these people escape from this corrupt group that was basically treating everyone the way the Nazis treated the Jews during the Holocaust. It was really interesting. Based on a true story, in Spanish, but we had English subtitles!
• I regret to say that I can't remember what I had for breakfast or lunch, but it was good, of course.
• I spent the afternoon studying and doing homework for Thursday. I thought that it would take all day Wednesday to finish everything, but I actually finished in a few hours, in between siestas and such. I had to do some written work for my Advanced Spanish class, read a chapter in a book for A.S., and read 2 things for literature class about Christopher Columbus and his letter to the King and Queen's scribe about America.
• The book we are reading for A.S. is by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, famous Hispanic Author, who wrote lots and lots of books, including Love in the Time of Cholera. We are reading Cronica de una Muerte Anunciada, or Chronicle of a Death Foretold. It's very short, 5 chapters long, and a bit difficult to read because the language is very colloquial, but still interesting. It's available in English, and I recommend it if you are looking for a quick read, because the plot is interesting and it's so short!
• I did a bit of research on strategic planning for my internship, but not too much.
• I had a cafecito with the familia. I am not getting tired of the coffee here at ALL.
• I headed to school just before 5:30 because a lady came to teach us how to make some fun jewelry!!! We made some cool necklaces and earrings...I'll have to take a picture to post on here! I left a bit early to head to "La Oracion" con mi madre.
• They had already started praying when we got there, so we entered and sat quietly. The scripture this week was from Isaiah 54 (verses 1-8), one of my favorite chapters in Isaiah! I was able to understand a lot more this week, and basically the lady who led was talking about how we need to open and willing to receive what the Lord has promised us. It was really good! We had lasagna afterwards, but I was just sleepy and not hungry at all, so I had my hot tea and I was ready to JET!
• We took home madre's 2 aunts and then got back to our casa just after 10. I went immediately to bed instead of blogging!

THURSDAY

• I slept late today - 6:30 am - and had a great breafast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, mango, juice, and coffee. Mom, I'm really going to need you to come to Clemson everyday in the spring semester and make breakfast for me. I headed to my 8 am class, Literatura. I was looking forward to the class more this week because I really felt like I understood what we had to read. Class was good. She does a variety of things, making us answer questions and then discuss them in pairs and with the class, so we aren't necessarily just sitting there the whole time. Class overall went well. I talked with some of my amigos when class was over, and then headed home. I had planned to blog then, between getting home and lunch time, but the internet wasn't working so I was unable to blog about Wednesday, or else I probably would have been able to remember what I'd had to eat!
• Speaking of food, I can't even remember today what I had to eat yesterday, which is unusual, because it was delicious and I remember loving it. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and then went back to school.
• Some people from the police station were there to take some of us in. Kidding. We had to get fingerprinted and stuff as part of the visa process, so we missed about an hour of class! We started around 2 and sat outside since it was nice, but it soon grew cloudy and cold, so we went inside. The rain POURED once we got inside!! It rained for a long time yesterday, hard rain too!
• At 4 pm we went to the cafeteria for gringo-tico friend, a program the USAC staff arranged for us. We all talked with ticos...they talked to us in English, we talked to them in Spanish. It was fun! The girl I talked to was really nice, and she works at a rappelling/bungee jumping place, so I think I am going to meet up with her on Friday sometimes and go rappelling, and eventually, bungee jumping!!!
• We had dance class at 5. Gerardo failed to tell us that it started at 5:30 instead, so we waited for a while until Michael and I found our dance instructor waiting in the office. We just laughed about the whole thing and went to dance class, my favorite clase!
• I was a little off today...We started with Bachata, which has a different rhythm than salsa. Normally we start with salsa, but starting with bachata threw me off. I couldn't get the rhythm right for anything. I even tried dancing salsa with the instructor and normally I can do that fine but today I couldn't. I was glad to see 6:50 come.
• I headed home and ate some leftover lunch. I sat in the room with my host sister for a while, watching Clemson on GameTracker. I got online just before the 3rd quarter started and got the delayed play-by-play there, and the play-by-play from mom via Skype. I had talked with amiga Kelsey earlier about going out somewhere with her older host brother, so I had to leave during the 4th quarter right when Clemson and GT were tied up to meet them. It was hard to leave the game. I'm glad I didn't wait around now, because they lost and I would have been sad.
• I took a taxi to Kelsey's, then we met up with another of her brother's friends and proceeded to this place near the mall on the edge of town. There weren't a lot of people there to start with, but as it got later, it got really crowded! We hung around and talked to her brother and friends for a while, and then Kelsey and I met and talked to some other ticos! Somehow we all ended up dancing together and it was a BLAST! I did learn, however, that I need to learn how to dance the way they do here...it's a bit different, though hard to explain. Eventually a couple of salsa songs came on. One of our tico friends who we met was from Venezuela but studies medicine at UCR, and he told me that Venezuela was the salsa capital of the world or something. So of course, all of the salsa moves I had learned in class were insufficient...I couldn't keep up with the expert, but I tried and seemed to get along fine. Some meringue songs came on too, and that was much easier! I think I was doing okay, I don't know, but it was fun. Overall it was a fun night, and hopefully we will get to go back there soon to dance MAS! I sure do need to practice!

So far today, I have done nothing. I slept in, till 8 or so, but didn't get out of bed till almost 9. I have spent the morning cleaning up a little and catching up on some emails and stuff. We will probably have lunch soon and then I am going to the store this afternoon to pick up a few things I need. We are playing soccer around 3, I believe, and then at some point I think I am going to the mall with my host sister! I love not having class on Fridays!!!!!!!

a rather uneventful day

Not much has happened today. I slept late till 6:40 or so, and then got up and had breakfast - gallo pinto and scrambled eggs, various fruits and OJ and coffee. I showered and got dressed and spent most of the morning doing homework. I took about 30-45 minutes to send and respond to some e-mails, and then found another assignment I had due today that I had forgotten about. I did that quickly before lunch and then had lunch with my host parents. We had some kind of steak and rice. It was pretty good. I then headed off to school for my 2 classes - Advanced Spanish and Latin American Cultures. The classes went well. I got a Reese Cup during our break in one of the classes. It cost over a dollar, but it was most certainly a dollar well spent. The classes passed fairly quickly today, and by the time the second one was over, I was ready to get home. I walked home rather swiftly, and my mom prepared a ham and cheese sandwich for me when I got home. I ate it and then began doing my homework. I tried to get some of it done, but am so tired tonight for some reason and I think I am also tired of doing homework. All I have done with my time that I haven't been in classes the last 2 days is homework. I'm ready for some rest! I hope to turn in in the next half hour or so and just rest and get the rest done tomorrow. Buenas noches!

a different life

It goes without saying that living here is quite a bit different than living back home in South Carolina.

I want to highlight some of the differences below. Keep in mind that these are my observations, and they may be subject to personal bias. These characteristics may not be typical of all areas of Costa Rica.

• Humidity - This is probably been one of the hardest things for me to adjust to. South Carolina is pretty humid yearround, especially in Charleston! But let me tell you, you have NEVER experienced real humidity until you have been to Costa Rica. On really sunny days, it's not quite so bad. But most days here right now, since we are in the rainy season, there is a constant cloud cover, making you feel almost like you are smothering sometimes. It also makes you sweat worse, and it's difficult for things to dry. For example, last week during a break in class I had some water to drink, and since I am clumsy and unable to eat or drink anything without having some sort of remnants of it on me somewhere, I spilled some water on my shirt. Over an hour later, my shirt STILL was not dry. Crazy, huh? Also, the humidity makes it difficult for my hair to be anything but crazy. I prefer to let it air dry, and unfortunately it could take the whole day to do that here. It also makes my hair really frizzy on occasions when I dry it and TRY to straighten it.
• Bugs - They are everywhere. Lots of small little tiny ones that you can't see, but that have big teeth for sure. You can't feel them biting you until a few minutes later when your arm starts itching, and sure enough you look only to discover that you were some tiny little creature's breakfast. There's just no way out of this situation. You just have to grin and bear it. Their ventilation here is dependent on open windows, which stay open 24/7. This also doesn't help the bug issue. Speaking of A/C....
• Air conditioning - Not common here at all. Some hotels on beaches have it, but really it's not necessary here. The climate doesn't change too too much year round. There are never periods of extreme cold, and keeping the windows open makes the heat bearable. Varying the amount and thickness of the clothing you wear also helps you adjust to this. I am hot-natured anyway, so sometimes it would be nice to have A/C, especially in the mornings when the sun is coming up and is warming everything up!
• Toilet paper - Though the water here is potable, thank goodness, systems here still cannot handle toilet paper. All TP has to be thrown in the trash can instead. It's really not bad once you get used to it, even though I've been flushing toilet paper all of my life.
• Coffee - The Costa Rican depends heavily on this precious gem, and so do I. The coffee here is IMPECCABLE, better, in my opinion, than coffee in the US. It doesn't burn doing down your throat, and it sits well in your stomach. Sometimes coffee back home is too strong or is just weird, and it makes me jittery or makes me feel sick. But the coffee here does NOT. I'm sure there are some brands that would do this to you here, but none that I have had so far. Drinking coffee is like drinking water, and sometimes here I think I drink more coffee than I do water.
• Noise - It's noisy here, moreso than back home. It's noisy at 6:30 am, and if the sun or my alarm clock has not woken me up by 6:30, then the noise surely will. I'm not sure why the noise is so. People do beep their horns a lot more here, not as a rude gesture but more like a greeting to other drivers while you are driving. There is construction going on around town. There's also a daycare across the street to my house, which GREATLY contributes to the noise factor. There are a LOT of dogs here, and their barking always contributes to the noise.
• Dogs - Speaking of dogs, they are EVERYWHERE. And most of them are stray. Dogs walk in and out of places since doors to everywhere usually are open here. Dogs have walked in and out of my classes here before, and the teachers who are from here just ignore it because they are used to it. It's perfectly normal here. This may sound strange to you. Yet NONE of the dogs I have encountered so far are violent. None. Does our restraining them so much in the US perhaps make them behave more ferociously? Hm....
• Health care - I haven't learned too much about this yet here, and I am looking forward to the chance to do that with my internship. They do have a universal system of care though, and doctor visits for anything are SO CHEAP here. My host mother had to get some cancerous spots removed on her hands, arm, and leg, and for the consultation AND the biopsies, they paid a flat $60. Yes, $60. No interest, no payments. My host parents have told me that ANYONE here can get any procedure they need! Isn't that great? One of my aunts here had breast cancer and had to have her breasts removed. She is currently in the process of reconstructive surgeries and it's crazy how inexpensive yet how GOOD the surgeries are.
• Clothes - I'm going to do a whole separate post on this, because it's very interesting to note the differences in styles here and in the US. I will say, though, that I miss having all of my clothes. I'm learning how much I really do need and how much I can live without, and it's been humbling and and good for me so far.

lunes 9.7.09

I woke up around 6 am. I had my quiet time and then showered and got dressed and ready for one of the best parts of the day- BREAKFAST. Mi madre made arepas (PANCAKES), huevos (eggs), cafe, jugo de naranja (OJ), and a fresh mango. It was SO good of course. I then trotted off to school to wait for class to start at 8 - Society and the Environment.


The class today was very interesting and I really enjoyed it. We talked a little about environmental awareness, and it really challenged me to be more aware of how much water, paper, and energy I waste! Claudia mentioned in class a part of Costa Rica's constitution that guarantees citizens the right to a clean environment. I am no US Constitution aficionada, so there may be something about this is ours, but I thought it was really neat that this is factored in to their constitution.

Class ended at 11 and I headed back to my casa. I continued my homework due Tuesday until lunch time. We had CREPAS (crepes) stuffed with chicken and covered in cream corn. SO YUMMY! I was stuffed! I did more homework until about 12:50 when I headed for a little walk toward the park to meet Claudia to go to the hospital for our meeting with the doctor at 1:30. I left my house a little early because I needed to stop to pick up a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez for my Advanced Spanish class - "Cronica de una muerte anunciada." Marquez is a famous Colombian author who has written a monton of libros, including "Love in the Time of Cholera." This book is thin and has 5 chapters that are a bit lengthy, the first of which is due Thursday for class. I found the book at the print shop and had to fork out 5000 colones for it, more than I paid for most of my textbooks here in Costa Rica! Disgruntled I handed over the colones with a small and said 'gracias.' I continued my walk to the park, and sat on a bench and began reading while I waited for Claudia to meet me. The weather was beautiful ALL day today - NO RAIN AT ALL, which according to my padre here means that tomorrow there will be a LOT of lluvia (rain). She came a few minutes early, and we took a taxi to the hospital. We could have walked, but she said we didn't need to be sweaty for our meeting.

We arrived at the hospital for what I thought would be a meeting with the doctor (also sub-director of the hospital) who I will be working under. We were planning to discuss what he wanted me to do specifically and how we could accomplish it and what the timeline would look like. Claudia informed me just before we went into the meeting that I would also be in a meeting with the DIRECTOR of the entire hospital, as well as representatives from all other areas of the hospital. I was floored, and grew MUY nerviosa!

We walked into the meeting room where around a large oval-shaped table typical of a conference room sat 10-15 people, most in white doctor coats, waiting for us to arrive. I was pretty intimidated, especially since I wasn't really prepared to meet all of these important people. We went around the table and all introduced ourselves, and despite my nervousness somehow I managed a formal introduction of myself in Spanish to all of the doctors and staff who were present. They talked for a long time, and I caught bits and pieces of the conversation. They gave us some of their previous work in their strategic plan, as well as documents containing their mission and vision, and a SWOT analysis, along with lots of other stuff they thought would be useful. They currently have a strategic plan, but I think it is lacking a lot and needs improvement, so that's where I (and Claudia) come in. Claudia pretty much ran the meeting and tried to get a feel for what they wanted. After the meeting was over and they dismissed Claudia and me, they all stood up to bid us adieu, and we soon left the hospital. On the walk home we had a conversation (in Spanglish) of what my expectations were, and what we were going to be doing long-term and immediately. For next week, I have to:
-research strategic planning strategies
-find existing strategic plans and analyze their components
-find strategic plans for hospitals and analyze them
-find strategic plans in both english AND spanish
-look at all of this information collectively to determine the necessary components of an effective strategic plan
Next Monday we will have another meeting with the same group to report on all that we have found, and we will begin to analyze their current plan and see what it is missing so that we have a clear starting point for developing the new revised plan. I have a lot to do!

I came home, a bit overwhelmed, and continued working on my homework. I spent another couple of hours doing homework and then decided to go for a jog around town to perk myself up a bit. I ran only for about 20-25 minutes, but it was cool and pleasant and sunny, though a bit busy traffic-wise because people were getting off of work and students were leaving schools all over town. It was refreshing and felt good to exercise!

When I returned I continued to do homework, the activity of the day it seems, and have done so until now, minus a break for supper and to skype with mom and dad. Most of my homework was for my advanced spanish class tomorrow - verb exercises and reading a short story and answering questions about it. The class is a lot of work but it's already helping me so much and I'm glad I decided to pick it up at the last minute.

For supper we had some sort of chicken dish that tasted like it was baked in some kid of tangy barbecue sauce or something with some kind of bean looking things cooked in with it, and rice on the side. It was pretty good. After eating I continued to do homework and just decided to call it quits for the day because (a) I am tired, and (b) I have been doing it all day. What a great day it has been. I decided this morning in my quiet time that I really need to dedicate my energy to learning Spanish better in the short time I have here, and I decided that I need to build up my confidence, and in order to do so, I decided that whenever I had a thought or something to say in Spanish, I was going to say it, even if it wasn't right, just to practice and to try to speak more and more. I have done that all day, and have spent a lot of time reading and studying and learning today, and I really feel like I have learned and taken in a lot. Granted, I am absolutely EXHAUSTED, physically but more mentally tired than anything. I am looking forward to a good night of sleep and a good day tomorrow. I have more homework to finish in the morning. It's going to be a busy week. I have a lot of homework due, and for next week as well.

Hasta manana....

Playa Santa Teresa

Friday
Met at green church at 6 am, got to bus station around 6:20 am for what we thought would be a 6:30 bus - no such luck; bus came at 7:30 instead
An hour and a half bus ride to Puntarenas (cost just over a dollar)
Bought ferry tickets (Just over a dollar)
Waited patiently for 11 am ferry; got on ferry
1-1/2 hour ferry ride - beautiful scenery
Docked and got off; some of us got a taxi straight to the beach - took about an hour to get to our spot
Checked in to our bungalow and went to the beach immediately while we were waiting for the others to arrive
Others came later but bungalow owner was not going to let us all pile in rooms together so some of us decided to walk down the road to get a hostel
Hostel was $12/night - reminded me of church camp with bunk beds, no air, cold shower, gross floor; did have an open kitchen area and fridge we could keep stuff in; also had an upstairs loft where you could turn on ceiling fans and watch movies!
Walked down the street and ate at the first restaurant we found; people who owned it lived there and would basically just cook for people whenever they walked up
I had a hamburger - delicious! So did a couple of the others - Food was great!
Just before we left our other gringo friends walked by and we encouraged them to eat where we had just eaten
They ate there and stopped by our hostel on their way back
We then went to a market near our hostel to get more food - I got some cereal and juice to munch on throughout the weekend (this would be the first trip of many to this mercado)
We all enjoyed lazy evenings because it had been a long day, beginning at 5 am!
Those of us at the hostel hung out with some other people who were staying there - a few ticas and some people from England and a guy from Spain - really fun to talk to!
We went to bed pretty early, before 11 I believe!

Saturday
Woke up before 5; everyone in the room was up before 6 - we went to the beach to hang out while the guys surfed and Kelsey ran - SO nice and quiet and beautiful!!!!!
Came back to have breakfast and coffee - toast with jelly - delicious of course!
Decided to be lazy and watch a movie in the upstairs loft
Went back to the beach for a bit - cloudy but not terribly hot; very muggy though
Went to get lunch later on at the same place - delicious again! I had a chicken quesadilla that was INCREDIBLE!
Went back to the beach after lunch - sun was out with full force so it was HOT! Saw some monkeys hanging around the trees near the beach
Went back to the hostel - showered and snacked while some went to the ATM
Napped in a hammock while Danielle read in the other hammock
Went to the mercado when everyone got back to get food to cook spaghetti for supper!!!
Came back and cooked - we all helped and it was fun :-)
Ate spaghetti with all kinds of spices and toppings, and bread of course - SO GOOD!
Walked down the street and met up with our other amigos to watch the BIG GAME - Costa Rica vs. Mexico
Mexico totally dominated - 3-0 - Costa Rica went down without a fight :-( Game was fun to watch though!
Headed back to the hostel and met some people from Switzerland - they speak 5 languages and they are the same age as me - maybe we should reevaluate our education system here?!
Went to bed kind of early because I wanted to catch the 6 am bus back home; others stayed up a while longer

Sunday
Woke up at 5 am - couldn't find my camera but it had just gotten stuffed in the bottom of my pocketbook - Michael from the group met me and we walked to the bus stop to get the early bus - we both had a lot of homework and work to do and wanted to get back to town early - the next bus wouldn't leave till 2 pm so we knew we wouldn't get back till much later if we took that one
Left promptly at 6 am and rode about 2 hours to get to the ferry place
Got on the ferry - ride seemed a lot longer this time for some reason, but was about an hour and a half
Got off boat at Puntarenas and got back on the same bus that had also ridden the ferry
Bus left Puntarenas and headed toward San Jose - made several stops along the way, including San Ramon
Bus dropped us off around 11:30 at a stop near the mall; walked to the mall and got a taxi into town to our homes
Came home and unpacked; talked to mom, dad, Hannah and Evan on Skype
Got a shower and got ready - my host mother invited me to go somewhere with them
Ended up going to some huge party thing with all of my host father's family - one of the babies in the family had gotten "baptized" - or christened, as we would say back home - Mom I wish yall would have had something like that for me when I got christened! - they had all kinds of delicious food and CAKE :-)
Met all of his family - they were all VERY nice and interested in why I was here and what I was studying - I was kind of out of it though because I was so exhausted from a night of little sleep and the long travel home
Went then to my host mother's brother's (or my uncle's) house to check on their kids - one of them had to go to the hospital for three days - the mother (or my aunt I guess) is also my teacher for Advanced Spanish - she probably thought I was crazy - I was fighting SO HARD to stay awake there! I was completely exhausted!!!!
We came home and I came in and did some homework
Mother made fried porkchops and french fries for a late supper - yummy!
Went up to another aunt/uncle's house to say goodbye to Shae who is flying out muy early in the morning to go back to Canada! Goodbyes are always sad!
One of their sons was SO cute - he came up to me and said - "eres la nueva in la casa" - saying that I was the new girl in his aunt's house - and so he pulled me to his room and showed me some of his toys - and dad, he had on Cars crocs - made me think of you because you love that movie!!!!
We didn't stay long, and then we came back, and I did some more work and am now finishing my blog about the weekend - I'm so exhausted or I would go through and write more complete sentences but I think this is the best thing for now. Got a busy week ahead and I need some serious REST!

Buenas noches!

Mashed potatoes

What a GREAT day it's been, but what a LONG day it has been!

I woke up before 7 and got ready. Breakfast consisted of gallo pinto (making more frequent appearances now) and some eggs, and a mango and coffee. Delicious (and nutritious!) and filling! I headed off to school to Latin American Literature - my first class of the day. I like the professor a lot! She is easy to follow and explains things thoroughly, and does a variety of things during class so that she isn't just talking the whole time. It went by pretty quickly. I went to get a hot chocolate down the street during our break and it was FANTASTIC! I may start getting this instead of cafe all the time! Class ended promptly at 11. I went home after running to the copy store to get some copies of some readings for my culture class next week (I need some reading material for the beach!). My host mother made fish and MASHED POTATOES. I looked at the dish they were in at first, and asked what they were, and she said something de papas, which means potato something. I soon realized they were MASHED POTATOES!! And they were SOOOOOO good! With a bit of salad and a glass of lemonade, my lunch was complete and I was stuffed to the gills (pun intended). I trotted back to school for 1 pm class - Advanced Spanish. The time passed quickly too and I thoroughly enjoy this class, only second to DANCE CLASS. Today she gave each of us a sheet with cartoons, and we had to make up stories about them using past tense. It was fun and a good way to learn and practice Spanish! We had a long break and went and got some snacks. I got some cookies. YUM! We headed back, talked to some other gringos on their break too, and then went back to class. We finished a few minutes early, so I walked down the street to look for a notebook to use for my internship diary. I found one, and I also found REESE CUPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't think that they had them here, but I was WRONG! I will now be a frequent customer to this store just down the road from the U! WAHOOO!!!!! This made my day. If you know me well, you know that Reeses are my favorite candy, always have been and probably always will be! Alan, Danielle and I walked up the stairs near the library at school then because we heard music, and sure enough there was a live band playing latin jazz. It was nice to sit and listen for a bit, and the band was great too! Some people were dancing salsa to the music, and it made me want to dance so bad! Luckily I had dance class at 5, so I headed off to that a few minutes early. Today we reviewed everything about salsa, learned a couple more turns, and we also learned meringue!!! It was SO fun! We had such a great time in class, and I really like the dances here a LOT! I especially love dancing with the instructor, because he is very talented and just pulls you around everywhere. It's easier to be the girl, in my opinion, because as long as you know the basic steps and have the rhythm you can follow along with the guy and just do whatever he pulls you to do! It's SO much fun!!!!! I walked home with some other estudiantes, and came in and consumed more mashed potatoes and lemonade, and then headed to my cuarto to Skype with mom and dad for a bit, catch up with some friends, and start packing! This weekend most of the group of students will be heading to Santa Teresa in the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. We are leaving on a bus to Puntarenas at 6:30 am, catching a ferry there across the peninsula, then catching another bus to Santa Teresa. We have reservations already too. We are excited! I, and I think some of the other students also, have a lot of reading and work to do while we are there, so hopefully the bus rides and down time on the beach will give me a chance to do that! I am about to head to bed, to hopefully be asleep by 10pm Costa Rica time so that I can wake up early to get ready and meet everyone to go! I won't be able to post again until Sunday when I get home! Please pray for our safety.

Oh, and also.....GO TIGERS!!!!!!!! Beat Middle Tennessee this weekend!!!! Wish I could be there!!!!!!!!!

Also - tune in if you can to the soccer game Saturday night, because Costa Rica plays Mexico on at 8 pm CR time (10 pm SC time) for a spot at the World Cup!!!!!! We will be watching while we are at the beach.

PURA VIDA!

"Bible study" with some ticas!

Mi madre invited me yesterday afternoon to go to a bible study-like thing with her last night that she goes to every Wednesday night with her aunts and cousins and some other ladies. Of course I was like SI SI SI, so around 7:15 pm last night she and I went to the northern part of San Ramon. I met many of the ladies who were all very nice. We sat down and the woman whose house we were at turned off the lights. She and another lady both prayed, very elaborate and long but VERY beautiful prayers! After that, she turned on some Spanish Christian praise and worship music, and I would estimate for about half an hour or so we listened ot that. Most of the women kept their eyes closed and some lifted their hands and clapped. The songs were beautiful and the words were simple yet powerful! I enjoyed listening to the music and participating in the time of worship with these ladies. After that, one of the woman, my host mother's aunt, had created a bible study on the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. She had several supplemental scriptures, and she talked and we had a discussion about being hypocritical and being forgiving to those who sin against us. I was amazed at how well these women knew scripture and about how interesting their conversations were. I understood a good bit of it and really enjoyed listening to their thoughts about the scripture and questions. We had a short prayer at the end, and then we all retired to the kitchen for hot tea and snacks! All the woman sat around chatting and laughing, and several asked me questions periodically about how much I was able to understand and how I felt about Costa Rica. We didn't leave until 9:30 or so, but it was fun, just observing how the women interact with one another and how they love each other. Afterwards we took home two of my host mother's "tias," or aunts, and then went back to our house. I went to bed soon after.

I really enjoyed spending time with these women and being able to be around other women who love the Lord. It amazes me how his love and power crosses all language barriers, and that I was able to learn something from the bible study and from the women, even though I didn't understand all of what was said. I am so thankful that I had this experience, and I look forward to making this a regular thing. All I have left to do now is find a church to go to!