Home Sweet USA!

So I've come to conclude that my life here in the States just isn't as funny as it is in Costa Rica... I actually know how to do things here, and I'm rarely confused throughout the day. It's great really. Everything about being home in the last week has been so so wonderful, well, except for that time I got pulled over.

Welcome back to America Lis.

Here's the sitch.
A couple nights ago I met up with two of my favorite people, Sami and Cori. Later that night when I was leaving the brewery I pull up to a red light. I was turning right, and mind you there were absolutely no cars in sight. None. Zero. Nada. Zip. I stop at the light and then turn. There was a cop up ahead that I saw after I turned. Totally saw him and totally had this thought run through my head..."I wasn't speeding, and I don't have any headlight/break lights out... he's not gonna pull me over." Wrong-O. Homeslice, was hanging out in the median, and as I pass by he flips a U, and there go his lights. Son of a B!

I roll my window down and he goes "Mam (which is kinda annoying that he called me mam because he was maybe 3 years older then me), I pulled you over because when you turned at the light back there, you pulled into the farthest lane of traffic. Is there a reason why you did that?" I wanted to cuss-are you freaking kidding me? Is there a reason why I did that? Ummm yeah. There were absolutely NO cars in sight and the "farthest" lane that I turned into was the second lane over. Come on dude, who doesn't do that? I was just annoyed at this point that this was really going on right now?

Oh wait, it gets better. He asks for my license and registration and mind you I haven't driven this car, or at all for that matter in 4 months. I was rummaging through every paper in my glove box, which there happened to be an excessive amount of expired registrations, but no current registration. How freaking convenient. He tells me to keep looking, takes my license and says he's going to "get started." Crap, get started-that totally means I'm getting a ticket. Oh and...I don't have current insurance on me either and my license plate tags are expired too. Awesome. At this point I don't have a whole lot going for me...other than some charisma.

I've never pulled the whole crying thing to get out of a ticket before, but I was so flustered and kept thinking I was gonna get slammed with a $300 ticket, and next thing you know tears are coming down. Five minutes later the cop comes back to my car and says "Mam, do you know there's a warrant out for your arrest?" I instantaneously reply "A WARRANT???" He then says, "Oh, I guess that isn't a funny joke!" Oh. My. Goodness. I almost punched him in the face. No dude, that joke isn't funny. Nice try though. After he made that joke I thought immediately to myself, wait a second, since Mr. funny guy is crackin' jokes does that mean I'm not gonna get a ticket? I was so right...thank you Jesus! He told me that there's no reason he should be letting me go free with out a ticket, and that he could literally impound my car and take me to jail due to the fact I was missing current registration, license plate tags, and insurance. Ooops...yeah, my bad. But he let me go... with out a ticket, and he just told me to take care of it ASAP.

I drove home listening to Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" on repeat. It's good to be home!

EMMMERICA!

I'M HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mal Pais with lots of Coloradans...and John who secretly wishes he was from Colorado.

Oh man. Ok, so we just got back from Mal Pais yesterday. Kate had 6 (yes 6!) friends fly in from Colorado, and we went to the beach with them for a couple days! The Colorado crew consisted of Kathleen, Chambless, Harpel, Hoover, Bella, and Thomas. The beach was so great. It's always nice to get out of San Jose, but it was such a refreshing couple of days being around people who had a fresh excitement about Costa Rica. They appreciate the smells, the food, the culture...they loved everything really, and it was so good to be around them. And...they are freaking hilarious.

We stayed in rancho's at a surf hostel. Oh you aren't sure what a rancho is? Well...it's a room with a straw ceiling and ONLY 3 walls. Not 4 walls, 3. There are really great things about having only 3 walls-like being able to watch the sun rise over the ocean. And then there are some not really great things about having only 3 walls-like having intruders in the middle of the night. Yes, intruders. Don't be alarmed, it wasn't a person....it was a CAT! A freaking cat! So, the second night we were there Kathleen woke our room up in the middle of the night with a loud horrifying scream. She flew into Kate's bed frantically, and said "There was a cat it my bed, and it was like spooning with me." A freaking cat...in her bed...spooning with her! What? She scared the cat with her scream, and it left the same way it came in...threw the open section of the room where there typically would be the 4th wall.

Then about an hour later we hear the girls in the next rancho over (the rest of the crew) scream! Little Oreo (that's what I named the cat) found it's way into their room, and woke Hoover up by licking her face. They literally threw it out of the room, no mercy with stray cats, but it kept coming back....and licking the other girls faces. Oreo came back into their room like 5 times before it finally stayed out. And then... the next day we got back from the beach and guess who it is taking a little nap on one of their beds....Oreo. Little punk! Seriously, the nerve that cat had. The nerve!

Other highlights of the trip...

-We all crammed into "Large Marge" (John's car). There were nine of us in a 7 passenger car, and then the whole ENTIRE roof was filled with a surfboard and backpacking backs! It was legit.

-I had maracuya cheesecake! Maracuya is passion fruit and I'm kiiiinda obsessed with it, and determined to try it in every form possible. So far I've covered juice, smoothie, pie, ice cream, margarita and cheesecake. Holy crap, I love that stuff!

-We played lots of ping pong, and I almost peed my pants like 12 times.

-I learned how much tooth paste to use while brushing my teeth. Yeah, turns out I've been doing it wrong the whole time, and would always have a foamy beard coming from my mouth. The amount of tooth paste the show on tooth brushes in commercials is really deceiving. You really only need a little. Who knew?

-Our hostel had a sweet pool, and we played lots of pool games which Kathleen always won.

-Oh and we totally got a coconut down from a tree and drank the coconut water! We saw some local do it after he got done surfing and then Kathleen was all "Hey, I wanna coconut!" The whole endeavour was pretty hilarious!

Thanksgiving, New Moon, and Christmas decorations- what more could I want?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. No, people don't typically celebrate Thanksgiving in Costa Rica, but you better believe we did! The Suwyn's had us over for a Thanksgiving feast, and it was so great. Between all the Young Life and Vida Joven staff there was probably about 25 people there, and it was a lot of people's first Thanksgiving...ever! So fun! We have so much to be thankful for!
Yesterday Kate and I went to see Luna Nueva...aka...New Moon! Ohhh Twilight, how I never thought I would like you...and then I got suckerd into it, and I kinda like you now! :) Holy crap, it was ridiculous. I don't think I've ever been to such a hyped up movie before. For reals, there was a HUGE line wrapping around the movie theater an hour and a half before the movie even started. What??? I'm pretty positive every Costa Rican girl between the age of 11-15 was there. They screamed. Literally, screamed. When the movie finally started...they screamed. When Edward and Bella kissed...they screamed. When Jacob took off his shirt to wipe blood from Bella's face...they screamed (I may or may not have let out a little yip when this happened too! Homeboy is hot) And my favorite part was the way the movie ended...and everyone screamed really loud!

My host mom is so gringa. Well, not really, she's totally tica, but she didn't start putting up her Christmas decorations until last night (after Thanksgiving even though peeps in CR don't celebrate Thanksgiving)....unlike every other Costa Rican who started decorating in September. Yes, September. You think I'm exaggerating, but seriously many people and businesses had their Christmas decorations up in September. And early September matter-of-fact. Luchy was setting up her Christmas village last night and almost wet myself I was so excited. My mom has a Christmas village too and for a second in time I felt like I was at my own house! I tried to tell Luchy and Lisa (mi host sister) about the time my Aunt Becky snuck into our house while we were all gone. She bought little cowboy and indian toys, (see picture below!) and knocked down the people in the village to make it look like cowboys and indians attacked. My whole family thought it was hilarious, but I don't think Luchy and Lisa got it. It was worth a try!

After Luch, was done setting up the village I made her stand by it, and I took a picture. Pretty sure she thought "there goes my crazy host daughter again, making me pose for awkward pictures," but whatever! I love her. I mean seriously...look at her. How could you not love this woman?

OH and Luchy told me last night when she was decorating that the most important Christmas decoration in CR is the nativity scene. I checked out the nativity scene this morning, but it looked like something was missing. Little baby Jesus...where are you? I thought maybe someone stole little baby Jesus like I used to do when I was a kid, but then I learned that they put Him in there at midnight on Christmas eve. Don't worry, no one stole little baby Jesus! Phew!

I have a confession...

I'm going to let you in on a little secret if you didn't know already- I don't know Spanish. I know shocking right. That's not the confession though. I live in Costa Rica, but I definitely don't know Spanish. I mean...I know some, but not a lot by any means. And my friend Tony, well, he knows a lot of Spanish because he's from Costa Rica. He works for Vida Joven (that's what Young Life here is called if it's not at International schools.) Anyways, he dabbles with English, and for sure knows more English then I know Spanish. After we left the office one afternoon the both of us we walking to the bus stop. We had a very simply and basic conversation in which he told me I need to speak more Spanish. I am totally aware that I should speak more Spanish, but I was thinking DUDE, I don't know Spanish. I just said "ok" though because that was way easier!

Fast forward a couple days. Tony sends me a little instant message via Facebook. I am what one would consider a resourceful person, so what do I do? Glad you asked. I went to Google Translate and translated every word he said from Spanish to English. And then I typed what I wanted to say to Tony and translated that to Spanish. Brilliant I know! So we had a full blown conversation...in SPANISH!!!! BOOYAH!!! Thank you Google Translate. I was pretty excited...until...a couple days after that. I was talking to Jessie and telling her how frustrating it is knowing such a limited amount of Spanish. She was all "but I talked to Tony the other day, and he said your Spanish is really good!" Ohhhhh mother! Frick. I knew that Facebook Google Translate convo would sooner or later catch up to me. Dannnngit! I casually avoided Tony for a good week. Not really avoiding him, just avoiding conversations with him at all costs.

BUT this afternoon Kate, Tony, and I were all at the office hanging out while Jessie was finishing up some work. Tony said "Let's have Spanish class!" as if it was some brilliant idea, but really it just made me want to cuss! HE THINKS I KNOW SPANISH...BUT I DON'T!!! CRAP! So. He kept asking us questions in Spanish. Kate was sitting across from me which was hilarious, because she knew about the Facebook convo Tony and I had had, and the fact that he think my Spanish is really good when in reality it is pretty much non existent. Tony kept asking a zillion questions, and I giggled my way through this really painful Spanish conversation one mispronounced word at a time. Dear Google Translate, I currently have a love/hate relationship with you. Love always, Lisa.

p.s. My host mom is blaring Christmas music right now as she cooks. Again, just another reason why I love this woman!

TOP 10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT LUCHY

Last night my host mom, Luchy, got back after being in Mexico City for a week visiting her sister. Frick, I really just love this lady. She could be the sweetest woman in all of Costa Rica. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. I'm totally serious. She is so great. For example...Kate and John came over this afternoon to watch the Bronco's game. Sidenote- I totally felt like a 9 year old kid asking my mom if my friends could come over and play when I asked her about it this morning. Anyways...we were watching the game and Luchy was cleaning. And then BAM out of no where she has a full blown snack tray and drinks for us. Again, I love this lady which got me thinking. There are lots of things I love about Luchy, so I decided to do a Top Ten List of things I love about my host mom...Luchy!
Here we go...
TOP 10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT LUCHY....
10) The way she says "Hola"- She says it the same way every time and it's always so cheerful!
9) She is so patient and always helping me with my Spanish.
8) She is an incredible cook!
7) When I say "gracias" she always responds with "con gusto" (which means with delight) instead of simply saying "your welcome."
6) She makes the best Cas in all of Costa Rica. (Cas is a fruit drink, and it's freaking bomb!)
5) Homegirl loves to dance...and sing!
4) She loves The Beatles.
3) She is always smiling...always!
2) She loves a good margarita.
and #1) She feeds me cake for breakfast!

Camp of Champions

Dinner conversation last night with me and my host sister....

host sister: I went to dentist yesterday. ( or at least that's what it sounded like she said!)
me: Ughhh...I have to go to the dentist when I get home to Colorado, and I think I have a cavity.
host sister: Huhh?
me: I have a cavity. You know..it's a hole in your tooth, so I have to get it fixed. I'm not excited for it, because they kind of hurt.
me: Did you just get your teeth cleaned or did you have to get a cavity fixed too?
host sister: (with a confused look on her face) Huhhh? Ohhhhh. No, I went to Denny's last night..the restaurant, not the dentist.

My bad I could have sworn she said the dentist! We laughed!

I just got back yesterday afternoon from 7th grade "Camp of Champions" with Lincoln students. Lincoln hires the Boy with a Ball (a Christian ministry here) staff to put on secular camps for each grade, and teach values. 75% of Costa Rica's presidents graduate from Lincoln. This school encompasses most of the countries leaders, and the principal wants these kids to learn values in order for them to one day have the ability to lead well. Camp was really cool. It was at La Montaña, which is where we have Wyld Life camp in April. It was an awesome platform to start building relationships with kids. These kids come from some of the wealthiest families in Costa Rica. They live in a third world country yet their parents are able to pay thousands of dollars each year for school. So they think they have it all, because materialistically they pretty much do. A lot of them even have their own personal drivers. But I was reminded that there is such an clear need for these kids to know Christ.

Oh and side note, I saw the biggest spiders I have ever seen in my entire life at camp. Seriously, baseball size, and that's not an exaggeration.

We have WyldLife tonight. Woop Woop! Happy Friday everyone!

Rain Rain Go Away

Girls weekend at the beach...yep, definitely rained the whole ENTIRE time. Literally the whole time! BUT that didn't stop us from eating ice cream and cruisin' around on bikes.

Highlights from the weekend...

-The toilet paper display at our hostel. Who wouldn't want a toilet as a present?

-Riding bikes in the POURING rain. I felt like I was in the movie 'Now and Then.' -Playing UNO and enjoying margaritas at our beloved hot spot Mojos. -Eating ice cream...twice...in one day! Maracuya both times :) -Reading while laying in hammocks.

I'm so excited for 7th grade camp this week. We leave tomorrow at 6 am, and I'm sure I'll have a lot to blog about when I get back! Hope you're having a great Monday.

Look! Un conejito!

Ohhhh the language barrier...still. Yes, I am learning some Spanish, but I'm still confused a lot of times and the whole barrier is still very present. For example...last week on our way to Young Life Boo was swerving through the pot hole steets of San Pedro. The streets here are..how do I say this...horrible. When people drive here they swirve all over the place in order to miss the huge craters in the street. Now, swerving I'm getting used to, but as we were driving Boo out of no where slammed on his brakes. He yelled something in Spanish, and as he continued to drive he poked his head out his window and was looking behind him..still yelling. So naturally I turn around and to my amazement I see a bunny rabbit in the street. A BUNNY RABBIT!!! IN THE STREET! WHAT! That's like seeing a little bunny foo foo in the middle of a street in New York City...ish. I was sooo surprised. There are probably at least a million street dogs in San Jose. They.are.everywhere. But a bunny? This is one thing I hadn't seen so far in San Jose. So...I yell "Look! A bunny!" Everyone in the car started cracking up, because what Boo said as he was yelling out the window in Spanish was "Look! A bunny!" I like where his head is at, and I'm glad we are on the same page...I'm just 30 seconds behind!

These next couple weeks are going to be super busy, and I'm so excited for everything that's going on! I literally could pee my pants. Ok, maybe not, but I'm so excited!

1. Beach tomorrow- Yes, I'm going to the beach...again! Last weekends trip was last minute/spur of the moment/fly by the seat of your pants, but Kate, Meredith, Anna and I have been planning this weekends beach trip for a couple weeks now. We will be going to Puerto Viejo again, and I can't even wait. This means Maracuya ice cream, laying in the sun, and cruisin' around on bikes (with baskets on the front of them) all weekend long. Yes please!

2. Seventh grade generation camp for Lincoln- Boy With a Ball, the organization Anna (the head basketball coach) works for, puts on generation camps for each middle school and high school grade at Lincoln. These are secular camps that teach values, but totally awesome and ran very similar to Young Life camp. We had a planning meeting this morning and dude I'm excited! Talk about awesome contact work! We will be with every 7th grader at Lincoln for 3 full days! Again, thank you Jesus for providing such cool ways for us to meet kids.

3. Thanksgiving at the Suwyn's- Kevin and Michelle Suwyn are incredible. Kevin is the boss of my boss...aka a big deal! He is the director of YL for Central America. They are both from the States but have been here working for Young Life for 10 year now. They have 3 kids- Noah, Elijah, and Samarah, and holy cow...they're awesome. All of us gringo's will be spending Thanksgiving at their house eating, hanging out, and watching football.

4. New Moon-I have a confession. Kate has gotten me into the whole Twilight saga. Don't judge me! A group of us are going to see the movie the night it comes out in Costa Rica, which is 7
days later then it comes out in the States, but that's impressive because most movies come out months later!

5. Christmas YL and WL club- It's going to be awesome. We only have one Young Life club and 2 Wyld Life clubs left for the semester. Holy smokes!

6. Malpais con amigos de Kate! Kate has 5 friends from Colorado coming out for a week and we are going to get to go to the beach with them for a couple days! We've never been to Malpais, but I've heard cool things!

7. Home! I really can't believe that I will be home in less then a month. A prayer of mine for the last month or so has been that my heart would be fully here. A couple weeks ago this was so hard, but at this point I'm really content. I'm not counting down the days till I get to be back in Colorado, but at the same time I'm very excited to go home. Does that make sense?

Alright friends, I have to go write my first card in Spanish. My host sister graduates from college tomorrow! I bought her a card from Hallmark (I think it says Congratulations or something of that sort) and now I have to figure out what to say inside it. Buen trabajo? Good job. I think that's right.

Much love.

¡Puerto Viejo!

This past weekend was so incredible and exactly what I needed. My friend Sofi (who is from Costa Rica) invited me to go to the beach with her Aunt and cousins. It was a pretty last minute trip, but I'm so glad I decided to go. The cousins spoke some English, but for the most part they spoke Spanish for the entire weekend. It's so easy to tune out and be in your own little world when everyone around you is speaking Spanish. I love having time alone and that's exactly what it felt like the entire weekend. Alone time at the beach...ahh que bueno! I had a lot of time to process what the Lord is teaching me and time just to be silent and still. It's so nice (and very necessary) to get out of San Jose sometimes. A lot of my friends back home (who I miss a ton) were up in the mountains this past weekend, and I kept thinking how weird it was that I was laying on the beach... in November. Puerto Viejo is on the Caribbean side, and it is by far my favorite place I've traveled to so far in Costa Rica. And... you hear English as often as you hear Spanish there since it's in the Caribbean. And...Reggae music overtakes Salsa which was nice for a change!

Here were some of the highlights of the weekend...
-Maracuyá ice cream. Maracuyá is my favorite fruit here and in the ice cream form..oh man, so delicious!

-Laying on the beach listening to music. I love listening to music and it's something I don't get to do a ton here.

-Live reggae music in town on Saturday night!

-Getting to order my food in English! This hasn't happend in 3 months!

Here were some funny parts of the trip...

-When we got to the beach the first day I started to lather up my SPF 50 sunscreen. Yes, SPF 50 ( just like you said Mom!) Seriously, this stuff is sooo sticky. As I was putting my sunscreen on I noticed a street dog running around on the beach. The dog kept trying to take peoples towels and then running off with them. I giggled to myself as I saw people running after the dog. Ok, maybe that's mean of me, but trust me, it was funny! Until....I had just got done putting on my super sticky sunscreen, I lay down on my beach towel, and then the dog comes less then a foot away from me and rolls around in the sand. Sand was flying everywhere and I was a sand magnet. The sand stuck to my sticky sunscreen which left the entire right side of my body covered in sand. Seriously? Seriously? Ok, it was funny!

-When I got into the water there were the two most precious little girls. One of them was decked out in arm floaties and a duck floatie that went around her waist. It.was. Awesome! They were probably 5 or 6 years old. Anyways, I was in the water and they kept coming up to me and handing me sea shells. I had a handfull of shells! And they kept talking to me in a language I have NEVER heard. They talked to me for probably 10 minutes and I just kept nodding my head. And...I don't think the little buddies had any idea that I had no clue what they were talking about. I just kept collecting the shells that they gave me, and then I would give them high 5's with my empty hand. Thank goodness for the universal high 5!

The Lincoln girls have a basketball game this afternoon and then we have YL club tonight! And check it...I will be home in a month from today. Holy cow!

Here are some pics from the weekend!

7 day forecast

Today I finally got my hands on a copy of The Tico Times! Ohhh The Tico Times. It's the English newspaper in Costa Rica. I've heard about it before, but have never actually seen it at news stands. Kate and I had to go up to Lincoln early today before basketball practice, and since we had time to waste we decided to hit up the library. And there I saw it...The Tico Times just sitting there for me to take! I was pretty excited to read about the current events going on in the country I'm living in considering sometimes I think "Huh, I have no idea what's going on in Costa Rica, and I live here!" I came to the 7 day forcast near the end of the paper and thought again to myself "Dang, I haven't seen a weather forecast since I've been here." So I decided to take a look. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the best weather forecast I have EVER seen. And by best I mean worst...but hands down most hilarious!

Friday. A thunderstorm or two.
Saturday. A couple of thunderstorms.
Sunday (here's my favorite!). A thunderstorm possible.


Really? Realllly? Is this forecast a joke? A thunderstorm possible? Really? I mean, I could have told you that, and I practically failed Meteorology class in college! There are two seasons in Costa Rica. Rainy season. and. Dry season. Right now we are still in Rainy season where it storms EVERY single day. RAIN. RAIN. RAIN. LLUVIA. LLUVIA. LLUVIA. (that means rain in Spanish :) ) It's poring rain as I type, and all the forcast says is there is a possibility there could be a thunderstorm. Really? This has to be a joke.

Other things to write home about. Today when I was walking home from basketball practice I saw what I thought was a rotten banana peel on the sidewalk, but no no it was in fact a dead rat! I thought to myself "I don't think I've ever really seen a real rat before-just ones in movies." Check that one of the life to do list. See a real (dead) rat...check!

My host Mom really liked my Lego Halloween costume. She told her entire extended family about it! There were all over here for dinner tonight and my costume was totally dinner conversation.

I just showed my host sister a picture of all the snow they got back home in Denver last week. Her mouth dropped and she said "I would die there!" I thought it was funny.

Te quiero a todos. Gracias por todo tu amor y apoyo. ¡Buenas noches mis amigos! (I love you all. Thank you for all your love and support. Good night my friends!)

Halloween!

Pretty much I'm obsessed with Halloween. For real, I love it! I think a lot of it has to do with the season fall, but I also just love dressing up for Halloween. Costa Rica doesn't really celebrate this beloved holiday, but don't worry, there was a party! Some of the younger American teachers at Lincoln had a party, which was so fun! Brooke and Allison (the two sisters who threw the party) were such fun hosts. Their apartment was decorated perfectly for a Halloween fiesta, there were prizes to be won, and even a bean bag throw contest! So fun!

I dressed up as a LEGO! I was a little nervous Saturday morning when I set out by myself to get all the materials I needed for my costume. Nervous for two reasons. A) That I wouldn't know where to find what I needed, and B) Nervous because I was very limited on what I could ask a store employee for. BUT, I made it! It was quite the success if I say so myself. I even asked a lady in the hardware store for velcro!"Tiene velcro?" I know...pretty simple, but such a feeling of accomplishment! :) After I had bought all the materials I headed back home to start my project. It took me about 2 hours, but it was such a sweet time. I love having time to be alone, and making stuff with my hands. I had my ipod playing, and I was jamming out...all by myself. Bliss.

All around it was a great weekend. Friday night we (all of us YL leaders) went out to dinner with one of Kate's donor's who was in town from Colorado. He owns a trash company down here, and he is such a cool guy. He was so encouraging, and had so many sweet stories about different ministries he's been involved in over the last 20 years. He started the Colorado Prayer Luncheon in Colorado, which is a pretty big deal. Like I said, he had sweet stories.

I'm excited for this week- we have both Young Life and Wyld Life! Every Monday morning we (John, Jessie, Boo, Kate, and I) meet together at the office where we have a little devotional time, and then pray for each other. I love this time, and I love that it's a part of my job! The last couple days have been better in terms of not missing home. I want to be fully present during this time, and am learning that the Lord wants me to take one day at a time.

Alright, peace out for now. Love you all!

culture shock?

It's Saturday and today is Halloween. Todo es bueno! This week was hard and long. I substitute taught for elementary P.E. at Lincoln for 4 days, and holy smokes...I'm spent, and SO glad it's over. Pre-K students who don't speak English are e.x.h.a.u.s.t.i.n.g. And I've decided that I don't like subbing.-it's not my gig. Yes, this may sound weird since I majored in Physical Education, but I want my own class where I actually get to teach, and not have kids screaming in Spanish the whole time. No gracias.

I think this week was the first time I really started to experience feelings of "homesickness." They (I'm not sure who they are exactly...scholars I take it) say that there are distinct phases of "Culture Shock." The first phase is the Honeymoon Phase. Everything is great. Everything is fun, new, exciting, and different. Stuff might be hard, but it's still cool, but then the next phase things change, and this is where I've found myself this last week...the Negotiation Phase. The newness fades off and new emotions appear. Annoyed. Frustrated. Missing the convienience of home. To be honest earlier this week home sounded so so good. I'm not surprised I'm experiencing these feelings...I knew they would come eventually. I mean really, if "they" (the scholars) think that it's normal, well then, I'm right on track! And really, the emotions I'm experiencing are pretty minor. By no means do I really want to go home right now. I love what I'm doing here, and totally feel that the Lord has chosen me for this. I just need to continue adjusting my expectations...and probably my attidtude :) Life here isn't as convienient as it is back home. Get over it Lisa.

Highlights of the week:

-Young Life Club! It was Halloween themed which is always fun, and it was our biggest YL club of the year! Oh and before club started Jessie and I were welcoming cars when kids were arriving, and I was dressed in a full blown Santa Clause costume. There were these two little kids, a boy and a girl, who kept peeking out of their house to see Santa! They eventually came all the way out of their house, with their puppy, and started waving at me! I walked up to them and said "¡Hola!" like any good Santa Clause would do. And I freaking kid you not this is what they responded with- "¿Es usted de los Estados Unidos?" (Are you are from the United States?) Remind you, I was in a full blown Santa costume, and all I said was hi, and from that they could tell I was from the United States. Are you kidding me??? I guess there is no hidding the fact that I am a Gringa.

-Thursday night a group of us went to go see the Michael Jackson movie. It made me want to dance!

-When the school bell rang yesterday and I was done subbing!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

My life... it's hilarious

Yesterday gave me a headache... I substitute taught for elementary P.E. at Lincoln. Everything was going fine until my second class of the day...pre kindergarten. Frick. Lincoln classes are all taught in English (well...they are supposed to be taught in English.) I was curious from the beginning to see how well 5 year olds know English as their second language. Here's the answer...THEY DON'T. Oh man. All these little buddies kept coming up to me saying stuff in Spanish, and I just kept thinking "Uhhh...I have no idea what you're saying." I would tell them "En Inglés" and then they just got a stumped look on their face that said "How the heck am I supposed to do that woman?" And when I tried to explain what we were going to be doing all I got were blank looks, and then I realized...crap, they don't understand what I'm saying. Awesome. After that pre-k class, I had two more pre-k's then, a couple kindergarten classes, first grade, and then second grade. One would think that the first and second grade classes would be a lot better, but don't be confused...they weren't. Needless to say, it was a funny/frustrating/exhausting day. Oh and freaking taking attendance was a task in itself. Attendance, that's supposed to be the easiest part right? WRONG. I was totally that sub that mispronounced every name. The kids would giggle after every name I said. Lo siento. My bad. After the third class I completely did away with attendance. I mean come on, it's elementary P.E. When I student taught last semester I never had to take attendance-the classroom teachers are supposed to do that. It's not like high school where kids ditch or anything. These kids are 5. So, I didn't feel that bad for not taking roll.

Let's see what else...I tied about 20 shoes laces, and I got called teacher about a zillion times. Teacher look at this. Teacher, Roldolpho hit me. Teacher watch me. Teacher can I go the bathroom? Teacher. Teacher. Teacher. Probably 30 kids asked me if I was from the United States. ¿Estados Unidos? ¡Si si! That made me laugh-30 kids...that's a lot, and that number is not an exaggeration. Yes, I am from the U.S. of A! And then each little buddy would tell me about the time(s) that they went to the US. Disney Land, Grandma's house, whatever they did in the United States I got to hear about it...in Spanish. Awesome. And don't worry, I get to do this 4 more days next week, so I'm sure I will have plenty more stories for you :)

Do we have any bread?

The other the Lincoln girls basketball team won their first game!!!!! So maybe we don't have a winning record, but you better belive that we have a win! Before the game Kate was in a taxi headed to my house to pick me up so that we could go to Lincoln. I hadn't eaten lunch yet so I was just going to make a quick PB&J sandwich to eat on the run. I opened the cubbard and didn't see bread, so I asked Lisa "Hey, are we out of bread?" She looked in the cubbard and replied "Yes....Do you want cake?" It made me giggle. Before I could even say no she had sliced a piece and put it in some foil for me to take in the taxi. All I wanted was a PB&J sandwich and I ended up eating pineapple cake. Woops.

Karaoke...don't mind if I do.

Apparently Costa Ricans don't like Americans singing Aladdin's A Whole New World at Karaoke. And... apparently Costa Rican dj's in charge of karaoke do not like playing our English song requests. Seriously, they missed out! That's all I'm sayin'!

He is good always!

Hello friends! So this past week...there have been some really great parts, but there has also been a really crappy part.

Lets start with the really great part first because that's wayyy more fun.

Young Life and Wyld Life this past week were a.w.e.s.o.m.e. The energy was so great and kids were so excited to be there. At Young Life we did one of my favorite games...the human piñata. That's what's up! Duct tape was rapped around my whole body, candy stuck to the duct tape, and I was in a harness hanging from the ceiling. Kids were blindfolded, spun around, and had to hit me (with a pool noodle!) to try and get the candy off. It was hilarious! Kate gave the talk at Young Life club and Boo spoke at Wyld Life. And they both brought it! Studs.

I had a really fun conversation with two 8th grade girls, Gloriana and Dani, about Halloween costumes. This might not seem like that big of a deal, but it got me so stoked. Relationships are forming!! This is huge! -Gloriana, Dani, and I at Wyld Life club!

Saturday night I went to my first Costa Rica National Team game. Oh. My. Goodness! Holy cow holy cow holy cow. It was so fun! So so fun! I met John downtown that day, and we hung out until we had to head to the stadium. We were on a mission to find ponchos, and dang those suckers are hard to find. One would think a poncho would be easy to find in a country that has a season called "rainy season", but no no they were impossible to find. No worries though because right when we stepped out of our taxi at the stadium there was a dude selling them for 500 colones (about 1 buck.) It rained the whole entire half, but was clear by the second half! Soccer in Latin America is kinnnnda a big deal, so it was so sweet being around die hard crazy soccer fans! Costa Rica scored 4 goals too. Holler! -John and I @ the game in our Costa Rica jerseys!

Last night at dinner we were sitting at the kitchen table and my host fam had 2 TV's on. They were watching the Latin America version of Dancing With The Stars, and dude-they.love.it! They had 2 TV's on. Not just one, but 2...of the same thing! I felt like I was in a movie. That's a weird way to explain it, but that's how I felt, and I loved it. Those have been some of my favorite nights at home...watching this dance show with my host fam.

Alright, so for the totally crappy part of the week. My friend Kate, my partner in crime, my sidekick, mi amiga- she was going back to the States this weekend for her brothers wedding in South Carolina. She was going to be staying at Jessie's house Thursday night because Jessie lives closer to the airport and was going to give Kate a ride early Friday morning. Anyways, Thursday night when Jessie and Kate were headed to Jessie's place they were stopped at a red light, and 3 dudes busted Jessie's side back window to her 4-Runner and stole Kate's entire bag. Her ENTIRE bag. The girls weren't hurt at all, the guys just wanted whatever they could get in the car that they could then get money for. Kate's passport was in her bag as well, so this threw a major curve ball in Kate flying out early the next morning. I couldn't even imagine even thinking about having to miss one of my sibblings wedding, and those were definitely thoughts Kate had. Jess and Kate went to the U.S. Embassy at 8 am on Fridway, when it opened, and God's favor was totally on them. They were there for 2 hours, and Kate walked out with a replacement Visa! Praise the Lord! Delta was super helpful too, and she was able to get on a flight at 1:30 that same day! I remember the feeling of when my camera got stollen...feeling totally helpless when the guy took it, and just completley bummed. I can't explain it other then bummed. And I can't even imagine Kate's emotions and feelings. She had her camera, passport, 400 bucks cash, and everything else in her bag stollen. I know it's all just material stuff, but come on- it totally stinks hard core. Satan is totally trying to attack. Kate knew it was going to be hard to come back after being surrounded by her entire family, and then this happens which does not make things annnnny easier. So...pray for Kate. Pray that she would be able to see the Lord in all of this and that her heart would feel at peace, and that she wouldn't live in fear while living here. She is so dear to me, and I'm so greatful that she is here with me.

SO yeah, that's been the week. Real Crazy. But it's a new week now, and His mercies are new every morning. I am being reminded that He is good always. Even when crap happens and life seems to be falling through the cracks. He.is.Good.

Breakfast of Champions...not!

Lately Luchy, my host mom, has been gone in the mornings when I wake up, but she is so sweet and always has breakfast waiting on the table for me. Here's what I had for breakfast this morning.
-The standard coffee and fruit (so delicious!)
-A croissant sandwich
and...
-Cake
Yes, I had cake for breakfast!!! I literally giggled out loud to myself when I saw it sitting on the table. It wasn't coffee cake or any sort of breakfast pastry. No no, it was cake with frosting and sprinkles! I think my host mom is catching onto the fact that I have a sweet tooth :)

Also, I have a confession to make. Sometimes in the morning when I'm eating breakfast by myself and I can't finish everything I give the rest of my food to the dogs. Costa Ricans always eat everything off of their plate because they don't like to waste food. If something is on a plate and has been served, they don't save it because it is considered "dirty." And I don't want to throw the food that I can't eat away in the trash because then my host mom will see it. And the kitchen sink...well...nothing really can go down it. So...when I can't eat everything I toss my extra food to the dogs. Today, I gave them each about 6 banana slices.Ruz (Bruce) and Freckles (Pecas)-they love me! Ok, I just really needed to get that off my chest!

And on a little more personal note... yesterday I realized I had 10 bug bites on my left butt cheek. 10! That is a lot of freaking bug bites. Ohhhhh Costa Rica!

An eventful week in the Rica

It's been quite the eventful week, so let me catch you up to speed!

-We had our 3rd basketball game on Tuesday. Lost by one point. Dangit. But the girls rallied, and they are getting better every game.

-We had Young Life club on Wednesday night, and it was awesome! I actually gave the talk at the end of club, and it was so fun. When I was prepairing throughout the week I keep finding myself being really nervous, and then I remembered that I freaking get to tell kids about Jesus! The talk was on the image of God. I talked about different images that people might have of God-misconceptions if you will, and then used Colossians 1:15 "Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God" to tell kids that to see who God really is we can look at the life of Jesus, because Jesus is God in the bod. (I think that was a run on sentence. Just go with me.) So club on Wednesday night...it was so fun, and so great! Booya!

-Thursday was the first time that I ran on the side of the highway. Mom if you're reading this, don't be mad! :) Here's the skinny. Kate and I took a bus to the mall to go see a movie. We've taken the bus there twice before, and I forgot for a second that this is Costa Rica and just because you have taken a bus somewhere before doesn’t necessarily mean other times are going to have the same end result. We were on the bus approaching our stop to get off. We could see the bridge that we use to cross the highway to get to the mall up in the distance. BUT THEN...our bus veers off of the highway and starts going on this side road in a totally different direction. Kate said "Oh no!" or something along those lines, and the guy next to her asked where she was going-"Adonde va?" Kate told him we were going to Tarramall, and he said "Get off now!" So we did. And we were left with two options-we could either walk along side of the highway, or run. So we ran our little hearts out because we wanted to get that experience over as fast as possible. I had pepper spray in my hand too...just to be safe! You might be thinking that we are crazy for running on the side of the highway, but really this is very, and I mean very, typical in Costa Rica. We see people all the time cruzin' along via bike or foot on the side of the stinking highway like it's no big deal, but I hope that was my one and only time. No me gusta.

-On Friday, Jessie, Kate, Fer, and I went to Arenal for the weekend. Arenal is a huge active volcano. Yes, I said active, and yes I was nervous the whole time that it was going to explode. All I know about volcanoes, thanks to elementary science fair projects, are that they erupt and hot lava comes gushing out often times killing people. Can you see why I was a little nervous? Good news though...I'm still alive! We had dinner Saturday night at the Arenal observatory restaurant where you can watch the volcano and the small eruptions. It was sweeet! Volcanoes. Man! They really are cool-mind blowing really. During the day on Saturday we went windsurfing. Let’s just say that I like wind surfing a million times more then actually surfing. It was challenging, but I was actually capable of doing it after a couple hours, unlike surfing where I just felt completely dominated and defeated. Wind Surfing...check!



-Oh and last but not least, this week I came up with my Halloween costume! Chaaaa-ching!

Oh so delicious!

Ok now here is something to write home about.
THEY HAVE HONEY GRAHAM Oh'S CEREAL HERE IN COSTA RICA!!!!! Holy Cow! Oh's are by far my favorite cereal...ever! And they have them...here in the Rica! There's a grocery store here called Auto Mercado and it has a ton of imported goods from the US. The first time I was at Auto Mercado I went straight to the cereal isle in hopes that they would have my beloved cereal of choice. They didn't. Womp womp. I continued to look at other Auto Mercados- again only being disappointed in the fact that there were no Oh's. What the heck, Oh's are the best. Every country should have Oh's in their grocery stores. BUT yesterday we were cruisin' down the cereal isle I screamed with excitement at the sight of the yellow box. I was with Jessie and Kate, and I think Jessie was a little freaked out by my random screaming, and the fact that I sceamed about cereal. My bad Jessie. I was just super excited! Another little known fact about me, I love cereal. Like really really love it! Kate knows my love for Oh's so she was very excited with me! I stared up in amazement like a little kid in a toy store. They were on the top shelf, so I reached up with great joy and took the box down to stare at it even closer! I couldn't believe it. Oh's!

Wedding Bells and Trumpets

So I went to my first Costa Rican wedding this past weekend! It was pretty awesome!
Guess how long it was.
If you guessed 7 hours, you are right!! Sorry you don't win a prize or anything, but nice job for being a good guesser! And that wasn't a typo. It was for real s-e-v-e-n hours long. The ceremony was a solid two hours followed by a five hour reception. These people do not mess around! The two hour Catholic ceremony was all in Spanish, naturally, so I sat there for 2 hours and had no idea what was going on. I would laugh when people laughed, stood up when they all stood up (there was a lot of standing up and then sitting down going on) and other than that I was kind of off in my own little world...for two hours. Funny thing about the ceremony was that the Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Bride, and Groom all sat in chairs. I don't blame them. I sure as heck woudn't want to stand for two hours. That is a looong time.

Then the party got started at the reception! The reception might I add was niiice. Beautiful table arrangements. Awesome venue. It was just all around classy... with a hint of pizzaz!

So we got there, mingled for a while at our assigned tables, had a toast with sparkling apple cider (which I forgot was so delicious) and then went through a buffet line to get food. There was salad, mashed potatoes, fish and beef. It was all so good! Like really really good! After we were done eating, we were all served cake. Then...the party really got started! Maga and Mau (the Bride and Groom) kicked it off with their slow dance. About half way through the slow dance the music so casually switched to the song "I like to Move it Move it" and they did in fact move it! It was awe-some, so hilarious, and so unexpected!

After that I got suckered into dancing. Little known fact about me. I don't really looove to dance. I mean, I like it. It's fine. It's whatever. I just don't absolutley loooove it. But like I said I got suckered into it by a 50 year old lady named Sharon from Texas who I had just met. Everyone on the dance floor was salsa dancing, and yeahI know I've been in dance class since I've been here, but I was still nervous/embarrassed and definitely didn't want to go dance. I was for real being peer pressured like woahhh by freaking Sharon. She said "You're a Gringa, you're from the U.S., you have an excuse to be bad." And oldly enough that was enough to convince me! So I made my way out to the dance floor with Uncle John and shook what my momma gave me...in a salsa dancing kind of way!

Here's the impressive part though about the reception. A little while after we had cake, there was an announcement that the chocolate fountain was open! Heck yes! Every good wedding reception needs a chocolate fountain! Am I right or am I right? After the chocolate fountain we all got served coffee. Costa Ricans love their coffee...and so do I. Then after the coffee we were served little scone type things-4 of them. AND then after the scones we were served a different kind of cake. The food just kept coming, and it was incredible! Costa Ricans really know how to do weddings. Oh and I almost forgot,...there was a surprise. A mariachi band came strollin' in...trumpet and all! A freaking mariachi band? Are you kidding me! Sweet! The dancing continued and then all of a sudden it was 5:00pm. Mind you, the wedding started at 10:00am so this was definitely a full day gig.

There you have it! That was my first Costa Rican wedding experience! Here of some pictures from the glorious occasion courtesy of Kate Loyd's camera!

All the Gringo leaders- John, Jessie, Kate, and myself. Woop Woop!

The Bride and Groom at the 2 hour ceremony. Sheesh!

The mariachi band with the Bride and Groom!
Kate and I with my Host mom. Mamma Luchy! I love her!

I wear my sunglasses at night. And during the day. And especially when it's raining!

Here is my greatest fear about living in Costa Rica.

Are you ready for it?

-Getting an eye poked out by an umbrella.

For real, legitamit fear. Yesterday when I left my house in route to the office it was clear, and then two minutes later it was a torrential downpour. Annnnd I still had a 25 minute walk to the office. Awesome. And really, I totally thought my umbrella would have offered way better protection. Nope, I was still soaked. I think I'm gonna invest in a full body poncho. I don't know why I say invest.-I don't think those suckers are very expensive, but an investment sounds mature and grown up! Hey Mom, do we still have those ones from Disney World? You know, the yellow ones with a big Mickey Mouse face on them? I mean I wouldn't stick out as a Gringa in that baby! Yeaaaah....riiiight! Oh p.s. there are two seasons here in Costa Rica...rainy season and not rainy season, also known as dry season. Yeah, it's rainy season right now. So...yesterday was the first time that I realized how freaking difficult it is to walk on a super skinny sidewalk with an umbrella when everyone else and their mom has an umbrella too. It was a challenge, and I was nervous and scared all at the same time. Scared that I would bump into somone or knock their umbrella. And nervous...well...I'm not really sure why. I was just nervous. Later that day I told John how hard it was walking to the office and he said..and I quote,"Yeah, I wear my sunglasses just to be safe. I don't wanna get an eye poked out!" I thought he was just being funny. Ohhhh no, he wasn't. He's serious...and very smart. I never thought about getting an eye poked out...until today. After John made that comment that's all I could think about while walking this afternoon. It was a pretty paranoid walk-I just kept visioning myself simply strolling along and then BAM, eyeball gone because it got poked by the little pokey part of the umbrella. Talk about a rought way to loose an eye. "Oh you know, just the standard umbrella accident, no biggie!" Noooo thank you! So there you have it...my greatest fear here in Costa Rica. I still don't like spiders, especially HUGE ones in my room, but come on umbrellas...who would have thought I would be scared of umbrellas?

Other things going on besides new phobias of mine...

-We had Young Life club last night. It was sweet! Had a handful of new kids there! Oh and then I got a random text message from Kate this afternoon that said "Oh my gosh. We might have head lice!! SHIT." Apparently some kids went home from Country Day School (the other international school) today with head lice. And one of the kids who was at club last night is one of the kids who has lice. I'll let you know if I get it. I hope I don't. I already had it once. In first grade. I should totally be exempt from ever having it again. Right?!

-We had our second basketball game yesterday. We lost, but...they scored 19 points! This is big time! The second half the girls played a ton better, and I'm excited to see this team grow. Oh and Sam, the chick who just moved here from China who has never played basketball before, is a freaking shooter! Girl had like 12 points! Holy cow! I was so excited for her!

-I feel like the Lord is teaching me a ton right now. Don't know how to really put it into words, but I feel it. And I like it! Being stripped of everything comfortable when coming somewhere new, especially a different country where everything is new (laungage, customs, ect...) has totally opened my eyes to see our Father in fresh ways. Me gusta!

-I have a TV in my room. This is a recent addition, and something I have really come to love! I usually don't watch a ton of TV, but man it's so nice to be able to come home, lay on my bed, and simply not have to think. Being around Spanish for a long period of time is ex-haus-ting, and by the end of the day it's so nice to go into my room and relax. AND...I GET TO WATCH THE DENVER NEWS! I know, it's weird and I have no idea how it works, but somehow Costa Rica gets local Denver news. Channel 9,7, and 4! I feel like I'm right at home. It's kinda weird because I'm not at home...I'm actually in a whole different country, but I love it!!!

Chicken dinner & laughter...and lots of it!

Dinner tonight was..how do I say it...awesome! The food was good like always, because Luchy is a bomb cook, but tonight we all laughed so much! Man, I love that there is no language barrier when it comes to laughter. Both dogs, Pecas (Freckles) and Bruce (Bruce Willas) each sit right next to me, hoping that the new girl will drop a crumb... or a chicken leg. Yes, a chicken leg...it's been done before. Those suckers are slippery! Anyways...I love that they sit so close to the table for two reasons. A.) They remind me of my dogs that are such beggers-always begging for "people food" and B.) I love that they sit right next to me because I can pet them when I don't know what to do/say, or whenever I feel awkward. Dinners are typically pretty silent, because there is only so much that we can all say for eachother to understand. This is why I like that the dogs sit close because I can pet them when I don't know say...which is 70% of any meal. Tonight halfway through dinner Lisa looked at Pecas and said "Bad dog Pecas!" Let me give you a little run down on the two dogs real quick. Pecas is the old, sweet, cute dalmation. And then there is Bruce, who is a huge, rambunctions Lab that is always trying to jump on me. Lisa explained how Pecas had eaten a bill a little bit earlier. She ate 10 mil, which is equivelent to a 20 dollar bill. Ok, come on, that's kinda funny. I mean, it's not, but it is. A little bit. The precious old dalmation ate a twenty dollar bill. So we talked about that for a couple minutes until we ran out of things to say. It got quiet, and we continued to eat in silence. THEN, oh man, it was so perfect, Pecas let one rip. I mean, I know dogs fart. And believe me, I've smelt these dogs fart before, but never in my whole entire life have I heard a dog fart like this one. My best friends mom, Nancy (holler atchya' Nacny!), has this Dr. Fart machine that makes the perfect fart noises. And it was like Nancy was in the room, and on cue pushed the fart button, and out came a squeeky little perfectly juicy fart...from Pecas...the dog! :) We all lost it. Laughed so hard. I speak English, and they speak Spanish, but when a dog farts like that it's something we all understand. And clearly we understood that it was freaking hilarious!



One last quick story. I've been sick for almost 3 weeks now. Yeah total bumski, but I think I'm about to kick this sickness to the curb. Helllllo healthy self! Anyways, I had a really bad cough last week. I mean nasty-it was gross. I still have a little bit of a cough, but it's not as bad, and I think it's finally the end of it. Anyways...last week at dinner I coughed, and then Luchy ran to go get the Spanish-English dictionary. She looked up the word rub, and then said something in Spanish to Lisa, who then translated to me in English. Lisa said that Luchy heard me caughing in the middle of the night last night, and that she can rub me tonight if I want. I instantly thought of Vicks vapor rub stuff, and thought that would be great to rub some of that stuff on tonight to help me not cough during the night. I said "Si, gracias" and that was kinda the end of that conversation. Fastforward a couple hours to when I was saying goodnight. I did the side of the cheek kissy thing, said "Buenas noches. Hasta mañana," and then headed to my room. I forgot all about the conversation we had at dinner about rubbing, and as as I was walking down the hallway to my room Lisa goes "Do you want my mom to rub you?" All along the Vicks vapor rub stuff really did sound good-very soothing, but in that moment I had a little freak out, I panicked. I thought to my self, what if Luchi wasn't talking about vapor rub stuff, and was just going to rub me. I mean Lisa did say "Do you want my mom to rub you?" I was flustered. "Ughhhh....ughhhh...I'll be fine tonight, maybe tomorrow night if it gets worse!" And that was that. No rubbing took place. But I did cough a lot. Better to be safe then sorry-that's how I like to play it! So tonight at dinner (I think it was after the dog farted) I coughed, and then got really nervous that Luchi was going to run over and get the Spanish-English dictionary again to tell me she can rub me. No gracias! :)

Miss O.

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Let me just tell you about my day yesterday. Ahhh, it was so sweet! I GOT TO SUBSTITUTE TEACH FOR P.E. CLASSES AT LINCOLN!!! Can you tell the excitement in my voice by the all caps?!? Seriously, I love P.E. I mean...I kinda went to college for it! :) And here I am in Costa Rica, doing ministry, and at the same time getting to substitute for P.E. classes! God, thanks for knowing my heart so well! Holy freaking Cow! Kate and I did it together which was so cool. It was totally tag team, double duo, team dynomite style. And dang, talk about an awesome way to meet kids! My favorite story from yesterday is when Kate was talking to some girls and she asked them if they have ever heard of Wyld Life, and one 6th grader was like "Yeah, it's that TV show right?" Hilarious...but no! And I know I've said this before, but I looove how Lincoln allows Young Life leaders to be so present on campus. The day before John, Kate, and I all refereed an 8th and 9th grade basketball tournament. I'm not a very good ref by the way! During the games I had the whistle in my mouth the whole time to try and cover up my smiling and laughing. It was so cool to be able to be around the entire 8th and 9th grades at Lincoln. Now it's just a matter of getting them to come to Young Life and Wyld Life :)

So like I said, yesterday...it was sweet! But, it got better! After school we had basketball practice, and then afterwards Brooke Burns (who is from Texas and is on YL committee here) picked Kate and I up, along with her kids Austin and MaryBeth (who are such studs!) and we headed back to the Burns's house for dinner and a good ol' slumber party! Slumber fiesta (that's my spanglish for you!) I seriously love this family. They are so wonderful, and Brooke reminds me so much of my dear friend Allison Rhode. I love being around Brooke because I feel like I'm at home hanging out with Al. Seriously, I'm convinced that they are the same person. They're both so stinkin' sweet and so easy and fun to be around! Brooke asked me last night if my Spanish has gotten better since being here, and I think it has. The judge of this is the fact that I haven't had any more second dinners at 10:30pm, so... YES, my Spanish has gotten a lot better thank you very much! Plus, I did happen to snag the "Idiots Guide To Learning Spanish on Your Own" from their bookshelf so things are only looking up my friends, and I will be fluent in a matter of weeks...ok, maybe months!

Speaking of Spanish, here are two very important Spanish vocab words for you guys to know. Maracuyá and mamón chino. Ok, technically that's three words, but whatever. These are two of my absolute favorite things so far in Costa Rica. For real, I dream about these things... in a totally normal, non weird way. The first, Maracuýa, is passion fruit juice, and oh.my.gosh. it is delicious. SOOO SOOO good, and very refreshing might I add! The best juice I have ever had in my entire life. The little ´ guy means you have to put more stress on that letter. So it sounds like Mara-cu-JA. John had to tell me how to say it about 10 times, and then I would repeat it to him. He told me I was saying it right, but just try not to sound angry when I pronounce it. Woops, sorry waitress, I'm not angry at you when I'm ordering the most delicous drink ever, I'm just really really excited...and trying really hard to put more stress on the letter that the little ´ is on. Sorry. And last but not least, mamón chino is a crazy looking fruit that taste like candy! No joke, candy! MaryBeth Burns calls them dragon eyes because they have this funky lookin' spikey red outside skin that you have to peel. The tasty little gem is on the inside. It's slimmy kinda like a peeled grape, and there is a seed on the inside of the slimmyness. So... you bite the slimmy grape like candy deliciousness off the seed, and then you eat a million more because they are that good!
Here is what they look like.....

Crazy lookin' huh?

Alright, this is all for now!

Ohhhhhh wait, I almost totally forgot to post about dia de la independencia. Holy cow. Well, the parade got cancelled because of the dumb Swine Flu. Womp Womp. But we did have a BBQ, so that was bueno! I think the best part about the day was that I got to sleep till 10, because I didn't get woken up by the stupid egg man. The egg who? Yes, the egg man. I'm sure he's not stupid, he's probably really great, he is just stupid when he wakes me up at the butt crack of dawn selling eggs. Every morning he drives around with a microphone, a really loud annoying microphone, and sells eggs. All I hear bright and early is Huevos Huevos blah blah blah dumb dumb blah Huevos. BUT NOT ON DIA DE LA INDEPENDENCIA! He took the day off, and it was wonderful! The end.

Much love.

You wanna go to the mall? Sure!

Given the fact that it's past 10, I would typically be asleep by now (I'm kinda a grandma here and go to bed usually around um...9:45 ish), but it's Independence Day eve and I can't sleep because I'm so excited! Little known fact about me... I.LOVE.INDEPENDENCE.DAY! That's right, you heard me...I love it! I pretty much get two 4th of July's in one year...kinda, except one is in September! But you get the point. Ahhh, so excited!

Today Kate and I were leaving the Young Life office, and we on a whim decided to catch a bus to the mall. We had been to the mall this past weekend to see a movie, and were pretty sure we knew how to get back there, so we thought what the heck! And, we made it...with out the slightest little problem! I mean...we have been here for a month now, we're almost pros! So the mall...it was nice. Neither of us have any money to shop, but we did however have some dolla dolla bills for some tasty tasty food! Really you can't pass up milkshakes, Cinnabon, and carmel popcorn on a Monday afternoon. OH MY GOSH, it was delicious!

Here were some of my observations while we were at the mall...
-Barney is still cool here in Costa Rica. Go figure! Yeah, the last time I saw a Barney stuffed animal in the States was maybe in 1994? Probably the same time that I saw balloon inside ballons that had stuffed animals inside of them. Remember those? Yeah, well...those are still cool in CR too!
-We walked into this really fancy looking boutique. It was small, and did I mention fancy? And then I realized it was a Forever 21. What? XXI in Costa Rica? I'm not used to seeing small, fancy, non crowded Forever 21's. It was mind blowing, and way more expencive. No me gusta.
-While you are shopping in stores employees follow you around like a freaking hawk. Not kidding...a hawk! And then they would ask me questions, and I clearly had no idea what they were saying, so I followed up with the go to safe reply...no gracias!
-Oh this isn't an observation, just a excited fact. I found light up shoes that fit me. You know, the ones that 8 year old boys wear that light up when they walk. Yeah...those ones! Found them, and they fit! They had superhero's on them, and they.were.awesome! I had to remind myself of my needs vs. wants, so I didn't end up getting them, although I'm still kinda convinced they would be rather life changing.
-Trapper Keepers are coming back in style ladies and gentlemen! Yep, they had Roxy ones, Volcom ones, and Billabong ones! Trapper Keepers!!! Bring back the 90's!!! (Seriously, between the trapper keepers, Barney stuffed animals, and balloons inside balloons, I felt like I was reliving my childhood...except in Costa Rica!)

Alright, it's wayyyy past my bed time! I'm off to dream of dia de la Independencia! Oh believe me... you will hear all about it :)

¡buenas noches! abrazos y besos! (good night! hugs and kisses!)

A Week of Firsts!

That's right, it's been a week of firsts in many ways. This past week we had our 1st Young Life club, 1st Wyld Life club, and 1st basketball game! I have one word to sum up the week....INCREDIBLE!

Young Life and Wyld Life were so great! We did one of my favorite games at YL...the good ol'....fish goust! For those of you not familure, here's how it works. There are 4 teams. Each team consists of a guy and a girl. The guys have a pair of panty hose over their head, and inside the panty hose is a egg. The girl is on the guys back...piggy back style, and the goal is to try and smash other teams eggs. You might ask how are they supposed to do this?! Well....with a fish of course! This is hilarious. The girls are flinging around these huge raw fish trying to smash an egg on a guys head! Fish goust....it's so great!

The thing I love about the ministry of YL is that everything is so intentional. We don't just do these fun games just for the heck of it. Granted kids like things that are fun, and fish gousting is definitely F.U.N. but these games are done to break down walls, so that kids can clearly hear the gospel. Jessie spoke that night and she rocked it! She showed a clip of Susan Boyle perform on Britains Got Talent, and talked about how we have preconcieved notions about people...especially Jesus. She challenged the kids to think differently this semester, and and to come and see what He is really about.

Wyld Life was on Friday night, and holy cow. That's all I have to say. Holy Cow! The club was themed "Costa Rican Snow Storm." There were 50 crazy middle schoolers there, and the energy was so intense! You could feel Jesus's presence there that night! We of course did a lot of crazy games, sang really fun songs, and then after the talk had a "snow ball fight" with shaving cream and marshmallows! It was rediculous. Soren, who graduated high school last year, gave the talk and dude, he BROUGHT IT! Man, he freaking brought it! I'm so impressed by him. He's such a stud. Max Lucado (a Christian author) has a childrens book called "You are Special" and it's about a Wemmick named Punchinello. Wemmicks are wooden puppets made by Eli the Woodcarver. They live in Wemmicksville, not far from Eli's workshop, and they treat each other pretty much like humans treat each other. Wemmicks walk around and give other Wimmick gold stars for doing something really good, or boring grey dots if they mess up, or aren't very good at something. Punchinello is chipped and ugly, and has lots of grey dots. One day he sees another Wimmeck that has no stickers at all. Punchinello asked her how in the world she has no dots and she told him that she visits her maker, Eli, everyday and he and he removes her dots. Like I said, this was is a childrens story, but Soren did such an incredible job capitvating the kids attention. He then used scripture to tell the kids how special they are, and that God even knows how many hairs we have on our head! Ahhh, I don't think this talk could have gone any better. Middle school kids are totally looking to find their identity and to be reasured of who they are. How cool that Jesus uses us to tell them that they are His Beloved, and they are special the way they are!

Ok, and then there was the basketball game on Thursday! Oh man, I love this team! We lost, but it was a real nail bitter! The final score was 15-10. We scored 10 points! This is huge! 10 points! Oh my gosh, seeing how excited the girls were when they scored was absoulutley insane! I loved it!!! Gloriana, an 8th grader scored twice, and dude, she was soooo excited! I couldn't stop smiling for her!

Other first for the week... It was the first time I payed for my cell phone bill. It was 11 dollars, and I paid for it at a pharmacy. Crazy. It was my first time having Burger King here. Thought we would mix it up a little bit from the typical McDonalds! It was my first time watching a movie with my host mom. We watched P.S. I Love you...in her bed. Surprisingly it wasn't awkward, and surprisingly I didn't cry! It was my first time going to a movie with Wyld Life girls! We saw The Proposal, and it was so much fun! It was my first time taking a taxi to church with Kate. It was a nightmare... dude got lost, and it was just frustrating as all get out not being able to tell him where to go. And...yesterday marked my first month of being here in Costa Rica! It's gone by so fast! I'm practically a Tica now right?!¿¡?

¡Pura Vida!

Randomness but Goodness... and Funnness. Funnnes, I just made that word up!

There are 3 things I am very greatful for.....
1.) God's Grace
2.) My family
and.....
3.) The fact that I'm not a P.E. teacher right now, because I eat McDonalds twice a week here, and enjoy it.... thoroughly!

Yep, that's right. You heard me. And I know, that's gross. But at the same time, it's soooo so good! McDonalds. Who would have thought that I would love it so much? Not me, that's for sure. I eat McDonalds maybe, mayyyybe 4 times a year back in the States, and that's a stretch, but for some reason Kate and I crave it here. I think maybe because we get sick of the typical rice and beans, and want somthing you know..a little more... American! I think another reason why I love going there is that it's so easy to order. I feel so helpless walking into a restaurant and not knowing how to order in Spanish, but at McDonalds is pretty dang simple. Dos hamburguesas con queso y papas fritas por favor. Yeah, so lets just hope I can kick this bad habbit by the time I get back to the U.S, or maybe a little sooner, because I don't want to be that P.E. teacher who is teaching about fitness and health, and then is chompin' away at McDonalds twice a week. So yeah...I'm greatful I'm not a P.E. teacher right now, because for the time being I'm gonna chomp away. Don't judge :)

Other stuff going on besides being slighltly obsessed with hamburguesas con queso....

The other day Kate and I were in the YL office. Our office area is upstairs. Maga, the director of YL for Costa Rica, came upstairs with her fiancé, Mao, and started talking to Kate and myself. She was talking in Spanish, so of course I didn't understand, and then next thing you know Kate was sooo excited! "Yes, yes! Of course! That's awesome! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!" I was clueless, had no idea what was going on...pretty typical for me here. Kate turned to me excitedly and told me that Maga and Mao wanted to invite us to their wedding at the end of the month! Then I had the same reaction as Kate, very excited....just a little delayed! And by a little, I mean like a solid 30 seconds! :)
HOLY COW, WE ARE GOING TO OUR FIRST COSTA RICAN WEDDING!!!!!!!!! HOW COOL!!! I LOVE WEDDINGS! And I'm hoping my dance classes will pay off at the reception!

Other quick story. I have loved everything about my host families house so far...until yesterday. I've never been scared, and have felt totally comfortable (awkward on the other hand...I've totally felt awkward) up until this last night. I'll paint the scene for you. I was about to go to bed, and I have these curtains in my room that my host mom, Luchi, opens up everyday. And then at night, I close them so that the light dosen't wake me up real early. I went to untie the curtain and no joke, half a foot away (which was wayyyy to close for my own comfort) was the hugest spider I have ever seen in my life. Not even kidding, this sucker was HUGE! And...hairy! And....disgusting. And did I mention HUGE? I freaked out. Usually I'm not afraid of spiders, unless they are the size of my face. I had no idea what to do, so I called Kate! I just needed some support. You know, a little guidance on how to kill the largest spider I've ever seen. She told me to get a shoe and hit it off of the curtains, and then smash it! So I tried...but not only was that sucker HUGE, it was freaking fast. I tried getting it on the ground, because I dind't want spider guts all over my host mom's perfectly clean white curtains, but the spider scurried up to the top of the curtains. At this point I really had no idea what to do since I couldn't reach the top of the curtains, and I by no means wanted to try to hit the spider and it fall on my head. So...I pulled out my Spanish/English dictionary and looked up a couple words that I would try to tell my host mom. The words were...help, kill, spider. Pretty basic, and right to the point. That's how I roll! I thought if she heard those words she could get the gist of what was going on. She was on the phone though, and I didn't want to go interupt. I heard my host brother in the bathroom taking a shower! "Oh gosh, this is perfect!" I thought. I'll just have Tacho kill the HUGE spider. He's a dude, he will find pure joy out of this, and so will I because I wont have to kill it! I was waiting on my bed, so that I could see him walk out of the bathroom door, but then Luchi came walking down the hall right towards me. She smiled, like she always does, and in panic, I just said BIG spider...in English. Yeah yeah, I had been practicing how to say help kill spider in Spanish for the last 5 minutes, but this was no time for messing around. Luchi understood me!!! Thank you Jesus, because that could have been much more dificult! She ran to go get some bug spray, and then banged on the door to get Tacho! With in 2 minutes the spider was gone. Dead! No longer existing...in my room! I really cannot express to you how happy I was. Happy dosen't do my emotions justice when I saw that HUGE, fast, hairy, HUGE spider, dead. My room was sprayed down with bug spray in a matter of seconds! Thank you Luchi and Tacho for saving my life and not letting the spider eat me in the middle of the night.

Woops!

For a second in time I thought I was catching onto this whole Spanish thing...until the other night. Kate and I, along with our new Texas friends, were walking into a restaurant for dinner, and there was a lovely fella welcoming us at the door. He so kindly said "¡Hola!" and I naturally replied "¡Gracias!" I wasn't even phased for a good couple seconds, until I finally realized how our conversation went down-he said "Hello!" and I replied "Thank you!"

Frick-I got mugged!

Yep, that's right. I freaking got mugged. I guess that's what you call it. Kate and I spent that last 4 days in Montezuma. It's this small beach town right on the ocean. Totally has a hippie vibe, and I totally loved it. Except for that one time my camera got jacked from me. I'll give you the skinny, but this is going to be the clean censored version, because during it all I was cussing...a whole lot.

The first full day Kate and I were in Montezuma we decided to go up to the Montezuma falls. It's just a short walk outside of town to the trail head, and then you have to do this pretty treterous climb up the river to the waterfalls. The river is shallow, but rocks are everywhere and those mothers are slippery. Real slippery. So we are treckin' along, scaling those rocks like it's our j.o.b. We pass a guy (a tico) who was coming from the other direction. He said hi, and so Kate asked him if we were getting close. He was totally helpful and told us it was just a little farther. Two seconds later I slip on a rock, and in I go. Gash up my knee, loose my sunglasses, and my whole body is in the river. Frick. I handed my camera to Kate, which had been slightly submerged into the water, and she dried it off for me with her t-shirt. The nice guy we just passed came back to ask if I was ok. A little embarrased I told him I was fine, and just slipped on the rock. He headed back in the opposite direction, Kate hands me my camera, and we headed for the falls once again. Thirty seconds later, I hear footsteeps behind me. As I look back the "nice" guy grabs my wrist forcefully and says "Give me your camera." I seriously couldn't believe this was happining. You're supposed to be nice dude, what the hell. Why the frick are you stealing my camera? I said firmly "NO!" But then he pulled my wrist again, this time more towards him and he demanded again that I give him my camera. He was bigger then me, and I felt real threatened. I handed him the camera with out even trying to do the standard kick him in the balls move. After I handed my beloved new nice precious camera over, he was gone. I felt so helpless. I didn't scream. I didn't punch him. I didn't know what to do. I didn't even know how to yell in spanish "Get back here you f-ing asshole!" (That's exactly what was going through my mind. And like I said, this is the clean, explicit free version...for the most part.) The crappy thing is that he didn't even know I had a camera until after I fell, and saw us drying it off. Dannngit! Hows that saying go...don't trust a wolf that looks like a sheep? Yeah, I got straight up screwd by the sheep look alike.

Looking up though, I guess I don't have to worry about getting my camera stollen now. Man, I was so bummed though, for a solid couple hours. I can't think of another word other than bummed. Just straight up BUMMED. I had no emotion what so ever. We never even made it to the waterfall. After the whole getting my camera stollen situation, we headed back to town because in my camera case I also had my debit card and 3,000 colones. I only had about 60 bucks on my debit card, which I cancelled right away, and I'm really hoping that my camera dosen't even work from water damage from falling into the river. Then the freaking bastard would only be left with 3,000 colones, which is equivelent to 6 bucks. We went to a resturaunt on the beach to get a drink. All I wanted was a smoothie (and my mom) to drown my sorrows. The smoothie was delicious, so that helped.

Like I said, other than getting my camera stollen Montezuma was really great. Here are some things that I totally loved about the trip.
-We got to met so many awesome people from all over the world. Our first night at our hostel we met a group of 4 guys from Argentina. They were so fun, and so cool. And one of them, Diego, loved Kate, which I trulley enjoyed every second watching him interact with her! :) Hilarious. We sat around a table, talked for a couple hours, and then they made us dinner-at 10 pm. We all ate family style and enjoyed each others company. It was awesome. We headed down to the beach afterwards and had a bonfire with about 20 other young adults (I guess that's what I'm considered now being a college graduate and all. Young adult...yeah!) We also met some sweet chicks from Isreal, Sigert-a 24 year old dude who is a fisherman up in Alaska, our new friends from Texas-Kelsey, Amber, Lauren, and Dan, the "Honeymooners" from ATL, Kim and Brittany from Canada, Anna from London, and a rather intreaging older couple-Lynn (he's a dude) and Karen from Costa Rica. We had lots of cool conversations with these people. And here was probably my favorite part about the town of Montezuma. It's small. There is the main street that backs right up to the ocean, there are shops, hostels, one bar, and restaurants, and that's about it. And... you see everyone... everywhere. And it's awesome! Everyone would either wave, or stop to talk. We were there for 3 full days and after day 1 it felt like we were townies, because everywhere we went we saw someone we knew. So fun!
Lets see what else...
-We went snorkeling! We took a boat over to Tortuga Island, which was freaking insanely beautiful, and went snorkeling. We snorkeld in two spots, and then had lunch on the island, and layed out...in lawn chairs!!! Kate and I have were very excited about the chairs! Kate had never been snorkeling before, and as we were about to get off the boat and into the ocean, she asked kind of confused, "So...we just bob there?" For some reason it was hilarious, but not as hilarious as when a we saw our first school of fish swim past us, and she freaked out. I was like "Dude, that's snorkeling. You watch fish swim by" but she wasn't a huge fan :) We were laughing in the water for a solid three minutes!
-We hung out with our Texas friends almost the whole time we were there! Kelsey and Amber moved from Austin 4 months ago. They are teaching English in San Jose! So we will get to hang out a lot, which is super fun! And their two friends in town from Texas, Lauren and Dan, were a blast!
-Diego, the guy who was in love with Kate, asked if she was a woman of the church. He thought she was a nun. People, come on-that.is.hilarious! A nun!
-The first night we went to go check into our hostel, and they told us they accidentally gave our room that we had reserved away. They said that they had one room left...the honeymoon suite, and we would only be charged the rate of the initial room we had booked! I know what you're thinking. Honeymoon suite...awesome! NO! More like-Honeymoon suite...shit hole! It was a joke. Every other room in that hostel was wayyy nicer then the honeymoon suite. There were lots of bugs (we had to sleep with the bug net around us) and it was just straight up nasty, and not to mention tiny. We had a queen bed to share and that was all that was in the room. There wasn't space for anything else. When we walked in there was bird poop on the bed. Vom. So, we go to check out early the next morning, on a mission to find any place better then the "honeymoon suite" and the lady was baffled that we wanted to leave. She kept saying in a funny accent "But, you don't like the honeymoon suite?" NOOOOO woman, we don't like the freaking honeymoon suite. Peace out! So we headed to Hotel Montezuma, paid 3 bucks more a night, each had our own queen bed, had a bathroom in our room, our own kitchen, air conditioning, and there were no bugs! It felt like we were staying in the freaking Ritz Carlton-for only 18 bucks a night! Don't mind if I do!
-One other quick funny story about the honeymoon suite. I woke up early that morning to something falling onto me. Good thing we had the bug net around us, or else it would have landed right on my chest. Startled, I layed up, and flicked it away fearing it was some giant spider. But as I flicked it away, I thought "Oh, it's only a Pringle." I went back to bed, and both Kate and I woke up 20 minutes later. I wasn't totally conscious yet, and I told her a Pringle had fallen on me earlier. She was confused. "A Pringle Lis?" I matter-of-factly replied yes, and leaned down to the ground to pick it up to show her. Nope. It was actually a leaf. For some reason though when I woke up startled, it didn't seem weird at all that a pringle chip had somehow mysteriously fallen from the sky and landed on my chest. A PRINGLE. What was I thinking?

It was a good long weekend, but it was nice to get back home to San Jose. Our friend Fernando, who is a layer and leads Young Life with us, offered to pick us up at the bus stop so we wouldn't have to take a taxi home. And...he had Dr. Pepper waiting for us. Seriously, he is awesome! Now I'm home and stoked beyond belief to get this week started. Young Life and Wyld Life start this week, and we have our first basketball game! Can't wait to post more and tell you all the ways God is working down here. Thanks for reading, thanks for your support, thanks for your prayers, and I love you all!

Hasta Luego!