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!