Auntie Barb suggested that I make my posts shorter and more frequent so this is my first try. I also want to take this time to send a shout out to my uncle Jeff in Madison, I know he reads this :)
First of all lots of people ask me what I plan to do with my engineering degree. Pretty much every member of every group that visits the project asks me that. Also, all Costa Ricans think that because I've already got my bachelor's, I've got my life figured out. As Dwight from the office would say, "False!" The frank answer is I have no idea. I like teaching, but I really don't want to be a slave to research while trying to sneak in some meaningful teaching at the University level. I can't really see myself in a classroom of high-schoolers either - that seems terrifying. I like engineering, solving problems, and making things work better but I somehow can't see myself sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day to make the perfect all-weather tire or ideal lawnmower for a big company. How does that benefit mankind? I usually answer them that I have a unique conglomerate of interests and talents and that I'll know the opportunity or niche God has for me when I see it. (I also think I used two SAT words in that last sentence.)
Yesterday afternoon a group arrived from UGA Wesley. They're so far proving to be very hard workers and lots of fun. It's nice to have more college-age kids to hang out with who are at the same age-of-many-life-choices as I am.
Brian's girlfriend and my good friend Rosa is also visiting right now. Yaaaay! We're keeping her busy with little outings and she's also helping with the team. Yanira is also thrilled to have another girl in the house, and one who can keep pace with her in Spanish! It's also great for me to have a close girlfriend to talk to who has known me for more than just a few months. That's one of the hardest things about being here for me - no other unmarried English-speaking girls to talk to. And let's face it, sometimes boys have about as much ability to sympathize as a tree stump. Ha. Don't tell them I said that.
Alrighty well my best student Victor just arrived and even though we're both really tired from construction all day, he will learn sine, cosine, radians, and the unit circle today. Anyone else interested in signing up for classes?
Love,
-Julie
Monday, March 9, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Always new experiences
Alright y'all (I think every other American volunteer is from the south and it's rubbed off), someone finally wrote “update your blog, woman!” on my facebook so… I oblige.
I will first fill in on my life lately and then backtrack to tell you about Panama and the Camp I went to.
Last week there was a team here from Franklin Crossroads Baptist Church. It's the church of Steve Thomas's mom so it's especially exciting to have them here. They are focusing more on evangelism than the construction that most teams do.
We did a lot of children’s activities, including one for about 200 children in a squatter's village. It's basically a refugee camp of illegal Nicaraguans, El Salvadorians, and other impoverished people who build their houses out of scrap pieces. It's an area of extreme poverty with very high rates of drug use and prostitution, even among children. Here is a picture I discreetly took while trying not to get mugged for my camera:
The activity included face painting, crafts, games, songs, a drama, and a Biblical message. I was translating and painting faces the whole time and helping out in the crafts area. I have to tell you all, I had a first-time experience: I painted a little red heart on a baby's face WHILE it was breastfeeding. Yep, you read that right. But what was I going to do when the mom saw I was painting children's faces and wanted her baby's face painted, nevermind that I had to paint like an inch away from … well, a nipple? It's a weird image but a good example of how in a different country and culture you end up doing things you'd never normally do - but in those situations you just do it with a smile on your face and the love of Jesus in your heart, tell the woman how beautiful her baby is, and then write all about it on your blog.
Last Saturday we did an activity in a rehabilitation center for prostitutes. One member of the team from Franklin Crossroads shared her testimony about being sexually abused as a child, how her husband was put in jail for murder, and how shortly thereafter she had a miscarriage at 6 months. These are obviously really bad things to have happen in life, but I was so glad that she had a testimony that the recovering prostitutes could relate to. Most of us don’t. How condescending would it seem for the average North American woman to tell a room full of “used and abused” women that she could understand their suffering? It struck me how God uses these horrific parts of her past to actually arm or equip her to relate to other people in broken and horrible situations. After talking about how God can heal all wounds in our lives, we had a time for prayer and sharing. I met some absolutely incredible women, most of whom were products of their own mother’s prostitution and were abused or sold for sex as children, only to continue that life through adulthood. Now, because of the rehabilitation center they have learned about Jesus and begun to heal emotionally and spiritually while they leave behind their past and (with much help from the center) pursue new training or vocations. As a side note we also did a craft with them to make purses out of two handkerchiefs. They were so cool! Picture below:
Props to the team for being sooo prepared and bringing EVERYTHING with them in their suitcases for all children’s and adult activities. Saturday afternoon we went to put on another children’s activity in a church on the edge of the “zona roja” or red-light district of San Jose. This is the really bad area within the city. It’s much more dangerous than the squatter’s village we went to. (Ask Johanna, her bus from Honduras arrived at a bus stop on the edge of the zona roja). Just for an example, during the activity we saw out the window a woman sitting on the curb and injecting herself with drugs while the man next to her pulled out a big plastic bag and started smoking something inside of it. It was a disturbing image but reminded me that, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick,” as Jesus said. It really couldn’t hurt for these children to go back to their homes with little hearts and crosses painted on their faces and tell their parents about Jesus.
On Sunday night we went to a church up in the mountains. It was the most active church service I’ve ever been to, and I honestly thought I’d seen it all. Has anyone seen the movie Blues Brothers? Ok, so it wasn’t quite like that, but I’m not joking, during about the 4th song, everyone was in front waving their hands and jumping around when suddenly… they all broke out in a choreographed dance. I’m talking about over a hundred people suddenly doing a crazy jumpy dance to the worship song! I thought I’d been transported to High School Musical or something. I’m not even lying when I say that every day living here something shocks and amazes me.
Two weeks ago a Joshua Expeditions team came to the project. These are teams that come to the project for one day to volunteer as part of a longer mission and adventure trip around the country. There were 40 of them and they worked so hard! They dug all of the post holes for the…. Dun dun dun… new WALL we’re putting up! Remember the pictures of the old wall? Well here’s a picture of the new one:
Our interns, John Mark and Hunter are here for two months (February and March) and they are in charge of the wall project. They are awesome guys who graduated from Auburn with degrees in construction science and love trying to speak Spanish. Hunter calls everyone “casa de [person’s name]”. He comes up to me and says “What’s up casa de Julie?” which means “what’s up Julie’s house?”. I try to remind him that I’m not a building but he just loves spicing up his everyday sentences with whatever Spanish words he feels are appropriate. It definitely brightens my day.
A quick note about the wall: Just because the wall is being put up does not mean it is financed. Actually, it isn’t and we are still trying to solicit funds for it. I know we’re in a crisis, but if you’d like to make a donation to the safety of the children in the foster homes at the project there is information on the right sidebar of this blog.
Similarly, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about opportunities that people have in life. I used to believe like most Americans that poor people with no opportunities in life were those born in the inner city and who grew up in project housing. I don’t want to say that such people don’t have unfortunate circumstances, but compared to so much of the world that life is not actually so bad. Lately I’ve realized how lucky those people are that they live in the United States and at least have a statistical chance to apply to college or have a shot at earning a scholarship. Maybe not a high percentage, but a chance nonetheless. I used to think of the “world” as being pretty much like the United States, except maybe with different food and languages on different continents. Through my experiences and the little bit of traveling I’ve done I realized that most of the world is what we would consider “dirt poor.” We who have food, clothing, shelter, and safety are in the minority. I always knew there were poor people in the world, but I never realized how many and how much of the world is SO different from the U.S. What struck me most about staying with a family in Nicaragua is that to them it’s simply life as usual to be poor. Everyone around them is poor, and their families have lived in the same little farm for years. While to me it was shocking to bathe and cook with rain water and use a latrine as a bathroom, they’ve never known anything else. Most of the world doesn’t have video games, iphones, or a nice cars and to them these things aren’t attainable. It really strikes me how in some places in the world so little has changed in probably hundreds of years yet in other places so much has changed. Remember my example from Nicaragua, how the bride’s family slaughtered the fattened calf for the wedding feast? Well, just as there are no wedding halls to rent out or caterers, there are also no college scholarships or student exchange programs to give opportunities to young people. I think there’s actually a 0% chance for most of them to win anything like that. If anyone has seen “Slumdog Millionaire”, you have some idea of what I’m talking about, although even that movie portrayed extreme poverty within a modern city. There are so many people who are completely “off the map” to the developed world. Nobody even knows or thinks about them.
Alrighty well this is already a pretty long post and it’s awfully tempting to go to sleep. I promise to write about the first team of the year, the campamento and Panama soon though!
Love,
-Julie
I will first fill in on my life lately and then backtrack to tell you about Panama and the Camp I went to.
Last week there was a team here from Franklin Crossroads Baptist Church. It's the church of Steve Thomas's mom so it's especially exciting to have them here. They are focusing more on evangelism than the construction that most teams do.
We did a lot of children’s activities, including one for about 200 children in a squatter's village. It's basically a refugee camp of illegal Nicaraguans, El Salvadorians, and other impoverished people who build their houses out of scrap pieces. It's an area of extreme poverty with very high rates of drug use and prostitution, even among children. Here is a picture I discreetly took while trying not to get mugged for my camera:
The activity included face painting, crafts, games, songs, a drama, and a Biblical message. I was translating and painting faces the whole time and helping out in the crafts area. I have to tell you all, I had a first-time experience: I painted a little red heart on a baby's face WHILE it was breastfeeding. Yep, you read that right. But what was I going to do when the mom saw I was painting children's faces and wanted her baby's face painted, nevermind that I had to paint like an inch away from … well, a nipple? It's a weird image but a good example of how in a different country and culture you end up doing things you'd never normally do - but in those situations you just do it with a smile on your face and the love of Jesus in your heart, tell the woman how beautiful her baby is, and then write all about it on your blog.
Last Saturday we did an activity in a rehabilitation center for prostitutes. One member of the team from Franklin Crossroads shared her testimony about being sexually abused as a child, how her husband was put in jail for murder, and how shortly thereafter she had a miscarriage at 6 months. These are obviously really bad things to have happen in life, but I was so glad that she had a testimony that the recovering prostitutes could relate to. Most of us don’t. How condescending would it seem for the average North American woman to tell a room full of “used and abused” women that she could understand their suffering? It struck me how God uses these horrific parts of her past to actually arm or equip her to relate to other people in broken and horrible situations. After talking about how God can heal all wounds in our lives, we had a time for prayer and sharing. I met some absolutely incredible women, most of whom were products of their own mother’s prostitution and were abused or sold for sex as children, only to continue that life through adulthood. Now, because of the rehabilitation center they have learned about Jesus and begun to heal emotionally and spiritually while they leave behind their past and (with much help from the center) pursue new training or vocations. As a side note we also did a craft with them to make purses out of two handkerchiefs. They were so cool! Picture below:
Props to the team for being sooo prepared and bringing EVERYTHING with them in their suitcases for all children’s and adult activities. Saturday afternoon we went to put on another children’s activity in a church on the edge of the “zona roja” or red-light district of San Jose. This is the really bad area within the city. It’s much more dangerous than the squatter’s village we went to. (Ask Johanna, her bus from Honduras arrived at a bus stop on the edge of the zona roja). Just for an example, during the activity we saw out the window a woman sitting on the curb and injecting herself with drugs while the man next to her pulled out a big plastic bag and started smoking something inside of it. It was a disturbing image but reminded me that, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick,” as Jesus said. It really couldn’t hurt for these children to go back to their homes with little hearts and crosses painted on their faces and tell their parents about Jesus.
On Sunday night we went to a church up in the mountains. It was the most active church service I’ve ever been to, and I honestly thought I’d seen it all. Has anyone seen the movie Blues Brothers? Ok, so it wasn’t quite like that, but I’m not joking, during about the 4th song, everyone was in front waving their hands and jumping around when suddenly… they all broke out in a choreographed dance. I’m talking about over a hundred people suddenly doing a crazy jumpy dance to the worship song! I thought I’d been transported to High School Musical or something. I’m not even lying when I say that every day living here something shocks and amazes me.
Two weeks ago a Joshua Expeditions team came to the project. These are teams that come to the project for one day to volunteer as part of a longer mission and adventure trip around the country. There were 40 of them and they worked so hard! They dug all of the post holes for the…. Dun dun dun… new WALL we’re putting up! Remember the pictures of the old wall? Well here’s a picture of the new one:
Our interns, John Mark and Hunter are here for two months (February and March) and they are in charge of the wall project. They are awesome guys who graduated from Auburn with degrees in construction science and love trying to speak Spanish. Hunter calls everyone “casa de [person’s name]”. He comes up to me and says “What’s up casa de Julie?” which means “what’s up Julie’s house?”. I try to remind him that I’m not a building but he just loves spicing up his everyday sentences with whatever Spanish words he feels are appropriate. It definitely brightens my day.
A quick note about the wall: Just because the wall is being put up does not mean it is financed. Actually, it isn’t and we are still trying to solicit funds for it. I know we’re in a crisis, but if you’d like to make a donation to the safety of the children in the foster homes at the project there is information on the right sidebar of this blog.
Similarly, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about opportunities that people have in life. I used to believe like most Americans that poor people with no opportunities in life were those born in the inner city and who grew up in project housing. I don’t want to say that such people don’t have unfortunate circumstances, but compared to so much of the world that life is not actually so bad. Lately I’ve realized how lucky those people are that they live in the United States and at least have a statistical chance to apply to college or have a shot at earning a scholarship. Maybe not a high percentage, but a chance nonetheless. I used to think of the “world” as being pretty much like the United States, except maybe with different food and languages on different continents. Through my experiences and the little bit of traveling I’ve done I realized that most of the world is what we would consider “dirt poor.” We who have food, clothing, shelter, and safety are in the minority. I always knew there were poor people in the world, but I never realized how many and how much of the world is SO different from the U.S. What struck me most about staying with a family in Nicaragua is that to them it’s simply life as usual to be poor. Everyone around them is poor, and their families have lived in the same little farm for years. While to me it was shocking to bathe and cook with rain water and use a latrine as a bathroom, they’ve never known anything else. Most of the world doesn’t have video games, iphones, or a nice cars and to them these things aren’t attainable. It really strikes me how in some places in the world so little has changed in probably hundreds of years yet in other places so much has changed. Remember my example from Nicaragua, how the bride’s family slaughtered the fattened calf for the wedding feast? Well, just as there are no wedding halls to rent out or caterers, there are also no college scholarships or student exchange programs to give opportunities to young people. I think there’s actually a 0% chance for most of them to win anything like that. If anyone has seen “Slumdog Millionaire”, you have some idea of what I’m talking about, although even that movie portrayed extreme poverty within a modern city. There are so many people who are completely “off the map” to the developed world. Nobody even knows or thinks about them.
Alrighty well this is already a pretty long post and it’s awfully tempting to go to sleep. I promise to write about the first team of the year, the campamento and Panama soon though!
Love,
-Julie
Monday, February 9, 2009
Still Alive and Well
Hi everyone, I apologize for the huge break in posting. One of my new year’s resolutions is to be more consistent – at least once a week.
To summarize the last 6 weeks, I spent a lot of great time with my family in Wisconsin, chatting, playing speed scrabble, and eating lots of foods I missed during the past 3 months. I also went to Massachusetts to visit Jon and I got to visit Heather and her family in New Hampshire and spend a day with Justine in downtown Boston.
Then on Jan 13 I came back to Costa Rica with my mom and our friend Heidi. We went to two very neat places in the country, Arenal Volcano, and Manuel Antonio National Park. It was so exciting for me because although I’ve been here for months I haven’t explored the biggest natural wonders that all of the tourists come to see. The Arenal Volcano area was beautiful but unfortunately we didn’t get to see the crater or lava because of rain and clouds the days we were there. We did go…. Ziplining! (my mom was a professional according to our guides), and we went on an amazing hanging bridges tour through the different forest levels. Our tour guide howled at the howler monkeys and they howled back at her! We also saw a tarantula, leaf-cutter ants, white-faced monkeys, a snake, a herd of raccoon-like creatures, and a lot of interesting trees and flowers.
Here is a picture of mom and me at our hotel in Arenal:
In Manuel Antonio we went snorkeling (Heidi is a big snorkeler and enjoys underwater photography). I was surprised that all you have to do is stick your face in the water to see beautiful bright fish and coral – nobody would ever know it was there just walking along the beach. We also went on hikes through the park and were surrounded by a whole family of white-faced monkeys passing through. Some of them were as close as a meter away from us. We also did a challenging hike down a very high steep bank to “playa escondida” the hidden beach. It was an adventure getting back up the bank at the end of the day, and most people had already left the park. Suddenly we heard howler monkeys right above us and we all jumped. Once we had recovered from the shock we tried to howl at them as our tour guide had done in Arenal. It worked! They howled right back at us! Heidi even took a video to prove it.
After our time of tourism we returned to the project so my mom could get to know my life and my environment here. We cooked meals for three different families – my host family (chicken in the oven!), Brian’s host family (classic north-American chili), and Steve and Georgiana (chicken casserole and raspberry oatmeal bars). The ticos were blown away by these fascinating flavors, and Steve and Georgiana invited mom and Heidi to stay permanently. During their visit we also spent some time with my students and stayed about an hour after church on Sunday to chat and meet all of the wonderful people in my life here.
Warning, I’m about to brag: My mom is a language genius. She learned Spanish so fast! She didn’t know more than 3 words coming into the country but by the end she could understand my mama tica and more or less communicate with her. She explained about her work, how she’s going to buy a condo, and how Mark is studying at Wisconsin. She used a dictionary a bit but she did it all without my help! For me, this is very promising. It means that my mom can move here WITH me someday! Horay!
Ok well I’m going to stop the update for now because half an update is better than none at all. Next post will include my trip to Panama for a women’s retreat and my weekend helping out at a “campamento” or Christian youth camp.
Thanks for reading, of there are any of you faithful people left!
To summarize the last 6 weeks, I spent a lot of great time with my family in Wisconsin, chatting, playing speed scrabble, and eating lots of foods I missed during the past 3 months. I also went to Massachusetts to visit Jon and I got to visit Heather and her family in New Hampshire and spend a day with Justine in downtown Boston.
Then on Jan 13 I came back to Costa Rica with my mom and our friend Heidi. We went to two very neat places in the country, Arenal Volcano, and Manuel Antonio National Park. It was so exciting for me because although I’ve been here for months I haven’t explored the biggest natural wonders that all of the tourists come to see. The Arenal Volcano area was beautiful but unfortunately we didn’t get to see the crater or lava because of rain and clouds the days we were there. We did go…. Ziplining! (my mom was a professional according to our guides), and we went on an amazing hanging bridges tour through the different forest levels. Our tour guide howled at the howler monkeys and they howled back at her! We also saw a tarantula, leaf-cutter ants, white-faced monkeys, a snake, a herd of raccoon-like creatures, and a lot of interesting trees and flowers.
Here is a picture of mom and me at our hotel in Arenal:
In Manuel Antonio we went snorkeling (Heidi is a big snorkeler and enjoys underwater photography). I was surprised that all you have to do is stick your face in the water to see beautiful bright fish and coral – nobody would ever know it was there just walking along the beach. We also went on hikes through the park and were surrounded by a whole family of white-faced monkeys passing through. Some of them were as close as a meter away from us. We also did a challenging hike down a very high steep bank to “playa escondida” the hidden beach. It was an adventure getting back up the bank at the end of the day, and most people had already left the park. Suddenly we heard howler monkeys right above us and we all jumped. Once we had recovered from the shock we tried to howl at them as our tour guide had done in Arenal. It worked! They howled right back at us! Heidi even took a video to prove it.
After our time of tourism we returned to the project so my mom could get to know my life and my environment here. We cooked meals for three different families – my host family (chicken in the oven!), Brian’s host family (classic north-American chili), and Steve and Georgiana (chicken casserole and raspberry oatmeal bars). The ticos were blown away by these fascinating flavors, and Steve and Georgiana invited mom and Heidi to stay permanently. During their visit we also spent some time with my students and stayed about an hour after church on Sunday to chat and meet all of the wonderful people in my life here.
Warning, I’m about to brag: My mom is a language genius. She learned Spanish so fast! She didn’t know more than 3 words coming into the country but by the end she could understand my mama tica and more or less communicate with her. She explained about her work, how she’s going to buy a condo, and how Mark is studying at Wisconsin. She used a dictionary a bit but she did it all without my help! For me, this is very promising. It means that my mom can move here WITH me someday! Horay!
Ok well I’m going to stop the update for now because half an update is better than none at all. Next post will include my trip to Panama for a women’s retreat and my weekend helping out at a “campamento” or Christian youth camp.
Thanks for reading, of there are any of you faithful people left!
Monday, December 22, 2008
From the tropics to the frozen tundra...
Hi Everyone!
I'm sorry for going so long without posting but my last few weeks in Costa Rica before visiting home were very busy.
I'm currently writing this from the "Brat House Grill" in Wisconsin Dells. I'm up here with my mom and brother for Christmas and it's wonderful but freezing. I'm even filming a "documentary" about snow and Wisconsin starring my family... Let's just say it's a low budget feature made on my little Canon digital camera and windows movie maker. We did get absolutely dumped with snow the last few days though so there have been ample snow piles and icicles to film :)
Just to fill you in, I'm home until Jan 13 and then I go back down to the Abraham Project - with my mom and her friend Heidi! Yep, they will be visiting me for a week to see the beautiful country and meet all of the people I work with. I'm getting pretty excited to do some touristy things while they are there. I keep reading and hearing about the beautiful beach at Manuel Antonio, and the erupting volcano at Arenal but I've never seen them. Also, January is supposed to be the month with the nicest weather in Costa Rica and it will certainly be a contrast to the current sub-zero freeze.
I'm also excited to see my mom's reaction to the interesting cultural things that I've been experiencing - she's like a fresh slate for social experimentation! What will she think of their driving? The cuisine? Their food storage habits? Their laid-back lifestyle? The church service? Hopefully I will have lots of interesting observations to report - I'll even take notes for you Janet.
Oh, I know they are long overdue but I have pictures from the Mennonite group and from my trip to Nicaragua. I took my time putting captions on all of them so it's like you're really there. You can access the albums by:
http://picasaweb.google.com/JulieBlumie/MennoniteGroup#
http://picasaweb.google.com/JulieBlumie/Nicaragua#
Also, if you didn't see my first album, the link again is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/JulieBlumie/AbrahamProject1#
I also have some neat pictures from my last month there which I will put up soon.
I especially realized how much I love what I do when I think that 3 months of my amazing experience have already gone by. I immensely enjoy what I'm doing and I think I've never been happier with my life. I really think I am called to education. Whether I am teaching or learning I am very content in a classroom with a good whiteboard marker. (no, I'm not sniffing the marker...) I hope God has more teaching and learning in my future!
Finally, as I was preparing to leave for a Christmas break at home I realized how attached I have become to the people of Costa Rica. I got huge hugs the whole last week and many people went out of their way to see me and Brian one last time before we left. One of our students even emailed me today to say "There are only 22 more days until you come back!".
Here is a picture of me, Brian, and some of our students. We took them out to see a movie as a treat for passing their final exams:
I'm sorry for going so long without posting but my last few weeks in Costa Rica before visiting home were very busy.
I'm currently writing this from the "Brat House Grill" in Wisconsin Dells. I'm up here with my mom and brother for Christmas and it's wonderful but freezing. I'm even filming a "documentary" about snow and Wisconsin starring my family... Let's just say it's a low budget feature made on my little Canon digital camera and windows movie maker. We did get absolutely dumped with snow the last few days though so there have been ample snow piles and icicles to film :)
Just to fill you in, I'm home until Jan 13 and then I go back down to the Abraham Project - with my mom and her friend Heidi! Yep, they will be visiting me for a week to see the beautiful country and meet all of the people I work with. I'm getting pretty excited to do some touristy things while they are there. I keep reading and hearing about the beautiful beach at Manuel Antonio, and the erupting volcano at Arenal but I've never seen them. Also, January is supposed to be the month with the nicest weather in Costa Rica and it will certainly be a contrast to the current sub-zero freeze.
I'm also excited to see my mom's reaction to the interesting cultural things that I've been experiencing - she's like a fresh slate for social experimentation! What will she think of their driving? The cuisine? Their food storage habits? Their laid-back lifestyle? The church service? Hopefully I will have lots of interesting observations to report - I'll even take notes for you Janet.
Oh, I know they are long overdue but I have pictures from the Mennonite group and from my trip to Nicaragua. I took my time putting captions on all of them so it's like you're really there. You can access the albums by:
http://picasaweb.google.com/JulieBlumie/MennoniteGroup#
http://picasaweb.google.com/JulieBlumie/Nicaragua#
Also, if you didn't see my first album, the link again is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/JulieBlumie/AbrahamProject1#
I also have some neat pictures from my last month there which I will put up soon.
I especially realized how much I love what I do when I think that 3 months of my amazing experience have already gone by. I immensely enjoy what I'm doing and I think I've never been happier with my life. I really think I am called to education. Whether I am teaching or learning I am very content in a classroom with a good whiteboard marker. (no, I'm not sniffing the marker...) I hope God has more teaching and learning in my future!
Finally, as I was preparing to leave for a Christmas break at home I realized how attached I have become to the people of Costa Rica. I got huge hugs the whole last week and many people went out of their way to see me and Brian one last time before we left. One of our students even emailed me today to say "There are only 22 more days until you come back!".
Here is a picture of me, Brian, and some of our students. We took them out to see a movie as a treat for passing their final exams:
Monday, December 1, 2008
Just call me The Wedding Singer
Dear readers,
I already told you about my involvement in the Nicaraguan wedding a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I sang a duet in a wedding at the church here! That's right, the same pastor, William, asked me on Saturday night if I wouldn't mind singing in the wedding the following day. Since I am here to push my boundaries, learn, and grow, I said yes. Waaaaaa! How scary. It's one thing to sing in front of 100 Nicaraguans I don't know, but it's another thing to sing in the wedding of one of the youth leaders in the church, with the whole worship team in the audience... nevermind that it's in another language. But God is good as always, and the peace that I prayed for came when I had to sing. I didn't even turn red! (I had even worn a dark color and lots of foundation to try to disguise it as best I could.) I'm sure it helps that I'm a foreigner so even if I had a funny accent, it was at least a special and unique thing for them to have an American singing in their wedding.
In other news I had a relatively American Thanksgiving day. I got up early and went to the store to get the ingredients for a broccoli and cheese casserole. I had been invited to Steve and Georgiana's house for thanksgiving dinner and this was my assignment. Broccoli was like 80 cents, cream of mushroom soup cost dollar, a whole package of crackers was only 60 cents, and the cheddar cheese was.... 12 dollars! Holy moley, cheese is super expensive here. I even got the cheap no-name block of cheddar and shredded it myself. I think it's actually cruel to put a Wisconsinite in a country where cheese is so expensive! I think I'm going to line my suitcase with Sargento and string cheese packages when I come back from Christmas.
The actual celebration of Thanksgiving was relatively short. To Costa Rican's it's just a regular day and a regular meal. I didn't get to do the lay around and watch football, play games with family, and laugh as much as I usually would. I missed you family! I heard the Nikolaus family was having a great time, and I'm glad :) I'm going to come home with such a need to play speed scrabble because the Costa Ricans just aren't really interested.
Ok I can't think of a ton else to report and I don't have too much time. I have a list of interesting anecdotes about rollerskating, the election, and "allergies" that I will post next so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading and God bless you.
-Julie
I already told you about my involvement in the Nicaraguan wedding a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I sang a duet in a wedding at the church here! That's right, the same pastor, William, asked me on Saturday night if I wouldn't mind singing in the wedding the following day. Since I am here to push my boundaries, learn, and grow, I said yes. Waaaaaa! How scary. It's one thing to sing in front of 100 Nicaraguans I don't know, but it's another thing to sing in the wedding of one of the youth leaders in the church, with the whole worship team in the audience... nevermind that it's in another language. But God is good as always, and the peace that I prayed for came when I had to sing. I didn't even turn red! (I had even worn a dark color and lots of foundation to try to disguise it as best I could.) I'm sure it helps that I'm a foreigner so even if I had a funny accent, it was at least a special and unique thing for them to have an American singing in their wedding.
In other news I had a relatively American Thanksgiving day. I got up early and went to the store to get the ingredients for a broccoli and cheese casserole. I had been invited to Steve and Georgiana's house for thanksgiving dinner and this was my assignment. Broccoli was like 80 cents, cream of mushroom soup cost dollar, a whole package of crackers was only 60 cents, and the cheddar cheese was.... 12 dollars! Holy moley, cheese is super expensive here. I even got the cheap no-name block of cheddar and shredded it myself. I think it's actually cruel to put a Wisconsinite in a country where cheese is so expensive! I think I'm going to line my suitcase with Sargento and string cheese packages when I come back from Christmas.
The actual celebration of Thanksgiving was relatively short. To Costa Rican's it's just a regular day and a regular meal. I didn't get to do the lay around and watch football, play games with family, and laugh as much as I usually would. I missed you family! I heard the Nikolaus family was having a great time, and I'm glad :) I'm going to come home with such a need to play speed scrabble because the Costa Ricans just aren't really interested.
Ok I can't think of a ton else to report and I don't have too much time. I have a list of interesting anecdotes about rollerskating, the election, and "allergies" that I will post next so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading and God bless you.
-Julie
Monday, November 24, 2008
I heart guacamole, Nicaragua, and my mama tica
Hey everyone! I am really sorry for the long absence on the blog. There has been a lot of excitement in my life. First there was a team from Kentucky, then I went on a 4-day trip to Nicaragua for a wedding, then I jumped right back into teaching and celebrated my birthday. I also have a load of great pictures to upload.
Ok, where to start? The team from Kentucky was great. They were a team of about 10 adults whose trip was centered around learning about the childrens' homes. They went grocery shopping with the house parents on their first day to Hipermas and to PriceMart. They got to experience just how much food (and money) it takes to feed 20 hungry kids every day. The team was also in charge of making dinner - one night in one home and another night in the other home. It was kind of coincidental but we had spaghetti for lunch on Tuesday, then the team made spaghetti for dinner on Tuesday, AND for dinner on Wednesday. It was amazing though. A taste of home (I mean the USA of course, not Italy, haha).
The team also took all of the children and missionaries to the mall for lunch on Sunday and to see the movie Beverley Hills Chihuahua! It was such a cute movie for us and for the kids. The movie was dubbed over in Spanish so I got the gist but I didn't get most of the jokes. It's always so exciting seeing people out of their element, but going for it anyways. The adults knew very little Spanish, but they each had a little Costa Rican child on their arm going through the mall. It was especially beautiful to see one of the men on the team interact with the children. His name is Brackie and he previously worked in a children's home in the states. All of the kids just loved him and always jumped all over him. Another one of the men, a big construction worker type, knew a "banana dance" and taught all of the kids this wacky dance. It was so cute.
At the end of the trip the team spent an evening with Steve and Georgiana, the coordinators of the childrens' homes. They are the ones responsible for interacting with the government and child services, as well as raising the $4500 necessary to feed and clothe, and pay utilities for the children in the homes every month. They were very open with the team about how difficult it is. One member of the team came forward and offered to take charge of raising the money for a single child every month. Not that he has to pay it - more that he will find within his network of friends and family the money to sponsor a single child. Then, Brackie said that he would take on the responsibility of traveling around to churches in the states to speak about the project and raise funds for the homes. What a blessing! It's exactly what Steve and Georgiana have been struggling with and praying for.
The last day the team was here Brian and I left for our trip to Nicaragua. We went for the wedding of Tony Y, a member of the church here. We were 10 people, sort of a delegation to represent his church in Costa Rica even though his family and the bride's family both lived on an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. The island is called Ometepe and it's GORGEOUS. Google it if you want, it's spectacular. It consists of two volcanos which rise out of the center of the second largest lake in Latin America. The lake apparently has bull sharks in it as well, one of the only places on earth with freshwater sharks.
I stayed with the pastor's family for three nights, in a brick house with dirt floors and a latrine out back. They were such wonderful people! I had three adorable sisters who couldn't stop hugging me or following me around. I am going to miss them so much. I even got to participate in a bible study with my 15 year old sister, where we learned how a huge God can use a small me. I found it very interesting when one of the girls spoke up to describe how she's "small" in the world and said that she's young, short, poor, and brown. I was thinking "your skin is gorgeous!" but even in Latin America, racism is still very real. I didn't get a chance to ask too much, but even in Costa Rica it seems that the people with ancestors from Spain are in politics and hold prominent positions in business.
The water wasn't drinkable for me (they're used to it), so I had to buy bottled water at the little store before we went to the island. They probably cooked with the well / rain water, so I hope it got hot enough to kill bacteria or viruses! It was a completely different culture and world. The primary mode of transportation is horse or bike, and there were people herding their cows around. The bride's family slaughtered a cow for the wedding feast and the groom's family a pig. I even got to meet the pig and see it butchered the day before the wedding. We helped decorate the little brick church before the wedding, me and the youth pastor sang a song during the ceremony (yeah, I sang a love song in Spanish that I learned on the morning of the wedding! ), and I had to take pictures throughout becasue they didn't have a photographer! I don't think I'll ever have that big a part in anyone else's wedding. The bride and all of the brides maids walked to the church like half a mile from her house down dirt roads all dressed, and there were two separate power outages during the ceremony. Apparently that's normal there, for the power plant to run out of fuel.
Nicaragua was definitely a third world country. It's supposedly the second-poorest country int he Western Hemisphere. We visited four different cities on the mainland portion: Granada, Managua, Rivas, and Masaya. I'll post pictures soon. In summary there were gorgeous Spanish-style colonial buildings next to shacks. I saw a LOT more poverty than I've seen in Costa Rica. There are a lot of things I'll just have to describe because I couldn't take pictures, either because of the danger for my camera or out of respect for the people. Dirty children playing in the doorways of "houses", people with such sad eyes and lined faces, people in sweatshop settings hand-sewing leather sandals, purses, or other clothing. Sad, sad stuff but a beautiful, beautiful country. Another thing I meant to add: unique building materials. I saw a house made of an old train car, and I saw a latrine topped with a truck bed cover. Fascinating.
And any trip to a third world country wouldn't be complete without its fair share of danger. The house I stayed in had no windows.. just holes with a sheet covering them. So.. once I actually climbed right through my own window to get in when nobody was home. Thank you Lord that my passport and money weren't stolen. I also had several different rides in the back of pickup trucks, some of which (stop reading mom) I was standing! Yeah, I was standing in the back of a pickup (hanging on of course) going like 50mph past little shacks made of branches, tarp, and corrugated metal. Finally, if I thought I stood out in Costa Rica, I was wrong. In Nicaragua the people are generally darker, and especially on an island, I stood out like WOAH. I don't think I ever went more than 1 minute outside without being beeped at, whistled at, or hollered at. Even the other Costa Rican with us, Mariafernanda, got noticed a lot for her medium skin.
Overall, the trip was a complete culture shock but also very beautiful. I would definitely like to return to spend more time there before my tenure in Central America is through.
We returned to the VERY DEVELOPED country of Costa Rica on Sunday night the 16th at about 11pm. After returning from Nicaragua it took me a few days to recover. I ate decently there but the quantity and nutritional value were a bit lacking. (I was one of the lucky ones in the group who actually got two meals a day from their host family though.) I also only slept a few hours each night there, between the roosters crowing, dogs barking, and trying to spend as much time as possible getting to know the people and culture.
Wednesday night I went to see Quantum of Solace with the missionary family, which I thought was decent. Wednesdays are two for one, so it's only $3 per person. Woo!
Thursday the 20th was my birthday. My mama tica threw a "surprise" party for me, which she told me about the day before because she didn't want to scare me. I really know she was just too excited to contain herself and wanted help cleaning the house. After tutoring that day I got home at about 7 to a house full of people! Yanira had made chicken chalupas for dinner, along with a beautiful yellow birthday cake. I told nobody to tell her though, that she wrote my name on it as "July". There were something like 20 people there, and I was amazed at how loved I felt. The youth worship leader brought his guitar so we could have a correctly tuned version of happy birthday in Spanish and English. Then they all prayed for me and I almost cried. I even got presents from some of mama tica's friends. I got a beautiful coconut shell watch from her sister, a body lotion from her friend down the street, and a bag of chocolates from her neice-in-law. Mama tica also bought me a touch lamp painted with palm trees and volcanoes. It reminds me so much of the landscape here.
The best part of the night was that Candace invited her friend Wainer, a professional salsa dancer and instructor! He taught our group how to dance when we came in January and he's a really cool guy. So as soon as the "old" people left, the salsa music came on and there was much dancing and laughing. My friend and math student Victor was competing against Yanira for the center of attention on the dance floor. I know everyone had a great time, and I just felt so blessed to have shared my birthday with people who care about my despite not knowing me long. It was the birthday where I expected the least but felt the largest outpouring of love and support from unexpected places. It really was an indication of how God has been caring for me. I've sometimes felt lonely, isolated, and very homesick, but that day was like God showing me again how He always provides and how He's always taking care of me.
Thanks for reading everyone, and I hope to post a lot of pictures soon. Keep praying for my Spanish skills, for my students, and for the children in the homes. I am coming back to the states Dec 17 for a few weeks, so if anyone wants to visit with me or wants me to speak to their church, family, Bible study, or whatever, let me know. I know it's my job to carry the news of this project far and wide both to bless people with news of God's work and to raise support for the children here.
Ok, where to start? The team from Kentucky was great. They were a team of about 10 adults whose trip was centered around learning about the childrens' homes. They went grocery shopping with the house parents on their first day to Hipermas and to PriceMart. They got to experience just how much food (and money) it takes to feed 20 hungry kids every day. The team was also in charge of making dinner - one night in one home and another night in the other home. It was kind of coincidental but we had spaghetti for lunch on Tuesday, then the team made spaghetti for dinner on Tuesday, AND for dinner on Wednesday. It was amazing though. A taste of home (I mean the USA of course, not Italy, haha).
The team also took all of the children and missionaries to the mall for lunch on Sunday and to see the movie Beverley Hills Chihuahua! It was such a cute movie for us and for the kids. The movie was dubbed over in Spanish so I got the gist but I didn't get most of the jokes. It's always so exciting seeing people out of their element, but going for it anyways. The adults knew very little Spanish, but they each had a little Costa Rican child on their arm going through the mall. It was especially beautiful to see one of the men on the team interact with the children. His name is Brackie and he previously worked in a children's home in the states. All of the kids just loved him and always jumped all over him. Another one of the men, a big construction worker type, knew a "banana dance" and taught all of the kids this wacky dance. It was so cute.
At the end of the trip the team spent an evening with Steve and Georgiana, the coordinators of the childrens' homes. They are the ones responsible for interacting with the government and child services, as well as raising the $4500 necessary to feed and clothe, and pay utilities for the children in the homes every month. They were very open with the team about how difficult it is. One member of the team came forward and offered to take charge of raising the money for a single child every month. Not that he has to pay it - more that he will find within his network of friends and family the money to sponsor a single child. Then, Brackie said that he would take on the responsibility of traveling around to churches in the states to speak about the project and raise funds for the homes. What a blessing! It's exactly what Steve and Georgiana have been struggling with and praying for.
The last day the team was here Brian and I left for our trip to Nicaragua. We went for the wedding of Tony Y, a member of the church here. We were 10 people, sort of a delegation to represent his church in Costa Rica even though his family and the bride's family both lived on an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. The island is called Ometepe and it's GORGEOUS. Google it if you want, it's spectacular. It consists of two volcanos which rise out of the center of the second largest lake in Latin America. The lake apparently has bull sharks in it as well, one of the only places on earth with freshwater sharks.
I stayed with the pastor's family for three nights, in a brick house with dirt floors and a latrine out back. They were such wonderful people! I had three adorable sisters who couldn't stop hugging me or following me around. I am going to miss them so much. I even got to participate in a bible study with my 15 year old sister, where we learned how a huge God can use a small me. I found it very interesting when one of the girls spoke up to describe how she's "small" in the world and said that she's young, short, poor, and brown. I was thinking "your skin is gorgeous!" but even in Latin America, racism is still very real. I didn't get a chance to ask too much, but even in Costa Rica it seems that the people with ancestors from Spain are in politics and hold prominent positions in business.
The water wasn't drinkable for me (they're used to it), so I had to buy bottled water at the little store before we went to the island. They probably cooked with the well / rain water, so I hope it got hot enough to kill bacteria or viruses! It was a completely different culture and world. The primary mode of transportation is horse or bike, and there were people herding their cows around. The bride's family slaughtered a cow for the wedding feast and the groom's family a pig. I even got to meet the pig and see it butchered the day before the wedding. We helped decorate the little brick church before the wedding, me and the youth pastor sang a song during the ceremony (yeah, I sang a love song in Spanish that I learned on the morning of the wedding! ), and I had to take pictures throughout becasue they didn't have a photographer! I don't think I'll ever have that big a part in anyone else's wedding. The bride and all of the brides maids walked to the church like half a mile from her house down dirt roads all dressed, and there were two separate power outages during the ceremony. Apparently that's normal there, for the power plant to run out of fuel.
Nicaragua was definitely a third world country. It's supposedly the second-poorest country int he Western Hemisphere. We visited four different cities on the mainland portion: Granada, Managua, Rivas, and Masaya. I'll post pictures soon. In summary there were gorgeous Spanish-style colonial buildings next to shacks. I saw a LOT more poverty than I've seen in Costa Rica. There are a lot of things I'll just have to describe because I couldn't take pictures, either because of the danger for my camera or out of respect for the people. Dirty children playing in the doorways of "houses", people with such sad eyes and lined faces, people in sweatshop settings hand-sewing leather sandals, purses, or other clothing. Sad, sad stuff but a beautiful, beautiful country. Another thing I meant to add: unique building materials. I saw a house made of an old train car, and I saw a latrine topped with a truck bed cover. Fascinating.
And any trip to a third world country wouldn't be complete without its fair share of danger. The house I stayed in had no windows.. just holes with a sheet covering them. So.. once I actually climbed right through my own window to get in when nobody was home. Thank you Lord that my passport and money weren't stolen. I also had several different rides in the back of pickup trucks, some of which (stop reading mom) I was standing! Yeah, I was standing in the back of a pickup (hanging on of course) going like 50mph past little shacks made of branches, tarp, and corrugated metal. Finally, if I thought I stood out in Costa Rica, I was wrong. In Nicaragua the people are generally darker, and especially on an island, I stood out like WOAH. I don't think I ever went more than 1 minute outside without being beeped at, whistled at, or hollered at. Even the other Costa Rican with us, Mariafernanda, got noticed a lot for her medium skin.
Overall, the trip was a complete culture shock but also very beautiful. I would definitely like to return to spend more time there before my tenure in Central America is through.
We returned to the VERY DEVELOPED country of Costa Rica on Sunday night the 16th at about 11pm. After returning from Nicaragua it took me a few days to recover. I ate decently there but the quantity and nutritional value were a bit lacking. (I was one of the lucky ones in the group who actually got two meals a day from their host family though.) I also only slept a few hours each night there, between the roosters crowing, dogs barking, and trying to spend as much time as possible getting to know the people and culture.
Wednesday night I went to see Quantum of Solace with the missionary family, which I thought was decent. Wednesdays are two for one, so it's only $3 per person. Woo!
Thursday the 20th was my birthday. My mama tica threw a "surprise" party for me, which she told me about the day before because she didn't want to scare me. I really know she was just too excited to contain herself and wanted help cleaning the house. After tutoring that day I got home at about 7 to a house full of people! Yanira had made chicken chalupas for dinner, along with a beautiful yellow birthday cake. I told nobody to tell her though, that she wrote my name on it as "July". There were something like 20 people there, and I was amazed at how loved I felt. The youth worship leader brought his guitar so we could have a correctly tuned version of happy birthday in Spanish and English. Then they all prayed for me and I almost cried. I even got presents from some of mama tica's friends. I got a beautiful coconut shell watch from her sister, a body lotion from her friend down the street, and a bag of chocolates from her neice-in-law. Mama tica also bought me a touch lamp painted with palm trees and volcanoes. It reminds me so much of the landscape here.
The best part of the night was that Candace invited her friend Wainer, a professional salsa dancer and instructor! He taught our group how to dance when we came in January and he's a really cool guy. So as soon as the "old" people left, the salsa music came on and there was much dancing and laughing. My friend and math student Victor was competing against Yanira for the center of attention on the dance floor. I know everyone had a great time, and I just felt so blessed to have shared my birthday with people who care about my despite not knowing me long. It was the birthday where I expected the least but felt the largest outpouring of love and support from unexpected places. It really was an indication of how God has been caring for me. I've sometimes felt lonely, isolated, and very homesick, but that day was like God showing me again how He always provides and how He's always taking care of me.
Thanks for reading everyone, and I hope to post a lot of pictures soon. Keep praying for my Spanish skills, for my students, and for the children in the homes. I am coming back to the states Dec 17 for a few weeks, so if anyone wants to visit with me or wants me to speak to their church, family, Bible study, or whatever, let me know. I know it's my job to carry the news of this project far and wide both to bless people with news of God's work and to raise support for the children here.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Que lastima! The Mennonites are gone!
The team of high school students from Shalom was amazing! First of all, something like 80% of their class is in the school chorale, so they were always singing. They could break into 4 part harmony at a moment’s notice and it gave me chills to hear them. They sang a thank you song after meals and also performed in church on Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon we went to an old folks home with the evangelism group from the church. It was a beautiful place run by Catholic nuns that began as a place for abandoned people, whether children, handicapped, or elderly. Some of the original abandoned children sheltered in the home are now 80 years old and still living there! It was amazing watching the high school students bond with the elderly despite the language barrier. The students sang a few hymns and many of the people cried. Then, one 90-something year old woman recited a poem for us and sang a song about the national flower of Costa Rica. Later, when some music came on the radio, another woman jumped up and grabbed one of the high school guys and started dancing! She wasn’t more than 4 feet tall but so adorable and having a ball! I met a woman who told me her brother lives in Madison, Wisconsin. I said “Mine does too!” Talk about a small world! I could tell that by the end of the day, everyone felt so blessed by the time together – the elderly and students alike.
On the worksite, the Mennonites were really hard workers. I called them “reverse locusts” because they swarmed over the site, accomplishing everything in record time and never tiring.
On Tuesday we took them to the beach. The only downer was that it’s hard to drive past projects and poverty before getting on our catamaran and cruising to an island. It was a wonderful day though. It was overcast and windy, so I didn’t get too sunburned. I had tons of fun throwing the football with the guys on the team, getting swept around by the waves, walking along the beach with Candace and seeing sand crabs and hermit crabs! I even got pulled into the boys’ game of “S the Q” and got dunked a few times. I even did some dunking in return.
It was very sad to see them go. They were all so much fun, so easy to get along with, and every one of them had a real servant’s heart. I’m interested to see where God places them from here, as they spread out to be salt in the earth. I made sure to talk to them about being confident in their decisions as they head off to college no matter what people say about them. I experienced firsthand that it really bothers people if someone is a Christian, if someone turns down drinking or partying, or even if someone votes republican! Haha). You’ve just gotta be confident in what you believe.
My mom told me that she really enjoys my little cultural anecdotes so I’ll write about a few more here:
I woke up the other day, completely exhausted and a little cranky. I opened the refrigerator only to find my jar of peanut butter looking back at me from the top shelf. Peanut butter doesn’t go in the refrigerator. My mama tica must have put it there. I then had a little laugh as I glanced at the eggs on the counter and last night’s meat still in the pot sitting out. They sure do things differently here, and I don’t think they know about Salmonella. I just remember that I am living among their culture, and I will do as the ticos do. Some things that I do as the ticos do are: wear jeans everywhere (even to church), never wear t-shirts or sweat pants, make my bed every day (my mom will probably faint when she reads that!), never walk barefoot in the house (“it causes illness”), even if you have plans, never go anywhere in the rain (“it causes illness”), agree with them when they say it’s cold and I don’t think so, take a siesta right after lunch even though I worry about acid reflux, and greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek.
My partially deaf math student, Josue, has turned out to be very sweet and appreciative of my help. I have the hardest time communicating with him, but we’ve managed through writing, or through me repeating myself very slowly and loudly. I think it is especially hard for him because of my accent and because I probably don’t move my lips the way most Spanish-speakers do when they speak. Thank goodness he’s very smart and has never once gotten discouraged! Here’s a picture of us that Brian took on Friday:
I have come to accept and appreciate getting whistled at by construction workers, though the attention still makes me uncomfortable. At first I was really offended and annoyed, but then I realized that to them, it would be rude to let even a decent-looking girl walk by and not whistle at her. When women from here go to the states they probably feel there’s something wrong, like they’re ugly or something because no boys are taking notice. One day I got whistled/beeped at 4 times before I’d made it 2 blocks from home. I had been feeling unsure about the outfit I was wearing when I left home, but I soon felt much better thanks to this particular aspect of the culture.
One last thought:
In my last post, I talked about how I’m a child when it comes to my communication. At church that the pastor talked about how Jesus told us we all have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. It really struck me once again how God has a purpose for everything under the sun. Sure, I’m frustrated that I can’t communicate the way I want to but God is using it to humble me and make me like a child for His purposes.
On Sunday afternoon we went to an old folks home with the evangelism group from the church. It was a beautiful place run by Catholic nuns that began as a place for abandoned people, whether children, handicapped, or elderly. Some of the original abandoned children sheltered in the home are now 80 years old and still living there! It was amazing watching the high school students bond with the elderly despite the language barrier. The students sang a few hymns and many of the people cried. Then, one 90-something year old woman recited a poem for us and sang a song about the national flower of Costa Rica. Later, when some music came on the radio, another woman jumped up and grabbed one of the high school guys and started dancing! She wasn’t more than 4 feet tall but so adorable and having a ball! I met a woman who told me her brother lives in Madison, Wisconsin. I said “Mine does too!” Talk about a small world! I could tell that by the end of the day, everyone felt so blessed by the time together – the elderly and students alike.
On the worksite, the Mennonites were really hard workers. I called them “reverse locusts” because they swarmed over the site, accomplishing everything in record time and never tiring.
On Tuesday we took them to the beach. The only downer was that it’s hard to drive past projects and poverty before getting on our catamaran and cruising to an island. It was a wonderful day though. It was overcast and windy, so I didn’t get too sunburned. I had tons of fun throwing the football with the guys on the team, getting swept around by the waves, walking along the beach with Candace and seeing sand crabs and hermit crabs! I even got pulled into the boys’ game of “S the Q” and got dunked a few times. I even did some dunking in return.
It was very sad to see them go. They were all so much fun, so easy to get along with, and every one of them had a real servant’s heart. I’m interested to see where God places them from here, as they spread out to be salt in the earth. I made sure to talk to them about being confident in their decisions as they head off to college no matter what people say about them. I experienced firsthand that it really bothers people if someone is a Christian, if someone turns down drinking or partying, or even if someone votes republican! Haha). You’ve just gotta be confident in what you believe.
My mom told me that she really enjoys my little cultural anecdotes so I’ll write about a few more here:
I woke up the other day, completely exhausted and a little cranky. I opened the refrigerator only to find my jar of peanut butter looking back at me from the top shelf. Peanut butter doesn’t go in the refrigerator. My mama tica must have put it there. I then had a little laugh as I glanced at the eggs on the counter and last night’s meat still in the pot sitting out. They sure do things differently here, and I don’t think they know about Salmonella. I just remember that I am living among their culture, and I will do as the ticos do. Some things that I do as the ticos do are: wear jeans everywhere (even to church), never wear t-shirts or sweat pants, make my bed every day (my mom will probably faint when she reads that!), never walk barefoot in the house (“it causes illness”), even if you have plans, never go anywhere in the rain (“it causes illness”), agree with them when they say it’s cold and I don’t think so, take a siesta right after lunch even though I worry about acid reflux, and greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek.
My partially deaf math student, Josue, has turned out to be very sweet and appreciative of my help. I have the hardest time communicating with him, but we’ve managed through writing, or through me repeating myself very slowly and loudly. I think it is especially hard for him because of my accent and because I probably don’t move my lips the way most Spanish-speakers do when they speak. Thank goodness he’s very smart and has never once gotten discouraged! Here’s a picture of us that Brian took on Friday:
I have come to accept and appreciate getting whistled at by construction workers, though the attention still makes me uncomfortable. At first I was really offended and annoyed, but then I realized that to them, it would be rude to let even a decent-looking girl walk by and not whistle at her. When women from here go to the states they probably feel there’s something wrong, like they’re ugly or something because no boys are taking notice. One day I got whistled/beeped at 4 times before I’d made it 2 blocks from home. I had been feeling unsure about the outfit I was wearing when I left home, but I soon felt much better thanks to this particular aspect of the culture.
One last thought:
In my last post, I talked about how I’m a child when it comes to my communication. At church that the pastor talked about how Jesus told us we all have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. It really struck me once again how God has a purpose for everything under the sun. Sure, I’m frustrated that I can’t communicate the way I want to but God is using it to humble me and make me like a child for His purposes.
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