last live post from costa rica...

PIctures
me and the ladies at church dressed up with andres for a thing we did for pastor´s sunday...andres and i goofing around...my host family in front of the tree at graduation...
well folks, here i am for the last time at the internet cafe in san jose...monday morning at 730 AM i leave with the rest of my group to head to Panama and live on an island with an indigenous tribe for 5 days...and then on the 9th of december we head back to miami! where has the time gone? wow...best semester of my LIFE...for sure....here are a few more pictures to update you..hopefully i´ll write a few more times to wrap up when i get to miami =) thank you so much for your love and prayers and support, this has been the most unbelievably experience of my life and i want you all to know that a huge part of that reason is YOU! =) i love you guys!

Voy a regresar....sin duda

Happy Thanksgiving first of all!!

Picture explanation: Group of us all playing UNO (Me, Andrés, Kriss, Richard, Antonio, Wendy, Jorleny, Jacol), My crazy host fam sorry its blurry (Kriss, Nora, Me, Ademar, Yorleny, Terri!)

So i have just spent three of the best, crazy, most challenging, awesome weeks of my life in Naranjo, Costa Rica.

I can´t even begin to sum up for you how the last 3 weeks have changed me and moved me, but i´ll try to start at the beginning. Host family was AWESOME! Seriously, I cannot believe how much at home I felt with those loco ticos! Host dad Ademar Alvarado, hilarious and a big goof! Host mom Nora, so adorable and so sweet and so crazy also! =) Then I also had two host sisters, Yorleny who is 31 and Kriss who is 23. They are both adorable and super sweet and awesome awesome awesome. =) We also had a dog named Terri, who you will see in the picture. =) I didn´t only have an awesome host family, but also had an amazing group of friends! Wendy, Adriana, Andres, Jacol, Andrea, Richard, Antonio...alll great people! =) I mean, on night one when i got to the house everyone was there and we hung out, had pizza, played uno and ridiculous hand-clapping games, one called ron'camaraon that i will teach you when i come home. =) My work was at a place called Cen Cinai, which is like headstart. First two days I hated it, honestly, because I was the cleaning lady and I had thought I would be working with kids. Then God woke me up and I realized I needed to change my attitude and really work on being a servant and having a content and open heart to God´s will. It was a really great lesson, and all the other days after that I felt way better and actually really enjoyed my work! The last 3 days I was there I made 100 bags out of wrapping paper for the students to take home presents in on the last day of class, so i now have a new skill. =) it was good. =)

Umm as for other stories...I have no doubt that I am coming back to Costa Rica after I graduate in May. I don´t know for how long, or what God is going to open up for me, but we will see. Basically I have felt God working in me more these 3 weeks than I have in a really really long time! I have just felt like this place is a second home, and God has been opening up new doors and new opportunities for me. probably my favorite and most exciting story is that I met a tico. And we´re novios. =) His name is Andres, and he´s 24 years old. He´s good friends with my host sisters, and lives in Naranjo and is a manager in the Cooperativa there. He´s hilarious, sweet, and all around amazing (I mean, he speaks spanish..awesome). =) I just have this really real feeling about it, and really feel that it´s from God. I am coming back in May. No question. =) If you want to know more, feel free to ask. =) That´s my naranjo story for you. =) I can´t tell you how amazing life feels, how amazingly i have felt god in my life these 3 weeks. =) Thank you so much for your unending love and prayers and all that goodness. YOu are all such a blessing on my life!! =) I love you!!! Happy Thanksgiving!

im in love with naranjo, costa rica!

So i had this huge great awesome long blog typed up on my computer but for some reason the internet cafe computer is not reading it. poo.
so i guess you{ll just have to settle for another tiny little post! life here is awesome, i am still loving my amazing host family that is full of locos, and all the friends i am making here who are ticos! woot! =) next saturday night when we come to the internet cafe again i should have some more information built up for you and hopefully it will actually work. =)
alright..i love you and and im prayig for you!
less than 4 weeks! =) =(
love ya!

Only 32 days left....

Life here in Naranjo is amazing! =) I am having a great time with my host family! Sorry this entry is so short, but I am at the internet cafe with a bunch of friends (costa rican friends) and dont want to make them all wait for me. So, when I get back Ill type up a longer, more detailed post and let you know all about life here, probably sometime next weekend! =) In the meantime, know that I am missing you and praying for you all mucho mucho! =)
Much amor!

Pura Vida Fall Break!

Pictures: Christie, Me, Claire, laughing =)...Sunset on the beach...Claire, Christie and I at sunset...Me at Playa Ocotal...Me flipping pancakes with a seashell. =)
Ahhh yes, I can say that I am completely relaxed after spending four days at the beach. =) Not to brag.
Friday I was dropped off on the way back from Nicaragua in a town called Liberia, CR, in Guanacaste, with 6 other girls: Marly, Christie, Ashley, Jazmín, Emily and Mackenzie. We made our way to El Coco, where we spent Friday and Saturday night. Saturday we hiked to Playa Ocotal, where we soaked up a little water and a little sun, and then did some exploring around the rocky area on the edge of the beach. We found lots of tidal pools filled with hermit crabs, slugs, and other fun ocean creatures. That night Matt and Claire joined up with our group in El Coco, rounding us up to a large group of 9. We made some yummy banana pancakes for supper after a short struggle with the gas stove (oh Latin America =) and then headed out that night for some ice cream. We went to this bar/restaurant called La Vida Loca, which was actually pretty dead, and we had to cross this ridiculous bridge to get there (for when the tide is in). It was pretty much awesome, even though we were basically the only people there. =)

Sunday morning we started trying to make our way to Brasilito, our next beach town destination. We thought we could just take taxis to a main road where the buses drive past, but when we got to the bus stop out there a lady told us we’d have to wait at least another hour and a half for a bus, which wouldn’t actually take us directly there. So, seeing two “fake taxis” that were sitting by the bus stop, we decided to do a little bargaining with them so that we would get to Brasilito directly without having to wait a good 2 hours. Half an hour and $40 later, we ended up in the little beach town of Brasilito. Best choice ever. =) (by the way, $40 was a good price, I know it seems like a lot, but remember, there were 9 of us). =) We stayed at this great hostel called Cabinas Ojos Azules, run by a guy from Switzerland, for just $5 each, and we all got to share the same room with two fans, a fridge, and cable. Yeah, it was sweet. =)

Our main goal Sunday was to get to the beach we really wanted to go to, called Playa Conchal. The lady at our favorite soda told us that all we had to do was walk there on the beach. However, when we ran into a river that flowed into the ocean in our path, we were a little confused. Seeing one guy cross, and realizing how deep it was, we decided to turn back and leave behind stuff at the hotel if there was no other way to get to Playa Conchal. On the way back we walked past some girl surfers, who told us that, indeed, it was the only way to get to the beach. After dropping off some cameras, clothes and money, we finally made our way back and forded the “river” (it was high tide). Then we had to walk across Playa Brasilito, up a little path in the trees, and then finally we walked out onto the white, crushed seashell beach of Playa Conchal. It was GORGEOUS. =) We just spent the afternoon relaxing, laying out and floating in the calm waters, with hardly any other people out on the beach, even though there is a large, expensive resort hidden back in the trees behind Playa Conchal. We even found some entertainment, as a Tico was swimming and laying out in his whitie-tighties. Yikes: he even did handstands. Yikes again. =)

Monday morning I went snorkeling at Playa Conchal with Ashley, and it was so neat! The water was pretty clear, but the tide was out, which made it a little hard to get around some of the rocks. We saw lots of fish, bright blues, black and yellow striped, and a big school of silver fish. It was great, I loved it! I definitely want to go again sometime where I can see even more stuff, like colorful coral! It was worth my $5. Everyone except for Christie, Claire, Matt and I left on Monday at 2, because they wanted to get back to San Jose to write our Nicaragua essays. I am SO glad I decided to stay the extra day! It was Matt’s birthday, so we basically just spent the rest of the time celebrating! We had a nice, long, cheap lunch at Soda Brasilito, the place we ate like, 4 times in 2 days. =) Then the four of us headed back out to the beach, and stayed in the water for probably 3 hours while we talked and watched the sunset, it was sooo gorgeous. That night we hit up probably the most expensive place in town, because it was Matt’s birthday, called Outback Jack’s. It was awesome food and drinks, I won’t tell you how much it cost. =) More than our $4 lunches everyday. =) Then we bought some ice cream, and spent a few hours out on the beach, listening to the waves, looking at the millions of stars we could see, and watching a lightning storm way out in the distance over the ocean. Not too shabby. =)

Tuesday morning Matt and I woke up early to make some banana and M&M pancakes with the stuff we had left over, since we had a kitchenette outside the room. They had awesome pans to work with, but we soon realized that there was a serious lack (aka: none) of utensils. Therefore, to flip the pancakes I used a large butcher knife and a large seashell Marly left behind in the room. Yes, seriously, I flipped pancakes with a seashell, and it was awesome. I joked with Matt that now I finally have something useful I can put on my resumé. =) After breakfast we headed to the bus stop at 8:30, because we were supposed to leave at 9…well, there were mechanical problems, and so we ended up getting on the bus at 10:30. Yeah. =) Good times. We got back to San José around 4:30 or so, and then took the bus home. As I was walking down my street, my two year old nephew Aaron came out onto the porch and saw me, and instantly started yelling my name, and running in and out of the house. Now that’s a welcome. =) I caught back up with my family, wrote my Nicaragua essay, and made it to bed by 11 pm. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. =) All in all, fall break was ah-ma-zing! I am totally willing to take anyone to Playa Conchal if the urge ever strikes you. =)

I hope that you all have been having a great last 2 weeks, as I know I have!! I can definitely feel your prayers everyday, I am just having the semester of my life here in Costa Rica, and am learning so much and growing so much here! I just want to keep saying gracias, gracias, gracias! I can never express my gratitude enough to all of you, you’re amazing! =) Next I head off to live in Naranjo from Nov 2-26^th, and I’m not sure how much internet access I will be having from there. You’ll find out in my next blog entry, I suppose. =) Until then, know that I love and miss you all!! ¡Que Dios le bendiga!

O mi linda Nicaragua...

Pictures: Me, Mackenzie and Jessica on the bus...Me with the Sandino memorial...Mikaila and I with our host moms...Chauncey, Me, Mikaila, Ervin y Sarai at church...
I hardly know where to begin to recap you on 12 of the most challenging, amazing days of my life! I guess I’ll just start at the beginning…
Bus ride there was awesome; my friend Claire bought me a 2.5 LITER bottle of Té Frío (Iced tea) for the trip, peach flavor of course, because I am basically addicted to it. It was hilarious, and I drank it all by the end of the 2^nd day..with a little help. =)
We spent the first two days together, driving around Managua, eating at an awesome soda run by a lady in her house, visiting MCC (woot!), and even going into a protest camp in a park. The people protesting are from the province of Chinandega, and are all farmers. They are there to protest the use of the agrochemical nemmagon, which has given a vast majority cancer, or other diseases of the skin that have caused them to need amputations. Heavy stuff: they have been protesting during the last 3 presidential terms and not too much has happened. It was really rough to be there and see their “temporary” housing (as of now, they’ve been there 17 months) made up of wood and large black tarps. I still don’t really know what to say about it….
So, remember how I asked you to pray a lot for my group, because we were going to be living in a dangerous place in Managua? Well, God apparently had some different plans in mind! =) We were supposed to go live in Heleya (sp?), which is a ghetto of Managua, but 5 minutes before we left Trevor pulled us to the side and told us that the church had decided to move us because of a lot of last minute security concerns, and also because it had been raining a LOT lately, and that area floods really easily. So, I did not end up living in the ghetto, but instead lived in a small area outside of Managua called Santo Domingo. It was hard to go from being prepared to have one of the “roughest” experiences to having what was one of the most comfortable ones (my bathroom was inside, I had my own room, etc). I can’t lie, I felt relieved, but at the same time there was this strange disappointment in me because I felt that I was sort of being “let down” by the experience. But, of course, God wowed me yet again!
I lived with a woman who’s been single her whole life, named Beatriz, and she has a 34 year old son Christian, who is married. He and his wife live in the house as well, but they are gone all day and most of the night working, and so Beatriz was really excited to have me around to talk to and eat lunch with. This woman is awesome: she’s hilarious, and probably about 53 or so, and is just about finished up with going back to get her high school degree because she wants to go on to the university and study theology. Whoa. =) We had an awesome time together! Her sister Anita lives right next door, and my friend Mikaila stayed with her and her two sons: Roger, 23, and Jorge, 18. We spent a LOT of time together (only speaking Spanish, that was our promise for the week), and I really got to know Roger and Anita just as much as I did my own host mother. I can’t even put into words how immediately at home and in love with these people I felt! Everyone in Costa Rica told us before we left that the Nicaraguan people have big hearts, and I still wasn’t prepared for the unconditional love and acceptance I felt from everyone there!
We also spent a lot of time with the pastor, who is a woman named Falla. Katie lived with Falla’s sister, and so she spent a lot of time at Falla’s house. We spent a few afternoons with Falla and her family, especially her adopted son Ervín, who is 14. We played kickball one afternoon with a bunch of the neighborhood kids, and one day had a “family tournament” of me, Mikaila, Roger versus Katie, David and Ervín. Needless to say, our family dominated in volíbol and handball. =) It was such a great time to be able to share life with these people for just a short while! The day that we left I couldn’t help but cry over and over as they prayed for us at each one of our houses before we left to hop in a van and drive to Granada. I wish I could describe it to you better so you could all understand, but I don’t even understand it yet. I just know that Nicaragua has a really big part of my heart….I also have many more stories, so if you want to hear more I’m sure I’ll be able to share more with you later. =)

We got to Granada on Wednesday earlier than we needed to, so Chauncey, Katie, Mikaila and I spent a little bit of time exploring (and sweating!!). Once we got to the hostel and discovered the pool, we had to just leap right in! I have not felt so good in a long time. =) The group had a big reflection time about our experiences that night, and then the next day we hit up a market in Masaya before heading back to Managua for our last night. We had a “charla” / dinner at a placed called Ola Verde, a restaurant run by a woman who used to be really high up in the US Dept. of Agriculture who decided she wanted to run this restaurant using locally grown, mostly organic products. The food was pretty okay, I mean, the main dish was tofu/eggplant lasagna stuff…yeah, that I didn’t like. =) But we did have some amazing salad and ice cream for desert! =)
The next morning we were up bright and early early early to hop on TransNica and make our way back to Costa Rica! A group of girls and I were dropped off in Liberia, CR so that we could start our Fall Break on Friday instead of Saturday….and I’ll save that story for my next blog entry…=)