My First (and second) Day of Work!

Oof. Yesterday was a very long day. I was planning on taking the bus from Sta Lucia (where Tito & Joanna live) to Heredia centro (the capital of my province, Heredia) and then another bus from there to San Joaquin (the town where church is, where the Vieras live and I studied abroad-my hometown). Well, the housekeeper girl came and Tito asked her is there was a more direct way I could get to San Joaquin. She said yes and that the bus only comes by 20 past the hour. It was close to 8:15, so Tito dropped me off at the bus stop. We confirmed with a man waiting there that there is indeed a bus that goes to San Joaquin from there. So I got out and began to wait. And wait. And wait. I asked another lady about the bus to San Joaquin and she said it came every 15 minutes. She had just seen one before she got to the bus stop. So that means I missed it. A few times.

Most of the buses here have signs in the window that say where they go, but not all of them do. Somehow you are supposed to magically catch on where the unlabeled ones go. So, after realizing I probably wasn't ever going to find the bus to San Joaquin, I hopped on a bus to Heredia centro and then to San Joaquin. I knew I was very late, but I was trying to be very tranquila about the whole thing. (I think I made a post about being tranquila a ways back). I figured my pastor would understand and everything would be fine. Stressing would do me no good. Well, apparently I missed a lot of a meeting I was supposed to be at. Oops. So when I got there I didn't have a clue what was going on and I was very confused and everyone was talking really fast. I love Spanish and am quite good at it, but yikes! I was more fully immersed yesterday than I had been in a really long time-probably since I was last here.

I ended up sitting around all afternoon in my office. They had me choose a temporary office because my official one is still under construction. A guy painted it for me-luckily he is a very nice (old) man whose daughter is a girl I know and hope to have as a good friend. He told me lots of stories and kept me entertained.

I got to talk very briefly again with Rolando (my Pastor), but we we didn't get into anything meaty. Then I did my homework for Bible Study last night. The study started 3 weeks ago, so I had to read the previous weeks' stuff to get caught up. Rolando has put together a really good study-kind of basic of the Bible kind of thing-that he wants all the people involved in leadership in the church to attend. There were over 30 people there last night! So, that was neat and I got to see a few more people I'd met in the past that I hadn't seen since arriving here last week.

I got home a little after 9pm. YUCK! 13 hours away from home! One thing I have realized about myself is that I like to spend time at home. At college I hated to be away from my dorm room all day. In the Tetons I hated being in the lodge all day and not going back to the employee village. Here, I don't want to be trapped in church all day. When I'm living with the Vieras it will be easier-I can walk home for lunch if I want. I don't need a ton of time at home, but it helps refresh me and not feel so busy or stressed. I think I was a little disappointed with the way things turned out yesterday. I was there all that time and didn't have any more definition to my job or have any better idea of what things will be like while I'm here.

But, thus far Day 2 has been MUCH better. First off, I rode in with Joanna because we went to a prayer meeting for women. There were 11 of us there. It was really beautiful. I already knew a few of the ladies and they are warriors! And for you IVers, Korean prayer does not just happen in Korea! At one point I looked up-and there was Dona Nelly!!!! She is a dear, sweet old lady that I met when I studied abroad here 2 years ago. She was there the night I had my break down and started crying in the middle of church. She came over to me and hugged me and told me that she'd been wanting to hug me ever since I entered the church. Awww!!! So pretty much from them on (March 2007) we sat together in church. And as I wrote somewhere recently (I can't remember where), I HATE sitting by myself in church. She was such a blessing to me!! Last year when I came to visit I think I asked about her, but I can't remember what people told me. I think they said she didn't come here anymore, or maybe they just didn't know who she was. But, I didn't think I would ever see her again. So, I was REALLY GLAD to see her this morning!!!

Also this morning I met with a lady named Milena that is in charge of all the ministries of the church. She went over some stuff with me and gave me some clarity, definition, and homework. I have a lot of praying, brainstorming, talking, and discerning to do. I am getting really excited about things here. My church here sadly has very limited knowledge and passion for missions. But, all the more room for God to work! I have a meeting this afternoon with Rolando that I think will be really helpful too. I have a lot of questions for him. I will be ready this time. :-)

Tico Tuesday, March 25th

So, I know it's Wednesday, but Tico Wednesday doesn't sound near as cool, so the title (though incorrect) will remain. Yesterday was a very long day. (I hope to post on my blog about it soon). Anyway, this is a picture of Sebi (Sebastian), my adorable 2 year old Ticonadian brother. I am currently living with Tito (a Tico aka Costa Rican) and Joanna (a Canadian) until my Honduran sister Claudia gets married on Saturday. Then I'll move in to her room and live with my beloved Vieras! Tito and Joanna only speak English at home to make sure Sebi will be a good bilingual child. Yaay! This makes them a great blessing to me-Joanna and I understand each other very easily since we are in similar situations and she and Tito can explain things to me in English to make sure I understand. God is so good to me!

The Exciting Events Since Leaving PA

80* F. Warmth. Palm trees. So long, Pennsylvania. Hello Tropical Paradise!!!
I left PA on Tuesday. I'd gotten less than 3 hours of sleep, so I was basically unable to stay awake all day. I had been thinking I'd be able to read and get all this stuff done while I traveled to Miami. NOT so!! Kiki (my cuban mom and the Mobilization Coordinator of the LAM) was very weirded out by me not acting like me. I had no energy. She did all the talking. It was pretty weird. Can you believe it? I actually can get that tired.
Tuesday night we went out for dinner with Donna, another lady that works in the MSO (LAM headquarters) and another LAM missionary that works in El Salvador (with the same ministry that my roomie from orientation will be working with). I had the best pork sandwich I have ever had. Seriously, this was melt in our mouth deliciousness.
(ok, this is going to be a long one. If you don't have much time I recommend skipping down to Friday).

Wednesday I spent at the MSO meeting with different people getting my paperwork straightened out and making sure I was all set to go. I got to meet the new president and his wife and see their gorgeous condo that overlooks the turquoise ocean. Pause-this makes them sound like they are filthy rich. They're not. They are paying out the nose for this tiny 1 bedroom place. And, they live on the 34th floor. While I was there some alarm started going off and we had to evacuate the building (not using the elevator of course). Well, going down 34 flights is no problem for young, spry me. But, for the aging, more heavy, not as healthy people, it was a big deal. We only made it to the 15th floor by the time they decided there was no emergency and told us we could go back. So, we took the elevator back up. I should have taken the stairs, but lunch was ready and I was hungry.
Anyway, it was really nice to meet them and touch base again with other people I met during orientation. I was very sad to not be able to see Jack and Mary Anne (the interim prez and his wife), but they are not living in Miami anymore. Oh well.
Wednesday afternoon Kiki took me to the beach. Oh it was so wonderful to run in the sand and stick my feet in the lovely turquoise water! There was a pretty lighthouse there too. I could have stayed there forever. (I would have gotten kicked out after sunset though). unfortunately there wasn't a sunset because it was so cloudy. That's ok though, because from there we went to a fun Nicaraguan restaurant.
Oh that reminds me, the new president, Steve, told me a funny joke that I will explain to you. He told me he went to a Costa Rican restaurant-and it was so Costa Rican they even had a Nicaraguan guard! Jajajajajajaja!!! Costa Rica has Nicaraguan immigrants like the US gets Mexican ones. Maybe no quite on the same scale, but that's just to give you a general idea. Many many places have guards, there is oten an armed guard in front of a big bank, parking lots for most places have guards to make sure cars don't get stolen, residential areas (like a group of condos or something) have guards, etc. And, being a guard is not that hard. The guards might not have as much useful training as I would hope or expect, but to at least have a body there is better than nothing. And you can be a guard and get paid under the table-ie not have legal papers. Cha-ching-lots of Nicaraguan guards (lots of Nicaraguan women are house maids. Having a maid here is very common. It is not really a sign of wealth.) So, there is the long explanation to the joke that isn't funny anymore. But, you do have a rgeat understanding of Costa Rican culture. YAAY!!
So, the Nicaraguan restaurant was good and I had the biggest bowl of soup I have ever seen in my life. It fed Kiki and me-and we had a ton leftover.

Thursday - I flew to COSTA RICA!!!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had a very smooth 3 hour flight from Miami to Costa Rica. Yolanda (Yoli-my Pastor Rolando's wife) and Ana Victoria (a really sweet lady from church) picked me up. We stopped by church so I could say hi to Rolando. He told me I could do as I pleased until Tuesday. Then I will go in to church and we will get started! Tuesday afternoon was nice a relaxing. I'm currently staying with Tito and Joanna, a really sweet couple from church. Joanna is Canadian, so it's nice to have someone else who is in a situation similar to mine. They have a 2 year old son named Sebi (Sebastian) that is adorable. He is a bit of a terrible two, but he's not too bad. Because he hears Spanish everywhere outside home, his parents only speak English to him. HOORAY for bilingual children!!

Friday, was the best day here thus far. I met up with my friend Ana Luisa and went to her house. We made pineapple empanadas and hung out and sang along with CDs. We both love to sing and I had a blast making the empanadas and just being with Ana Luisa. We'd never hung out like that before and I had a wonderful time. We had some really good conversation. She is so sweet. She'd told me to call her as soon as I got here. Well, I didn't call her right away, but I did call her Thursday night and she invited me over to make empanadas and then go with her to Pastor Ricardo's birthday party. (I got to go to his party last year too. It was really fun to be able to be there again for him. He is a great man). WOW! If you've been following my Chronicles for a long time you know how much I appreciate people taking initiative and inviting me along. So, it was a HUGE blessing to me to be invited to the party. So, Ana Luisa and I went together to the birthday party (I forgot how fast I walk and how slow Costa Ricans walk-I almost had the poor girl breathless).
Not only was I glad to be at the party for the birthday part, but I was also glad to be there because I got to see a lot of other people I know from church. Julio and Rocio (a couple that I got to know a little bit last year when I came to visit for Semana Santa -Easter Week) were there. I was talking with Rocio and she said I had to come over to her house for dinner sometime. Twist my arm!!! They have two adorable kids. I algo got to meet some new people and learn the names of people I had seen but not met before.
AND-shortly before I left -THE VIERA KIDS CAME!!!!!! YAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) Excitement! Joy! Happiness! Emotion!! (Read the post on my Honduran family to learn about these dear people). I went to greet Ana and she said "My sister! It's so good to see you!" I love to be loved and welcomed! You can't ask for a better way than that! I spoke with Claudia earlier in the evening to see if she and any of her siblings were coming and she told me that is was so good to hear my voice. Yaay! How sweet! I saw Samuel and he gave me a big smile. Claudia and her fiance Rolando (not the pastor) came by too-I am so excited for them! They are a wonderful couple! And finally, Eduardo Josue came. I was very happy to see him too. He is one of the people I have best kept in touch with from the States, so it was really good to see him in person again.

I know I'm in that "honeymoon" phase of culture chock right now. I am still settling in and everything is novel again (or I'm really happy to see the familiar things again-except for the bad driving). I know I'm not on vacation and life won't always be this exciting. But, I am really enjoying what I have and thanking God for all He has given me and praising Him not only for what He had done, but Who He is.

Tico Tuesday, March 17th

Can you believe I'm going to be in Costa Rica in 2 days? I can't! And just a brief note before I explain this funnky picture. I WILL NOT have my cell phone with me in Costa Rica, so if you call me after tomorrow, you will not get through to me. However, I WILL be using this same e-mail address, so please keep in touch with me through it and Skype (canciondegozo).

This pictures is one of those that I took and didn't even realize until later that shows a normal aspect of life in Costa Rica-all windows that are remotely close to the ground are always covered in bars. I don't mean to scare you, but Costa Rica isn't the safest place on earth. Windows must be covered in order to protect what is inside. So, you can keep that in mid as you pray for me. Thanks, and have a blessed week in the Lord!

Bittersweet, Round 2

If you've been following my blog for a while (or if you skip back to October) you'll realize this isn't my first post on life and transitions being bittersweet. Well, here we go again. Another chapter is coming to a close and a brand new one is just on the horizon. The last several months here in Grove City have been amazing. I have gotten the refreshment I felt that I needed. I have strengthened and deepened many friendships, and I've even made some new friends that I will dearly miss. The community here has been such an incredible blessing to me. I have been overwhelmed by God's goodness and provision. He has taught me SO MUCH!!! I was blessed with a car, a job, places to live, and a strong network of friends and fellow believers. Plus, I have been able to attend church at Grace Anglican, one of my FAVORITE churches in the country. So yes, life here has been very good. I knew this was a temporary thing though (I'm not sure I could live here long term...but I don't think I need to think about that too much right now).
So, to COSTA RICA I GO!!! The last couple weeks have brought a few more reality checks and put me back on that roller coaster. Overall I have just been RIDICULOUSLY excited to go. And being excited is great. I should be. But, it is important to not lose sight of reality either. I know life down there will not be perfect. My Spanish is pretty darn good and though my friend Luciano sometimes forgets that I'm a gringa, I don't. I know I still have a lot to learn. Life won't always be easy and full of polka dots and butterflies. I'm going to be living in another country for 3 years!!! I spent 3 years living in West Virginia, then 3 in Massachusetts. 4 were spent in NJ and 4 (now a bit more) in Grove City. For me, 3 years is a long time to be somewhere!!! Wow!
I am excited to be at my church and see the people I know and serve them there. I am really looking forward to being immersed in Spanish and learning the culture and getting to know people better. I am a little nervous just because I don't know what exactly to expect. This whole missions office thing at my church down there is new for all of us, so please be in prayer for that. I know God is with me though and more than anything I want Him to be glorified. I am going to miss life here. But, like leaving the Tetons, I know eventually coming back here will be a hollow dream. All my underclassman friends are going to graduate by the time my 3 years end and I'm not sure I'm going to be back to Grove City any of the times I come back to the States over the next 3 years. I have really been trying to get to know more people at my church that actually live here so when I come back to visit I'll at least know them. We clearly don't have the same kind of relationship I've had with the other Grover students, but they are still really sweet people. There is going to be a prayer send-off for me at church tonight. I think it's going to be really beautiful. But, definitely bittersweet.
God is control and He is faithful. Here we go!!!

Tico Tuesday, March 10th

Happy Tico Tuesday!
This past week has 2 highlights so I will mention them both briefly and you can read more about each of them
First highlight, I had a blast on Friday night with a whole bunch of my friends. We got together and watched Aladdin, learned a traditional Turkish dance (from my friend Daniel who is a Turkish MK), and played Apples to Apples. We also ate food from 3 different countries. Read the blog for more!

Second--very different-- highlight-my Confirmation in the Anglican Church! What is Confirmation? Basically, it's me saying “I am a Christian who is Anglican.” This doesn't mean I think any less of any other denomination, Anglicanism is simply where I “hang my hat.” What makes it so exciting though is that Bishop Duncan (a very godly man who has fought with all his might for orthodoxy and Biblical truth in the tumultuous Episcopalian/Anglican Church) laid his hands on me and prayed for me. It was a beautiful, deep experience. More about that on the blog. If it's not on there tonight, it will be there tomorrow.

Here are the elaborations:

1) The food from 3 different countries was from Mexico, Costa Rica, and the US. Maybe not as exciting as you would have hoped, but still DELICIOUS! My friend Ned is an MK whose parents serve in Mexico. He brought me back a thing of guava paste after Christmas break. YUM! They have guava paste in Costa Rica too. It is this really thick stuff you actually have to slice. (You don’t spread it like jelly). It is quite sweet so it often eaten with crackers and cheese. I discovered that I love eating it with apples and crackers though, so that’s what we did. (I’m going to miss apples in Costa Rica.) Yummy food number 2 was bean dip-I mashed up black beans and added the amazing Salsa Lizano (from Costa Rica). Ta-da! A party on your tongue in the amount of time it takes to mash up beans. And the food from the US was –Oatmeal cream pies! I was going for TastyKake Butterscotch Krumpets, but Grove City isn’t cool enough to carry them like other parts of PA. So, I had to settle for the Oatmeal cream pies.
Watching Aladdin was hilarious! I hadn’t seen it in a REALLY long time. I think my favorite part was all of us (including several guys who will remain nameless so as not to lose their manliness) singing along at the top of our lungs with “A Whole New World.” But, in order to restore these nameless men their honor I will say how impressed I was with their disgust at Jasmine’s lack of modesty. I know it’s a costume, and honestly it’s something I’m used to-it’s what Jasmine wears. But people in the US don’t dress like that every day and it’s a good thing they don’t. I just want to say I have godly, classy guyfriends and I really appreciate their respect for women and modesty.
Learning the traditional Turkish Dance was really fun. As you can see in the picture we all linked pinkies and danced in a circle-it is basically doing the grapevine and kicking your leg out. But it was fun. Then Daniel did a little bit of breakdancing for us. He did the worm backwards out of the circle, so I did it forwards across the circle. It was fun, but unfortunately resulted in rug burn on the top of my foot. Best rug burn story I’ve ever had!
Then we played Apples to Apples. I’d never played it with so many people before! It was fun though, and at the end it was neat to go around the circle and see how relevant each adjective was to the person who won it. We ended the night with a little more Turkish dancing since some people had come and gone and wanted to experience it. I was SO thrilled with the way the night turned out. I’d been wanting to dance to Turkish music ever since I missed the party the Turkish kids threw in the Tetons this summer. Then when I met Daniel, I knew he could help me make it happen. What a blast!!

2) CONFIRMATION CONTINUED…I got confirmed at St. Peter’s Church in Butler. I wish it could have been at Grace (my church in Slippery Rock), but the Bishop won’t be there until April and I leave in less than a week now, so that wouldn’t work. And, it was actually really neat because I attended St. Peter’s for a while when I was a sophomore and was getting more interested in Anglicanism. So it was neat to be back there, and some people even recognized me! A group of people from Grove City/Grace came, which really meant a lot to me. I was very excited to share the day with them. The confirmation itself was great. Bishop Duncan asked me a few questions and allowed me to briefly share how I came to Christ and what Scripture passage is sustaining me (John 15). Then I knelt in front of him and right before he laid his hands on me and started praying he whispered “Let the Spirit do its work” and then prayed “Defend, O Lord, your servant Carrie with your heavenly grace, that she may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more, until she comes to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.” What a beautiful prayer! It was a powerful, deep experience. After the service we went out for lunch and had a wonderful time. I am so blessed!

Tico Tuesday, March 3rd

I've decided to post Tico Tuesdays here too, so if there is a longer story, the whole things can be found in one spot. Enjoy! And if you don't receive "Carrie's Chronicles" and would like to, please just let me know!

Greetings and welcome to Tico Tuesday!
Like I said in my Chronicle, this will include a picture (see below) and a BRIEF commentary. It will not always necessarily be "tico" (Costa Rican). But I can assure you it will often. Well, here we go!!


Tuesday has been one of my favorite days of the week for the last several years because InterVarsity (IV) large group meetings at Grove City College are on Tuesdays. IV was my main spiritual and social extracurricular activity while I was in college and the place where I met my dearest college friends. This picture was taken during Harvest (the annual Fall Conference)'s free time. We went to the cultural/international district of Pittsburgh and bought foreign food and shared it with one another. It was great! We are in a classic IV pose-showin' off our "guns."

Another fantastic photo is headed your way next week! I think if I ever have any long stories I'll put the starter here and then finish them on my blog, which you are always welcome to read at http://smithcj1.blogspot.com.
Love and blessings,
Carrie

New Lenses for Lent

I love Lent. That probably sounds weird-why would I be excited about a 40 day long penitential period? Because it's a chance to remember my humanity, my fallenness, my brokenness. I am a mere mortal who will one day fade like a flower in the wind and pass away. I don't often think about what a terrible person I am and how much my awfulness offends my Holy God. It's not something I think should be dwelt upon. Grace exists for a reason. God forgives and forgets, so I think it's ok for me to too. But, I think it is really important to remember my former dead state. Without it, the Gospel has no power. Jesus came to minister to the sick, not the healthy. And it's not really until after we've been healed and brought to new life that we even realize how nasty and dead we were.
So, Lent is this 40 day period before Easter to remember Jesus' 40 days in the desert and His temptation. It is a time to fast and to let God search our hearts and get rid of the junk in them. In the past I've typically done some kind of dietary related fast (no chocolate), but this year I was praying about it and wanted to do something different. So, God led me to giving up my contact lenses. I love my contacts. I typically wear them every day. When I was younger I couldn't wait to get contacts because I thought I looked SO much better without my glasses. I think they can be a source of vanity for me. So, no contacts.
But, God also got me thinking of the spiritual aspect of giving up my lenses. One of my prayers lately has been for God to give me His eyes and His heart for others. He has been answering that prayer, and I am continuing to pray it especially through this Lenten season --and beyond!!! I really do want God's eyes and heart, that I may see and love others as He does.
The song "Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath puts it well:
"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see"

One more thing I really like about Lent is that it only makes Resurrection Day seem even better!! (and it is already my FAVORITE day of the year)
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!