Tico Tuesday, August 31st

It's Tuesday again!
This past Saturday I had the opportunity to serve in the ghetto o La Carpio once more. The youth of CCI will be serving there the last Saturday of the month for the next few months. We bring food for breakfast and lunch and do various games with the kids, have a Bible lesson (this time we acted out and taught about the Good Samaritan), play futbol and overall just have a rollickin' good time. This time I stayed in the kitchen helping serve up some 70 plates of gallo pinto (traditional breakfast food) and 150+ hot dogs for lunch. Praise God for the work He is doing in La Carpio! But please do join me in prayer for the ministry of Renuevos. There are a lot of tough challenges that have to be faced there every day. More pictures can be found on my blog!
Love,
Carrie


We got to la Carpio on Saturday morning around 8 and started off with some activities to help the team from CCI bond with the volunteers that serve in la Carpio. Then we divided up into our teams for the day- some with the younger boys, some with the adolescents, and a few of us in the kitchen. Well, we were supposed to have gallo pinto for breakfast, but we didn't know much more than that. So, we opened the fridge and found a big arrocera (bowl from a rice cooker) that was not very full of rice. And we found a container with some black beans, but there was NO WAY we could ever stretch them out to serve the 70ish boys we were expecting. We decided we would have to pray hard for the rice and beans to multiply, but God took care of things right away: somebody walked in with a huge olla (a pot so big it was kinda like a laundry basin) full of hot gallo pinto. Praise the Lord! I kind of thought that was the plan all along, but we were running a bit late/short on time, so the whole thing was quite an adventure. It all worked out though. We even had leftover pinto, which came in really handy, because we just barely had enough hot dogs for lunch! So those of us from CCI chowed down on that.
I didn't get to see much of the games, but it sounded like they went well. And I did get to see part of a futbol game. That was pretty hilarious. The guys from Carpio definitely put our guys from CCI to shame!
I did get to participate in the drama we did of the Good Samaritan. I was one of the robbers. It's really hard to pretend to hit somebody. I'm used to punching the air (tae bo) or actually hitting (like I did to my brothers when I was little and am not especially proud of). Poor Andres did get a little bruised when he fell on the cement, but he's ok. And the drama was a success-I think it was good, and very relevant for the kids. La Carpio is a TOUGH place with a lot of violence and such.
More about Carpio next month, or sooner if something else exciting happens. They really do need a lot of prayer because one of the directors/guys with a lot of leadership quit the other week and left a big hole that is tough to fill. But God can do it!

The latest epiphany!!

I just had a cool realization/revelation, and the credit definitely goes to God.
I love my parents SO MUCH! (that's not the epiphany, I've known that for my whole life). I love to tell my parents that I love them. Sometimes we end up e-mailing multiple times a day and I still close every one communicating my love for them. I have a few different ways of saying it, but I never get sick of telling my parents I love them. The phrases I use are a bit limited and I don't always have the time to come up with something creative simile like "Love you like ripe red raspberries love dark chocolate" or the more tacky "love you till Niagara runs dry." But, regardless of how I say it, I know my parents NEVER get sick of me telling them (how much) I love them. (and I sure never get sick of their continuous "I love you"s either!!)
and BOOM! Here's the epiphany: God is like that too!!! So often I feel like my little earthly words are not enough, are not worthy of him. It's like that one (and I think only) hit by Ben Glover "26 letters"- it's all we've got to tell God how awesome He is. Now, please, I'm not bashing the English language, or Spanish or any language. It's an amazing thing, but I'm willing to say it is a finite thing that finite people use for the One, True, Infinite GOD. And so often I feel like words can never be enough. Well, they can't. But just as Mommy and Daddy never get sick of hearing me say "I love you so much!" I am convinced that God never gets sick of me telling him "I love You, I praise You, Holy are You, Lord, Glory to Your Name!" Because God is all about being praised, worshiped and glorified! Isn't that great?
Just wanted to share that with you all... :-D

Tico Tuesday, August 24th

Whew! I made it! I'm back home in Costa Rica! But this whole last week was still spent in the States. This picture was taken out the window on the way to the Weds night Bible study my parents go to. They take a monthly offering and many of the people there pray for me multiple ti
mes a day, so it was a huge blessing to get to meet these people who love and support me without even really knowing me. I had several of them come up to me during the break and after the study was over. It was delightful and meet them and get to share with them. More on my week in Arizona and my adventure in LA this weekend on the blog!

Saludos,

Carrie

I really enjoyed my time with my parents, doing the Bisbee Stairs with Mommy (a race route with 9 sets of stairs that includes over 1000 steps up and afterwards we went out for treats and I got a delicious apple, carrot, pineapple, banana, mango, beet smoothie), hiking with Mommy and her friend Marty that is a hoot and really sweet to me, playing backgammon with Daddy, pulling out my clarinet for the 1st time in years, swimming with Mommy and enjoying my hammock. And for the 2nd half of my time in AZ my best friend from college, Bryan came out. We watched my favorite movie (Carefree with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), and went to Tombstone and Bisbee with my parents. I'd never seen the old mine in Bisbee before. Oh, and in Bisbee we found the place that makes THE BEST ROOT BEER EVER. The 4 of us also played 10, 9, 8 (also known as Up and Down the River) and enjoyed some great tennis.

Saturday after Bryan's flight out of town and before mine Mommy and Daddy and I went to a local version of Panera and enjoyed some fantastic food and played Scrabble. I got HORRENDOUS letters, but ended up only losing by 2 points. Daddy had splendiferous letters and clobbered Mommy and me very very badly. Saying good bye to Mommy and Daddy was very difficult and tearful, but I managed to compose myself by the time I found my friend Meg in LA.

Finding Meg. What an adventure! I took a shuttle bus from LAX to La Mirada, the suburb where Meg is living and will be studying (at Biola). The driver that took me was from some South/Southeastern Asian country. His accent was a bit entertaining but a little hard to understand. I thought I was paying for the transportation of me from LAX to La Mirada and that somehow only I would be the only one being transported, even though the picture was of a multi-passenger van. So, after he picked me up we were circling the airport for some time and he was radioing his boss lady and telling her "I onli haf won passengeh, won passengeh! Dis is vedy bad! vedy vedy bad! Dis is discrimation! Won passengeh!" It was all I could do to keep from laughing, except that I was a little confused since I had decided that I was supposed to be the only passenger. Whatever. Then a British lad and two Scottish lads got on. They were entertaining, though I couldn't believe how difficult it was for me to understand them!!! Finally, some 40 minutes after I got in the van and about 2.5 laps around the airport, the van was full and we were on our way to drop me off. It was an adventure to say the least! Meg had had a pretty interesting experience too.

Anyway, Meg and I stayed up late talking Saturday night since I had a lot of spilling and processing to do. I saw her in February when I visited Grove City, but she is one of my closest friends and even though we keep in touch in Skype there is still always tons of stuff to talk about! Sunday morning we did our favorite salsa workout dvd that we used to always do together and then went to do our devotions in the nearby park.

I had never been to California before and wow, the Beach Boys totally have the bragging rights they assumed. Southern California is GORGEOUS!! It reminded me a lot of Costa Rica actually, just a lot cleaner. And they say it is almost always sunny and only rains a couple weeks each year there and here it rains about half the year. But yeah, California is beautiful! After doing our devotions and praying together we started talking to people-it looked like there had just been a church service and they were having a picnic afterwards. Meg was genuinely interested in learning about the church since she will need to find one, so we talked to the people and our alterior desire was met too. We were offered free food!! Unfortunately the tamales were gone (it's a bilingual Spanish/English church with lots of mexicanos and Salvadorians), but we did get rice, beans and yummy grilled chicken. We spent most of the afternoon in the pool (her apt complex has a pretty nice one!) and then dressed ourselves up and went out to dinner. That was really fun. Meg is the perfect person to do that with! Well, actually I can think of other people with whom I'd do that, but it was a blast to do it with her!

Yesterday we slept in, did one of my favorite Tae Bo work outs (and my legs are feeling it today!), had a wonderful devotional time!, explored campus a bit, did some shopping and then headed home so I could shower and get packed up before my red eye flight. My shuttle adventure back to the airport wasn't as interesting, we were only driving around the wrong apartment complex for a really long time trying to find this guy and his girlfriend. This driver was foreign too, but I don't think I heard him talk enough that I could palce his accent, perhaps Eastern Europe? It's so fun being in places with such multiculturality! (I so just made that word up!) Reminds me of the Tetons... (happy sigh). And I really loved my trip to the States because it is light there SO late!! Here all year it gets light at 5ish am and dark at 6ish pm. In the US in the summer it doesn't get dark till like 8 or 8:30! Iremember it being light so late in the Tetons it was unreal!

So anyway, there's the end of my trip. Really really good. I like traveling a lot, but it does get tiring to see so many people and not have a real routine and feel like I don't have much time for me. Correction: I do not get sick of seeing people, I mean it's just hard to have the same brief conversation with people since I don't have time to really get to talk with each one. I would like to though!

Anyway, I'm home. It's good. I'm happy to be here. My trip was a blast, though very tiring and trying and times. I would do it again in a couple months if I could. We'll see what comes up next on the docket. I HAVE TO MEET MY NEW NEPHEW NATHAN!!!

Tico Tuesday, August 17th

Happy Tuesday from Sierra Vista, Arizona!
I'm now 2/3 of the way through my 9 state, 9 airport crazy trip to the States. And thanks be to God, the whole last week has been shared with my best friend in some of our favorite places. Mommy and I had a blast in northern New England, eating red hot dogs, hiking, playing in rivers with frigid water, hanging out on the beach, and listening to Joe Castiglione narrate Red Sox games. I love the people in Pennsylvania, and if I have to consider somewhere in the States home that would be it, but in so many ways I am still such a New England girl! This past weekend we visited our old church in Auburn, ME and I got to share in the services there. Some really great stories and a few more pictures on the blog!
May God bless your family, work and recreation this week!
Carrie

The family reunion ended well and last Wednesday Mommy and I spent the night in the most adorable, quaint hotel ever. I would love to go back there and stay for at least a week! We were in this little cabin with a screened porch, a little living room, bedroom and bathroom. Behind the cabins runs the Pemigewasset River, a small river that runs through New Hampshire's famous White Mountains. Hence the frigidity... I'm used to playing in cold New England rivers though! We slept with the bathroom window and door open and enjoyed the soothing sound of the river flowing over the rocks (even while we slept! ;-) )
Thursday we got up early and did a great hike-a loop that allowed us to summit 3 peaks, Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. We had gorgeous weather and managed to do it in 6 hours. I LOVE HIKING!!! The way up had some spectacular waterfalls before the tree line!
Then we went to Mommy's hotel and I cleaned up before having a little New England Grover reunion with Brender, Amy, Jackie and Brian (and kids). We stayed up really really late-I was amazed Amy and Brian and Jackie were able to stay awake (they all have little kids)!! but it was really really good to see them and meet their younger kids. My favorite part was getting to talk with them and having Brian lead us in a Eucharist service (he is an Anglican priest). It was wonderful! I hadn't had Holy Communion in a long time!
Friday I was clearly tired, but Mommy and I walked the beach anyway. That evening we visited my parents' friends in Old Orchard Beach. I stayed in at night and crashed from exhaustion from the previous day's activities.
Saturday we had a blast. we went out for breakfast with some really sweet ladies, walked on the beach, candlepin bowled (Mommy beat me by 2 pins the first string then I whooped her 90 to 66 the second string. I almost never bowl 90s, even when we used to bowl more often!), and went to Cole Farms for lunch. It was at Cole Farms that we got our classic Maine red hot dogs, Indian pudding, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and blueberry ice cream. We were pulling out all the stops and making the most of our time in Maine!
Saturday evening I got to share at East Auburn Baptist Church, the church in which I grew up. It is great, but weird to go back. Every time the kids I used to babysit are older and there are tons of new people (which is a really good thing!!!). But there are still so many dear people from church I love so much. One highlight was getting to see Dr. Bob, one of the most amazing men of God I have ever met who has mentored Roger, the senior pastor of EABC. Dr. Bob continues to get along more and more in years but with that his love for God and others has only grown and I just love him! He is one of those people with a deep, booming voice and shows his deep love for you and God by asking you "How's your soul?" and ends every service with "Go give 'em Jesus!" I loved meeting new people too. One lady came up to me after the service, said her name was Linda, hugged me, told me she prayed for me and walked away. That was really sweet. One little girl Sunday morning asked me for my autograph. That felt a little funny, but I was more at peace after I saw lots of other "normal" people's names in the notepad.
And this is a really cool story: I got a e-mail a while ago from Bill, the director of the missions committee telling me a family was "adopting" me as their missionary. A few weeks later the e-mail came from the mom, telling me about herself and her family. She said her daughter was the one that chose me. They were standing in front of the missionary bulletin board at church, looking at the pictures of the missionaries and the daughter kept coming back to my picture and saying, "There's just something about her, Mom!" Well, I got to meet this family. It turns out the mom is a nurse in the medical center where Daddy worked and she and her husband got baptized a week ago because other Christians at her work led her to Christ. Isn't that great!! And they are already leaping in and learning about and participating in missions! That is how it should be!!
I wish I'd gotten to know Bill and his wife Pat better when we actually lived in ME and attended EABC. He is such a dear man! I HATE HATE HATE sitting by myself in church, so Saturday night I sat with him and Pat and he was just so dear-he had his arm around me for much of the service and made little comments and filled me in on various things and it was just a huge blessing to me!
Yikes this is getting long. Well, Sunday Mommy and I headed back to the airport after church and I enjoyed a delicious bottle of Moxie (a Maine-exclusive rootish flavored fantastic soda) on the way, and of course we were listening to the Sox again. We had some wonderful conversation on the plane (and a lot of other really really good conversations over the course of our hike, beach walks, etc) and on the second flight (after making a really tight connection, thanks be to God!) she told me all about the trip she and my brother Zach took in May, biking through much of Austria.
Sunday night we got home in the midst of the craziest lightning storm you could ever imagine. The flashes were constant and from every direction, but thanks be to God we landed safely and I was very happily reunited with my DADDY!!!
So, that is a taste of life. I could tell you more about visiting our old house and seeing some old friends in Auburn and other things, but I think that is enough for now!

Tico Tuesday, August 10th

Happy Tuesday!

Here's the delicious irony of the day: I would have totally forgotten to send out Tico Tuesday today if it weren't for my relatives asking me about today's edition!! I'm here at the Gates family reunion in Myrtle Beach, SC, so every day feels like Saturday and time's fun when you're having flies (as Kermit the frog says)... We are having a blast swimming, walking on the beach, playing in the waves, eating, singing hymns, playing games, and talking with aunts, uncles and cousins I haven't seen in at least a year. A couple more pictures and stories are on the blog!

God bless you and your families,

Carrie

So, the family reunion has been really nice. Before the reunion and after being in Miami last week I was at my aunt and uncle's house. I think I'll have to tell you more about that later.

But the reunion has been great. I got to be reunited with my Mommy, who I hadn't seen in over a year, and it has been absolutely wonderful to be with her and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles (and my grandparent's whose xyth birthdays we are celebrating). One of my favorite activities was mini golf and the nice dinner we had this evening.

More later when I have more time and am not surrounded by hilarious, distracting cousins!

Tico Tuesday, August 4th

Happy Tuesday! (yesterday...)

It was a busy day at the Miami Services Office (MSO) of the Latin America Mission! Yesterday I got to meet with several people at the office and catch up. It was really wonderful to share with others what’s been going on in my life and let them get to know me a little better. It has been such a blessing to have them supporting me and caring for me. This is me with Kevin, the current director of ministries, and Heather who is his assistant. She is a missionary appointee and is helping out in the MSO while she finished raising her support (if you’d like to support her go to https://www.lam.org/donate/missionary.php?misid=760416). She was also my roomie at LAM orientation 2 years ago. It was great to see her again!

Thanks for your continued prayers!! Culture shock and travel reflections on the blog!

Carrie

I had a realization while I was waiting to fly out of the airport in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is like the US in many ways. The bathrooms in the airport have automatic flush toilets and sinks. There are Denny’s, Marriotts, a lot of people who speak English, McDonalds, BK and a slew of other fast food restaurants, some really nice cars, etc. But, Costa Rica is also a dirty 3^rd world country with a completely different culture and littered, narrow roads. So, gringos come to Costa Rica and are greeted by a whole bunch of things from the US, but then they get quite a rude awakening when they realize that Costa Rica is NOT the US. They are often ethnocentric and just wish it would be, but that is just baloney. Ticos will be tico as long as they exist. Yes the culture will continue to change, but that’s inevitable. I wish gringos could be given culture prep so they will have a better experience in Costa Rica. Just thinking….