Tico Tuesday, October 26th

I 'm starting to feel like the mall here is a little bit like Wal-Mart in Auburn, ME-- you can't go there without seeing somebody you know! On Sunday, (a particularly busy day at the mall) I ran into the people my friend Albeiro lives with, a man I know from CCI, and …. the man in this picture and his wife!!! I was walking around with my friend Vivi and another friend when all of a sudden this woman took my shoulder and asked me what my name was. I told her and looked at her and the man beside her. The light clicked on – they were my host parents when I was a student here in 2007! I couldn't believe it! I'd always meant to call them and let them know I was here again, but somehow it never got to be a priority. Oops!! I'll be calling them soon so we can catch up!!!
More stories about my time as a student here on the blog!
Have a great rest of the week!
Carrie

I spent the spring semester of my jr year studying here in Costa Rica. Some of you might remember that. It was when I first started all these mass communications to people to let them know about my life. I was the only Grover and only 1 one 8 girls in the program. Most of the rest of my classmates were from the U of Illinois. And there were only 2 guys. That was interesting! I started with one host family and then switched to live with Imelda and Johnny. They were really nice to me and I think they appreciated how much I respected them. They have 2 kids that live nearby and 3 adorable grandkids. Josué was 9 (or was he 7?) while I was there. Oh man, I hope I get to see my little buddy again!! He was so great! I still have a picture we drew together. It was the sweetest thing. It was the best example of together I could think of. I'd draw something, he'd add to it, he'd draw something and have me color it in, I'd draw a tree, he'd draw a bush next to it. So adorable!!! I'll have to find my other pictures of the house. Imelda loves plants and has about 100 hanging plants (mostly orchids) in the covered in back patio. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is like a private garden café with a perfect spot in the corner for somebody to stand and play a guitar. Imelda is an amazing artist-not only does she garden, she does cool stuff with aluminum on wood, decorating candles, amazing beadwork and jewelry, glass-painting, and other things that I can't remember. I always enjoyed talking with her while she worked at some project. She made me a really pretty necklace with a piece of glass as the pendant. It has a heart painted on it and still gets compliments every time I wear it. Ahh, good times. Living with Imelda and Johnny was really nice. But, I'm very happy here with the Viera's. I feel more at-home here and it's nicer to be here because Imelda and Johnny go to bed at about 8pm.... :-) Speaking of bedtime....

Loving Life!!!

I remember when I used to go hiking in Grand Teton Nat'l Park on my days off. I remember loving being in the middle of a canyon, swallowed into majestic beauty and feeling the power of God's presence. I'd set off at a fast-paced frolic for a little ways (not too far because I wanted to soak it all in) and just yell in the middle of the canyon "I LOVE THIS!!!!!" Granted, part of the yelling was because 1. I am just loud 2. One always had to be making lots of noise in order to not surprise a grizzly bear and avoid a life-threatening encounter with one 3.It was true and the joy and absolute pleasure in life and God's creation was incontainable!!!! Well, I had a sort of similar moment last Thursday at work. I don't even remember what exactly was going on at the moment, what we were talking about or anything, but I had an "I LOVE MY JOB!!" moment! I said it three times and at lower volume since I was inside. No frolicking either, but we did have a pretty sweet dance party in the car (in a traffic jam) on the way home Thursday evening. I am so motivated at worknow because I know what I'm doing is really important and contributing to God's Kingdom. I often struggled to justify how I spent my time "working" at CCI. A lot of time was just spent e-mailing close friends and family members. And in many ways it was "doing missions." But, really I was not making the most of my time or gifts. but that's over now. Hence the lower frequency in blog posts and brevity! jaja I bet you're grateful for that!

More to come! I've been learning a lot and will share once it's more well-processed!

Tico Tuesday, October 19th/ CARRIE'S CARTWHEEL!!

This is a very special edition Tico Tuesday! Today I have a very special newsletter with BIG NEWS in it!! So, please open up the attachment and enjoy!

Sorry the Word document is so heavy, but the color got messed up when I converted it to pdf and my technological skills limit me from fixing it. The pdf is there anyway though, if you can’t open the Word doc.

You can find some other reflections on this big change in my life on my blog!

With joy,

Carrie

Hmm, I don't know how to "post" or "attach" the documents here on my blog. I'll have to look into that. In the meantime if you don't get my e-mails and want the newsletter (I sure want you to read it!!!) please send me an e-mail and I'll get it to you asap.

Anyway....

YES!! FINALLY!!! I have been in this process of switching ministries for some time now and have had the hardest time biting my tongue!! Why didn’t I tell you all? Well, I didn’t even know what all was going on and what was going to happen, so I didn’t want to say something and have it end up being a false alarm and I wasn’t sure just how this was all going to work out. Perhaps I’ll post the story piece by piece. Today I don’t have a lot of time though.

I’m definitely still in the transitioning process, and I feel like I’m definitely honeymooning right now. I am on cloud 9! I don’t even remember when was the last time I was this happy. I LOVE MY NEW JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so thrilled, honored, privileged, blessed to be a part of the incredible ministry of Roblealto. It is just great! And God has provided for me! I thought I was going to have to bike the 6 miles UPHILL from home to the Bible Home 4 days a week, but it looks like I’ll be able to get rides both to the Bible Home in San José de la Montaña and the Central Offices in San José. What a huge blessing! Praise the Lord!

I am still living with my dear Honduran family. So, I’m thrilled with life! I’ll post again later this week. I promise!

Tico Tuesday, October 12th

Green Bananas

Yep, we have banana plants in our back yard! Bananas are one of the major exports of Costa Rica, but we do keep some here for ourselves too. I've had multiple people tell me

that the bananas we export are so big they aren't as sweet and tasty. I'm not sure I agree with that. You think green bananas aren't good for anything but sitting around until they become yellow? Not true, my friends!! You can cut them into thin slices and fry them and eat them like chips, you can cut them into fatter chunks, fry them, smush them and then fry them again (they're called patacones), you can put them in soup, and

you can cook them with a little bit of salt to soothe your stomach. I'm not sure if I'd be so adventurous as to try any of this with green bananas in the States since they are so close to being ripe. But, if you give it a try, let me know how it goes!

Have a great rest of the week!

Carrie

Sorry, nothing much new to report here. Well, actually I have news to report, but you'll be getting another e-mail soon about that. I'm been staying busy, getting lots of exercise, and enjoying the last few days with Tia before she heads out. Tio Samuel, Abuelita's brother was here for almost 2 weeks after Abuelita passed away. He was really cool, a really really sweet guy. I have now met 2 of Abuelita's siblings- Tia

Nena came in April to visit. It's really neat seeing the similarities in the family, not only among Abuelita and her siblings, but also seeing the difference between don Jorge (the Dad of the family I live with), Tia Hortencia (the aunt that has been here), and Henoc, Abuelita's oldest son that I met over Skype. I think families are so fascinating! I love seeing my extended family members and being able to tell that we are related! Whether that be by physical traits or family mannerisms. It's great!

Ok, I'd write more but it's late and I need to get up early!

Tico Tuesday, October 5th

Happy Tuesday to you all! Isn't Tuesday a great day of the week? I just finished reading “Tuesdays with Morrie,” and enjoyed it a lot, even though I don't agree with everything Morrie thought. But, I'll admit, I'm a Tuesday girl too: IV always met on Tuesdays, now I have Tico Tuesdays, Tuesday is just a great day! Anyway, next Tuesday is going to be a very sad day for me- Tía is going to leave us! I'm going to miss her dreadfully. She has been a wonderful blessing to me- listening to me, counseling me and I have learned so much from her. And we love singing together! She sings in Spanish most of the time, and if I don't know the song or hymn in Spanish I'll sing it in English and throw in the harmony if I know it. It's so fun! Tía made a huge sacrifice to be here in Costa Rica to take care of Abuelita. Her husband and 4 mostly-grown kids are still in New Jersey and have been without her a whole year now. So, it will be great for her to go back. I'm going to have to visit her when I go to the States!

I'll post on my blog the story of her going away party!

God bless you this Tuesday and every day!

Carrie

Friday night we threw Tía a surprise going away party. At least, I think it was a surprise. She was making dinner, so I don't think she expected anything. We invited everyone we could think of here who had the opportunity to get to know her. A lot of our friends from church came, since they tend to spend a lot of time at our house, but some adults came too. Considering how little Tía had been able to get out, she made a big impression on a lot of people! She is a very admirable woman of God!

I put on my pretty dress that I wore at the family for Tía since she is always telling me to dress up more and show off my legs. Jajaja! She and I have had a lot of fun together.

Most of the time of the party was spent talking. We gave everyone the chance to talk to her and thank her, tell her what we learned from her, what we appreciate about her, etc. Then she responded to each person, also saying what she appreciated and learned from us, etc, etc, etc. It was a really sweet beautiful time. There was a lot of confession and forgiveness going on-- Tía admitted to sometimes being hard on others because she was so concerned about Abuelita. It was a lovely thing to see people be so humble and honest. It was a most edifying time! It reminded me a little bit of the “living funeral” Morrie had for himself before he died (referring back to the book I mentioned above). It's much nicer to talk about things and tell people how much they mean to you and get out of the way anything that stressed, upset or hurt you when they are there to listen to you, instead of only wishing it to their grave after they're gone.

My friend Jorgito knelt when he talked to Tía and then he sang to her. Many tears were shed, especially by yours truly. Other guys tried to be macho and kept themselves from crying. Afterwards we sang and it was just a delightful time. I'll try to get the rest of the pics on facebook soon.

In the meantime, make the most of life and let others know how much they mean to you! Life is a fleeting breath!