Tico Tuesday, October 25th

I went to my beloved Isla Venado this past weekend. It was a quick trip, since I didn't have a long weekend, but it was totally worth the approximately 14 hours of round trip travel time. As I think I'd mentioned last week, the sun has been pretty impossible to see around here lately. The island was no exception when I got there. But, due to all the rain, the chorro, (a waterfall/watering hole) was flowing and full! I'd heard about this place on a previous trip, but didn't have time to go. Then when I asked about it on another trip it was during dry season, so everybody looked at me like I had two heads. But this time, I arrived on the island and before I even got to Pastor Eladio and doña Epi's house the kids were telling me we should go. Twist my arm! Unfortunately, the picture does not capture neither how wet I am (I was pretty drenched. I wrung out my shirt when I got home. I was wet from both the chorro and and steady rain) nor how beautiful the blue stones on the walkway are. They are all smooth and a lovely blue-green. Gorgeous! The trip to the chorro was especially wonderful because we got to go exploring further up the stream. Stream-adventuring is something I really love in life. It was on my bucket list until I came to Costa Rica. Head to the blog for the story of "My Umbrella Adventure."

Much love,

Carrie

So, it's been raining a lot. All over the central valley and western side of Costa Rica. I don't use an umbrella too often because now I travel by car more often than not and tend to just run between buildings and wherever my bar is parked. However, I know it is still important to have one and try to keep one in my purse just in case, because you never know.... Well, the one I kept in my purse was really cheap and falling apart. The other one wasn't in the best shape either. I decided to bring that one with me to the Island. However, I didn't take it with me when I got off the bus in San José Saturday morning. So, I figured I'd buy one in Puntarenas before getting on the ferry. Well, the place I always go to buy things didn't have umbrellas and I have to go to 2 others stores and then ask at a bakery before I found one. And of course, it was raining in Puntarenas and I was getting wet. I doubt my new umbrella's quality, but really didn't have time to fuss. I usually walk to the ferry. I should have gotten a taxi, but I didn't. So I ended up running that last couple hundred meters.

Thankfully I did make it. But of course it started to rain harder those meters I was running, and I didn't want to stop and open my umbrella, which would have only been a hindrance anyway. So I bought an umbrella and didn't use it. Saturday afternoon when we went to the chorro we were planning on getting wet so we didn't bother bringing umbrellas. And then Sunday, LO AND BEHOLD, THE SUN came out!!!! It was amazing, and beautiful and glorious and just so good!! I should have put more sunscreen on... or used my umbrella as a parasol. So I came home with a bit of red skin.

But, when I got to San José, it was raining again! And I had to wait for the bus for almost 20 minutes. That goes to say: I'm so glad I bought my umbrella!

Tico Tuesday, October 18th

Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Most of you celebrated Columbus day last Monday. Well, here, for some reason, they passed the day off to yesterday (otherwise I'm pretty sure we would have had a random Wednesday off). So, I was ok with having Monday off instead of Wednesday. Anyway, we currently have 2 girls from Honduras here visiting us, so yesterday was a perfect day to go do some sight-seeing. Well, perfect opportunity. The weather hasn't exactly been what I'd consider perfect for the past 10 days (the sun hasn't dared show itself completely or let the sky bare itself for us all to enjoy the wonders of its beautiful, deep, blueness). Anyway, we went to Zarcero, a place that is very famous for the park located in front of the Catholic church in the center of town. It has all kids of topiaries, including a ton of topiary arches. It is really cool. There are also some lovely flower beds. I saw some cables and wiring, so I'm pretty sure they light the place up at night. I'd love to see that some time! Zarcero is up in the mountains and on the way we passed a ton of little stands that sell fresh, homemade cheeses and a host of other locally made, typical foods and treats. It was a lot of fun. We went to another town on the way home, but I'll save that story for another day. You can find a few pics of Zarcero on the blog. I'll see if more can make their way to facebook sooner or later.
Enjoy the rest of your week, no matter what the weather!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 11

This Thursday is my one year anniversary of service with Roblealto! This is a picture of my microwave mug cake I made to celebrate. As I was chatting about the occasion with Pam (my supervisor) today, I began to reflect a bit (as I'm wont to do. I'm such a verbal processor!) So much has happened in the past year. God has done such phenomenal things in my life. I'm definitely not who I was a year ago! It's a relief to know the dark difficult time I passed through was now a year ago too. The past year has definitely not been easy. It has brought a lot of unique challenges I've never had to face before. But I must also say it has been one of the best year's of my life. I have learned so much and gotten to experience so many things. I LOVE LOVE LOVE serving in Roblealto! I don't think there are words to express what an honor and privilege it is to be a part of this ministry. Being a part of God's work, being His instrument in the transformation of one life after another after another after another after another.... there is truly nothing better. I'm convinced this is what I was made for. And this is only after one year! I'm excited for what God has in store for me in the future!

May God bring each of us to a place of joy and contentment!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Carrie

PS Head to the blog for more thoughts and pictures of my cake rising in the microwave!

Jajaja, I knew picture of cake in the microwave would bring you here... ;-) It's just so cool to watch the cake rise and not spill over the sides like I would naturally assume it to.

Hmm, well I said I would share more thoughts. I suppose those could relate to Roblealto, but I could also tell you about the "fluff novels" (as my parents call them) that a friend gave me, enjoying the Sing Off a capella competition, the current total lack of sunshine in this country for the last couple days, me laughing at a woman giving birth on a TV show (she was yelling "get it out of me!" I laughed, and then stopped, because I'm pretty sure I'll also be that crazy lady who shouts crazy things while I'm giving birth too), or... I know. I'll write more about culture shock.

I'd say I'm pretty used to life here in Costa Rica. This is my life right now. This is where I live. I feel quite comfortable here and am very content, as you read above. :-) I remember going to MAC (Ministering Across Cultures), and IV cross-cultural training event. It was very well-planned and put together. At the time I didn't feel like I was learning much and wasn't sure if it was really worth it, but with time I'm realizing just how much I actually learned and what valuable knowledge it is!

We talked a lot about red-lining vs green-lining - what kind of posture/attitude we were assuming about the host culture. When you're redlining, you don't have a very good attitude. You think things should be the way you've always known them to be and do your best to maintain things the way you want them to and think they should be. You're not very open to accept new/different things. When you're greenlining, you have a much more open mind, heart and attitude. You assume the posture of a learner, understand that you'll make mistakes, but want to learn from them and be able to fit into the culture.

I heard someone say recently that here in Costa Rica the whole "it's not wrong, it's just different" thing doesn't apply so much and it's more like "it's not wrong, it's just stupid." I would tend to consider that redlining, though I will confess I would agree with the statement in a few settings.

In the 2.5 years I've been living here, I have learned a lot. Especially over the past year I've been able to pick up on a lot more subtle cultural things. I felt kind of silly for not catching on sooner, but 1) I think some of these things really take time 2) I can be really dense. I'd like to be more observant and sensitive to things.

So, in some ways, I really feel like I have a ways to go. But in other ways, I feel like I fit in pretty well here. People started calling me the most latina white girl they knew for a reason! I know I'll always be a gringa and can't deny my history, cultural background or upbringing. But especially as I've met other gringos in Costa Rica, I tend to identify myself a lot more with ticos (Costa Ricans) than gringos. I remember talking with a group of gringos about Costa Rica and talking about Costa Rica in the first person "We here in Costa Rica... In Costa Rica we have...." They picked up on it and I thought it was pretty neat...

Like I go to the airport and immediately enter culture shock. Everyone assumes I'm a gringa adn speaks to me in English. I am a gringa and English is my first language (though I can't get my prepositions right any more), but I'm so used to speaking Spanish (and much prefer speaking it if I know my Spanish is better than the other person's English) it is really weird to have people assume I don't speak it at all (or would rather speak English).

Another example, this Sunday I went to the International Baptist Church. I'd heard it was really good and was looking forward to it. I hadn't communally worshiped in English since May, so I felt like it was about time. I walked in and suddenly had the urge to walk back out. What was I doing there? I felt so out of place. It was like going to a church in Anywhere, USA, but in the FREAKING MIDDLE OF COSTA RICA!!!! It was really, really bizarre and I kind of had a hard time getting past that. I enjoy worshiping in Spanish and greeting everyone with a kiss on the cheek and struggle with that every time I go back to the States.

So, living in another culture requires a regular heart and attitude check and a lot of humility and openness. I know I still have a lot to learn, but it's been great so far!

A New Perspective

A week ago Wednesday I opened an e-mail from the social worker from Roblealto's External Services Dept (she deals with all the families who came and solicit Roblealto's services). The e-mail explained that we were taking a new boy into the Bible Home, and that his mother was very poor and that she had a new baby that had been born just a few days beforehand. We occasionally take a collection when we come across a dire need, so I made a contribution so they could buy whatever the mom needed most and carried on with life. Last Friday, I had a meeting with Pam in the afternoon and then was heading straight up to the Bible Home after work to help my fellow AWANA leaders with our supercool Mexico display. As Pam and I headed into the meeting, I saw a mom with three small children sitting in our reception area. I ran into the External Services social worker and she told me that the mom sitting there was the mom we'd taken the collection for. They were waiting for someone from the Bible Home to come and take them up there.

Pam and I had a very productive meeting. It was getting close to 4 and we took a brief break. Out of the blue it occurred to me (ie the Holy Spirit nudged me) to ask the social worker if the person from the Bible Home had left yet to come and pick up this mother and her 3 sons. It wouldn't make any sense for someone from the Bible Home to drive all the way to the office and back (an hour trip, 1 way, when the traffic is flowing) if I was heading right up to the Bible Home after work anyway. She called and the person who was coming had left the Bible Home, but only a few minutes before. They decided to take my offer to give the family a ride.

Traffic wasn't flowing smoothly, so it took us a good hour and a half (or more) to arrive. The poor mother doesn't even have the money to buy her sons diapers, so, my car began to smell when we were approximately halfway there. I thought about stopping, especially because I was hungry and I figured they were too, but I also knew the folks up at the Bible Home had been waiting for this family to arrive all afternoon, so I figured the sooner we got there, the better. It was a little nerve-wracking to have 3 children in my car and no car seats (that's the word, I couldn't think of it the other day), but at least they were all buckled. When the oldest undid his, we pulled over until he put it on again. The middle one and the baby went in the same belt with their mom. They all fell asleep at some point, and when they were awake I told them about all the cool things about the Bible Home.

I mentioned that the boy would be living with a substitute family and the poor thing totally didn't understand, he just said, "But I already have a family." Oh man... I'd never thought of that very much before. I read all our entrance reports and write them in English, so I know what kind of situations these kids are coming from. Placing children in a place like the Bible Home is the absolute last resort, so the fact that they are there implies that they are at too much risk at home and they have no other viable options. But as Daddy pointed out, even abused children love their parents. The emotional ties are there, even if horrible damage has been done. I can't imagine myself in the child's shoes or the mother's shoes. How could you not feel like a total failure at life if you have to have your own children separated from you? (Hence the awesomeness of the camp for mothers!) This mom is clearly so poor and right now she has no way to provide for her children. So, we are helping her and we will be working with her (she is illiterate and we suspect she might have some other challenges too), but it's got to be hard for her too. Harder that I would have thought before.

Oh and the other thing is, the kids at the Bible Home typically seem pretty happy. The only time when they seemed mopey and were missing their families was at a translation night we had the night after they came back from being home for 2 weeks in July. The rest of the time they seem quite happy there. (Of course they have their issues and their moments, but I'm speaking in general terms.) But, to actually consider a family being split up is a very saddening thought.

Did I mention yet that no one in this family had anything? It's rainy season and the mom doesn't even have an umbrella. Not like she'd have the hands to carry one. But they didn't even have a bag or suitcase for the boy who was staying at the Bible Home. I found out later his mom brought him his stuff later, but the kid arrived to the cool mountain literally with only the clothes on his back, which wasn't much.

Needless to say, this was a very powerful experience for me. I've seen a lot of poor people, but interacting, conversing, and being to help in such a direct, practical (though small) way was totally new for me and I had a lot of processing to do. I can't even imagine though. Seriously.

Thankfully, we were able to make a special space for the middle son at the Bible Home and he went up there the other day. Please PLEASE pray for this family: for the mother and her baby, for the 2 boys at the Bible Home and for the substitute mothers and the rest of the Roblealto staff that will be working with this family. As we said in AWANA on Sunday, Jesus Christ is the Hope of the world. He is the Hope for this family and thank God Roblealto is able to be an instrument of hope. Have I ever told you what a privilege it is to be a part of this amazing ministry?

Tico Tuesday, October 4th

Sunday was Missions Day for AWANA at the Bible Home! It was SO GREAT! Each club chose a country, researched it, made a display with information, and gave a presentation in front of everyone on it.Talk about a lot of work! It was totally worth it though! Everything went great on Sunday! The group I'm with, Chispas 1 (Sparkies 1), had México as our country. So, the leaders all dressed up and one of the guys made adorable little sombreros for the kids. It was so neat to talk about missions and tell these kids of the different people and cultures around the world that also need Jesus, and that one day, they can go to other parts of the world and tell others about Jesus! One girl pointed out though that we can be missionaries wherever we are, and that's true too! So after a lovely mix of worship and country presentations, we moved into the cafeteria and everyone was able to walk through each country's display and learn more. We spent HOURS putting the display up, but it looked fantastic. I encourage heading to facebook to see the pictures I put up and then to the blog to read of the adventure of putting the display together. It was so a-maz-ing!

May God use you as His instrument this week to bring others closer to Him!

Love,

Carrie

Friday afternoon the leaders of Chispas 1 met at the Bible Home to put our display together. Everybody else met on Saturday to do it, but some of our key people couldn't that day, and it was a good thing because we took up almost the whole cafeteria! We got cardboard donated and brought/had a lot of other materials.

A friend of a friend of mine grew up and México, so we were able to have a whole bunch of stuff that was truly authentic. That was really cool! And my fellow leaders are superstar creative artsy people. We made a great team. Everyone diligently worked away into the hours of the night. We slowly lost people, but there were still 6 of us at the end. I arrived late because I had to work all afternoon and got out a little late because I was in a meeting and then traffic was awful. but, there was still plenty to do even when I got there.

(More on my trip up to the Bible Home in another post-my perspective on poverty and the Bible Home got rocked this weekend.) So, of course, since I arrived late, everything was my fault. Any little thing, I got blamed for it. It was hilarious. It kind of reminded me in high school when each day was somebody's fault (random!). It made me feel really good though, because I knew that meant people had the confianza (they'd built enough trust/knew me enough) to tease me.

Kind of like getting thrown in the pool at camp in April. And it was actually some of the same people. It just felt so good to feel truly comfortable around other people. We were all totally comfortable and at ease with one another. We could tease and laugh, but we were also helping one another and bonding. It just felt like a totally positive, safe environment. I loved it! I felt totally free to be me and like people really loved me for who I am. That display of God's love is so awesome!! It was a great night. And of course, as the night drew on we got crazier.

It was getting close to midnight (or maybe it wasn't even that late) when all of a sudden we had all grabbed a decoration or prop of some kind and were all dancing around like totally wild, happy/crazy people. Tatti had the flag, Nawaf a piñata, Jeffrey one of the giant cardboard chiles, Laura a giant sombrero, me the axe with the blade of obsidian and Fausía had the poor, ridiculous palm tree on her head! It was SO FUNNY!! (Ok, maybe you had to be there.) Check out the song. Make sure you listen in far enough to be able to recognize the rollicking gospel tune! Jaja, just hearing it again I'm bursting out laughing. I

agree with Fau, I'll never be able to hear this song in the same way (or with a straight face) again! We did a little encore on Sunday morning once the activity was over, but it wasn't quite the same (and by then our poor palm tree was in really rough shape!). I love my fellow AWANA leaders! we had so much fun! I'm so excited to continue to spend time with them!