Tico Tuesday, December 3rd

Happy post Thanksgiving and Happy Advent to you all! May this be a wondrous season in which we slow down and focus on the Reason for our celebration. Before I get going: 2 things. 1) The November Chronicle is coming, but I'm not sure when. December 15th by the latest. It's major crunch time with my studies right now. Please keep praying for me! 2) This blog post on the cool missionary blog I follow totally validates what I'm about to say. Here we go:

Today was the annual retreat for children who will be leaving Roblealto's Bible Home and child care centers. We take them to a fun place with a pool, play games, do activities, and have a time of teaching and explain to them about the followup program we have for adolescents. We want to continue supporting these children and their families as best as we can for as long as we can. Last year, one of our girls had a health concern arise, so I got to take a ride in the ambulance...and miss most of the day's activities. Thankfully, there were no major health issues this year and we all had a really nice time. But by the end, I'll confess I was frustrated and angry.
I was raised in the States and taught not to litter. You just don't do that. It looks awful, on highways you can get fined for it, and it's bad for the environment. I'm no eco-nerd, but I do believe in caring for God's green (and blue) earth, and, well, trash cans exist for a reason! Besides, having litter everywhere looks, well, trashy. And it's embarrassing. But, in this little country whose culture cares so much about formalities, good manners, good looks, making a good impression, and having a clean house, litter is a nationwide problem. The irony just blows me away.
Seriously. It's awful. And it drives me nuts. I was getting really upset with all the littering today. It started in the morning with the straw wrappers from the juice boxes. Then in the afternoon it was the wrappers on the mini plastic shovels used to eat little cups of ice cream. Then, we had piñatas for the kids, and I almost went beserk. There were candy wrappers everywhere! And there continued to be a trail of them wherever the kids went. I had to remind myself not to become weary of doing good so I wouldn't explode. People just don't get it here. And I don't get why they don't get it. They say things in other cultures aren't bad, they're just different. This is one thing I think is safe to just call bad. You just don't litter, whoever you are and wherever you are on this planet. Ok. Rant over.
Anyway... about 30 of our (80) kids are gearing up to go back and live with their families once more. Please pray for them, and for many of them to get involved in our followup program! (And for them to learn to stop littering! ;-) )
Thanks!
Carrie