One Week

One week has gone by. It feels like forever, and yet it feels like I just got here. No, it feels like I'm not actually here in Costa Rica. It's just so hard to imagine. But it is gorgeous as most people say. I spoke with one girl from the church we visited last week and she asked why so many people that come to Costa Rica say it's so beautiful. She lives here and she doesn't think it's that special. I guess you never really realize what blessing you have. I probably didn't appreciate the Shenandoah Valley enough.

But life is good here. Pura Vida. I'm enjoying the life of a student again. This is really what I've always wanted to do as far as school goes. I get to go to class from 8:30 to 12:30 (with two 10 minute breaks I might add) and then I'm done for the day. I have homework, but its all Spanish, which I really want to learn, and even when I'm done, I actually try and find more stuff to study on my own. That's how school should really be.

I really enjoy my host family, Laura and William. Laura knows a little English, but William doesn't. So its a lot of fun trying to communicate. I'm doing pretty well. Still not anywhere close to where I hope to be, but I'm sure it will come. I have chatted with their daughter, Laura, who is taking care of here newborn son, Ian. She is usually at the house in the afternoons and we can chat, and I get to practice listening and speaking Spanish. I try to have at least one good conversation with someone in the family each day. I spoke with Laura, the mother, the other night. She is fascinated with the Amish. She has a bunch of quilts, pictures, and even a deck of Dutch Blitz cards. We haven't played yet, cause she doesn't know how, but I promised to teach her. When she was just a child she met some Amish people who came to Costa Rica and she has been fascinated with them since. She has been to the US, but only to Arizona and she hopes someday to visit Ohio or Pennsylvania to see the Amish. She is so funny. I hope and pray that she gets to fulfill that dream.

God has really blessed me also, becuase I am staying at the host family and attending classes with another guy named Rob. He is from Canada, but he's really not that bad of a guy. He is also going to be working with Pura Vida for the summer. It is nice to be able to have someone else going through the same stuff that I am. He likes to play guitar and then when he's not playing, he lets me borrow his also. And I have my laptop and we take turns playing the Pinball game on the computer too. I'm a little annoyed though, cause he has the high score right now.

I'll have to talk about the food and the daylight at another time. Very different here.

Arrival

I have finally arrived. The whole process of getting here was just one adventure in what I'm sure will be a long list of adventures. Finding out the night before my flight left, that it actually departed about 7 and a half hours earlier than I originally thought. The security officer who found a pocketknife I had accidentally left in my carry-on bag from a previous trip. Fortunately the flights left on time and had no trouble.

It is gorgeous here in Costa Rica and I don't think it will ever sink in that I'm actually here and that I'm planning to stay for an entire year.

It's a little intimidating just in the time I've been here to realize that its going to take a long time to get comfortable with the culture and learning the language. It's not going to come as easily as I thought it might and certainly not as soon as I had hoped. But its an adventure.

I look forward to meeting the other interns and getting to know them and all of the ropes that go with helping out at Pura Vida. I've been told by DeLynn and Gloria that I'm more outgoing than the other interns, and I don't really see myself as an outgoing person. I think I'm even going to get to learn to drive stick-shift and to drive on the crazy streets of Costa Rica.

Prayer requests:

-Quick adjustment for me
-Confidence to be able to try (and in the process make a fool of myself) while I learn the language
-Union among all of the staff at Pura Vida
-The other students I will be in language school with

Soon to leave

In one week and two days, I will be leaving on a jet plane. The date is set for Friday, March 23rd. I'll leave at 3:30 pm from Dulles Airport, and arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica at approximately 8:30 pm. I'm very excited, however, as the time arrives, I've started to have other emotions as well. One year will fly by, but it is also a significant amount of time to be gone. It is enough time for a whole lot to change. I fear the change that will happen while I am gone and that I will have to adjust to when I return. I am truly going to miss the people who have been such a huge part of my life in this past year since I graduate from college. My family, my bible study and friends from church, my friends at BB&T. I trust God knows what He's doing with me, and the future is ultimately in His hands, and worrying about it won't get me anywhere... but it has started to weigh on my mind for the first time in terms of my time in Costa Rica and after. But its an adventure and the uncertainty sparks something exciting in my spirit that I must admit is driving me to get on with these plans. So I leave in a little over a week. I would say that this time will be bitter sweet, but if I say that, I would still be holding on to the doubt that this trip will somehow make my life worse off than what it is. If I'm trusting God on this one, and I like to think that I am, then only His best and His glory will come out of it. But I'll miss everyone while I'm gone.