My Apartment

My apartment! This is my humble abode. It is a one room apartment, with a bathroom, walk in closet, and small kitchenette. It is the perfect size for me, and I am pretty much settled in. They pulled a table down from the house, so I would have a place to sit, besides my bed, and once they get new furniture for the house, I am going to get a more comfortable sofa.

After a few days of hiding in the air conditioning, I have gotten used to opening all my windows and letting the breeze keep me cool. If you look out the widow by my table, you can see the bananas growing on the tree. There are also Clementine trees right outside my door. They attract the monkeys, so I can watch them from my window!

In my kitchenette, I have a refrigerator, sink, and coffee maker, and they are hoping to get me a plug in stove top soon. It has been great to have my own space to slip away, eat, and turn on the air when I need a break.

Monkeys!

One of the coolest things I have experienced so far is the migrating monkeys. No joke, twice a week a herd, yes herd of monkeys swings through our yard. It is amazing. they come through the trees, leap- like 20 feet, falling from one tree to another, eating oranges and bananas. And part of their "route" leads them across our deck. It is unreal. I dont think I will ever get sick of watching this. Here area few pictures to give you a glimpse. This first little guy is balancing on a rope that leads to our deck. Sorry, the one on the deck is a bit fuzzy, but I got so excited when they came so close!!

Day one in Manuel Antonio

Today was my first full day in Manuel Antonio. I woke up this morning to Gabi and Ryan knocking at my door, excited to bring their breakfast down to my apartment and eat with me. The twins, Cameron and Drew came down to visit, but spent most of the time jumping on my bed. Welcome home! The weather here has is amazing, which means I spent the majority of today either in the pool or sweating profusely. But that comes with the territory. To the right is a picture of Gabi (7) and Ryan (5) chillin by my dinning room table.

I feel especially accomplished today because I am completely unpacked and have already been to the grocery story with Nicki- which means I have my coffee, so I will be set for a while. The produce here is amazing! We made fresh guac today and snacked on pineapple. And, to accompany the local flavor, here is my friend: the iguana who was hanging out on our porch this afternoon. Right now, we don't have the internet at our place. They said we could get it in a week, but I will bank on at least two. Until then, I wont have as much time to spend online, but I will try to post pictures of our place then. Just a little glimpse- we have a small pool and a great view of the pacific which makes for an awesome place to watch the sunsets! (Mom, the sun goes down around 5:30, just in case you were wondering).


Overall, this transition has been harder than the first couple of days, but I know that a lot of that is settling in and trying to figure out my place/role/schedule and everything else that accompanies that. Scott and Nicki have gone out of their way to create a welcoming space for me and make me feel welcome. And I continue to realize that even though I have been to Costa Rica multiple times before, there are still some things that take some getting used to. My flip flops have already found a second identity as a bug squishier, and tonight I met my first roommate- one of the small geckos that made it through the crack under my door. Hope all is well, and will try to get more pictures of the place up soon.
Goodbye and Puravida from Drew (left), Cameron (right), and I

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!

Well, after two 3 1/2 hour flights and two nights of catching up on some much needed sleep, I am here. The past few days, I have stayed with Michele and her husband, Lisandro Montenegro. They are both missionaries here through ITeams. I met Michele eight years ago on a mission trip to Costa Rica through Ridge Point, and have been so blessed to stay in her home! It has been a great transition... I have had time to read, relax, and start practicing my Spanish! Michele has a great second story apartment, where we have made crepes (tortillas filled with chicken, cabbage, onions and corn, and covered in a salsa/dulche de leche sauce- kinda like enchiladas), watched the Gillmore Girls, and had a chance to catch up and share our goals and dreams for the upcoming year. You can click on the photos to the left to make them bigger. They are the view I have taken in over the past few days at Michele's apartment.

Michele has made me feel so welcome, and continues to give me great "tips" for living in Costa Rica- anything from where I can get the US brands when I am craving something like Heinz Ketchup to picking out the best local coffees. I had to laugh at myself last night when I realized that there was a pile of shoes at the front door and they were all mine. While it may be normal in the US, it is definitely not a tico thing. (side note... somehow when I started this blog, I was on the Costa Rican Google site, so everything, including the spell check, is in Spanish!!! Many of you know how bad I am at spelling- so sorry if there are errors!). To the left is a picture of a sign she made me. On it is a verse that says, "... the world must learn that I love the Father..." John 14:31.

One of the things that has blessed me the most is having had the opportunity to meet two of the girls whom Michele disciples. On Wednesday Michele was meeting with Marisol. I had finished talking to my parents in the other room, and I had the chance to listen in on their Bible study. It was in Spanish, so I couldn't catch it all, but Michele was sharing some of the things she had learned while she was in Israel with RVL. They were talking about how the disciples were probably 12 year olds, and that Jesus choosing them while they were working probably meant that he chose students who were rejected by other Rabbis. It was amazing to hear her share this story and use it to encourage and bless Marisol. And it made me feel at home. The picture to the right is of me and Elena, the other disciple that I met and spent time with this week- she is studying architecture at the University, and is a leader in her youth group. She loves music, and she laughed at the fact that my iPod is only 1G- she didn't even think they made them that small!

I am not quite sure when I am heading to Manuel Antonio. I am waiting to hear from Scott, who may be in San Jose to pick up their van tomorrow, but if the van isn't ready, I may stay the weekend.

Thanks to all of you who have kept me in your thoughts and prayers! I am so excited to see where God brings me in this upcoming year, and would love to continue to hear from you as well!

Hasta Luego