The Market

Every Saturday, there is a local fair (much like our farmer's market) where local farmers come and set up tables of fruit, vegetables, and local favorites. You can buy arroz con pollo or pick up a coconut and sip its juice for 200 colones (a little less than 50 cents). You can see me enjoying one while I browse. We head down there Friday night, when they are setting up to get the first dibs on the goods. The produce is amazing! And often fresher and cheaper than you would find in the store. I usually end up buying tomatoes, avacados, onions, limes, mangos and a pineapple- enough for me to make my staple avacado wraps and have fruit for breakfast. The twins love running around and for whatever reason, people are always touching thier heads. Maybe because they are unique in their blond/twin-ness. The photo above is the boys taking a break on a bench by the water. The market is set up on the road right along side of the beach, so it is a great place to stock to fridge and watch a sunset all at the same time!

English Classes

Every Wednesday night, I go to a small christian church outside of Quepos, and help teach an English class. The classes are part of the ministry of Debbie and Bill, missionaries who work with local church leaders in the greater Quepos area. We divide the group according to age and language proficiency. With the kids, we play games and review words that they are already learning in school. With adults, we try to cater their classes to their needs, helping with pronunciation. In the picture, Aleasha is working one on one with Maria. Maria works as a housekeeper, but wants to learn English so that she can get a job at a hotel or in the tourist industry in Manuel Antonio.

Half way through the lessons, we have a "cafecita" or coffee break. During that time, Debbie runs a short Bible study in English and in Spanish. We always sing a song, and I have landed myself the job of pointing to the words. As many of you know, 1. Not the get up in front of people type of person and 2. Not a soloist... but I fun trying to lead new English speakers through old hymns with a dry marker. Teaching the classes has been a great way for me to meet more people from the community, as well as (ironically) practice my Spanish. It's an awesome ministry, filling a real need!

But I, by Your great love

I’m trying to work through the Bible this year, developing a discipline of daily going to God through the word. I have a bi-lingual Bible, and I love to try to read it in both English and Spanish because I have found that the different translations can bring a richer understanding of the text. And that is how I ran across Psalm 5:7, which in Spanish reads, “Pero yo, por Tu gran amor…” But I, by Your great love. And it doesn’t end there, but that is where I stopped. Because I realized that this verse sums it all up. As I have been trying to sort out why God has me here and where my ministry is, He has continually reminded me that everything I am and have is by his love. And that is sufficient. He has reminded me that my identity is in Him and not in the things I left at home, whether that be friends, family, a full vocabulary, or refrigerated milk. And that doesn’t demean the importance of any of those things, but helps me gain perspective when all I see is what is in front of me today. Pero yo, por Tu gran amor.

Weekend in San Jose, Part 3. Tica Te

The main reason why I went to San Jose this weekend was to attend Silvia's Te, or Baby Shower. I was so excited to both share this day with her and Manfred and also to experience, culturally, what a Tica Te was. This was no small shower. Silvia estimated that 90-95 people attended. And it was a blast. Tica women are not shy when it comes to shower games, no matter what the prize. And I, as some of you know, hate being a part of these type of games, but loved being a spectator (it would have been hard to have 95 people in any type of running/grabbing/timed shower festivity).


The whole shower was set up more like a wedding reception- lots of tables and homemade centerpieces that Silvia's relatives spent a lot of time making (I tried to get it in the picture... Michele, Aleasha, the "country" centerpiece, and me at our table). We had coffee and pastries as appetizers and a plated dinner, but there was a lot of time to talk and enjoy the company of the other guests in between games or while Silvia was opening her presents (and there were a lot of them!).



A couple things that are different about tica baby showers... first, everyone chips in. We each paid 2.000 colones ($4) to help cover the cost of our food. The second, which I already mentioned was location and meal service. This wasn't anything like the coffee house or living room showers I have have attended, and it was over the dinner hour, so we all ate and enjoyed the company for the evening (about 4pm-9pm). Also noteworthy, guys, Manfred was there for the WHOLE thing! And he wasn't the only guy!


And finally, what I loved about it was that it reflected a celebration with toasts and blessings. I was blessed by seeing all the people who were there to support Silvia and Manfred, and I am sure that everyone there felt equally blessed to have them back home for her delivery. Silvia, thanks for inviting me to come and share in this celebration with you! I can't wait to come up again soon to meet baby Abigail!!

Weekend in San Jose, Part 2. Friends!

This weekend I had a great opportunity to meet up with some old friends and make some new ones! On Friday night, I had the chance to go to Alejeula to hear Johan and Saul (two friends from my first trips to Costa Rica) play at a local bar. Both of them have played all over the country! In the past, I have called them mis ticos locos, my crazy Costa Ricans, as most of my time spent with them was full of joking around and pulling stunts like jumping off roofs. It is hard to believe that it has been six years since I had seen them! God has blessed them with amazing musical talent, it was so much fun to hear them play and see how they have been doing. I was tempted to request Shakira’s Estoy Aqui as a joke, but decided to pass on the opportunity. Although, I must say, I still do know every word to that song and was tempted to sing when the opportunity for Karaoke came up later in the weekend…

This weekend, I also had the chance to meet Silvia and Manfred. Silvia and Manfred just returned to Costa Rica last month so that she can have her baby (Abigail! Who is due in a month) here. Who would have thought that we would 1. have the opportunity to meet or 2. be in Costa Rica at the same time! I can’t wait to meet Abigail, and they are hoping to come down to Manuel Antonio to visit before they head back!

I also want to introduce you all to Aleasha! She is from North Carolina, but has spent about 5 years living in Costa Rica and 2 years in the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area. When Michele found out that I was moving here, she gave me Aleasha’s contact information and we started communicating in early January. At the time, she shared with me her heart for the people here, and gave me some valuable pointers for packing and finding my way around the city. Well, God brought her back, and it has been so refreshing to talk to her and see a different side of the city. I have already met some of her friends here and heard stories of how God has worked in the lives of people she has met. She has also introduced me to the term “Costa Freak-a”, which is used to describe the crazy things that happen, like loss of water for three days or dogs in fancy restaurants. And today, we experienced our own freak-incident. If you can look at the picture, you see Aleasha walking over the bridge that leads into Quepos. On the far right, you see the semi accident that shut down the bridge. We had to unload our bus, gather Aleasha’s luggage (mind you, she was moving down here- four bags) and carry them across the rickety bridge where another bus was waiting to pick us up.

Weekend in San Jose, Part 1. The Retreat

This past weekend, I was blessed by the opportunity to go to the San Jose area to meet up with some friends, share a time of Bible study and community, and attend a tica te (baby shower). And it was a phenomenal weekend. I was challenged, encouraged, and loved on by so many people in so many different ways. So, instead of trying to tackle this all in one hefty post, I’m going to try to split it up a little.

I left for San Jose Thursday at noon, and paid $4 to take a direct bus to the San Jose airport. 3 ½ hours. Let’s just say that the bus seats are not made for anyone over about 5’6”… which meant my knees were to my chest most of the commute, but I sat next to a nice little tico man who tried give me a little more leg room. I was met at the airport by Aleasha (who I had never met, but had been in contact with prior to coming- more on her later) who graciously came and directed me to another bus so we could meet up with Michele.

Sonlife (the organization that led my high school mission trips to Costa Rica) was having a retreat from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon at their missions campus outside of San Jose. There, I was able to see Mark and Carlos (two missionaries that led our trips) and meet Silvia and Manfred (the missionaries I have been supporting for four years but have never had the chance to meet until now!). And, if you remember my first post, Michele is committed to discipling youth here in Costa Rica, and I had the chance to hang out with two of her girls- Elena (again!) and Monica. In the picture above, you see Aleasha, Monica, myself, Michele, Elena, and Silvia, sharing a table during Mark’s teaching.

During the retreat, I had the chance to catch up, play some volleyball, eat some great typical Costa Rican food, and wear jeans (65-70 degrees feels cold when you are used to temps in the 90s!!). But I was most blessed by the teaching and Christian community. Mark taught from Luke 6, and talked about how God has created us to be Christ Centered- blessing him for times of poverty, hunger, sadness, and rebuke because they are opportunities to seek him and trust him more. We had the chance to share what God was doing in our lives, pray with each other, and challenge each other to develop relationships that extended God’s grace to others. I was refreshed by the opportunity to be surrounded by people who were passionate about bringing Christ to Costa Rica by investing in discipleship!