A week in Costa Rica

Hey everyone! So sorry for not blogging recently but this week has been jammed packed with work and team moments. Let's see where should I even begin...

Well Sunday we went back to church and got to see all of our friends there which was so nice. Worship in a foreign country is such a cool experience. They sing popular songs that we know in English so we still get to worship with them by just singing along in English. It's a cool reminder that God is bigger than one language and one country. After church we got invited to our first Costa Rica hangout with the youth at the church. So around four we went over to a really nice house and got to meet and know the youth more. Luckily a few of them spoke English pretty well so we were able to communicate pretty easily. They were all so sweet and welcoming which was very encouraging after being here a few weeks. Their hangout included rock band, guitar playing in Spanish and English, playing charades, ninja, and just getting to know each other. We got home kinda late and went to sleep early to prepare for our first day of work.

Monday we had to catch the 6:20 bus to start our day on time. Sadly, the greengos (us) ended up not catching a bus until 7:20 because several of the buses were full and passed us by, and we kept seeing buses go up the mountain but never come down. Strange. Anyways, we finally got on a bus and went to work with the women of the local Methodist churches. We went back to a school in Tuetal we had visited with the one week team and started shoveling to clear out land for a patio. Wow, talk about getting sore and sunburned. Little Meg here hasn't worked out in quite awhile and manual labor rocked my world hard core. The only way I was able to do it two days in a row is because God was gracious enough to give me strength to keep shoveling or pushing the wheelbarrow. Here was the situation. Shovelers were digging down about 10 inches and putting the dirt into wheelbarrows. Wheelbarrowers were pushing the the wheelbarrow up the hill and to all the different random places one might could put dirt. We did this Monday and Tuesday. The women though were continuing to work the rest of the week which made me sad that we didn't get to see it finished. 

I was so amazed at the way the women worked. We started the day with a group prayer and devotion. The people here pray so earnestly and passionately. As one person prays, everyone else whispers their own prayers and comments to the prayer already going on. Even without understanding their words it was still so touching. Another thing is that those women did work, hard work. It was insane. Women would be going at it with a pick axe. It was a cool project to start off with since we already had a history with that school. 

So on Tuesday after another full day of work we went to the prayer service at the Alajuela church. It was a really small crowd and the worship leaders picked songs that we had sung together on Sunday afternoon which was really sweet of them. The speaker also had a translator which was good because the lessons on Sunday make me a little ADD since I can't understand 95% of what he says. 

So as you can tell the first few days were jammed pack with work, church, and life in Costa Rica. I'm pretty sure we went to bed around 9 those nights because we were so exhausted. 

On Wednesday we got to sleep in a little bit later and then go meet Katia in San Jose at the book warehouse. We spent the morning and afternoon organizing and dusting books. We got to eat again at what is quickly becoming my favorite Soda. Listen to what we had for lunch: rice, beans, carne (basically bbq with good sauce), plantanes, and fruit juice for the small price of three dollars. Jack would be so proud of us and our cheap food :) About the time we got ready to leave the bottom fell out and the rain was so loud that we could barely hear each other in the warehouse. We ended up making a run for it eventually and started the two hour trek back to home. The ride to and from San Jose is an adventure in its self. We have to catch a bus from our house at 20 past the hour and ride that to the station which takes about fifteen minutes. Then you walk a couple of blocks to the next station and get on a bus there. That bus ride is about forty five minutes. Then we get off at the San Jose station and walk multiple, multiple blocks to another station where we get on yet another bus that takes us to the warehouse in about thirty minutes. So imagine doing all that in the pouring down rain. It was an adventure. Yay for a rain jacket and Jack's backpack rain cover!

We did the same thing on Thursday, but luckily it didn't rain. Then the night began. Katia had told us that she wanted to take us out Thursday night for karaoke and dancing. So we came back and ate dinner (soft tacos, which Steph and I made) and got ready. Then Jose came to pick us up around eight which is normally when we have been getting ready for devo and bed! Katia took us to a really nice open patio restaurant that does professional karaoke. We spent the next four hours listening to really talented singers sing Spanish songs with a few moments of Meredith, Stephen, or Katia singing a song we knew in English. It was really fun and sweet of Katia to take us out to do something fun. 

Today we have just been hanging out at the house washing clothes, cleaning up, and packing for our trip to Jaco. We are leaving tomorrow morning around ten and won't be back till next weekend. 

Thanks for checking in and keeping up with me this summer! I want to hear all about yalls summer so far too so hopefully we can skype or fb chat/message sometime after we get back from Jaco. God is so good here in Costa Rica and there in North America!

I've been studying Daniel while I've been here and wow, God is so powerful and amazing. If He can protect them from the flames and the lions, how much more can he protect us from the daily trials in our lives! God bless you all! Love and miss you!