Part of the Family

So not to interrupt my post before it even gets started, but there was just an earthquake here!  According to USGS it was a 5.9 on the Richter scale.  Everything seems fine here, but wow!  At first it just felt like the ground was shaking because a big car was driving by.  It got stronger until it felt like trying to stand in the back of a pickup truck on a bumpy road.  All the birds and the dogs were going crazy outside, and every time a car drives by, I think its an aftershock.

Back to your regularly scheduled blog post: My host family has done a great job making me feel like part of the family.  They speak slowly to help me understand Spanish, they hug me when I come back from work, and my little tico brother and sister have learned the art of sitting on my feet while I walk around.

Henry made a picture of his family in kindergarten.  He drew me in the top left

 Last week my little tico brother and sister were playing house.  Of course I got to be their little kid.  They had a fort set up in the dining room (chairs with blankets over them and all the stuffed animals they had piled underneath).  They have a little plastic kitchen thing, and both of my little "parents" wanted to cook me all sorts of made up food.  They would bring me an empty plate and tell me about their amazing creations, and they would bring me an empty cup and tell me about how good their coffee is.  One time, Amy brought me a special cup of coffee and told me to drink it quickly.  At first I was just sipping it, so she kept yelling "Rapido, rapido!"  To make her happy, I made a motion as if to chug the entire cup of make-believe drink.  As it turns out, the little cup was actually full of real juice, which I had just poured all over myself and the floor....The kids laughed, I laughed (although was just a little embarrassed) and my real tico mom taught Amy a lesson about mixing real things and imaginary things.

A little later I was playing with the stuffed animals and a few hot wheels cars when Henry decided to call his grandmother.  Henry and Amy always take my cell phone to play with, and they call all sorts of people, from my "cousins" to people from other countries, so I thought very little of Henry's conversation.  He told me the phone was for me, so I answered in little-kid language, "Halo?  Como esta?" expecting to be carrying on a conversation with a conversation with an imaginary person as usual.  Imagine my surprise when I heard the voice of Henry's grandmother on the other end! I had a nice conversation with her, but what an experience.

 Amy, being too cool

There was a toucan in the back yard

Regular Life in Costa

Now that I am done with my project trip, it is time to get used to normal life.  I have been working in the office most days during the last 2 weeks.  I have been creating new autoCAD drawings for the hospital and updating drawings for a boy’s home in Guatemala that were created before I got to Costa Rica.  I also had the opportunity to help out at an orphanage.  There was a team here building a new septic system, so I helped them a little bit.  I also wound up helping them with some yard work, and I came back to the house super muddy (that makes it a good day).  I went to the orphanage later in the week to help someone move her furniture (refrigerator, stove, washer, dryer, and 2 beds) to her new house.  We also had a Bible study with the orphans.  It was neat getting to meet some of them and to see God’s hand on the hospital.

In Costa Rica, I am living with a pastor.  That means I have lots of Bible studies (in Spanish, of course).  At one of these Bible studies, I learned a game that is much harder in Spanish.  It’s called fishbowl.  In this game, everyone writes down names of famous people, musicians, athletes, movies, etc.  All the words are put in a bowl, and people draw one and have to get other people to guess the word.  The first time around, you can use any words except the words on the paper to describe it.  The second time around, you can only use one word, and the third time around you can’t use any words.  I learned that I don’t know many famous Costa Rican musicians or athletes, and my vocabulary is still very limited, but my team still wound up winning (other ppl on the team were really good at the game).

On another note, God is good.  I didn’t get much of a break last weekend, and all the Spanish and Bible studies and work in general were wearing on me.  Yesterday during my quiet time, God reminded me of Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  What a great reminder!  Today, I was able to sleep in a little and work on some stuff for my wedding and play with my tico brother and sister a little.  It has been good to relax a little bit.  Please pray that I will have time to relax during all work and various activities that go along with living with a pastor.  I have been a lot busier than I expected, and it is starting to catch up with me.  !Gracias por las oraciones!