Thursday, February 17

As soon as I walked into LASP this morning someone shouted out Casey, you have a huge package! I went straight to the mail boxes, and I was super excited to find a big box of treats from my family. They sent me a bunch of Valentine's day candy and some really nice cards. It was really fun to open the package and to have a little something from home. Pretty much everyone watched as I unwrapped my stuff, and they were all almost as excited about it as I was.

This morning we had our final lecture in Basic Seminar, the class I've been taking on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Our topic was Nicaragua, and we basically just went over a quick history of the country and its modern condition. The lecture was followed by process groups, and I was excited to hand in my final reading critique and thesis paper. At LASP we also talked about the trip to the cloud forest that I'm going on this weekend. I'll write more about it later, but there's a group of 14 or so students from LASP renting a few dorm-like rooms at a science base just to get away for the weekend. It will be nice to get out of San Jose and live independently for a little bit, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the forest has to offer.

At ICADS we worked on prepositions, and it was funny but frustrating trying to separate the little words in our heads. My whole class is dreading that portion of the quiz tomorrow, but it feels good to know that it will be our last quiz, at least until we get back from Nicaragua.

The rest of my evening was pretty uneventful. I spent pretty much all of my time at home working on an essay that I need to send in for my scholarship before I leave for Nicaragua, and my whole host family was fascinated by my ability to type. They especially liked it when I looked away from the screen and kept on typing. Of course, for all they know I could have been just typing nonsense, but it was fun to joke about. Kevin was imitating me and said that I could have a whole conversation while typing. While trying to explain that I can't do that, I said 的 can't even walk and chew gum at the same time.Apparently the phrase isn't so common here, and we had a good laugh while I tried to explain what it meant.

My host siblings went to bed really early, and then my host mom sat down with me at the kitchen table to chat for a little bit. It was so nice of her, and I really enjoyed talking to her about the rest of my semester. We talked about some typical food in Costa Rica and she explained what her family does for Easter. I'm happy I've been getting more opportunities to build a relationship with her, and I hope we can continue getting to know each other more each day.

Wednesday, February 16

What an overwhelming day! I'm not sure what happened to me today, but for some reason I just was struck with frustration and exhaustion. While my new host family is amazing, its been hard settling into a new home, and its been especially challenging knowing that I'll be leaving them to go to Nicaragua in a few days. This week is also full of things to do, so I think it was just trying to think about too much instead of just relaxing and letting things happen.

I got up early to stop at an e-cafe this morning to send some emails and look up some final details for my thesis paper before our weekly worship service at LASP. When I got there at 8 the e-cafe wasn't open, so I went to LASP and worked on some reading for tomorrow. About an hour later I went back and used the computer for a while, but I kind of rushed in order to get back to LASP for worship. When I got back to LASP I found out worship was canceled because the leaders were all working on their presentations, so I read some more.

After lunch we headed over to ICADS to give our presentations. I ended up not making a poster because our teacher told us yesterday we could just write on the white boards if we wanted to. Well, when I went to give my presentation the two teachers in the audience were not at all excited about the whiteboard thing, so I just gave the presentation without it. I think the presentation went fine, but I'm a little nervous about my grade.

Because we got done at ICADS so early, a group of us went into downtown San Jose to go to an artisan's market and buy some stuff for Nicaragua. That was a lot of fun, and we found some really great stuff at the market. By the time we were done there it was almost 4:30 and I was needing to get home, so Haleigh and I searched for a bus (which took quite a while) and made our way towards El Carmen (our part of San Jose). Our bus happened to stop at Andrey's school just as he was getting out, so it was fun to take the bus home with him.

When we got home mami was at a PTA-like meeting, so it was just the four of us kids, and it was kind of fun to just chill for a while. I started my homework after a bit and I've been working on stuff all evening. It seems like I've been consistently underestimating my homework load, and I'm looking forward to this weekend when all of it will just be done. My prayers for strength and patience are unending...I can't get through a single moment here without God's grace and presence, and I long to just rest in Him.

Tuesday, February 15

            This morning at LASP Don Mike gave a lecture on the church in Latin America. His focus was Catholicism, and he gave a pretty detailed summary of the basic beliefs of the Catholic church pre- and post-Vatican II. The lecture was extremely interesting, and after he spoke we went to visit a Basilica in Cartago (a city near San Jose). The Basilica was beautiful and was built in response to an apparition of the Virgin Mary in that place. I learned a lot about Catholicism and set up a meeting with Don Mike to talk more about the foundations of the church and the reason for the splits and changes in our history.

            Another part of our morning was our pre-Nicaragua orientation. We were given packing lists and a survey that essentially asked us if we would like to have running water or not during our stay in Nicaragua. I wasn't really sure which I preferred, and I just decided to trust that God and the LASP staff will put me somewhere I can learn and grow. Its going to be a really challenging 10 days there, but I'm excited for the challenge and I can't wait to learn to rely on God in new ways through my experience in Nicaragua.

            The LASP staff also announced that they were extending the deadline for our thesis papers until Friday. Apparently there was a mistake in the scheduling and they didn't want us staying up all night finishing our thesis papers and preparing for our ICADS presentations for tomorrow. Its kind of nice to have some extra time to tweek things, and the schedule changes made my week seem a lot more do-able. I can't believe the first portion of my trip is already coming to a close!

            Before ICADS a few of us did some research about La Fortuna, the town we will be staying in over spring break when we go to see Volcán Arenal. On the way home from Spanish we stopped at a few stores to pick up some things for Nicaragua, and when I got home our neighbors were over having coffee with mami. It seems like I'm being offered food all the time, and I'm always given more than I would ever ask for. I don't think I even remember what it feels like to be hungry anymore!

            When the neighbors left, Andrey taught me how to play chess while Melany played with my hair, and after dinner I settled in for an evening of Spanish. I practiced my presentation a few times, and mami was worried that I didn't make my poster for the presentation yet. I'll have some time tomorrow to throw something together if I decide I need to, but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine without a guide. Mami was so helpful yesterday when I asked her about schools in Costa Rica that I could talk for way more than my allotted time about them.

            I've been looking over my schedule for the rest of the time before I go to Nicaragua (we're leaving at 6am on Monday), and I'm not sure if I'll be able to post again before I leave. Since running water was a question, I'm pretty sure I will not have the internet while I'm there, so I just wanted to let everyone know not to expect any posts from me for a while. I won't get back to San Jose until March 3, and I'm not sure when I'll have the chance to use the internet again after that. My goal is at the very least to get online while on Spring break (March 5-7) to let everyone know I'm okay. I can't wait to see what God will do during my time away, and I'm excited to share it all with you when I get back!  Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support!

Monday, February 14

            Happy Valentine's Day! My host siblings just politely banged my door down to give me an incredibly sweet Valentine's day card from their family. They make me feel more and more loved every day! :) I was happy I had some little chocolate hearts to share with them, and no one wanted to leave my room so that I could study.

            This week is going to be another crazy one, but luckily I'm only anticipating academically craziness instead of emotionally and physically exhaustion. Its our last week in San Jose before our trip to Nicaragua, so our thesis papers are due on Wednesday. For ICADS we also have an 8 minute presentation to give on Wednesday and a final exam on Friday. Yikes! So far I have....nothing finished!! Luckily all my thesis paper requires this week is a few corrections and a works cited.

            Today was an interesting day, mostly because my schedule was completely different than it has been in the past. I went over to Haleigh's house to use the internet this morning, and it was sooo great to talk to John and my mom. Getting to Haleigh's house (I may have missed a bus and forgotten which street she lived on) and then calling home took up pretty much my whole morning, and before I knew it we needed to head over to ICADS. I didn't get a chance to work on any of my homework like I was hoping, but it was totally worth it.

            In Spanish class we worked on vocabulary, and it was fun to learn the dictionary version of words and then the slang words that people actually use. We made a few stops on the way home, and I bought this delicious yogurt and granola thing that I think I could eat every day for the rest of my life and not get sick of. I also bought some poster board (yes...we finally found some!) for my presentation on Wednesday. That was super fun to carry while we took the long way home and I squeezed onto an overfull bus.

            When I got home mami and I talked about the school system in Costa Rica (the topic for my presentation on Wednesday) for about an hour and she was really helpful! Then I helped her get dinner ready and we all ate together. From the minute I got home Melany was dying to play something...ANYTHING with me, so after dinner we played with some clay for a while and then I needed to work on my presentation. Motivation = lacking and progress = slow, but I know I need to just do it or I'll regret it when the final grades come through.

Sunday, February 13

            I think this weekend may have been the best one I've had in Costa Rica so far. This is probably because I really just needed a break after last week. It was fabulous to have two whole days with nothing to worry about. I spent a fair amount of time on my thesis paper, but because I already did the outline and talked to Don Antonio so much about my topic, writing it went pretty smoothly. I'm pretty much done with it, which feels like a great victory!

            This morning we went to my host family's Catholic church and I really liked it. The Catholic churches seem more alive here than the ones I've been to in the States, and I'm grateful that my church experiences here haven't lived up to my dreadful expectations of sitting in the heat for hours on end listening to a dry priest....don't ask where that expectation came from, because I've never actually experienced that in a Latin American church...its just what came to mind for some reason. Anyway, after church I played “My International Bank” with Kevin and Melany. It was pretty much the same a Monopoly, only neither one of my host siblings understood how to play, so we all had loads of money and there was no end to the game in sight when I quit to work on my paper.

            After lunch I was feeling a little tired and discouraged because I never know what to say or how to say it. I wish I could just step out and guess. My host family is incredibly gracious and they're always good at explaining things when I ask, so I don't understand why its so hard sometimes. Either way, I was in need of some quiet rest, so I took a little while to myself in my room and just read and prayed. It was good to be broken at the foot of the cross again and to be reminded that God is with me always.

            We had another rosary praying this afternoon. This time it was in honor of 8 months since my host mom's father's death. It was a bit of a smaller crowd and the prayer time went really quickly and was followed by some yummy food and joking around. Again, Kevin entertained us all with his impressions (this time of his aunt's dancing), and it was a lot of fun. When everyone left I played some cards and other games with Kevin and Melany and then showed them every picture on my computer. They loved trying to type things and listening to my Michael Jackson music.

            I can't believe I'm about 1/3 of the way done with my time abroad! So much has happened already and I've learned loads, yet it seems like time is flying. I'm sad to only have a few more weeks with this host family and nervous for what Nicaragua will bring, but I just can't wait to see what more God will bring me. He is so incredibly faithful, and I'm so grateful that He has been working all of these experiences to bring me closer to Him. ¡Hasta Mañana!

Saturday, February 12

            Today was a dose of exactly what I needed. I got to sleep in a little bit, and when mami, papi, and I were ready, we went to the feria (fruit/vegetable market) to pick up some groceries.  I loved the market and being there made me want to move here after graduation just to get to shop at a market like that every week. Mami bought me a pipa (a fruit similar to a coconut, but bigger and green with tender meat) so that I could drink the juice inside, which was kind of fun. When we were leaving, mami saw a shirt she wanted to buy for Kevin and came out of the store with three shirts, one of which was for me. She is so sweet!

            On the way home, we stopped at the Costa Rican version of Sam's Club and wandered around picking up a few things. Mami just got a membership there, so she wanted to check things out, and I was amazed by how much stuff there was imported from the US and labeled in English. When we got home, my host siblings challenged me to a game of soccer, so we played out in the yard for about an hour. I was so bad at it, but we had a good time.

            After things finally settled down, I spent some time working on my thesis paper. Its coming along pretty well, its just a challenge to sit down and work on it. I took a study break to check my email and update my blog at the neighbor's house, and it was good to hear from some of you!

            Tonight for dinner we had cheeseburgers (a special treat everyone was excited about), and Kevin kept us all laughing for more than an hour. He was acting out all kinds of crazy things people do in their sleep, re-telling how ridiculous my soccer skills are, and telling pretty much every joke he could remember. Most of the time I only had a vague idea of what he was saying, but it was fun to laugh and be part of such a happy, lively family.

Friday, February 11

Today was a tiring but great day. This morning at LASP we did an activity called our “Spiritual Journey.” We had all the chairs in our classroom set up in a big circle and we just went around and shared whatever was on our hearts. Some people shared their testimonies and others shared what God has been teaching us this semester. It was overwhelming to hear 40 stories of God's faithfulness and love, and I really enjoyed the activity a lot. I'm super grateful for the people God brought me here with, and I think he's really using this specific group of people to sharpen and shape each other in exactly the way He wants.

We had some really good discussions, and after lunch we headed over to ICADS. Haleigh and I stopped for Trits on the way to celebrate making it through this insane week, and Spanish class was really good. We had a quiz, which I think I did much better on than the one we took last week, praise God, and talked about the food in Costa Rica/USA.

My host mom and siblings picked me up from ICADS to go over to my host mom's parents house for the evening. Today was the 5 month anniversary of mami's brother's death, so the family was having a gathering to pray the rosary. It was a really nice service, and I enjoyed the evening a lot. I noticed how much easier its getting for me to not feel awkward but to just let things happen. Worrying about how I'm acting or what is coming next just makes life more stressful, and I'm able to be more genuine when I'm just living in the moment. We spent the whole evening with mami's family and their neighbors/friends, and everyone was exhausted by the time we got home at 10. No one could believe it when they saw me with my laptop while they were getting ready for bed. They thought I was studying...ha! I'm just as ready for bed as they are, so this is all for tonight. ¡Buenas noches!

Thursday, February 10

I am so exhausted and downtrodden that I've having a hard time thinking clearly today. I know that God had all of this in mind when He brought me here, and I can clearly see how things are working out for the best, but its hard to keep going forward. Praise God that tomorrow is Friday and that I'll have a couple of days off of classes soon.

Things with my new host family are going phenomenally well, and I'm so grateful to be living with them now. In fact, I'm a little sad that I didn't switch host families sooner, and I want to soak up all the time I have with them now. I can't believe its already been four days and that I only have a little over a week here before I go to Nicaragua. The trip to Nicaragua has a reputation for being exhausting, so I'm praying for some rejuvenation before that obstacle comes. However, I'm not focusing on that. Today is enough to get through, and I need to rely on God every moment. There literally is no other way for me to get through at this point.

I worked really hard today to just focus on the positive, looking at what God is doing and what He has done in my life so far. Its amazing to walk step by step with Him. This morning we went to an organic farm to talk about sustainable farming. I was really tired, but the guy who showed us around was super genuine and interesting, so I enjoyed the experience overall. He talked about how to rotate/plant crops so that they naturally support each others' growth. His wife also shared some amazing coffee and sweet bread with us before we left.

The buses took us right to ICADS after the farm, so we had some extra downtime in San Pedro (the part of San Jose where ICADS is located) before Spanish class. A group of us went to a grocery store to but a few things and then we ate lunch before class. My Spanish teacher this week (and next week...we're not switching again) is really sweet and I feel like I'm at least getting more comfortable with my Spanish. We have a paper due for Spanish tomorrow, and my teacher was nice enough to stay late to help me edit mine. We made a lot of corrections, but it was nice to look over it with her because she could explain what I did wrong and she said that she would incorporate some of the things I had trouble with into next week's lessons.

When I got home we all shared about our days and then I settled in to do some reading for LASP. My host siblings all started school today, so I got to hear a little bit about their schools. We were all pretty tired from our days and I wasn't exactly on top of my Spanish game, so our conversation wasn't as lively as it has been the last couple of nights. But at least it was in Spanish!! Its interesting to note differences between schools and the US and schools here, and I'm going to do a presentation about Costa Rican school system as my final project for ICADS next week.

Before dinner Kevin, Melany, and I played a few games of BINGO, and after we ate everyone pretty much got ready for bed. I finished up editing my Spanish paper and am barely prying my eyes open as I write this. I'm at a bit of a loss, but I know that God's in control. I don't need to worry, I only need to trust. I pray that God would strengthen me and that I would know His presence in every moment. I want His wisdom and His spirit to move in me, helping me serve Him in everything that I do. Most of all, I want to rely on Him and find all of my fulfillment in His grace, mercy, and love.

Wednesday, February 9

Today was another taxing day. This morning I went to Haleigh's house to use the internet in order to call my family, update my blog, and check my email. Of course, this morning was also the first time her host family's electricity went out. We decided to walk to a nearby e-cafe, and I was able to use the internet there, which was nice. It was kind of overwhelming to try dealing with keeping in touch in the midst of everything, and I was grateful to have Haleigh there with me.

After I finished at the e-cafe, we went back to Haleigh's house and had a mini-Bible study together. It was a great time of sharing and God showed me a lot of His grace through the time we spent together in prayer and in reading the Word. I was completely exhausted and weak and I just had to lay everything down at the foot of the cross and ask for more. More strength, more peace, more patience, more grace, more challenges. I want to be God's tool through every experience, but it was scary to ask Him to keep moving in my life. This morning all I wanted was a nap. I knew I couldn't take any more of what the world was giving me and I just wanted a break, but God truly showed Himself to me and asked me to let go and let Him carry and guide me through the day. He asked me to be faithful and to step up and lean on Him to get through each moment. What would I do without His grace and mercy?

When we finally made our way to LASP, we discovered that the doorbell there was broken, so we stood outside the gate for about 10 minutes calling for people to come let us in. Once we were in the courtyard, I realized that the tuna my host mom packed me had sort of escaped its container. My whole lunch bag wreaked of tuna. (I would have just thrown it away, but its a re-usable one that my host mom was definitely expecting me to return with) I tried to just take these most recent obstacles in stride, but it was difficult not to just fall apart. I had to take a couple of moments to just close my eyes and ask for strength before I could make the change from focusing on the obstacles to looking ahead and not worrying about everything going on. When I finally got settled in, we had a nice lunch with the other LASP students and then made our way over to ICADS.

I put my lunch bag on the floor during class so the tuna juice wouldn't get all over my stuff, and when I went to grab it during break it was absolutely covered in ants. It was so gross. Normally I probably would have just laughed and taken care of it, but after my last few days even something so seemingly small almost put me over the edge. Again, I needed a moment of prayer. I felt like shouting “WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TEACH ME, GOD?! CAN'T I JUST LEARN IT ALREADY?!” I'm still not sure what He wants me to learn, but seeking Him is the only thing I can do, and I know that He will use all of this for His good.

Haleigh's mom was in the neighborhood again, so she gave me a ride home from ICADS, which was a huge blessing. She knows about everything that's been going on on my end and it was really nice to talk to her for a little bit before going home. It was also really nice to be home a little early, and I had some Spanish homework that my host family helped me with. They truly have been a huge blessing to me, and I feel so loved at my new home. This morning and afternoon I was worried about how I was going to be able to invest in my host family enough while still getting my homework done, but they are so understanding and God totally worked out the timing tonight so that I was able to spend some quality time with them and finish what I needed to for tomorrow. My time at home this evening made me feel like an entirely new person with a completely different life. Some highlights from tonight include:

• I discovered that my host siblings really like Michael Jackson, so we had some good bonding moments while we compared our collections of MJ music.
• Talking about Costa Rican slang/sayings as a part of my Spanish home work
• Having a vocabulary competition with my host brothers (they quizzed me in Spanish and I quizzed them in English)
• Reading Cinderella in Spanish to Melany and having my host dad standing over my shoulder telling me how to pronounce words and what things meant
• Discovering the trick to not eating so much that I explode while I'm here. My host mom has been feeding me a ridiculous amount of food (I get the biggest portions at every meal, and she packed me enough for a full day for lunch plus a sandwich to eat at ICADS today), and this afternoon I was wondering about what the best way would be to tell her that I need to eat less. After eating all of the food she packed me this afternoon, I was greeted with a cafecito (snacks and coffee) when I got home. A couple of hours later I was called into the kitchen for dinner and I was wondering where I was going to find room to fit it all. Luckily, my host mom explained that I didn't have to eat dinner...usually when they have cafecitos they don't eat much, if anything, for dinner. She is so nice, and I'm glad I didn't have to offend her by refusing food (which is delicious, by the way).

Thanks again everyone for your prayers and encouragement! I'll keep you updated as much as possible!

Tuesday, February 8

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't posted much for a few days. Its been a crazy week, and in order for this post to make sense, it would be best to back track to the 4th and catch up from there. I'm sorry my posting has been unreliable lately...by a crazy turn of events I have switched host families and no longer have access to internet at home. I'll still be able to get online pretty regularly, at e-cafes and at Haleigh's house, but my posting frequency will likely decrease significantly. I'm just trying to take things one step at a time, so we'll see what these changes mean for my blog. Regardless of what happens, I'll do my best to keep everyone as up-to-date as possible.

            I can definitely sum up the way I feel today in one word: overwhelmed. Yesterday's whirlwind of events left me exhausted today and I felt a lot of pressure to figure everything out. I know that's not expected of me ever, much less in the situation I'm in right now, but that pressure is a trap I've fallen into many times throughout my life. I found myself broken before God multiple times today. He is the only thing sustaining me, and He's doing an excellent job, of course.

            Praise Him for His never-ending supply of comfort, support, and love. I can't believe how blessed I am to be surrounded by such amazing people and to know that God is with me always. Everyone at LASP today was incredibly understanding and compassionate, and it was amazing to just feel loved and taken care of. My new host family has also been showering me with love, and I'm so happy to be living with them now.

            This morning after I woke up and got ready, my host mom and I ate breakfast together. She is so incredibly sweet, and I'm so looking forward to investing more in my relationship with her. When we finished eating, mami walked me down the driveway to meet Alison, another LASP student who lives in my neighborhood to walk down to the bus stop. Alison and I had to run to catch the bus, but the driver waited for us, so we got to LASP a few minutes early. On the bus ride my water bottle ever so loudly fell out of my backpack and broke, spilling water all over the floor. I hardly even noticed...I was preoccupied with trying to process all of the changes. I was also worried about the outline for my thesis paper, which was due this morning.

            Luckily I had finished most of it this weekend, but it still wasn't as high quality as I wanted, so I went to talk to Don Antonio about it. He was incredibly gracious and said I could have more time if I really wanted, but he thought it looked good enough for an outline. He took it to look over and said we could talk more later this week about it if we needed to. Don Antonio, like most of the staff at LASP wanted to know how my move went last night, and he asked for some more details about both of my host family situations.

            At lunch I had a small breakdown, and I was so grateful that Haleigh, Megan, and Rene were there to talk me through everything and to support me. Poor Rene, she keeps getting stuck in the same room as me when I'm falling apart. I made it though ICADS and a few of us took the walk back towards LASP really slow in order to give me some time to just process and talk through things a little bit. When we got to the bus stop for my new home, I was so blessed to see that a big group of girls waited at the stop for me in order to make sure I didn't have to ride the bus alone on my first night. How sweet of them!

            I prayed for God's strength as I walked from the bus stop to my new house. I was completely drained from today and from having stayed up late working on my outline last night. My host siblings greeted me with enthusiasm and my host mom and I sat down for some coffee and a snack when I got home. Their hospitality melted away all of the stress, and I had fun learning all of their favorite card games before looking at my homework for the night. I love being a part of such a happy and loving family, and knowing that they just want me to be happy helps a lot.

            The biggest reason I can think of for why I've been so overwhelmed is that I was just getting comfortable at my first host family's house. We had a good routine going, and I was getting used to balancing my relationships with them and my homework. I was also enjoying having such great internet access and being familiar with my surroundings. I knew where things were in our neighborhood and exactly how long it took to get to LASP etc.

            Well, I wasn't called to be comfortable, and now I'm starting all over. Again, I'm being thrown into the middle of strangers' lives and being asked to act like a comfortable part of the family. Only this time its different because I'm in the middle of a semester's worth of coursework instead of having a week of orientation to get to know them and settle in.

            I couldn't ask for a better family to be placed with for this difficult change. They've all been so friendly, welcoming, and understanding. I'm struggling because I want to invest as much as possible into getting to know them, but I can't let my school work go untouched. A new balance is actively being sought, and your prayers for energy, peace, and patience would be greatly appreciated.

Monday, February 7

            This morning Monica came with me to LASP to talk to Trevor about some of the tension that has been present in my host family's house. Its not like its been awful or anything, its just that mamá had some concerns that she wanted Trevor to know about. After hearing from Monica, Trevor was feeling very unsettled about my living situation and asked me to think about switching host families. I was not very excited about this idea. I've had a pretty good experience with my family up until the end of last week, and I was willing to work though the situation. However, Trevor asked me to think about it this morning and talk to him before I left for ICADS.

            I had a scheduled meeting with Don Antonio to talk about the outline for my thesis paper, so I went to talk to him while I thought about the family situation. We talked about my paper a little bit and got to a place where I felt comfortable finishing the assignment on my own. Then, we got into a huge discussion about US interventions in the governments of small countries all over the world. It was really eye-opening and I feel like understanding the actions of our government is a vital part of being a US citizen and faithful follower of Christ. Without knowing what is going on, we cannot know how to stand up for what is right.

            By the time I finished with Don Antonio and returned to talk to Trevor, I had some time to process the possibility of having a new host family. I told him that I would hate to hurt my current hosts and I know that my host mom feels terrible and that I would be willing to ride the situation out. On the other hand, I would love to be with a more interactive family who actually spoke Spanish with me. Ultimately, I just wanted to do whatever was the right thing to do. He said that I would have the final say in the matter and that he would call my host mom to talk to her about the situation and then come to ICADS to give me an update this afternoon. I went outside to pray about the whole situation, and throughout Spanish class I could kind of tell that I was going to be moving tonight. So I wasn't surprised when I walked out of Spanish and saw Laura and Annie, two people who work at LASP, waiting to take me home, get me packed, and take me to a new host family.

            I was really worried about it being awkward to just barge in and move out, and it was, but Annie and Laura being there helped a lot. My new host family lives way up the hill from my old house. They are related to pretty much everyone who lives within walking distance, and their house is on the edge of town...it totally has a country feel to it. I am really liking it here so far, but I'm a little nervous about having to take the bus to/from LASP and about not having internet access anymore. Luckily, some other LASP students live nearby, so I can take the bus with them, and at least one of them has access to the internet at her house that I can use if I need to. Riding the bus and finding internet are obstacles that will be easily overcome, and I'm praising God for bringing me here.

            My new host family consists of “mami” and “papi” and their three children, Andrey (13), Kevin (10), and Melany (6). They have been super welcoming and fabulous. I've been beaten at Connect 4 roughly 50 times tonight, I've seen all of Melany's school work from the last year, and I've met two of the neighboring families. Dinner was delicious, and I had a really nice, friendly conversation with my new host mom while we did the dishes. No one in my new family speaks English, so I've already used more Spanish here than I did in a week at my old house. All around, its just a much better situation.

            I feel bad about leaving my old house, but it's just something that had to be done, and I'm confident that it was in every body's best interest. Because of the excitement of moving I've got lots of homework to catch up on, and I'm sure its going to be a VERY busy week. I can't wait to see what God is going to teach me now...He has been so good and faithful each and every day that I've been here, and I can't imagine doing any of this without Him by my side every step of the way.

Sunday, February 6

            Today my fears of becoming addicted to coffee were realized. It was the first morning since leaving the United States that I did not have a cup of coffee with my breakfast, and I could feel the lack of caffeine flowing through my body all morning/afternoon. This seriously impeded my ability to focus on my thesis paper outline (which is virtually a disaster), but luckily after church we had some coffee, so I was at least able to finish the outline, despite its shortcomings. I can't believe the wonders a cup of coffee did for my day, and I'm still going strong after one cup four hours ago.

            We didn't go to church until 4:00 this afternoon, so I was able to sleep in pretty late this morning, which was wonderful, and I devoted pretty much my whole day to writing my outline. Its been a long process, and I'm definitely in need of the meeting I have scheduled with Don Antonio tomorrow morning. Hopefully he'll have some direction for me.

            Church was pretty hard for me to understand today, but I had a copy of the readings again, so that was nice. If I understood correctly, the message was about being the salt and light of the world. The priest challenged members of the church to live lives that would change the world. He said that followers of Christ should be so different from the rest of the world that people should look at them and wonder what they have and how to get it. Despite the language barrier, I really like my host family's church, and I like going there with them each week.

            After church, mamá and I made pancakes, which were delicious, and I resumed work on my outline. I also had a chance to talk to my friend Emily, who participated in LASP last semester for a while. It was refreshing and encouraging to talk to her. Its amazing how God is using our experiences to challenge each other to grow closer to Him. I want to seek His face more and more and to know Him more fully with each moment that passes. Thanks everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement!

Saturday, February 5

            One thing that I can say has been constant throughout this crazy week is the joy that Christ has placed in my heart. I have been overcome by His grace and mercy on multiple occasions this week and I cannot believe how faithful He is to me. But then again, I can. He is so good. So amazing. I want to live to serve Him. My heart is consumed with love for Him. I pray that He will guide and protect me every day, and I live, move, and breathe knowing that He will. He's just that awesome.

            Today was a huge blessing, a perfectly balanced dosage of exactly what I needed. I slept in a few hours this morning and then had breakfast with mamá and Tony (Monica was at Italian class). After breakfast I had quite a bit of downtime to myself, so I spent a few hours calling people at home. Talking to them was wonderful, and before I knew it Monica was home and I was being called back into the kitchen for lunch. After lunch I went over to Haleigh's house to bake cookies for her host dad's birthday. It was a blast!

            As soon as I walked in the door I felt welcomed. The first thing her host mom said to me was “Our house is your house. Now you are home.” It would have been a whole lot more comfortable if I had been able to understand her the first two times she said it, but once she translated it into English for me I knew it was going to be a good afternoon. Of course, Haleigh's host family insisted that I eat lunch with them even though I ate just before I left, so I got to enjoy an extra dose of Costa Rican food today.

            We had some really yummy cake after lunch (it was Haleigh's host dad's birthday), and then we played a few games of Sequence, which was really fun. I was surprised as I started realizing how much I have missed playing games....its the simple things that I miss the most, I guess. When we tired of Sequence, Haleigh and I started baking. First we made some Oreo/chocolate dessert and then we made chocolate chip cookies. Both recipes turned out fabulously, and we ate so much of both snacks that we couldn't possibly have eaten dinner, which we just happened to get out of because her host parents went out for dinner.

            After making the desserts, we decided to plan our Spring Break trip. As soon as we signed online Haleigh's family Skyped us, so we talked to them for a while, and then we started researching zip line locations near Volcano Arenal. We found a really cool place to go with some pretty cheap hotels nearby, so that's our tentative plan. On Tuesday we're going to see what other students from LASP would like to come with us, and then we'll look into making reservations.

            Once our trip was pretty much figured out, we settled in to work on our thesis papers. You can imagine how productive the next hour or so was. I didn't want my host family to worry, so I took a taxi home around 9:00. I definitely count today as a success. I am so excited about our Spring Break trip, and after looking over my thesis material for a little bit this evening, I'm confident that I will get a good portion of work done on it tomorrow. Praise God for His unending blessings!

Friday, Februrary 4

Staying positive is something that was a challenge for me today. It was a day of culmination of emotions and stresses from a long week. We didn't have class at LASP this morning, but I went in early to work on my thesis paper, meet with my group to prepare for our ICADS presentation, and talk with Trevor about how things have been going with my host family. To be completely honest, anticipating my meeting with Trevor occupied my thoughts all morning, and while everything is relatively worked out now, it was a fairly challenging day as far as my host family goes.

            I felt like our ICADS presentation was kind of just thrown together and I didn't feel very prepared (which was entirely my fault), so that didn't help with the positivity level either. It seemed like a lot of us were worn out this morning, so to cheer ourselves up, some of us left LASP early in order to be able to walk slowly and leisurely to ICADS and make a few stops on the way. We ended up going to the post office again to send some post cards I found in my backpack...I must have missed them when I sent the rest of the notes. A few people bought some fresh fruit from street vendors, and we also stopped at a little store to buy Trits, our new favorite ice cream snack, which brightened all of our days.

            ICADS was a little different today because everyone was giving presentations, so we spent the first 2 hours or so listening to groups present about indigenous people groups from Costa Rica. The presentations were really laid back, and it didn't seem like the teachers were grading very harshly, so that was a plus. After hearing all of the presentations, we split off into our classes to make models of the first man and woman based on an indigenous legend that we read earlier this semester. It was kind of a fun change of pace, and we were all thrilled to get out of class early.

            I chose to ignore my homework for the evening, and it was good to have a night off. I'm excited to visit Haleigh's host family tomorrow afternoon. We're planning on baking cookies, planning our Spring Break trip, and working a little bit on our homework. We'll see how much of that last one gets done ;)

Thursday, Februrary 3

Today was a really weird day. I'm not sure where my motivation and ability to focus went, but they did a very good job of evading me all day. This morning we went to the US Embassy to hear from some officials there about the “US perspective on Latin America-US relations.” The discussion was pretty interesting, and it was good to hear the US side of things. It made me think that maybe there really is something positive that comes out of our foreign policies.

In order to get to the embassy I had to take the bus to central San Jose, and I prayed all the way to the bus stop that I would run into another LASP student in order to avoid getting lost in the city. When I got to the end of the block I saw 4 other LASPers standing there waiting for the bus, so we stuck together and made it to the meeting place as a group. Once everyone got there, all 40 or so of us trekked across San Jose extremely inconspicuously until we got on another bus to go to the embassy. Then we all piled off the bus and were told to take everything metal out of our backpacks. Imagine 40 ignorant US citizens pulling forks, spoons, knives, and keys out of their backpacks in the middle of the sidewalk next to a huge line of Costa Ricans waiting in line to get their visas. Feel awkward? Welcome to my reality. I felt like a second grader going on my first ever field trip, and I had to laugh.

It was weird walking into the embassy and feeling like I was in this highly classified US government building. We had to wear badges that said “escort required” and there were people standing at every corner watching us walk through the halls. They ushered us all into an auditorium where we talked about the role of the US embassy and a few economic policies between the US and Costa Rica. When the topic of free trade and CAFTA/TLC (the policy that Ruben talked about earlier this week) came up, our group had a lot of questions and I felt like the poor guy who was talking to us had no idea what he was getting himself into when he signed up to speak today. But it was a really good conversation.

We ended up spending too much time at the embassy and had to take taxis in order to arrive at ICADS on time. For some reason everyone I rode with in the taxi was really tired and I spent the ride cramming for my Spanish quiz. Apparently I should have just stuck with what I already knew because the quiz wasn't exactly my shining moment. Oh well...there was really just one part I messed up...I was thinking about it too much. We corrected the part I did poorly on right before our break, and as a form of coping with the less-than-desirable quiz score and being worn out from our eventful morning I downed two cups of coffee before returning to class. It was the most delicious coffee I have ever tasted, and the caffeine did wonders for the rest of my day.

After Spanish class Haleigh and I went on a quest to find some ingredients to make a few desserts for her host dad's birthday this weekend. We stopped at two stores and apparently lost track of time, because when we left it was starting to get dark out. I didn't want my family to to worry about me arriving home so late, so we took another taxi home. I'm pretty sure we overpaid both of our taxi drivers today, but I guess it was worth it to get where we needed to be. All of my worries were unnecessary because when I got home I was the only one here besides Tony who didn't seem too concerned with what time I was arriving.

I got to spend some time talking to Emily which was really great, and when my mamá got home she and Tony and I ate dinner together. Later in the evening Monica got home and so she and I shared about our days and I decided to call it a night. It's going to take a while to fall asleep after all of that caffeine intake this afternoon, but hopefully I'll be able to manage and be well-rested for a productive day tomorrow.

Wednesday, Februray 2

This morning I had an incredible encounter with God. At the LASP praise and worship session we were writing about our walks with God so far this semester and I was overwhelmed by His faithfulness. He has given me peace despite my insecurities and shown me His love in so many ways. I am so grateful to serve such a merciful God!

While at LASP I also worked on a project that is due Friday with the other students in my Spanish class. I just happened to be in the office when the mail came and was delighted to find both a package and a post card from home! It was very exciting. After we finished our Spanish paper, I walked to ICADS with some of the other students in my group, and it was fun getting to know them a little more. On the way home from Spanish, Haleigh and I stopped at a super market to buy some poster board for her group's presentation. Unfortunately, neither of us knew the word for poster board, which led to an awkward conversation with a guy working there and eventually ended up with us looking up the word for poster in a dictionary and being sent away empty handed. Apparently poster board is hard to come by in this town...we checked two huge super markets and ended up deciding to ask at LASP tomorrow.

The sun was setting during our walk home and the view was absolutely marvelous. When I got home I worked on some homework for a little bit (I'm going through a phase of little motivation, so it was slow going) and then ate dinner with Tony and mamá. The entire conversation was consumed by Tony's teasing about homesickness and we all had a good time.

Shortly after I returned to my homework, some friends of mamá came to visit. It was fun to meet them and they stayed all evening talking and laughing. Again, the language barrier made me dream of fluency. Some day I will get there. Today I'm content with growing every minute.

Tuesday, February 1

I think thought-provoking is a suitable description of today. Our lecture this morning was given by Ruben Pagura, an actor and musician who is very actively involved with many popular movements throughout Latin America. He shared with us a little bit about his background and about the movements he has supported. It was interesting to hear him speak about historical events that he considered very influential in his culture that I have seldom even heard of. He talked about the impact of revolutions in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Uruguay and about the Nueva Cancion (“New Song”) movement that came out of such revolutionary times in Latin America. Essentially, this movement used art to fight against dictatorships and worked to stand up for social justice.

A more recent movement that Ruben has been a part of was an anti-TLC movement. TLC is essentially a free trade agreement between the United States and Costa Rica that encourages privatization and other capitalistic policies in the Costa Rican economy. The movement against TLC was born out of the thought that such changes would lead to various forms of exploitation by the United States and other powerful entities within Costa Rica. While the majority of people in Costa Rica seem to have resounded with Ruben's stance, threats of job loss caused the policy to pass in a popular vote.

After hearing Ruben speak, we broke up into our small discussion groups and the conversation that my group had left my head spinning for the rest of the afternoon. We talked about the last two people who have spoken to us, Ruben and Gloria, from the Bribri tribe. As our discussion facilitator, Don Mike challenged us to think about the faith of these people, who were both fighting for “good causes,” and consider how we as Christians should interact with them and react to their efforts. This led to a discussion that could not be contained in the allotted hour with our groups and I've had several conversations about related topics all day.

ICADS was much the same as normal and the rest of my evening was pretty low-key. Monica had fun trying to teach me words that she knew I would have trouble pronouncing at dinner, and I spent much of the night trying to sort out thoughts about what I've learned so far this semester. Trusting God has been one area that I've been striving to improve in and in which I will always have room to grow. Seeking Him in every moment rather than worrying about the bigger picture all the times is something I am learning how to do more and more each day. A passage I ran across recently really spoke to what I've been seeking to know more fully. “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:5-7

Monday, January 31

My feelings of unproductivity from this weekend didn't stand a chance today. This morning I got up early to work on some of my homework for this week and to finish writing the postcards that I bought last week to send home. When that was mostly finished, I headed over to LASP to meet with Don Antonio once again about my thesis paper. After an hour long discussion about what my paper should be about, I think we are mostly on the same page now and I am ready to move ahead with my outline.

At ICADS we switched teachers today, which was fairly interesting. Some of the classrooms at ICADS are in the garden, and when we got where we were sold to have class this week there was already a class sitting there. It took a while to get locations figured out, and once we actually started class it was slow moving. Apparently our teachers didn't communicate very effectively because our new teacher started class with the same lesson our previous teacher taught on her first day with us. Class was also frequently disrupted by a very brave squirrel who smelled the fruit some of us had brought to class and wanted a piece for himself. In all, it was a fairly random class period, but once we got going I felt like I was learning a lot. Our new teacher speaks much faster than our previous one, so it was a challenge to understand what she was saying. I was happy to be able to pick up most of what she told us.

Another miscommunication around ICADS seems to involve the presentation and paper assignments that are supposed to be due in the upcoming weeks. The due dates for these projects have been fairly ambiguous, and in talking to the other LASP students, it sounds like everyone has gotten a different explanation of the assignment. My class is supposed to research the Huetar people group for the project, and we're having a hard time finding information. I guess we are going to meet at the LASP library tomorrow or Wednesday to figure it all out.

After Spanish class, Haleigh and I stopped at a little store on the way home to buy Trits, an ice cream snack that everyone at LASP has been raving about for the last two weeks. Its like an ice cream sandwich made up of cookies and vanilla ice cream with chocolate swirls. I don't think I'll be buying one every day on the way home like some of the other students, but they were pretty delicious. We met up with another LASP student on our walk, and in order to get some more Spanish practice in we spoke in Spanish for most of the walk. It was pretty cloudy and the sun was setting, which created some of the most beautiful mountain views we have seen yet.

When I got home I found that both Monica and my mamá have been hit with seasonal allergies, so it was a pretty quiet evening. I did a whole bunch more homework and we ate a giant dinner similar to a pot roast in the States. I can't believe how quickly the day passed and how tired I am again already!

Sunday, January 30

This morning began with a trip to an English-speaking Methodist church in Limon. I REALLY enjoyed the service, and it was very refreshing for me to hear a good message (about committing your life 100% to Christ in every moment) and connect with God at church. I was feeling a little worn out and apprehensive about the rest of the semester, but in church I was reminded that God will get me through everything He brings me to and that everything I encounter this semester and everyday is from Him. Every challenge is a gift, an opportunity to grow. Trust is imperative.

After church, we packed up and got on the buses to head back to San Jose. We stopped for lunch at the same buffet we had stopped at on Friday and made it back a few hours earlier than scheduled. It was nice to have the afternoon free to relax a little bit, call home, and get some homework done. I was really excited to discover that my blog has reappeared, so I spent a while updating it...sorry for its disappearance. I'm not sure what happened, but apparently it was a wide-spread issue that was resolved over the weekend.

I spent much of the evening working on a paper about poverty in Costa Rica. We've been interviewing people all over San Jose and Limon for the last week about their opinions in regards to poverty, and this essay was basically an analysis of what people said and how we should react to the global issue of poverty. It was pretty interesting to think about and to hear what other people had to say about the topic.

We ordered pizza for dinner, which was kind of fun and really delicious! My busy weekend was a little overwhelming, but I feel a lot better now that I have that paper out of the way. Tomorrow morning I don't have class, so I'm looking forward to getting some more school work done and hopefully getting some extra sleep. Look out week...here I come!