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!
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