Tuesday, March 29

            March 29 is national sports day in Costa Rica, so our whole day at school was dedicated to sports. The gym teacher lead a full-school lecture about Costa Rican sports and athletes and the importance of being active, and then the second graders did a little dance which was super cute. Norma called me up to give a speech, which was really weird and awkward, but brief enough I guess. After recess, I accompanied the gym teacher and all of the students in grades 1-6 to the plaza where we did a bunch of exercises and then played some games. I really enjoyed working out with the kids, and watching the sack races was a lot of fun.

            There was free time for about an hour at the end, and the gym teacher told the girls and little kids they could have a turn to play soccer if they waited while the bigger boys played first. They all waited and never got a turn, which was really frustrating to me. However, they just found other things to do, and I had a blast playing hot potato with a group of kids. At 11:30 when they were all tired out we took them back to the school and everyone went home. No class today.

            I walked home with Gabi (my 10-year old host sister) and a few other students who live close by, and soaked up some sun while I read outside for a while. Soon Javier and Laura (two of my professors) came for their visit (they make rounds to check in on all of us over the course of the 3-week internships), and I was really happy to see them. I talked to them a little bit about my struggles at the school and with my host family, and they really encouraged me to just keep trying. They said that this is what Costa Rica is really like, and people just don't really know what to do with an American invading their community. That's totally understandable, and talking to them helped me feel a little better about how things have been going.

            After they left, I ate lunch with my host family, and we actually had a pretty good conversation about Costa Rica's social programs which are enabled by their choice to not have a military. I hung around the kitchen for a while after we ate, like Javier and Laura suggested...just trying to participate with my family as much as possible. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading Romans and just trying to understand what God's purpose is in this experience and for Christians in general. I also started a study on Acts this week because I discovered that my computer has a series of sermons from Hosanna, my church at home, about Acts. Its been really great to read and learn about how the Holy Spirit moves among believers and to be reminded that no matter how alone I feel God is with me and is completely in control. However, I'm not sure that the connection to home created by the sermons is necessarily helping my homesickness, and its difficult to not wish the next two weeks away in order to get home faster. Prayer and patience will pull me through, and I am confident that God will move in big ways during the rest of my time here.

Friday, March 25

            So I'm currently posting from the only internet source I know of in the town I'm staying at for my internship. My first few days here have been nothing like I expected, and they've been pretty challenging. My host family is very nice, but not exactly chatty. They take good care of me and show interest when I initiate interactions, but other than that I'm pretty much on my own. I've had a lot of time to myself which I've filled with reading and just hanging around.

            The school I'm working at is understaffed to say the least. There are 3 teachers for 1^st-6^th grade, and while the school runs on a split schedule, there are often two grade levels in the same classroom at a time. I don't quite understand how the scheduling of classes here works, but I've been getting to school every morning at 7, and the latest I've stayed was 2:30. There are quite a few breaks throughout the day, and while some of the things I've been asked to do have made time seem to crawl, overall it feels like the school day flies by.

            I've done a pretty wide variety of things so far at the school, some of them more enjoyable than others. For example, I've been given groups of students with whom I am supposed to lead open discussions on a number of occasions. Kids in 3^rd and 4^th grade aren't exactly the clearest speakers, and while my Spanish has improved, I'm far from fluent, so these conversations have been pretty challenging. Today I led two math lessons (in 5^th and 6^th grade) which went pretty well except that I had no warning and nothing prepared and my Spanish math vocabulary is incredibly limited. The teacher who was supposed to be in charge at that time apparently didn't have anything prepared either, but the students did really well, and working with the older students was much easier for me.

            Some other things I've been asked to do include weighing the 4^th grade class to update their files and whiting-out responses on a worksheet so that more copies could be made. I've also supervised a recess during which the custodian burned brush in the play yard and the ESL teacher took a nap on the slide in front of which a fight broke out. I crossed the playground and helped the student injured in the fight before the ESL teacher even blinked an eye.

            The students at the school have been incredibly welcoming and sweet, and the frequent kisses on the cheek I get from them are really encouraging. The incredible scenery (we're often surrounded by clouds and the mountain forests are beautiful) and nice afternoon weather also brighten my day. I'm living at a pretty high altitude on the side of a volcano, and the mornings and evenings are incredibly cold (I've been wishing for my winter coat and mittens), but when the sun comes out it’s the perfect temperature.

            I don't know when I'll be able to get back online to post again, but your prayers would be greatly appreciated as I work through these next couple of weeks. I'll be here until April 12, and I'm a little nervous about how far away that seems. I'm being reminded of how much I need God and how much He blesses me through this experience. The only way I can get through is by leaning on Him, and I know that He will be with me no matter what's going on around me. I also know that He has something here for me to learn, and I want to give this internship my all in order to honor Him and to serve Him in whatever way He wants to use what I'm doing.

Friday, March 18

Today was our last day of class at LASP and ICADS! I can hardly believe it...time has gone so fast and it was surreal to go through the day knowing that it was the last time I would carry out this routine. Its hard to grasp the fact that today was the end of those two principal parts of my semester because there's still so much time left here. Once I finally started to come to terms with the concept of leaving, I was really sad to say goodbye to both classes. They've been incredibly helpful in helping me understand many aspects of the world around me, from how people communicate to how economic systems are run, and now its time to move on and figure out how to apply all of this new information.

In relation to that, my internship is just around the corner. I will be leaving San Jose on Monday and moving in with a new host family in San Juan de Chicua, a small town located near Volcano Irazu in Cartago (a province of Costa Rica). Apart from the limited information given to me by LASP (that my new host mom loves to cook, where to catch the bus in San Jose on Monday morning, and that I'll be working in a school), I have no idea what to expect. I will be living in San Juan for a little more than 3 weeks, and the only contact I will have with anyone from LASP will come in the form of one short visit from one of my professors at some point during that time. It will be a great time to improve my Spanish, and I'm really looking forward to familiarizing myself with a school here. It will be interesting to see what my new family is like, how well I will be able to communicate, and to adapt to a new way of life all over again.

To close off our classroom portion of class at LASP, we gave our group presentations this morning, and at ICADS we took our final quizzes. The fact that we are almost leaving didn't even hit me until we were on our way back from ICADS. We made a few stops on the way, enjoying the freedom of not having any homework for the weekend, and I spent some time at an e-cafe calling home and researching classes for this summer. I was worried about getting home late (no one answered when I called my host family), so I rushed to catch the bus as soon as it started getting dark.

This proved to be a problem when I realized when I was half-way home that I had forgotten my flash drive at the e-cafe. I quickly got off the bus and waited for one going back the opposite direction in hopes that Costa Rica's standards of hospitality rang true even among e-cafe guests. It took forever for the bus to show up, and by the time I got back to the e-cafe I was not surprised to find out that my flash drive had disappeared. It was worth a try, anyway. By this point it was actually pretty dark out, so I took a taxi back up the hill to my house in order to get there more quickly and to avoid waiting in the cold at the bus stop for the third time in less than an hour.

My taxi driver was super friendly, and I thoroughly enjoyed having the ability to carry a relatively fluid conversation with him in Spanish. When I got home, I explained what happened to my host family, and mami made me some “Chinese rice” for dinner. Melany and I colored for a while, and then Kevin joined us for a few games of Dominoes. Before long, I was yawning so frequently that Kevin encouraged me to go to bed rather than fall asleep playing the game. While the allergy medicines I've been taking seem to be helping my eyes a lot, I've still been having some other allergy symptoms, and a good night's rest without anything to worry about for tomorrow sounds wonderful.

I'm not sure what the internet situation at my next house will be or when I'll be able to post again. It sounds like I should be able to get online at least once or twice to check in, but I could also potentially have internet at my new house or in the school where I will be working. Who knows... Unreliable internet coupled with no longer having a flash drive could potentially complicate the whole posting process. I'll be in San Juan until April 12, so if nothing else I'll do my best to get some posts up in the days following my return to San Jose.

Thrusday, March 17

            I'm afraid that my blog posts are getting boring/repetitious, and I'm at a loss to describe how things are here. This semester has been the farthest thing from boring, so I hope I'm doing it at least a little bit of justice by writing about each day, while nothing I ever write or take a picture of could truly capture what I'm experiencing.

            With that said, today was a pretty typical day. I was worried about having lots to do this morning, but once again my worries proved needless, and everything got done in plenty of time. We had an excellent speaker today at LASP. She is an evangelical here attending grad school for theology, and it was really refreshing to hear from someone with a more solid Christian worldview than we've been exposed to lately. She had a lot of wisdom to share about cross-cultural experiences and the importance of leaning on the Bible as the sole authority in our lives.

            After our lecture, we had lunch as usual, and then Haleigh and I left right away in order to have time to stop at the post office on the way to ICADS. I think the reason I was feeling so anxious about getting that done was because we're leaving San Jose already on Monday, and I needed to send some forms before I leave. The fretting probably had more to do with anticipating this move than getting the forms sent. Haleigh found my paranoia pretty hilarious, and despite the fact that I rushed the whole time because I thought we were late, we arrived at ICADS 20 minutes before class started. Some days I just get too caught up in my thoughts to be in touch with reality...apparently this was one of those days ;)

            At ICADS, we gave mini-presentations as part of our final grade (the second part will come tomorrow in the form of a quiz). The presentations were fun because we all chose topics that we are personally connected to, and it was fun to recognize how far we've come in our Spanish skills this semester. Our professor (who is an amazing cook and has been giving us recipes for the last two weeks) brought ingredients for guacamole to class, so after we finished reviewing for our quiz we enjoyed a little snack. It was delicious!!

            I took a taxi over to my previous host family's house after ICADS because they had invited me back to say goodbye before I leave. My host mom wasn't there because she was working, but I got to say goodbye to Monica and she passed on a bunch of gifts her mom had gotten for me and my family back in the States. It was weird to be saying goodbye, and it makes it seem like the semester is already starting to wrap up! Looking at the calendar, I'm anticipating that the next few weeks will fly by, and then I'll be flying back to the great state of Minnesota!

            When Monica and I had chatted for a bit and said our goodbyes, I headed over to a classmate's house to meet with my LASP group to finish our presentation for tomorrow. I was surprised by how well everything went together and relieved by how quickly we got things finished. I had been anticipating another long and crowded night like last night, but I made it home in time for the afternoon cafecito, which was exciting. Mami made us hot chocolate today instead of coffee...it was absolutely delicious, and it totally hit the spot because it was pretty windy and overcast.

            With the extra time I had because of the successful group meeting, I went through my suitcases and collected some things I won't need for the rest of the semester to send home tomorrow. I really didn't want to have to send a package home, but with the gifts from my old host family and the other things I've bought here, it seems inevitable, so I might as well send it off now so that my things will be home by the time I get there. My host siblings crowded into my room while I was doing this to play a game on my computer.

            Luckily, it didn't take too long, and we soon moved to the dining room where we played Scategories for at least an hour. For a person who is not even good at Scategories in English, tying for first place while using only Spanish was a huge triumph! (I'll not mention how many answers papi gave me or the fact that I was competing against my 13- and 10-year-old brothers) ;) We had a few good laughs, mami insisted on serving me a huge dinner, and then I studied for my Spanish quiz a little before going to bed.

            Side note for the more worry-prone followers of my blog: My eyes are almost back to their normal condition, and I'm hoping that the rest of my allergy symptoms will clear up over the next couple of days while I'm still on the prescribed medicines. Its a little scary to be moving away from the clinic right after that little episode, but I'll just have to be sure to take plenty of OTC allergy medicine when I go to my internship and have faith that God will figure out any problems that come up.

Wednesday, March 16

The medication the doctor gave me yesterday seems to be really helping, and while my eyes were still red and puffy this morning, they looked a considerable amount better. Feeling better was very helpful in my group meeting at LASP this morning, and I'm feeling a lot better about our presentation. We spent a couple of hours discussing further our position and splitting up the presentation, but we will still need to meet tomorrow to solidify things before Friday.

            It was exceptionally hot on the way to ICADS today (probably around 90°F), and we enjoyed soaking up the sun on the walk there. Spanish class went really quickly, and before I knew it we were on our way back home. This afternoon I went over to Haleigh's house to use the internet in order to call home and touch base before I leave for my internship and to do some research for my Spanish presentation tomorrow. It felt like a big night out, and its funny to think about how different my life here is from my life in the States where I can hang out with my friends all the time and frequently stay up late doing homework that I've put off. Today was the first weekday all semester that I've spent time with anyone after class, and it actually feels kind of good to need to stay up late working on homework for tomorrow.

            My host parents came and met me at the bus stop when I got home so that I wouldn't have to walk home in the dark, and I said hi to everyone before retreating to my room to read and practice my Spanish presentation for tomorrow. While my host siblings were getting ready for bed, they were talking about how much homework people in college have. Its funny because I've been amazed by how little homework they have...the difference between cultures never end!

Tuesday, March 15

            As I took my time rolling out of bed this morning, I took a quick inventory of the progressing symptoms of my mystery illness. My eyes were again swollen, and were now accompanied by a sore throat. The thought of getting up and going to meet with my group to discuss our “faith and practice” project only motivated me to roll over and try to go back to sleep. When I eventually got up, mami sent me to LASP with instructions to check in with them again and call her when I had more information about going to the clinic. I talked to Laura right away, and she called mami, directing her on exactly how to go about getting me to the clinic as soon as I got home. After that, I met with my group to work on our project that needs to be presented on Friday. Trying to come to an agreement about how to apply everything we've learned this semester was a challenging task for my group of 6, and I'm sure zombie Casey wasn't much help, but I'm pretty sure our morning of discussion yielded at least a little bit of progress.

            Everyone had their own suggestions about how to fix my eye problem, and it was so frustrating to just not know what was causing it or how to fix it. At ICADS I was just feeling drained, and my Spanish teacher was really sweet about encouraging me to just go get it checked out. I hurried home after class, and mami and I took the bus to meet papi, and the three of us went to a clinic in downtown San Jose. The clinic was excellent, and I got helped right away. The doctor explained everything using basic Spanish so I could understand, and after a quick examination, he concluded that it was an allergic reaction. He explained that it could be to almost anything and it’s very hard to tell without doing exams, and he recommended treating it for now and looking further into the causes if the symptoms don't go away.

            I had the option of getting a shot or taking some allergy medicine for 5 days, and much to papi's dismay I chose the pills. I just wasn't so sure about getting a shot, and the pills were more familiar, one being Allegra. We went straight to the pharmacy to pick them up, and I was able to take both types tonight, so hopefully I'll see some results by tomorrow...if I can see, that is ;) Everyone was very helpful, and I'm grateful that all of my nerves about not knowing what to do were completely unnecessary. Despite the undesirable circumstances, it was also really nice to spend some time with mami and papi and get out of the house for the evening.

            When we got home, I had to write a story for Spanish class, and we all watched parts of the Costa Rica (Saprissa) vs. USA soccer game. It was a kind of stressful day, but I'm really happy we just took care of things and that I now have a way to fight whatever is attacking my body. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and we can do a good job finishing up our group project.

Monday, March 14

“¡Sus ojos están rojos!” Oh yes, yes they are. I woke up this morning with the puffiest red eyes I have ever squinted to see in my life. My eyes have been bugging me for the last couple of days, but this morning they practically exploded, and I was finally convinced that its a real problem that I should do something about. As soon as I made it to LASP, I ventured up to Laura's office where I was met with a concerned look and a recommendation to go to the clinic this week. Like my host mom and I, she guessed it was allergies, but wants me to get it checked to make sure I don't buy any eye drops that will make it worse.

            The lecture topic (the Mayan worldview) did not exactly help me forget about my eyes, but during the longest lecture we've had so far the swelling did go down, and by the time I got to ICADS they were looking a fair amount better. Haleigh decided it was a Trit day based on my medical condition and the fact that its been quite a while since we've stopped for snacks on our way home, so we got Trits and headed to an e-cafe for a while this afternoon.

            Of course, I forgot to save on my flash drive the only document I actually needed to send today, so when I got home I had to go over to the neighbors' house to get back online. After that, I ate dinner and Mami and I talked about my eyes, resolving that I should take an anti-histamine tonight and see how they look in the morning. If things don't improve overnight, I'll be visiting the clinic sometime very soon. The good news is that I have easy access to medical attention and really good medicine, so I'm sure the problem won't last much longer.

Sunday, March 13

            I'm not exactly sure what to write about today in order to avoid putting everyone to sleep. It was just a normal laid back Sunday. We got up and ate breakfast as a family, and then mami gave everyone in my host family haircuts. I was a little curious about why we were moving so slow before church, but no one seemed to notice, so I didn't worry too much about it. Turns out, we were just going to be late to church. Kevin and I walked to church together as soon as we were ready and sat down in the seats Andrey saved for us just as mass started. Apparently no one else was ready in time for it to be worth the walk, because only the three of us made it to church.

            Its kind of funny to me that the priest here is the person I have the most difficulty understanding. I'm constantly straining to pay attention not because I don't want to, but because the whole service is like a rhythmic murmur to me. On the way home, Andrey and Kevin joked about all of the ridiculous things I've done since moving into their house. Some of the favorite stories to re-tell are about that one time I accidentally kicked a huge patch of dirt into Kevin's face while playing soccer and  the time I totally wiped out while playing hide and seek with Melany. Papi jokes that if the door hadn't been shut I would have gone flying right into the front yard. My host family's jokes and sense of humor make constantly making a fool of myself a lot more fun :)

            After church I played some computer games with Melany and then worked on the reading for LASP this week and some other homework. At 4:00, we hosted a rosary meeting to pray again for mami's brother, and there were a lot of people who came to support the family. We had some yummy food, and I met a lot more new people. Kevin, Melany, and I escaped after a few hours to color in my room, and when everyone left mami fed us all again!

            I'm grateful that it was a low-key day because I'm not sure I would have been up for much more, and I'm looking forward to going to bed early in order to hopefully be ready for class tomorrow morning. 

Saturday, March 12

            I was super tired from my busy week and slept in until 9:00 this morning. Everyone in my host family was impressed by ability to sleep in so late. We talked about how tired I was and I assured them I felt a lot better now that I had gotten enough sleep. I was able to take some quite time for some much needed devos, but soon Melany came back into my room to “study” with me some more. I'm afraid that all of the books in the house will be thoroughly highlighted by the time I leave if that habit continues, but at least its a good way for her to stay entertained while I get my work done.

            I spent my morning writing emails home because I've been feeling kind of disconnected lately, and it was nice to write to people about what I've been thinking and learning about lately. Around 4:00 I went to a baby shower with mami, and it was pretty fun. I had fun talking to some of the other people there and playing the games they had planned. The rest of my host family joined us after a couple of hours, and after the party we all walked home together.

            Melany and I played hide and seek for a while and it was super fun. I think the break from playing games and reading children's books provided by the baby shower was a good refresher for me, and it made for a much more enjoyable evening. Mami also taught me how to make a dessert that we're going to eat tomorrow at the rosary meeting we're hosting. A simple evening at home turned into a lot of fun, and I'm so grateful for the patience of my hosts and God's clear and constant movement in my life.

Friday, March 11

            Oh, sweet Friday! I am SO ready for the weekend! Our speaker at LASP this morning talked about liberation theology, and her lecture led to more intense discussion all day. My brain is getting worn out, and while these topics are very important to me, I'm ready for a weekend that hopefully will consist of some time to just be brain dead for a while.

            I rode in a taxi to and from ICADS this afternoon with a few other girls because one of them contracted a staff infection in her leg over Spring Break. A lot of people have come down with some pretty funky health issues, and I'm super grateful that I've been doing alright as far as that goes. The two absent students from my Spanish class returned today, so we had a normal class period, and because I took the taxi I had some free time before I went over to my old host family's house for dinner, I stopped at an e-cafe to check up on Emily (she's in Hawaii taking shelter from the tsunami), and was relieved to know that she's fine and that I'm not the only person in the world who seems to be followed by unfortunate events every time they travel.

            When I showed up at Monica's house, she and her mom were both really excited to see me, and her mom gave me some hats and a scarf that she sewed for me. Tony teased me about being homesick, and it felt kind of surreal to be back in their house again. Monica and I went to the store to pick up dessert and we chatted about what's been going on since I moved. We had a great dinner, and I was relieved by how smoothly everything went. They invited me back for next Friday, so we'll see how the week goes...I might go back again soon.

            The only bummer about going to dinner tonight was that I got home after dark and I forgot the sheet with mami's phone number on it, so I wasn't able to call before I left. My host parents like to pick me up at the bus stop if its dark out, so I felt really bad about not calling. Mami was super nice about it, and I was totally fine walking home (there's a security guard watching the apartments across the street anyway), but I made sure to put the phone numbers back in my backpack to avoid forgetting again. My walk from the bus stop was also made a little more exciting by the four escaped horses wandering about the street. Apparently that happens all the time, but I thought it was really funny.

            When I got home I hung out with Melany until she went to bed and then spent some time reading and looking at pictures I brought from home. I was reminded of God's love and His promise to be with me through all of life. In all, it was a good day and I was happy to go to bed resting in that promise.

Thursday, March 10

            This week has been so exhausting! Not only have I been getting too few hours of sleep, my days have also been full of mind-bending conversations and thoughts. While I LOVE these kinds of challenges, I've never experienced anything quite this intense before. I've had discussions about missions, theology, education, poverty, religious traditions, and application of what I've learned and seen this semester. I'm sure there's more, but you get the idea. Its lots of fun for me to turn these questions over in my own thoughts and through discussions with small groups and other individuals, but after so many days straight my brain just needs a break. The discussions started at the end of Spring Break and it seems like I haven't had a single conversation since then that hasn't turned into deep contemplation about something.

            LASP this morning was a good example of this. We spent two hours discussing what North American involvement in Latin America should look like. With a group of 6 people, this first required a lot of defining terms and examining the consequences of North American involvement that we have seen since being here. It was a long conversation with some concrete conclusions, but we still have a long way to go to complete our project. All of the groups met this morning, so over lunch and on the walk to ICADS, many people spent time comparing group discussions and working towards conclusions. It was a little overwhelming, and while I really enjoyed the discussion, I also found myself completely lost with a spinning head at times. On a lighter note, my ankle is feeling a lot better today!

            The same two students were absent from my ICADS class again today, but I felt like I really learned a lot from our lesson again. I'm getting to the point where I just need to be talking and using my Spanish as much as possible, so the little chats we have in class are really helpful.

            I stopped at an e-cafe on the way home again to call Monica, my previous host sister to talk to her about getting together with her and her mom for dinner sometime before I leave San Jose. She emailed me a few weeks ago to see if I could come over for dinner, and I'm just now getting settled enough again to be able to make those kinds of plans. Anyway, we decided that tomorrow night would work the best for all of us, so it will be fun to see my previous hosts again then!

            I got home just after my current hosts finished their cafecito, and I have to say I was relieved to have missed another portion of food. I just can't believe how much I've been fed since coming to Latin America, and its getting to the point that I look forward to any chance I can get to not be eating something.

            Mami and I had a really good conversation about Ash Wednesday and the rest of Lent. We also talked about the importance of being truly committed to your faith and acting in ways that serve others rather than focusing on whats best for yourself. I REALLY enjoyed talking to her about those things, and it felt awesome to be able to carry such a conversation in Spanish. When we finished talking, I started in on my reading for LASP tomorrow. I had to read an article about Liberation Theology, and it took me forever to get through. For a while Melany sat next to me at the table highlighting her story books while I highlighted the article. It was so cute!

            The days are just flying by! I only have10 more full days here in San Jose before my internship starts! I'm anxious to find out what my internship will be and what kinds of things I will be doing. I'm excited to get out of the city again and experience something new. For tonight though, what I'm most excited about is spending a few hours in blissful sleep, not thinking about a single controversial or challenging topic.

P.S. Happy Birthday, TJ!

Wednesday, March 9

            It seems like today was kind of a long day, and I'm feeling pretty tired as I write this. We had a great lecture this morning about living out our faith and serving in countries besides the US. This led to some fabulous discussion in my new process group. Our whole morning flew by between the lecture and discussion. I also received another package this morning, this time from my fabulous Aunt Mary and Uncle Ken. It was so nice to hear from them and eat a few of the treats they sent me. Mary said some of the people at the apartments she works at are following my blog...Hello Presbyterian Homes! I can't wait to come visit when I get home to share my pictures with you and hear what you think of my trip!

            Our Spanish class lost one member yesterday because students in his concentration for the semester are taking a different, more literature focused Spanish class during that time. This means we're down to 4 students, and today two of them were absent. It was fun to have some long conversation with just our teacher and two of us students, and being able to talk like that for a while made me realize how far I've come with my Spanish this semester. I'm really going to miss using Spanish conversationally every day when I get home, and I'm excited to find ways to keep building my language skills this summer.

            After ICADS I stopped at an e-cafe again to email some people at my home college with registration questions. I also called home to wish my brother TJ a happy birthday, and it was fun to chat with him for a bit. I didn't have much time to spend there because I needed to get home for a cafecito before the Ash Wednesday service at church. I just happened to take the same bus home as Andrey, and as soon as we walked in the door coffee and sandwiches were being placed on the table for us to eat before church. Everyone quickly ate and got ready to go, and then we took the bus back down the hill to a church offering an evening Ash Wednesday service.

            While the priest was really hard for me to understand (he spoke really fast and unclearly), I thought a lot about the symbolism of the service. It seemed like a confession that we are all sinners and a call to repent and change our ways. This challenge has been presented to me in many forms this semester. Most of all, I was reminded of the great gift of mercy Christ has given me and the overwhelming burden I feel to serve Him. During the service I also did a lot of observing the people around me and comparing their responses to the service to those I have seen in the US. Watching people in the church is incredibly interesting to me, and it often helps me understand why things are the way they are in our world.

            When we got home from church at 9:00, I still had homework to do, so I sat down to work on some reading while mami made dinner. It seems weird to me that we almost always eat twice when I get home: at our late afternoon cafecito and late in the evening for dinner, but that seems to be the routine here. Melany was dying to play cards with me, so we played a game and then I got back to my reading. Our emphasis at LASP this week is faith in action, so all of our reading is about biblical interpretation and different perspectives on missions etc. We are also going to be working on group projects that require us to come up with an action plan for making a difference with the information we have gained in our time here. Its overwhelming to try to find an answer to the problems and perspectives we're being faced with, but its also absolutely necessary. Tomorrow my group is getting together to discuss ideas for the first time, and I'm excited to see what kind of ideas we can come up with.

            On an unrelated note, my ankle is feeling a lot better today, and I'm hoping that by tomorrow it will be pretty much back to full strength. Tomorrow will be another very busy day, and I really can't believe how fast time is going! It seems like Nicaragua was a long time ago already because we've moved on so quickly. This is challenging because I don't want to forget about my experiences there, but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to learn more now. This summer is going to be some intense time of debriefing and processing things from the semester, and I'm realizing more and more that the only way I can make any difference at all is by prayerfully discerning what God's will for my life is and humbly and patiently following the path He has set out for me.

Tuesday, March 8

It felt so good to be back in the normal routine of LASP/ICADS today! It was a perfectly gorgeous day out and we had a pretty relaxed schedule. This morning we went over the LASP schedule for the rest of the semester, and it feels like things are going to wrap up really quickly. I know I still have about 2 more months here, but the time is going to be pretty broken up, so it will likely fly by. We also had a lecture at LASP about the everyday realities of Jesus' time. The speaker talked about the Roman Empire and tried to help us gain a fuller understanding of what Jesus taught by helping us understand what the people He was talking to were going through. She noted the fact that Rome's leaders took over every aspect of people's lives and that poverty was extremely widespread during that time. Her different emphasis helped me see some of Jesus' teachings in a new light, and I'm looking forward to reading more of the Bible with what she had to say in mind.

            Our morning lecture got out pretty early, so I stopped at an e-cafe on the way to ICADS to do some research about the classes I need to take after this semester. I've been trying to examine all of my options to be sure I'm pursuing the best major for me. While I've worked through many questions and tried to come up with as many possible pathways as possible, my current conclusion is that I am satisfied with my ESL/Spanish double major, but I'm open to trusting whatever changes God wants to make. This means that I need to start the paperwork for going to Spain next semester, so I also spent some time sending emails and trying to lay the groundwork for studying abroad again.

            Spanish class is going to be a bit shorter for the next two weeks, so it felt like our time at ICADS flew by. On the way home we made a few stops, but I still made it home pretty early. In fact, I walked in just as mami was sitting down for a cafecito with her sister-in-law, so I got to join them which was fun. I also spent some time tonight writing some post cards and looking over some Spanish stuff. I forgot my LASP book somewhere today, so hopefully it turns up tomorrow so that I can catch up on the readings. I also sprained my ankle on my way home from the bus stop, so I'm praying that it heals quickly in order to allow me to make the hour long walk to and from ICADS everyday without too much pain. Many things that happened today have pointed me once again to the importance of trusting God, and I'm incredibly grateful that He's watching out for me and knows what's best even when I have no idea what the next 10 minutes might bring.

Monday, March 7

            Its March 7^th already!!! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by! Today was a really relaxed day, and it made for a great conclusion to Spring Break. This morning everyone kind of broke off to do their own thing. After I got up and got ready I called home and was thrilled to spend some time talking to John and my mom. The free wifi at our hotel proved a little sketchy with lots of people using it, and I ended up at an e-cafe, but it was totally worth it.

            The whole group met up for lunch and we found an awesome restaurant where everyone got something they loved and then headed over to the bus station to wait for our ride back to San Jose. We talked a lot about what we've been through so far this semester and how we want to approach things for the rest of the semester in order to get the most out of our experience here. The 4 hour bus ride home was pretty fun, too. Michelle, Haleigh and I sat in the back of the bus together and enjoyed listening to some fun music and marveling at the incredible views.

            When I got back to my host family's house, we shared pictures from the weekend (they went hiking and visited some family) and then they got out some puzzle games for me to try. I did alright with the 20 piece Thomas the Train puzzle Melany had to share and the balancing game that Kevin had was conquerable, but Andrey's puzzle is impossible! Everyone refuses to show me how it works and they said I have to take it to school tomorrow and see if my friends can help me figure it out.

            I was feeling pretty worn out, so after the puzzles I started to unpack from the weekend and get ready for the week. Its strange to think of having “normal” class again tomorrow after so many days of traveling and learning through seeing/experiencing other parts of Central America. It will be good to get back into a routine for a couple of weeks.

            I am so amazed by how clearly God has revealed Himself to me this weekend, and my challenge for the rest of the semester is to lean on Him more than ever. Trusting and seeking Him are my top priorities, and I want His word and will to be the measure against which I compare all of the new information I'm presented with. Your prayers on this journey are so greatly appreciated, and I can't even express how much it means to me to have such a great group of supporters at home!

Sunday, March 6

Our goal for today was pretty much to see as much as we could of this beautiful area in as short of time as possible. It turned into a pretty successful pursuit, and we all had a great time. We got up early this morning to swim in the pool at the lodge and check out the nearby waterfall. The pool was pretty gross and the waterfall pretty tiny, but it was still a fun adventure. After that, we all went back to get ready for zip lining. When we were all ready and waiting, the zip lining company called to tell us our shuttle would be a half hour late, so we all kind of split off to do a variety of different things. It was really nice for me to have some quite alone time with God..I really needed it, and He totally met me right where I was at. Its amazing to be able to see the clear ways He has been working even just in the last couple of days with all of our traveling and unorganized planning.

The shuttle finally arrived at 10:45 and it raced down the extremely rocky road to the lodge in order to get us to the zip lining place, Mundo Ventura, on time. Everyone LOVED zip lining! The views were spectacular and everyone made it through safely with a bunch of pictures to remind us of what a great time we had. We moved hotels after our zip lining escapade in order to be closer to town and to have enough beds for everyone. Our new hotel has free wifi, so I've been working furiously all night to update everything before going back to San Jose where my internet access is always unreliable. I apologize for the bombardment of posts tonight, I hope no one feels obligated to actually read them. They're mostly just for my memory's sake ;)

Anyways, we settled into our new hotel and went out for dinner before taking a taxi to a local hot spring to go swimming. We found an awesome taxi driver who showed us right where to go and waited for us so we would have a ride back whenever we wanted to leave. The hot spring was amazing, and we took turns swimming and watching our stuff on shore. After everyone had a turn swimming and sitting in the warm water, we headed back to the hotel for another relaxing night. I caught up on my emails, blogs, and pictures (which are now posted on Facebook) while Michelle and Haleigh went to check out the dancing scene in town and the rest of the girls wisely went to bed early. It feels great to have seen and done loads today, and I think I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

Saturday, March 5

Spring Break has turned into quite an adventure here! Haleigh and I met this morning to take a taxi to the bus station to meet the rest of our group and buy tickets to La Fortuna, the town by Volcano Arenal where we're staying for the weekend. After just a few minutes in the taxi we could tell that our driver either didn't know where he was going or was just trying to drive us around to rack up our bill. At first we weren't too concerned because we had like 40 minutes before the bus was going to leave. We eventually got dropped off at a big bus station where we saw a group of LASP students.

Unfortunately, it was not the group we were looking for and we had gotten dropped off at the wrong bus station. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 8:40 and we arrived at the wrong station at 8:30! The other LASPers gave us directions to the right bus stop, and we quickly hopped into another taxi and asked the driver to hurry to the other station. Thank God he knew where ti was and we got to the station just in time. Megan was waiting for us with our tickets, and we rushed into some of the last seats on the bus just in time for its departure.

We had fun chatting with some of the other people on the bus, and the 4 hour ride to La Fortuna seemed really quick. As soon as we got off the bus we were bombarded with agents trying to sell us hotel rooms saying the whole town was full for the weekend. We wrote them off as scams and went to find some lunch. The coffee shop we stopped at was awesome and we loved the waffles with tropical fruit and ice cream we got there. After lunch we began hotel shopping and quickly found out that the agents at the bus station were not lying. There's a bike race going on here this weekend and all of the hotels really are full!

Luckily the owner of one hotel we stopped at offered to drive us to another place he thought might have room. It was a little far out of town, and there were no rooms there, but the man there called another place for us to try. Our new shuttle driver took us way out of town to a lodge in the country where we found one room with two beds open. The six of us eagerly reserved the room and asked for extra blankets to sleep on the floor.

The area around the lodge is absolutely beautiful, and this place will certainly do for at least one night. The biggest downfall is that its too far from town to walk, so we have to get taxis to go back and forth. The owner of our lodge called specific taxi drivers who know where the place was when we needed to go into town for dinner. We were all taken aback a bit when two completely black cars drove up to drive us into town, but our host gave them specific directions about where to take us (he had a tour reservation place that he wanted us to check out to make plans for tomorrow).

At the reservation place they tried to sell us all kinds of packages, but we settled for a simple zip lining deal. They agreed to pick us up tomorrow at 10:10, so we'll see how that goes. We stopped at a fruit shop after making the reservations and then found a place for dinner. After dinner we went grocery shopping for breakfast tomorrow and then found some payphones to check in with our host moms who all requested updates to know we were safe. By the time we made our way back to our hotel (this time in a clearly legit red taxi-van), we we all pretty tired and ended up just hanging out for the night. Snacks, movies and girl talk made for a perfect conclusion to our somewhat crazy day.

Friday, March 4

Today was a great day, and I found myself thinking “I have the best life in the world.” I slept in and had a late-ish breakfast with my host mom before taking a shower and working on organizing my room here. My host mom taught me how to use her laundry machine and I got started washing my clothes from Nicaragua. Its so weird to be finishing up the final stage of that trip, unpacking, but its also really nice to feel settled at home again.

I started working on my Nicaragua reflection essay, and when Melany and Kevin got home from school we all ate lunch together. After a while, they asked me to play outside with them, so I took a break to play on the swings and to ride bikes for a while. When we tired of that, I returned to finish my essay and then to work on typing up my journal entries from Nicaragua. Melany had religion class, and after that we all had a cafecito and got ready to go to a concert at her school.

The concert was given by the music teachers in the school district to show their students what they can do with their musical talents if they stick with music lessons. It was really good, and we had a fun time. After the concert, Melany and I played some cards and I packed for my Spring Break trip to Volcano Arenal. Its weird to be leaving again already, and it seems like the days are just flying by! I can't wait to see what this weekend adventure brings and to get back into the swing of having classes for a few weeks before my internship starts.

Thursday, March 3

The majority of today was spent traveling. We left Granada at 5:00 am and didn't arrive in San Jose until about 5:00pm. While 12 hours seems like a long time in the bus, it went pretty fast and we took a couple of pit stops. I slept most of the way and had fun playing 10 fingers with some of the other students on my bus.

When I got back to San Jose, I had two packages and a card waiting for me in my mailbox! It was so exciting! Riding the bus from LASP to my host family's house felt really weird, almost like I was going home, and it made me think about how weird it is going to be to leave here. I'm already about halfway there, and I can't believe how much I've learned and I can hardly contain my excitement for what's left of the semester.

I was really grateful that I had slept so much on the way back so that I could do a good job of filling my host family in on my trip and spend a few hours playing cards and other silly games with Melany. I was so exhausted by 8:30 that I was grateful it was almost bedtime for the kids. I sort of unpacked my stuff and went through my pictures from the trip (they should be uploaded to FB soon!) and then crashed, still trying to process everything and taking comfort in knowing that we serve an incredible God and that He has every little detail of my life and of the lives of everyone else in the world planned out perfectly.

Wednesday, March 2

This morning we had a little Nicaragua reflection time and then we had down time until 1:00 when we took a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua, the biggest lake in Nicaragua. Our reflection time was phenomenal, and we discussed many themes that people saw throughout their experiences. It was really helpful to hear about what other people saw and learned, and talking as a group helped me put some words to my thoughts.

After our reflection Haleigh wasn't feeling well, so we spent our down time at the hotel resting and organizing our stuff to go back to San Jose tomorrow. I went to the market to buy some food for lunch, which was kind of fun, and I think I could get carried away and stay in a Latin American market for months. The sounds, smells and wild assortment of goods available just suck me in and I never want to leave!

Our lake tour was beautiful, fun, and relaxing. Before it started, I was dying for an ice cream sandwich, and I searched all over downtown for one. Not a single one of the vendors had one, so I settled for a different form of ice cream. It was fun eating a cool, yummy snack in the sun. I can't believe how quickly we all flipped the switch from roughing it to tourism, and processing things is still pretty overwhelming.

After the lake tour we went to a local market and a group of us went out for pizza for dinner. It was a pretty chill day and I hope I'm ready to jump back in with my San Jose host family tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 1

I got up early this morning to pack and get ready to leave. When I went out to say good morning, Santa Elena was really sad that I was leaving already. I'm really sad too...I LOVED my time here! At 8:30 I said goodbye to Luz Marina and Santa Elena took me to Jake's house where we waited for an hour for the pastor to arrive. When he and a few other members of the church got there, we all prayed together and said more goodbyes. It was a really sweet little meeting. Santa Elena and our host pastor came to Managua with us to say goodbye and make sure we got where we needed to go.

Once we found Trevor and Javier, Santa Elena said a tearful goodbye and I went with the rest of the group to the LASP bus where we waited for a couple of hours for the rest of the students to get there. Everyone had fun catching up and sharing stories from our week apart, and it was great to be with the LASP group again. I slept on the way to Granada, a tourist town where we will be spending the rest of our time in Nicaragua.

The nice hotel here is a huge change. Upon arriving, we all savored the AC and hot showers before going out to see the town. We shopped around some little shops in the town square, got pancakes for dinner, and went to an e-cafe. It was overwhelming going from one extreme to another, and while I really enjoyed myself, I was having trouble knowing what to think and how to process everything.

Its hard to soak all of these experiences up, and I feel like I'm in a bit of a daze. My time in the campo was amazing and I want to learn everything I can from that opportunity. I can't imagine going back to San Jose and falling back into our normal routine, and Minnesota seems so foreign that going home is almost unfathomable at this point. My prayer is that God would be moving in me now and every day to help me know what to do with all of these experiences. I want to understand Him and all of His world more fully each day.

Monday, February 28

After a relatively slow morning, Santa Elena took me and Luz Marina to the river to show me how she washes clothes. Luz Marina and I quickly returned to the house to change into swimming clothes and then spent a few hours playing in the river. It was so beautiful and peaceful, and I felt God's presence so clearly there. Luz Marina loved showing me tall rocks to jump off of and tricks she could do in the water. Yelena soon joined us and she brought a ball for us to play with. One of the women washing took a break and the four of us played beach volleyball for a while. We had a blast, but Luz had to leave to go to school after a while.

Yelena and I went back to swimming, and soon she decided to do some of her own laundry. I hung out in the water for a long time just soaking up the sun and resting in God's arms. When we finally made our way home, we got cleaned up and then visited Jake and Courtney. We spent quite a while at each of their houses and then went home in order to be there when my host dad got back from Managua where he works as a taxi driver. Santa Elena was feeling pretty antsy, so we went to the neighbor's house to grind some seeds to make juice for dinner. She taught me how to use the grinding stones and I tried rather unproductively to help. Once the seeds were ground, we went back to make dinner, and Santa Elena showed me how she cooks on the fire stove.

I was supposed to give my English lesson at 5:30, but dinner was just getting ready then, so Santa Elena said the kids would just have to wait. I didn't really like that idea, but we just ate quickly and left in a hurry. A bunch of kids were waiting when I got to the house where my lesson was to be held, and Courtney and I taught a basic lesson on numbers, colors, and letters in English. It was pretty rough, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. We took lots of pictures with the kids and when we got home I took pictures with my host family.

Their son came home from Managua to meet me and see his family. It was kind of awkward, but then some of his friends came over so it was a little more relaxed. We all sat out and watched the neighbors burn a huge pile of trash and brush, and then we star gazed for a while. It was a beautiful last night...this week flew by and I'm really going to miss it here! I can't believe I'm leaving already tomorrow!

Sunday, Feburary 27

I got up early this morning (5:30) to go with Santa Elena to help prepare for a birthday party at the neighbor's house. When we got there at 6, Santa Elena left me in the front room to help some kids blow up balloons. We blew up like 200 blue and white balloons and then decorated the tent set up in the front yard with them. I learned how to make a bunch of decorations and got fed a relatively normal-sized breakfast (yay!). When the yard was decorated and the rented chairs were set up, I rode along to pick up the cake.

You can imagine my surprise when I found out it was a 5 tier cake and that the party was for a one-year-old! We were greeted by a rehearsing band and a gathering crowd when we returned to the party house. Before the party really began, there was a 2 hour church service complete with a gringo “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” After church, everyone was fed a mountain of “Chinese Rice” and bread. Lunch was followed by the demolition of a massive “Go Diego, Go” piñata. Once the candy was collected and gift bags were handed out, most of the 100 people (church members, family and friends) in attendance left.

We stayed to watch the mom open all of the gifts and a group of girls asked me to teach them English tomorrow. I'm not sure how I will do it yet, but I agreed to give a lesson to their religion class tomorrow night. It should be a fun experience.

When we finally made it home around 4:00, we went inside the 90º house to cool off. My host mom showed me the duck nest in her bedroom and I got the coloring supplies out for Luz Marina and the neighbor girl to play with. Santa Elena passed the rest of the afternoon reading her Bible, and I wrote, read, and tried to prepare for tomorrow's English lesson.

Luz Marina helped me make some posers and practiced her English numbers and colors in order to help me tomorrow. When my host dad came home, we all sat together and talked about English and the US. Eventually the conversation turned to illegal immigration. Oh, the binds my limited Spanish vocabulary gets me into! We talked about how difficult it is for Nicaraguans to get a visa and then how long it would take to walk to Texas. My host dad kept emphasizing that you need lots of money to get across borders illegally. I was exhausted from the long day and excused myself to go to bed to avoid inadvertently encouraging illegal immigration.

Saturday, February 26

This morning before getting out of bed I gave myself a mental food pep-talk. “I can eat it!” As soon as I left my room I was given a huge plate of rice and beans, port and tortillas. Yikes! No one else had nearly as much food on their plate, and hopefully my slow eating showed my appreciation and level of fullness.

We went to buy tomatoes and peppers at a nearby farm a little while after we ate. On the way we passed the river where many people in the community bathe and wash their clothes. It was a beautiful walk and we ran into a herd of cows cooling off in the river. Right when we returned with our produce, Trevor and Javier came to see how things are going here. Santa Elena gave us all plates of fruit. It was delicious, but my goodness! I'm going to explode! Trevor and Javier gave me directions for Tuesday when we leave our home stays and then left to visit the other students.

We spent some time just hanging out and I saw parts of Titanic for the first time! Later, we broke out my coloring supplies, clay and jump rope. The toys attracted quite a crowd and we spent the whole afternoon playing with kids from the neighborhood. I tried to teach them the colors in English, but the pronunciation was really hard for them. Its interesting to note the sounds in each language that don't exist in the other.

Just as we were cleaning up, Rachel, who is staying with the pastor of my church here came to visit. My host mom and sister took Rachel, her host mom, and I to the river. I swam with Santa Elena and Luz Marina while Rachel and her mom waited on shore. Some of the neighbor kids came to see me swim and Santa Elena worried that it was too late for me to be swimming. I told her I shower at night at home, but she worried that swimming was different. It took a while to convince her it was alright, and we swam for a while before getting ready for church.

There was a lot of singing at church and the congregation asked us gringos to share some songs. Jake and Courtney had songs ready to go, but Rachel and I scrambled to come up with something. Eventually, the four of us sang a song together. Luckily, judging from the other performances, quality of voice doesn't seem to matter here and I'm grateful that's all we had to do. The rest of the service was much more enjoyable than that part ;)

After church we came home and watched part of Mama Mia in Spanish before bed. During commercials I tried to explain to Santa Elena that I never eat so much food in the United States. This revealed that she was convinced that Americans only eat fast food, so the conversation turned into a big explanation of what we really eat, and I'm afraid my point was lost. Hopefully she at least gets that I don't eat McDonald's every day.

Friday, February 25

This morning I woke up at 7:30, a time considered sleeping in to my host mom who woke up at 4:30 to see her husband off to work. I had breakfast complete with some outstanding coffee and then showered in the outdoor shower enclosed by plastic tarps. The heat outside made up for the cold water and I actually really enjoyed this intimidating experience.

Once we were ready to go, Santa Elena and I stopped at Jake's house to see how he was doing. He's been feeling a little sick, so we went to get the LASP medical supply bag from Courtney. When that situation was taken care of, Courtney and I got on the bus with our host moms to go to Managua to buy some things from the market. The bus is so much fun here. I loved people watching, seeing the beautiful scenery and trying some snacks that Santa Elena bought from the vendors who got on at some stops. We chose to pass on the magic pills being offered, but it was fun to hear about all the wacky things they promised to do. Courtney passed some time talking to the bus driver and he gave her his number..the two of us attracted a lot of attention as we walked through the market, and our host moms through it was hilarious.

Neither of us were even hungry yet, but our host moms took us to a restaurant for lunch. Since the the limits of our stomachs don't seem to matter much here, we were fed way more than enough. At least the food was pretty good, and once we finished we went about buying fruits and veggies at the market. I love markets, and it was fun to go to one during the week in order to avoid the crowds and see everything much more clearly. We loaded up heavy bags and made our way back to the bus where we crammed everything into the seat with us. It was a hot ride, but my fascination with the vendors that got on at every stop and the scenery made it go pretty quickly.

When we got home, I was encouraged to rest for a while, so I wrote a few entries in my LASP “critical thinking journal” (our assignment for the week). The neighbor girl came over to play with me, so I got out the jump rope, construction paper, and colored pencils that I brought. We colored and did some crafts for a while until it was time for dinner. After we ate, Santa Elena took her daughters and I to a church service a few kilometers down the street. It was an outdoor gathering of many church communities, and Santa Elena guided an elderly blind neighbor to the service. Many people shared songs with the group and there was a message given by the pastor of my host church. A lot of the other LASP students came with their families and Trevor and Javier were there. I enjoyed the gathering a lot and it was fun to see the other LASPers. On the way back from the service we stopped at a birthday party where I was served MORE food! We watched some TV when we got home and again had an early night.

Thrusday, February 24

What a fantastic day! I think Nicaragua might be my favorite part of this semester. Praise God! The dreaded challenges keep resulting in huge blessings, and I'm so grateful for His faithfulness.

This morning we had a slow, relaxed start at the hostile. Once the pastors taking us to the campo were ready, everyone got on the LASP bus to go to the market where we switched to a public bus. Street vendors swarmed our group and loaded onto the bus to sell everything from fruit, baked goods, and hot chicken to pens, coloring books, underwear, and razors. We had so much stuff with us already that it was funny to think of buying more to be crowded with. The community I will be staying in (La Cruz) is about 1 ½ hours from Managua, and at every stop more sales people piled on the bus, commenting on how strange it was to see so many gringos (people from the US) on the public bus.

I got off at the same stop as Courtney and Jake, the other two LASP students staying in La Cruz this week, and we went to Jake's host family's house to wait for the other host moms to pick up Courtney and me. It was nice to sit on the patio in big rocking chairs and chat a bit in Spanish after having a few English-intensive days. Courtney and I eventually had to pick which host mom we would go with, and Jake and Courtney came with me to my new home to see where I would be living. My host mom, Santa Elena, is super nice and friendly. She taught us how to make Nicaraguan rice and eggs and fed us all lunch. Then she took us to see Courtney's house where we hung out until the 3:30 church service started.

A small group of church members gathered to pray, sing and read, and it was a beautiful service. The church hosting us is Mennonite, so I won't be wearing my jeans and tank top back to church, butt they were incredibly welcoming and friendly. Our group was asked to introduce ourselves and everyone asked for English lessons...we'll see where that goes...I would love to work with a group sharing languages.

The church service was full of genuine faith and seeking God. Did I mention that I loved it? My host mom is one of the leaders in the church (like the pastor's assistant) and it was fun to see her as that role and talk to her about church afterward. She explained that she used to be Catholic but decided to join this church about 6 years ago. She told me about her desire to always put God first and to serve by treating all as brothers in Christ. I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot from this amazing woman, and I can't wait to get to know her better.

After church, my host mom encouraged me to take a nap, and I simply couldn't refuse. When I woke up, I got to meet Elena's 2 daughters, Yoheyling Yelena and Luz Marina. It's going to take me a while to get those names down! Santa Elena's son, Roberto lives and studies in Managua where he works at a juice factory. Yoheyling lives with her grandmother and goes to school each Sunday because it is too expensive for her to take the bus to school every day. Luz Marina lives with Santa Elena and her husband, Roberto and goes to school everyday. The two girls are a little shy, but we talked about school until dinner.

After we ate, I showed my hosts my family pictures, and they showed me there. Then I asked them a bunch of questions about Nicaraguan culture. It was great to hear their perspective after a few days of hearing what LASP had to say about the topic. I also got to share with them a little bit about the US. As the day went on, I began to feel more proficient in Spanish, and I really enjoyed talking with my hosts. Santa Elena set up the LASP mosquito net for me and we went to be around 9:00, a fairly late hour for them. The stars out here are marvelous and I hope to have a chance to see more of them. Santa Elena's husband came home really late due to some problems with the taxi he drives in Managua, so I didn't get to meet him, but hopefully this weekend I will.

What a beautiful life! I love the campo and I could definitely get used to the fresh air and friendly neighbors out here. I can't wait for a tranquillo week of learning more about his culture through talking, listening, trying new things, and no doubt stretching out of my comfort zone.