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.
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