Tuesday, September 6

I had a little bit of trouble really living every moment to its fullest today, which was really discouraging for me. Adjusting to classes and the daily schedule here will definitely take some time for me, but a few conversations I’ve had this evening remind me that I need to have patience and faith that this is where God has me now for a reason. I want to wait on Him with all of my heart, so this reminder is very helpful. I’m struggling with the tendency to compare my experiences here with those in Costa Rica, which isn’t really fair to either semester. To make the comparison even less fair, I’ve found that I’m remembering the richest parts of my time in Costa Rica in my times of greatest homesickness or frustration here. When that happens, I just need to think of how I felt during my internship when I was covered with scabies and thought those three weeks would never end.

The thing with studying abroad is that it requires four whole months of your life. By the end of the experience and 20 years later, this will seem like a very minor commitment, but the first few weeks seem to go pretty slow and are draining, so it’s hard to stay motivated. During these weeks of vulnerability, I can hear Christ whisper to me “lean on me,” and I want to obey this request from Him with every ounce of my being. Not only are the first days a time of adjustment to a new culture and schedule, they’re a time when God is preparing me for what He wants to do this semester. They feel like a time when God pulls me away from all of the comforts I use at home to keep myself away from Him and asks me to let Him take complete control of the semester. Please, God, take it away…you can do it way better than I can.

Today was the second day of normal classes. Again, it seemed to fly by, and I was pleasantly surprised that because I did a little too much homework last night I had less to do tonight. In between classes, I tried using someone else’s battery in my camera and was able to confirm that it is indeed my camera that is broken, not the battery. I’ll have to figure out what to do about that soon…shipping and ordering things online from here is a little confusing. After my classes finished, I studied in the park near school for a little bit while Corrine finished up, and we enjoyed walking home for lunch together. The majority of my afternoon was consumed with homework, but Corrine and I went to a park to study for a while, so that was nice.

Later on in the evening, we had a girls’ night at the school, which was a great chance for us to get to know each other a little better. I had tons of fun hearing about everyone’s highs and lows so far this semester and getting to talk more with some girls who I haven’t gotten to know very well yet. After our talk session at the school, we went down to the beautiful river and went paddle boating in groups of four. Again, I picked people I didn’t know very well, and it was really fun. I liked seeing the city from the river and talking with the girls I went with. On the walk home, I got to talk more with some of the girls who live near me, which was great.

It got to be kind of a late night, but I got to call home and talk for a while with some people I miss, so that was a huge blessing. Retelling the tales from today and remembering more of the positive moments has made me more encouraged for tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see where God graciously leads me during the rest of my time here.