Costa Rica

Although each week has been better than the last, certain days are rough. Managing the heat continues to be my biggest struggle. Our Spanish class is interesting, but the temperature climbs to 100 nearly every class period. Some days I just can’t seem to cool down. Our trip to Costa Rica came at the perfect time. The trip served two main purposes 1) Renew our tourist visas..so we had to leave the country and 2) to learn about Nicaraguan immigration to Costa Rica and the differences between the cultures. We started the adventure going Zip Lining outside of Managua. I’ve never been officially zip lining before (I’m not sure if jumping off the side of the bin counts…) and it was on the side of a mountain with incredible scenery. The next day we left early in the morning to head to Costa Rica.We stayed in an old French hotel that is now the extension campus for Whitworth College in Washington. The weather was a beautiful 65-75 degrees and the down comforters and hot showers were a real treat.

I'm hiding in the background :)

We started our trip in Costa Rica with a visit to La Paz, a zoo and tour of the Peace Waterfall. It was beautiful and great exercise although we started at the top of the hill/mountain and were picked up at the bottom a few hours later. Throughout the week we visited La Carpio, an area of the capital city, San Jose that is home to many of the Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica. It is known for its violence and is built next to the garbage dump. We spent the morning cleaning up at the organization Christ for the City, and the afternoon visiting Nicaraguans asking them about their transition, their work, and if they had succeeded in getting a better life for themselves. It was a great experience. After being warned to “dress down” and not take anything of value and warned of the 12 gangs in the area we proceeded to two boys hiding pistols behind their backs…we quickly found out that they were airsoft pistols…but it sure got our heart rates up! We visited a museum downtown San Jose and went shopping in the artesan market. The temperature was much more mild and it was great to walk down sidewalks without catcalls, kissing faces, and staring people. Two of our days were spent in class at our Professors home in Costa Rica. He got his doctorate degree from Harvard in Community Development (or something like that) and is working on community organization projects in his neighborhood. I have never been so challenged, convicted, or encouraged in a single class. We have been reading so many books about development, short-term missions, and poverty. I could probably write a blog on just the things I have learned in class. We ended our class making pupusas ( a Salvadorian specialty) and then headed back to our campus.

For my final presentation in my culture class I interviewed street vendors. It was really nervous, but it was really good experience and I was able to learn more about food and culture.

On Spanish: Some days I’m really impressed with how far my Spanish has come, and the next day I’m frustrated with how little I understand. It is truly a humbling experience to have to admit over and over again that you do not understand something and my brain is usually completely fried by the time I fall asleep at night.

On Christmas: They had Christmas decorations out almost a month ago. It is crazy! I have never been in a warm climate in the winter, and somehow every time I hear Christmas music in the 90 degree weather it makes me smile. I'm ready for a break from the heat, but I'm not sure my body is ready for the 80 degree temperature swing. The countdown begins--only 22 days!

Making chocolate chip cookies with my host family. I think my host brother liked them...