5-2-12

(pictures later... that's too much effort for right now, i wrote this two days ago and now is the first time i've had to even be able to get on the internet...so take what you get ;) )

Well, I’m a very terrible blogger… I apologize. This always happens; I get to the point where I haven’t updated in so long that it’s unbelievably overwhelming to try and play catch up. The days all blend together and I get discouraged and then I just give up, which is terrible. So instead of beating myself up, I’m just going to make do.

True to form of my exceptional talent of procrastination, tonight is quite possibly the last chance to sit and breathe before craziness ensues. In four days I will have been here a month! It’s unbelievable until I really think about how much we’ve already done.

We’ve fallen quite comfortable into a routine when there isn’t a team at the camp. We wake up about 8:30, eat breakfast, go to the office about 9:15-9:30 and set about doing whatever Mary needs. The most recent set of tasks include, transcribing some of Marion’s stories about the history of his time in Costa Rica since 1950. There’s a HUGE 3-ring binder full of typewritten (is this past tense for the verb describing writing with a typewriter?) stories and they are amazing. It’s so interesting to learn about so many different things through one person’s memoirs. Life has changed so much in this country since he first arrived. I mean, obviously, just as in the U.S., technology, street conditions, etc… The thing that gets me I think, is imagining doing what I’m down here doing minus the ease. It took a lot more determination and dedication to preach his faith all over this country. It’s hard to believe the same person in the stories is the one that I see every day here: the 93-year-old, joke-crackin’ man with facial hair identical to Santa Claus. It’s beautiful, really and I’m quite honored to do it, as is Alissa.

In addition to that project, we’ve all but finished translating the CRM Web site into Spanish. We will send everything, once edited, to the webmaster, who will then hopefully make the Web site interchangeable between English and Spanish.

We take a lunch break and eat in our cute little house then go back to the office until usually 5 or 6 or so. Then home for dinner, dominos or movies or TV shows on our computers then crawl into bed so that the mosquitos can feast.

Tomorrow, all of that changes (except the mosquitos): a team of 60-ish people arrived yesterday. They kick off a string of constant teams all the way through the week before Easter, April 8^th!) They were all wearing hot pink shirts and come from Kentucky and Maryland and there’s not a chance I can remember a single name. I’ll wait until they’re not all dressed alike and are in daylight. Today they went to La Fortuna to go to the hot springs and resort for dinner and a church service up there. (This is the general Sunday tradition for most groups).So we saw them last night and then they left this morning before we got up. We went into Ciudad Quesada on the bus to meet friends of Alissa from Dallas. They have visited the camp several times and are in the area for about a week. We met them at the Methodist church in Ciudad Quesada, and then they took us for pizza and ice cream. It was delicious and the service was great, lots of music, an hour’s worth, to be exact. Downfall = standing for an hour. Bonus = projection screen with the Spanish lyrics. This is an upgrade from the other two churches we’ve attended since we’ve been here.

However, I must say that of the three sermon’s I’ve heard, this one was the least inspiring. The first two were in La Fortuna and Santa Rita, respectively. Those two men were so amazing: yelling until red/purple in the face, so excited about it and so intriguing. The neatest thing is that even though the majority of the people we gave gone to the services with can’t understand a word of Spanish, they still get the message loud and clear. Very cool experience.

The last time I posted we were expecting the Wichita team’s arrival. I was delighted to have them here, especially as our first team. They were a group of 7 women, a very different dynamic than ever before. Marion said that it was the first time there had been an all-same gender group (I can’t remember if he said ever, or in quite some time), which was pretty cool, people like to be the first anything I think. I was very excited to see my mom and was happy she could see me getting settled in and could lend her magic to getting our house organized.

The project as I previously mentioned below, in Santa Rita, was absolutely perfect for the team in terms of their skills, their size and personalities. It was a great week and we got nearly all the work done. The people of the church were fantastic: they made us hot meals for lunch everyday, and helped along side us to do the work, even the kids. They were so gracious and so accommodating to us. They even threw me a surprise birthday party, during which they smashed my face into the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. Totally worth it.

By the time we left, we had painted all the walls, inside and out, painted the ceilings, made curtains for all the windows, tiled the bathroom, tiled the island in the kitchen, replaced the roof on the Sunday School building and painted the inside. In addition to the physical changes, we had made great friends with the people there, so much so that the women cried when we left and the kids wanted to come with us. As a group, we talked about how all of that is the reason people go on mission trips instead of simply sending money. Darn good reason, if you ask me.

I loved being able to spend time with some of my favorite people and use them as my guinea pigs for this whole gig at the same time J I wish I could get a monthly dose of them, but skype will have to do.

The following Sunday after the team left we went back to Santa Rita to attend the church service (the pastor’s house is the one we worked on). They were thrilled to see us and we were amazed to see that they had finished the Sunday School building and were almost done with everything else. We had the privilege of being with the pastor’s fiancé when she saw the house for the first time. The kids all asked where all the “white ladies” were, haha. One little girl, Maria Fernanda asked if she could go back to the States with me so that she could ice-skate. How precious.

In other events, we celebrated Mary’s birthday on the 3^rd. It’s hard to throw a party for a woman who is go-go-go all the time! We basically had to tell her that something was happening just so that she would be in one place for long enough to feed her some cake. She is truly amazing I think it made every employee’s day to be able to honor her. However, I’m hoping we can go at least a few weeks without any more birthdays… apparently there IS such this as too much cake…

Well that was a pretty decent chunk of info. I’m sure I’ll think of a million and a half other things to say, but that’s where I just have to back off and appreciate posting this at all. Thanks for reading!

Love to all,

Molly