fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

Bus drivers have to pay the difference in their fares.  When you get on a public bus, there are bars you walk through that count the people.  If you stand between the bars for an extended period it keeps counting...and counting...and counting until you move.  And the bus driver gets really mad.  Because at the end of the day, if the amount in their foam holder (genius!  they sort different amounts of change so it’s ready) doesn’t equal the amount they “should” have based on the number the bars counted, they are responsible for paying the difference themselves.

Ticas are not into pumpkin.  It’s sad but true, they’re not on the pumpkin craze.  People look at you in disgust when you tell them about the deliciousness of pumpkin spice lattes.  And no, the Starbucks here does not serve them.  Heartbreaking.  Luckily, you can find pumpkin in some of the stores.  So, we’re having a pretend-it’s-fall day this weekend because we all miss it.

CDS family picnic

The Country Day School (CDS) Family Picnic was this weekend and it was a blast!  This is an extremely well-attended event.  Pretty much all of the kids and their families attend, so it was a great contact work opportunity!

It was so fun to see kids in their element, with their friends, doing things they were passionate about.  All the different grades sell baked goods, drinks, guacamole, anything really, as a fundraiser.  I took advantage of red velvet cupcake, and of course, a Diet Coke!  (It was pushing 90 degrees and I was wearing jeans, so a DC was definitely needed).  It was fun to mingle with kids, watch them play in the band, be with them as they worked a carnival for the little ones, and cheered them on as they played fútbol against their teachers!

Although I’ve been here for over a month, the CDS Picnic seemed like a great kick-off to the year!  Things are in full swing, and this was a great momentum-boost of sorts.  Definitely high energy and got everyone...kids, parents, teachers, and leaders...excited about this school year!

fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

Today I finished language school!  I know what you’re thinking...well then, how’s the Spanish??  And actually, it’s going pretty well!  Still would not claim to be fluent.  Not at all.  But it’s good.  I can really tell a difference from when I started 5 weeks ago (crazy!), so that’s encouraging.  Most of the time there was only myself and one other person in my class, so language school definitely gave me a confidence boost speaking because there was plenty of time to practice.  Sad it’s over,  but good thing I have Mama Mayra at home (who talks a million miles per hour) to keep me sharp!

They had a little “graduation” for us.  Here I am with my certificate and some queque!

¡feliz día de independencia!

It’s Costa Rican Independence Day!!  Actually, it’s Independence Day for all Central America.  And people LOVE this day.  There is a parade in every neighborhood, which is really all the local kids playing drums.  And they are so good!  Some are as young as Kindergarten, which is just crazy!  Their drum is as big as they are!  But they are really impressive.  And they play, and play, and play!  There were 9 or 10 schools in the Escazú parade, and it lasted two hours!  Impressive.

There were also SO MANY Costa Rican flags.  People here have a lot of pride in their country.  They decorate their houses, sport Costa Rican colors, and the entire neighborhood attends the parade in the center of the city.  Pretty much the entire city, well country, shuts down to celebrate this day.

L-R:  Rachel (intern), Alex (Staff Associate), Me
Independence Day Parade, Escazú Centro,
a five minute walk down the mountain from my house.

fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

IT’S RACHEL TULLY’S BIRTHDAY!!!  She’s another intern and she’s feeling 22!  So grateful you’re here in this, too!!  And that you’re always up for #adventuresdegringa and milkshakes for breakfast!  You’re the best!

“Qi” is a word.  And it is helpful when playing Banana Grams.  We played an hour of Banana Grams tonight at the YL hangout (which I was totally ok with because I love that game)!  We finished the night with an epic  round of Telephone Pictionary, and impressive display of Careers.

coach kaylee

Yep, that’s right!  Coach Kaylee.  I’m helping Alex (YL Staff Associate, technically my boss) coach the cross country team at Country Day School (CDS), one of the schools where we do contact work.  Never thought this is something that I’d be doing here, but it’s great!  And it’s a great way to meet/spend time with kids!  Especially because CDS doesn’t technically “allow" Young Life on their campus (although they let us have Campaigners, a Bible study, there every week), it’s a huge blessing to be able to show up to school twice a week as a coach.

The sports culture is super different here.  CDS has girls and guys basketball, soccer, volleyball, and cross country.  All sports teams practice year-round but are technically only "in season" for part of the year.  And kids can do none or all of the sports, which makes who is going to come to practice a little unpredictable.  For instance, we have some basketball players on our team.  So if there’s a basketball game, they skip our practice and play in their game.  And academics is FOR SURE the number one thing here.  Like a kid can tell Alex or I that they have too much homework and can’t practice and that is totally excusable.  And kids don’t use academics to get out of running...they literally go home and do hours and hours of homework.  It’s crazy!  So, needless to say, athletics are not super competitive.  But coaching has already proven to be a humbling experience...My first practice we literally ran up a mountain, which proved I definitely wasn’t as in shape as I thought.  But it’s been so fun and the kids are great!!  We’ve only had three practices, but I’m excited to spend the year with these kids!

marathon day(s)

Needless to say...it’s been a busy week, but a great week!!  Today was our HUGE garage sale fundraiser.  All of the money raised from this event is used to send kids to camp this summer!!!  And it was a HUGE success!

Last night, Jessie received a call from someone wanting directions to the church because they wanted to drop off a few chairs to sell...this is what appeared!  Plus, two more truck loads...WOW!!

In addition, we had this room full of donations to sell!

A big thanks to everyone who donated, helped set up, and purchased at the event.  We raised over $2000 -- enough to give TWENTY kids camp scholarships!!!!  Yay!!  And, we had this much stuff leftover to give to another local ministry!  

L-R:  Me, Rachel, Bonnie, Alex, Jessie
What’s in those boxes??  BOOKS.  So many books.

After the garage sale, we headed over to Alajuela for Mega Reu!!!  Mega Reu is what they call All-City Club here.  There were hundreds of kids from all over San Jose, representing all four components of Young Life:  International Schools (what I’m involved in), Neighborhood Ministry, Capernum (kids with disabilities), and YoungLives (ministry with single moms and their kids).  So much joy under that tent!  And kids here LOVE to dance!!  So fun seeing kids experience life to the full!

fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

Things are opposite here even though we’re north of the equator.  What they tell you in school isn’t 100% accurate.  Toilets flush the other way and summer starts in December, yet, CR is located above the equator.

Umbrellas are gender specific.  Men use “paraguas” (literally para, which means stop + agua, water) and women us “sombrillas”.  Paraguas are always black and sombrillas can be colorful/patterned.

Taxi meters are called “La Maria”...and no one knows why.  Also, the price of the taxi is directly related to the speed of the driver.  The faster they drive, the faster the meter increases.  Needless to say, taxi rides are always an adventure.

color wars!!!

We had our first Club today...COLOR WARS themed!!!  It was incredible!  So great to finally meet kids here and they were loving the paint war.  We got so gross, but it was so worth it!  Definitely a night none of us will forget!

We couldn’t find paint in the quantity that we needed so Alex and I made two 18-gallon tubs of it last night.  It was...well...an experience.  If you every wondered what 12 bags of flour, 36 nalgenes of water, a bag of salt, and lots of food coloring make...the answer is LOTS of paint!

Tonight, I was finally able to meet the rest of my YL team!  It was fun eating dinner together before Club and preparing for the night.  The rain stopped, thankfully, and kids started arriving at 7:02!  It was a night of chaos but so much fun!!!  Kids went all out and had zero hesitation about getting messy.  It was awesome!  And such a gift to see high school kids let loose and have fun.  Hoping they got a glimpse of the rich and satisfying life we are made for.

Here are some more pics from the rest of the night!  Crazy in the best way.  It took me over 30 minutes to get all the paint out of my hair when I got home, but so worth it!

The Gnarly-O Bros gettin’ us ready!

BEFORE.
Orange (top) and Blue (bottom) Teams

The Preparation...

COLOR WARS!!!

AFTER.
Success!!!

The “Clean” Up...

when it rains, it pours!

Welcome to rainy season!  And to our school!

Get to walk home in this most days!