fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

The Auto Mercado is not a car dealership...it’s a grocery store that has a lot of imported goods.  Tricky.

Ticos are not happy with the quality of fruits and vegetables grown here in late October/November.  Mama Mayra (my host mom) loves to tell me this, haha.  “No está rica/dulce.”  Apparently the amount of rain that they get in October in the height of rainy season, makes for less desirable produce.

¡feliz día de acción de gracias!

Today, Thanksgiving, was the first major holiday I’ve celebrated away from my family.  It was different, but I had a great time celebrating it with 50 other Vida Joven staff here in Costa Rica.  It was so fun to share with the Ticos a significant piece of U.S. culture.

I started the day with a Turkey Trot!  My friend, Susannah, and I have both Turkey Trotted with our families and wanted to have one here.  So I made tshirts, she mapped a course, and we had one!  There were about 35 people who ran and we raised almost $500 for a children’s home Susannah is volunteering with!

L to R:  Me, Ella, and Jessie before starting the
First & Last Annual Slightly Less than 6k Turkey Trot!

Kevin (YL Regional Director) and his wife, Michelle, host Thanksgiving at their house every year for all of the Vida Joven Staff.  And it’s awesome!  They are from the States, but have lived in Costa Rica for years.  I am so grateful for their hospitality.  There was so much love and joy and laughter in their house.  So much to reflect on and celebrate together.

“It is not joy that makes us grateful;

it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”

Brother David Steindl-Rast

I recently listened to a sermon from Common Ground (church in Indy I went to in college).  The pastor talked about this idea  that our job as the church is to be unusually and radically welcoming.  I think a lot of times this is done poorly.  It’s inauthentic and it turns people off.  But today was such a clear picture of what I think this idea looks like.  Being radically welcoming.  Realizing and embracing that everyone has a seat at the table regardless of culture or background.  I knew some people well, and others hardly at all, but we were warm and welcoming.  Rooted in Christ.  Celebrating the things He has done.  The way He’s provided and loved all of us this past year.  And that’s so much bigger than culture or place!  It’s beautiful the way the staff here have embraced the holiday, and it’s a gift to share it with them.  My heart felt full as I looked around the room, one of 10-15 Gringos in a room of 55, talking and singing in Spanish, just taking it all in.  Such a picture of the Kingdom of God.  

Most of the group!

We all had a paper leaf to write what we were thankful for.  Michelle keeps them, strings them on twine, and decorates with them every year.  Mine read,

I am grateful for a year of adventure and celebration.   

We sang.  We played games.  We laughed.  We ate.  We shared.  We celebrated.  So very grateful for this year.  For the lessons.  For the adventure.  For family.  For new and old friends.  For rich experiences.  For embracing opportunity.  For seeing and experiencing the Kingdom in a new and beautiful way.

Grateful for these friends.
Young Life International Schools Costa Rica.

They have the BEST view from their house
and the sunset was absolutely stunning!
It just kept getting better!
You can see all of Sabana, the National Soccer Stadium,
AND THE OCEAN!!!

fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

Every person/household/business is responsible for the sidewalk in front of their property.  Therefore, as you might imagine, there is quite a range of “sidewalks” here.  Ranging from inexistent, to crumbled, to brand new.

Costa Rica does not celebrate Thanksgiving.  This is obvious, it’s a U. S. holiday, but it’s surprisingly easy to forget (even when you live here!).  It’s interesting how powerful cultural constructs are.  I’ve always been part of the dominant culture celebrating a specific holiday.  I catch myself wanting to ask people what their plans are for the holiday, and sometimes actually do, which is embarrassing...

wowza!

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Psalm 19:1

fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

They make their own Black Friday...or día de menos precios.  Thanksgiving is a U.S. holiday, so they don’t celebrate here.  So there is no day after Thanksgiving retail craziness.   But, since there last major holiday was Independence Day, many stores elect to have a day of savings as an attempt to increase sales.  Looks like most of the retailers will be having this day tomorrow, November 16.

that didn’t go as planned...

So Club has been a little bit of a roller coaster this year.  Lots of kids, no kids, lots of kids, no kids, no kids, no kids.  It’s just super unpredictable and can be really frustrating.  We have been faithful, and continued  to plan events in the hope of kids coming...believing and rejoicing over one.  Wednesday night was no exception.  We had, or were supposed to have, Hunger Games Club.  Our leadership team met weeks before to pray, brainstorm, and plan to make it the best possible night for kids.  We were so excited!  We arrived early.  We dressed up.  We had everything set for a great night.

Or so we thought...

One girl showed up, which was great!  But most of our plans would be a little bit of a failure with just she and a couple leaders.  Alex and I had a meeting in the kitchen.  Not going to lie, we were a little frustrated.  We weren’t really sure what to do.  But we prayed and talked about it and decided to give her the decision of how she wanted the night to proceed.  Either go on with Hunger Games or hangout by the bonfire.  She choose to hangout with the leaders and make smores.  AND IT WAS AWESOME!

Where we saw discouragement, the Lord saw opportunity.  Out of all the kids I know in CR, she is the one who would most enjoy and feel most loved by hanging out with a group of young adults pursuing Christ.  She got to see our team be our team.  And she didn’t just see it, she experienced it.  She was invited in to it.  That night, she was part of our community.  We ended up having a pretty significant conversation that started with a debate of Team Gale or Team Peeta and ended with serious evaluation of what the world says of relationships, how that’s warped, and how Christ gives us another option.  There is no way we could have planned that!  So thank you Jesus for not leaving us in our discouragement, and for faithfully providing an opportunity to reach just one kid here.  It was a great reminder that I am not needed for this ministry.  That this is not my work or our doing, but Christ’s.  And He invites us in.  He invites us to be his hands and feet.  But it’s not about us.  And it’s not about anything we do or don’t do.  Plan or don’t plan.  Ultimately, it is His.  And I say that with freedom and gratitude, it is HIS!

If you are willing, please join us in praying for Club the rest of the year.  For wisdom of how to proceed.  If Club is the best option for our students here, given the reality of their crazy lives, or if we should consider making changes to our schedule and programming (and what those would be).  Thanks for being in this with me.  With us.  With Him.

fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

The Children’s Museum used to be a penitentiary.  Yep, interesting.  And it looks like a castle.

The Hunger Games comes out here November 28!  Better late than never, right?

real friends

The past few weeks have been so fun!  I told Rachel that I feel like we’ve reached a new level of friendship.  Like, we’re real friends now.  Not just friends because we have to be, because we’re both here and leading together.  And this is true for our entire leadership team!!  It’s been a couple of months, we’ve adjusted to life here, and we’re really getting to know and love each other!  It makes the fun and joy and laughs exponential!  The Lord has brought some seriously amazing people to Costa Rica, and this experience would not be the same without all of them.

Yesterday we had a Friday Night Hangout.  We leaders had the best time hanging out and eating dinner together at Alex’s before kids came.  Then we had a fun night of Headbandz (GREAT game!  And, you can download it as an App if you have a smartphone...) and kids teaching us leaders how to dance.  Hilarious.  I so wish that was in my blood.  But, as many of you know, it’s not...haha.  But we had three schools represented and some new kids!  It was definitely my favorite hangout so far this year!  We just had a blast!!  I laughed.  A lot.  Which, as many of you know, meant tears were shed.  It was just the best night!

pura vida?

So one of our cross country girls made this awesome video about Costa Rica!  It’s hilarious!!  And right on!  Have you ever thought any these things about Costa Rica???

gettin’ wYLd!

This past weekend was WyldLife Camp at La Cumbre!  And it was SO fun!!  I don’t have a ton of experience with middle school kids and I had forgotten how small and cute they are!  But it was so fun to be able to sit back and watch the weekend unfold before my eyes!  Sixty middle schoolers experiencing joy and life to the full!  Watching leaders pour into kids so they could have the best weekend of their lives!  Adventure activities, ropes courses, carnivals, delicious meals...it was great!  Take a look at our crew!

Three of our high schoolers came as Work Crew for the weekend, so my primary responsibility was Work Crew boss.  Together we washed dishes, swept floors, cleaned bathrooms and cabins, helped Jason and Bradyn with details of Club, and ran special events.  Basically, we were in charge of everything behind the scenes.  We had such a good crew and the Lord did amazing things!  Our high schoolers were from all different parts of the city and had never met prior to the weekend.  It was fun to see them become friends over the weekend and work well together.  Cool how a weekend can touch so many hearts.  It was geared toward our middle school friends, but was also significant for our high schoolers and our team of leaders.

We spent a lot of time in John 13, talking about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet.  Alex (YL staffer) and I were able to find an hour of time that we could give kids to be by themselves.  Silent.  Resting with Jesus.  And they marinated in these verses.  Our kids said that they haven’t really ever had the opportunity to do that before.  The conversation we had after that hour was, by far, my favorite part of the weekend!  Rich and real.  Honest and vulnerable.  Just the best!  We challenged our kids to memorize Colossians 3:23, as well, as our theme verse:  “Whatever you do, work at it wit all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”  It was a great reminder that we were not serving for a “thank you” in return, but out of gratitude for Christ and what He has done for us!

It was a marathon sprint of a weekend!  There was non-stop activity from 5:30AM to 11:30PM but it was the best!  It’s amazing how much you can fit into a weekend when you really try!  And, it was COLD!!!  We were in the mountains and we had to bundle up!!  The best when you’re used to sweating every day!

fun fact friday!

FUN FACT FRIDAY!!!

The base price of taxi’s and buses has increased.  The first kilometer in a tax now costs 605 colones (from 595) and all bus fares increased 5 colones.  That’s about an extra 10-20 cents.

People are paid double in the month of December.  Yep, you heard that right, double!  Every person in every industry gets double pay in December to boost retail sales.

Postage is also twice as expensive in December.  Yep, need to be pro-active in sending Christmas cards here!  Get them finished by Nov. 30 or pay double the whole month of December!  But, it’s not all bad, they donate the  extra revenue to the Children’s Hospital.

The Color Run’s colors got held up in customs.  There was supposed to be a Color Run race last weekend but the colors got held up in customs, so it’s rescheduled for this Sunday.  And lucky for us, we were able to snag some last minute entries!