paseo

I went on a paseo (day trip) with some students from my language school this weekend!  We traveled to  Haciendo Pozo Azul for some zip-lining and white water rafting!  I loved having a day of adventure!  I have done a canopy tour (zip-line) before in Costa Rica, but it was fun to go white water rafting here.  It was dry season so the river was a littler lower, but still Class II-IV rapids.  We had a great guide that made it super fun!  The rafting trip took about an hour and half and traveled about 9 miles!  We were able to get out and swim/float down the Sarapiquí River.  We even got to cliff jump at one point!!  So much fun!

At the start of one of the zip lines!

Navigating some smaller rapids with some of my classmates.
Having TONS of fun!

check out that view!

I spent the evening with one of my Young Life girls.  We worked on writing a fundraising letter for Service Project and talked through her Work Crew application!  She’s trying to do Work Crew at Saranac this summer, which I am more than stoked about!!  LOVE that place!  (It would be sweet if you’d pray for that...our region currently does not have a guaranteed spot there, so it’s a little complicated.)

Anyways, we had tons of fun and her apartment building has a sweet view of the city.  You can clearly see the National Stadium (back left) lit up for a game!

friends are fun!!

This weekend my sweet friend Anne Taylor came to visit!!  It was THE BEST!!!  It was fun to be able to introduce her to my life here.  She was able to spend a couple nights with my host family and we headed to the beach for the weekend!

There are so many beautiful places to see and fun things to do in this country!  We decided to explore the Nicoya Peninsula on this trip (southwest part of the country).  It was a long trek on the public bus, 7 hours, but it was totally worth it!  And, the bus ride was split up with a 70 minute ferry ride across the Nicoya Gulf...absolutely stunning!

She got in Thursday afternoon and we went exploring downtown.  My host-brother, Brandon and his cousin Emma, were being great tour guides!  We took a picture with John Lennon (without glasses), in China-town!  (Yes, San José has a China-town.)

Friday morning we left at 5AM to catch the bus to Playa Santa Teresa!  Hop on a bus, a ferry, and another bus in Costa Rica, and it will take you here...Santa Teresa!

Saturday we opted for some adventure and rented an ATV and took it all over the peninsula!

Meet Peli.  Short for Peligroso (“dangerous” in Spanish).

Montezuma Falls is one of the most popular waterfalls in the country, and after visiting it’s obvious why...it’s stunning!!  It’s a sizable waterfall, and you can swim at its base.  Locals boulder up the side and cliff jump from 8-40+ feet, which is crazy to watch!  We also stopped at Cemetery Island (you could walk out to it at low tide), and a secret beach in Mal País!

Montezuma Falls

Montezuma Beach 

Cemetery Island

Thanks for visiting, Anne Taylor!  Such a blast to have you here!  Glad you got to taste a bit of what life is like here and how beautiful this country is!

Top:  Santa Teresa
Bottom:  Nicoya Gulf from ferry

vidas jovenes camp!

This weekend I experienced my first every Young Lives Camp!  Young Lives is Young Life’s ministry to single moms.  Most are very young, 14-20 years of age, and have at least one child.  Myself and the other interns acted as niñeras (child care) for the weekend with some other women from the community.  It was exhausting, but also extremely life-giving.

These kids are the hope of their mothers.  They are their mom’s reason for living.  And because of that, they rarely spend time away from their kids.  So, at camp, not only is it difficult for the moms to trust us to look after their kids, but the kids also have a hard time being away from their mothers.  Many of them are anxious and have extreme fears of separation.  Some calmed down easily by playing in the pool, or engaging in other fun activities, and others cried/screamed for 4 hours straight.  It was a test of patience for sure, but also an extremely obvious example of their need for Christ.  That their little hearts need Jesus so deeply.  That they need to be known and be loved by their Creator.  It was a gift to see and be with the same kids for 3 days in a row.  We had definitely earned their trust (and their mother’s trust) by the end, it they were more excited/less anxious to be with us.

It was also a cool weekend to see so many Tica women loving on kids and young moms.  Committee members and other volunteers (who have adult children) gave up their whole weekend to serve and care for these little ones.  And they were so good at it!  It was fun learning from them, especially considering the whole weekend was in Spanish.  It can be pretty defeating that you don’t have the vocabulary to calm down a three-year old, but a lot of the time it was true.  So I’m grateful for the many times they came to the rescue!

Three of the girls!  I spent a lot of time with Celeste, in the middle!

Our new friend, Fio (middle)!  She is an awesome high school
student from Alajuela who volunteered as a niñera, too!

Jesus called the children to him and said, 

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Luke 18:15-17

missions fest

Today was Missions Fest at International Baptist Church (IBC).  IBC is one of the local church that supports us monthly, and several of our families attend this church.  Annually, they have an event called Missions Fest, where their congregation can learn about all of the organizations it supports.

It was a great way to let others know about Young Life International Schools and some big events coming up.  We have a fundraising tea in March and are taking kids on a service project in April, so it was great to be able to tell so many people about these opportunities!

In addition, we were able to hear Pastor Paul preach on Acts 2.  I was really struck by the idea that the presence of the Holy Spirit and the work of Christ demands a response.  In Acts 2 we see how nonbelievers were amazed and filled with awe after seeing the Holy Spirit and that many lives were changed!  When Christ moves, it’s contagious!  People want to be a part of it!  It was fun being able to invite people to join us in what Christ is doing through Young Life International Schools Costa Rica.

baile lourdes

This past weekend we celebrated Young Life’s anniversary in Costa Rica with Baile Lourdes!  It’s a huge, national, mega-Club!  COW (Camp On Wheels) was there with tons of activities:  a rock climbing wall, volleyball, carnival games, etc!  There was food and fun and LOTS of dancing!  Randall, the National Director, was also able to share with the kids a little bit of his story.

We helped out with Vida Joven Capernaum, Young Life’s ministry to kids with special needs.  And we had a blast!  Lots of laughter and joy this night.  And, again, LOTS of dancing!  They love it!!

Take a look at a couple hundred students celebrating together!  These kids are from various neighborhoods all over the city!  So fun!

And is this not the biggest bag of popcorn you ever did see?!!  Total Young Life move right there!

three crosses

There is AWESOME hike in San Jose called the Three Crosses.  I’ve been wanting to do it for awhile now, and we finally did it!  It was beautiful and the most perfect day for hiking.  Clear and sunny with a cool breeze...perfect!  And it has the most amazing view of the city!!  So fun!  We hiked down the back-side, which was basically a super steep pasture.  The grass was super long and there was no “trail” but it was fun!  Rach, pretty much slid the whole way down on her rear, but we had fun laughing at how uncoordinated we all were, trying to imagine how in the world the cows could make their way down so gracefully haha.  

Check out that VIEW!!! Beautiful!  

Loving life half way up!

Not the best pic, but made it to the third cross!  

Rach and I at the top/off the backside!

Such a great day for a hike!  Cross #2.