July 30: Field Trip

Today, we went with the El Puente students on a field trip to Arenas del Mar, a resort known for its luxury and sustainability.  Part of its mission is to connect with local schools in order to teach kids about taking care of the environment.  Today's field trip focus was on recycling.

The kids inspected a bag of garbage, and then put on gloves and sorted the recyclable items.

After watching some videos about Reducing, Reusing and Recycling our group was led to the greenhouse area where we saw examples of how we can reuse items like milk boxes as planters.

Lucia and Sophia plant a tree

Another example of Reuse:  plastic beverage bottles used to create a garbage can.

After lunch we had regular classes while some of the moms came to make jewelry.  They work together to create bracelets, earrings and necklaces that are sold to help with school expenses and scholarships.

July 29: Scream, Surrender & Surf

This morning we started out earlier than usual for a Sunday because the church we have been attending holds a special service in English at 8:30 AM on the last Sunday of the month.   In gathering our stuff for the day, Angelina was asked to get the rain poncho down from the back washroom.  Soon after that we hear a scream, and see Angelina running as fast as she could from the area screaming, 'there's a spider!'  Nathan thought it was cool, us girls were freaked out and hero George killed it bringing relief to the girls and disappointment to Nathan.

We met the Bakers at the bus stop and made our way by bus and then on foot to the church building.  Worship was led by the church worship team in their second language.  Pretty impressive gifting . . . and fairly loud volume.  The sermon addressed our need to surrender wholeheartedly to God all areas of our lives in order for us to be of full use for His purposes.  These past few weeks we have experienced firsthand how He can be strong in our weakness.  Humbling.   Yet encouraging too . . . to hear that lesson repeated in the pastor’s words.

     After the service the church hosted a “brunch” for us.   Again humbling.  To be waited on by our Costa Rican brothers and sisters.   To be served instead of serving.   Grateful for servant hearts.

     We stuck around for the beginning of the Spanish service . . more lively worship and volume, typical of a Latin American church on the move.

   

  As we climb our way back out of the church neighborhood a couple from church stops and asks where we are off to and would we like a ride.  Our plan had been to make it to the main road and then catch a bus or taxi but this gracious couple decides to  drive us to our destination, a beach that is supposed to feature good snorkeling. 

Again, our hosts extend themselves and allow us to hike down to the beach to check it out for ourselves. 

Along the way we discover that the tide will be high leaving the conditions at that beach less than ideal.  It is a beautiful spot in a bay, sheltered from the strong ocean waves.   However, the beach itself is now a narrow strip of sand due to the tide being in.  Worth a visit some other day but not great for today.

     Our friends now drive us to another stretch of quiet beach from where we can walk toward the public beach close to the National Park.  We spend several hours playing in the surf, jumping through the waves and riding on the boogie boards we rented.   We end up sandy and tired but thrilled with the beautiful afternoon we have had.

The Bakers and us both rented a boogie board for $10.  Worth every penny for hours of fun in the surf!  All of us took turns - for many of us a first time experience but I'm pretty sure not the last!

     

After showering and having supper we even have time to indulge in watching some of the Olympics on TV now that our cable has been hooked up.  A good day.

July 28: Manuel Antonio National Park

We live about 15 minutes away from one of the most visited national parks in Costa Rica called Manuel Antonio National Park.  Today we enjoyed a wonderful day in the park with a guide that had amazing eyes for spotting animals in their habitats.  We would have missed most of the animals had we just been on our own.  And best of all...we got to share in the experience with friends from back home who are vacationing in the Quepos area for a week.

We're so glad to have Duane and Dawn Baker's family here - our kids are having a great time with each other too!

 

 

 

Comedian Nathan preparing for our day of adventure.

Our wonderful guide, Johan, let us see the animals through his telescope.  They were amazingly beautiful!

Some more creepy than beautiful.

tarantula

sloth

Never saw a white frog before

Hard to tell but this ant was HUGE!

These racoons were hanging out on the beach hoping to steal someone's lunch

We spent the morning hiking with Johan from 7:30 - 11:30am and then we spent the afternoon at one of the beaches inside the park.

It was overcast but kids had a great time in the water.

Our time at the park ended with a rainshower but we had had so much fun we didn't let it dampen our fun with the Bakers

July 27: Praises & Requests

We will soon be entering our 4th week in Costa Rica and we wanted to let our church family know how they could pray for us.  This info will be in our church bulletin this week and thought maybe our blog readers would like to see it too.  Thank you for your prayers!

Praises:
1. We have all been very healthy.  We had some restless nights last week as we adjusted to our new home and school routine but God sustained us and none of us have been sick.
2.  We can drink the water out of the tap here which is a wonderful convenience and not the norm in Central America
3.  God has provided an economical house for us to rent that is very centrally located in town - within walking distance to grocery stores, market, bank

Requests:
1.  SCHOOL:  The transition to school has been a hard one.  The education here is more traditional compared to West Michigan so our kids have needed to make some adjustments.  It is difficult for teachers too because of managing multilevel ages and abilities in small spaces.  Please pray for positive attitudes for our kids and stamina and creativity for the teachers

2.  CLIMATE:  It is very hot and humid here and we do not have air conditioning in our house.  When we're hot and tired, we can get impatient with each other.  Also, we all have itchy bug bites and the kids often have heat rash.   Please pray that these discomforts would not discourage us and that we can remain positive & patient with each other and others.

3.  HOME LIFE:  Our home is very small compared to what we are used to.  The living area with a couch and one chair is about a 12x12 foot area.  There is no yard for the kids to play in so space is very limited when we are home and it's easy to get on each other's nerves.  Please pray for grace and patience in our interactions.  See more pics on the July 16 blog post

4.  SAFETY:  We feel very safe in our home but Americans are always targets of theft so please pray for a hedge of protection over our bodies and belongings.  We do not have a vehicle and need to walk everywhere.  The sidewalks often have holes or are narrow and it's easy to misstep or twist an ankle if you're not watching where you're walking.  Please pray that God's angels would protect us as we are out and about town and school every day. 

5.  CALIFORNIA KIDS:  There are currently 7 children ages 4-11 here for 5 weeks from California.  Their parents want them to learn/continue Spanish.  One of the families is not Christian.  Brothers Dean and Kyle are learning about God and hearing Bible stories for the first time.  Please pray that all of us at El Puente (The Bridge) Christian School can be used by God to plant seeds in their hearts.  See more info on the July 23 blog post.

July 25: Holiday Jungle Creek Hike

Today was a national holiday in Costa Rica so we didn't have school.  The country celebrates Guanacaste Day to mark the annexation of Guanacaste (a northwestern province) from Nicaragua in 1824.
Last week one of the teachers at school asked if our family likes to hike.  I said that we did and she suggested a nearby hike to a waterfall that she likes.  She said it was about a 20 minute hike along a path and along the river/creek.  She told us what bus stop to get off of and then a landmark to look for the start of the path.  We didn't have more details but we thought we'd give it a try.
About 55 minutes into our adventure I start getting a little nervous.  We are out in the middle of the jungle.  We haven't seen any other people since starting on the path.  We've had to go in and out of the jungle creek/river because the path was either hard to find or treacherous.  George and I both found walking sticks to help us traverse the terrain while the kids depend on us every now and then to climb or descend steep or slippery areas.  We try calling the teacher thinking maybe we took the wrong path but she didn't answer.  One child is getting scared and wants to turn around; the other two are determined to go swimming at this promised 'waterfall'.  We finally agree to hike for 5 more minutes and then we'll turn around if we don't find anything.  About a minute after deciding that we hear some shouts and hollers.  I'm not sure we've ever been more relieved to hear sounds of civilization.  We turn a corner and see a group of local guys sitting on rocks and jumping off.  Fun to watch but no way were we going to let our kids do it!

Path started out very easy and then quickly turned into a narrow jungle path...

Living out the title of Dr Seuss' book:  Oh, the Places You'll Go!

The locals were much braver than we were and would jump/dive off this high rock area!  They suggested the natural mini-jacuzzis for us to cool off in that were right near the waterfall.

The hike was a nice break from school responsibilities and offered memorable free entertainment

Sophia having fun in her own little jacuzzi

On the return hike, we were a little more relaxed since we knew what to expect and enjoyed the beauty around us...

A hummingbird nest - we also saw squirrel monkeys, blue morpho butterflies, a Jesus Christ lizard and a beautiful blue crayfish.

July 24: Visits from Jill & Oreo

Today was a special treat!  We had visitors!  Jill, a student of mine two years ago at Holland Christian, came through Quepos on her trek through Central America.  It was great to have a familiar face around here.  Unfortunately, we don't have much room for guests but she made herself at home on our couch.  She stayed two nights and was able to spend some time with us at school today.

LOL - Jill commented on my dress code violations (according to HC's code book):  sleeveless shirt and skirt too short. 

Jill didn't have much time to observe - she went right to work on putting together Reading A-Z print-out books that we're using to help build our guided reading library.

The kids are thrilled with another visitor that they have named Oreo.  They have been bugging us for years for a pet but neither George or I are pet lovers so they never get one.  Now, however, they have a cat that started coming around and they asked if they could feed it.  They gave it some bread and milk this afternoon on our tiny front porch area and named it Oreo.  We're not sure if it's a street cat or a neighbor's cat but for now our kids are thrilled with their new friend.  And we're thrilled it gives them something to do!  In this small space with no yard to play in, they easily get on each other's nerves.