The most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas officially arrived in Los Guido on Thanksgiving day actually, when I saw a man dressed in a Santa outfit on my way home from work.  It was not your typical Santa getup, but it was, in fact, blue.

There have been a lot of events that we had done to end out the 2012 year and our ministry sites on a celebratory note.  School is (almost) out for the next month and a half or so, as the schools here are on the opposite schedule of those in the States and have their long break now and their two-week break in July.  It's been such a blessing to hear student after student come and let us know that they will be passing to the next grade when the next school year begins in February.  Moments to rejoice with them as I think back to all the times we have studied together over the past months.

As a fundraiser for some of the needs that we have at the Tutoring Center and in our other ministry sites, our staff of SI-Costa Rica has put together a catalog with our "wish list."  It is extremely helpful for us at the Tutoring Center to have the textbooks that the kids use in school but maybe cannot afford to own themselves, and this is a way that you could help us have a complete set for each grade level we work with.  Please check out this link if you would be interested in helping our ministry site or another of our other sites out this Christmas season!http://tinyurl.com/SICRGiftCatalog 

Here's a quick look at some of the happenings in my corner of the world as we anticipate Christmas and the closing of our ministry sites for a few weeks:

Graham cracker houses made in girls' club

Day trip with intern friend Karissa and some Tico friends to beautiful Orosi

Dinner at my house with English class students

Coffee filter angels

Mixing up cookie dough batter

Last day trip to the beach of 2012

Couldn't resist a gorgeous sunset picture

Our tutoring center kiddos at our end of the year cafecito

Playing Bingo with the kids outside the Centro

Thanks

I try at least once a week to list Joys/Blessings/Things I'm Thankful for in my journal.  It is something that was suggested to us at the training in Colorado last January and it is a really good practice for me to continue to focus on those little (or big!) blessings.  Facebook has exploded as of late with "thankful" status updates, and this is a very welcome change from posts about the Giants winning the World Series (Boo!) or anti-Obama (or Romney) posts that were over-abundant for a while.  Lately I've been really looking forward to my California visit in a month and it's been more of a challenge to stay engaged here in Costa Rica.  It's been over 8 months since I've seen my family and friends, and I'm really eager to see them!  But focusing on the good things here and now is a way for me to continue to take one day at a time and love on the kids here.

An excerpt of my blessings/thanks as of late:

• Getting a video of my healthy, happy, overachiever little niece Kate Annmarie who brings so much joy to my family
• Friends Karissa, Karis and Emily who are here to serve with us for a while- they have been a blessing to my heart and an answer to prayer for friends during this season
• Wednesday 1/2 priced movies at the local theater (can't beat $3 new released movies!)
• Encouraging visit from fellow SI friends Lowell and Cheryl, serving in Nicaragua
• My car and all the freedom and convenience that it brings
• Good communication and teamwork with my co-worker Jose
• Kids who LOVE to read at the Tutoring Center
• Fun English class students who want to continue learning from me
• "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28

If you are in need of some encouragement during a challenging season of life, I'd encourage you to take some time to write out some blessings and things you are thankful for, no matter how small.  :)

As a first grade teacher at heart, this brings me much joy.  :)

Fall has come

When I was packing for Costa Rica, I didn't think much about the fact that it does, in fact, get cool sometimes here.  I didn't bring very many sweatshirts, long "lounging"/pajama pants, and lately I've been wishing I did because the weather has been changing a bit.  I'm really pleased with the weather change because I don't have the feeling of constantly being a bit sticky and sweaty, which, let's be honest, no one really likes.  As a person who has a tendency to be quick to sweat from certain facial glands, I welcome the breeze, cooler temps and rainy afternoons with open arms.  I am going to be searching my cooler weather clothes that are stored away in California to bring back with me in January for sure! 

Cool weather and hot coffee are a good match.  There's one Starbucks about 30 minutes from my house and I enjoyed visiting it the other day.  I still think the local, Costa Rican grown coffee is best, and more affordable.  :)

As we are thinking about the end of the year with our work sites here, our team came up with a plan to take a number of students from the majority of our sites to the local amusement park.  The date of November 2nd was decided up because it was the last day of the 2 for 1 ticket prices, and we also discovered that the students did not have exams that day at school.  Jose, Diego and I went to talk to the administrators of the three schools that are kiddos attend in Los Guido, and it was such a positive experience to meet with them and see that they are thankful for what we are doing with some of their students.  They all also gave us "their blessing" to have the students going on a trip with us.  

Group shot of (most of the) kids and leaders

 We ended up being a group of over 60 people when all was said and done, which included students from my girls' club, the tutoring center, the bike club and Cailah's site.  It took a lot of organizing, sandwhich making, permission slip collecting, patience and collaboration, but the kids had a great time and all were safe.  I spent most of the day with girls from my girls' club, and it was a blessing to get to see them enjoy the rides and be kids.  They live in a neighborhood that is rough at times, and they don't often get out and do special things like this.  And I know they will be talking about the trip for a long time to come.

Tutoring Center kiddos

Tutoring Center kiddos with Jose and intern Karis

Fun friends

Lunchtime at the "zona verde" together

Chatting as we walked through the park

Girls' club girls

This makes my heart happy

Fun day!  This roller coaster was my favorite ride, reminded me of all those trips to Magic Mountain growing up.  :)

A lesson to be learning

I don't know about you, but I feel like God has been wanting me to learn an important lesson as of late and it's a theme that keeps repeating itself.  To be completely honest and transparent, being a single woman approaching her thirties and living in a new country and culture is not easy.  Sometimes I wonder "where is he, that husband I've been praying and hoping for?"  I know I am not alone in this thought and desire of my heart, and it's affirming and encouraging for me to hear other women share their hearts.  One of my friends recommended a blog to me this week, and while I don't agree with everything the writer has to say, there are some profound points that she makes.  She's mainly talking about the idea of "waiting" for your future husband and how that some of us Christian women as young girls were given the advice to “be the woman God made you to be, focus on that, and then the husband will come.”  And she goes on to say, what does that mean for those of us who ARE living for God but don't have a husband yet?  Does that mean that I've not been relying on God enough and am not being satisfied in Him?  She continues by saying "What if we as girls had learned early on that having Him was everything, not a means to the life we think He would want us to have." 
This is very interesting to me because I do feel like sometimes I've been told that I just need to keep "waiting" for the right one to come and that he's "just around the corner" or that "maybe you'll meet him in Costa Rica."  I think that this is the wrong perspective, and I think that is what the author of the blog is trying to say.  (For the rest of her blog, go here to read http://gracefortheroad.com/2012/02/03/idontwait/)

The same week I was told about a radio program from Focus on the Family that was addressing the single Christian adult who wants to be dating and/or married, and to be honest, at first I kind of rolled my eyes and was reluctant to hear what they had to say.  But I gave it a shot, and it also had some impacting ideas such as the following: "God designed people to be happy before they were married.  We’re supposed to be living the fruits of the spirit, used unto Him, living righteously, etc.  When people aren’t doing that, it’s sorta like “I’m a half person, looking for the other half person to create a whole person.”  There’s nothing more destructive than this because you’re gonna create a quarter of a person.  But if you have a whole person who’s got great friends, family, job, faith, etc. and meet another one like that, it’s not like “ok, now I can be whole,” but more like “I’ve got a pretty good life, and you do too...let’s make something better together.”  Takes away that dependency, you are getting married because of similar values and interests rather than “I need you to be whole.”  So many people are waiting to get married as if life’s going to start there but it’s exactly the opposite.  Happy singles make happily married people, unhappy singles make uphappily married people because they take it right in there." 
The same idea about finding your contentment in Christ rather than thinking that I need to keep "waiting" for my life to start or feel like there's "something missing" because I am single.

Finally, the Lord spoke to me through Isaiah 26 this week where He says "Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desires of our hearts.  My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you."  What a different perspective than this idea of "I'm 29 and single and where is my husband God?!"  I am to be fulfilled in Him, I AM complete in Him, and to wait for Him.  All things that I know, but sometimes it needs to be retold and reminded to me, again and again. 

A pleasant turn of events...

Since my last blog post there have been quite a few exciting things happen here in my world!  First of all, I am thrilled to say that my journey to buy a used car has come to an end and I am officially a car owner!  I am so blessed that in my fundraising before moving here I was able to raise the amount needed to buy a decent, used car.  My boss and I have poured over several different websites that feature cars for sale, visited some friendly and some a sort of shady people interested in selling their cars, and finally found a great deal at a Suzuki dealer nearby.  My new wheels is a 98 Suzuki Sidekick and it has been pretty enjoyable so far!  It is a manual, which I was opposed to for a long time until I had to drive my friend Cailah's car (a manual) the other day and realized, "hey, my brain, feet and arm seem to remember how to do this and it's kind of fun!" so I changed my mind regarding the ban on manuals.  Here's me in my car, accompanied by Jeff and Tracey's blond crew of kiddos:

Another exciting change has been the addition of two new interns to our staff.  Both are close to my age and both are wonderful, energetic young women.  We have enjoyed the gym, farmer's market, artisan market, Asian food and karaoke, and are looking forward to taking my Sidekick to the beach in the new future.  It was really fun to have them at our most recent "SI Family Dinner" that we had last weekend.  Our theme was "Sombreros," thus the reason a number of us are wearing hats in the pictures.  We had hot dogs with all the fixings and a Tico version of smores.  Yummy!

Karissa, me, Cailah and Emily

The goofy guys that I work with

Roasting marshmallows!!

My new gym buddy and friend, Karissa

 I posted about English class recently and that has continued to go well!  The guys in the class are starting to joke around with me, which I take as a sign that they like me and having me as their "Profe."  Recently we made pancakes as we talked about ingredients, cooking terms and utensils.  

They ate the pancakes up real quick

Glad to put my ELD and good teaching methods to practice! :)

 

 

The weather has been a lot more enjoyable lately, as in, cooler and less sticky.  We have such beautiful views from my neighborhood and I can't resist adding a pic out my window this evening:

 

English Class at the Tutoring Center

My friend and co-worker Diego approached me several months back about the idea of teaching an English class for some of the guys from his soccer team.  I had gone to a few of their indoor games and on the beach trip with them over the summer, and apparently after that they shared with him that Tara is "tuanis" and "pura vida," which both, essentially, mean "a cool person."  And because they know I'm a teacher and work in Los Guido at the Tutoring Center, they wanted me to help them with English so they could better communicate with our teams from the States and also to just be able to actually use English rather than the little practice they get with it in their schooling.  I have never taught English to teenage boys before, but because I have a heart for Los Guido and the kids and youth that live there, and because I enjoy teaching English, I agreed!  

I am happy to say that I know have two weeks of English classes under my belt and it's been a lot of fun!  We meet in the tutoring center for a little over an hour on Tuesday afternoons after my tutoring students have gone home and the boys have gotten out of school.  The first week we did a few activities where they got to know me a little bit and I also got to know them.  I also had them do a little questionnaire for me to let me know what kinds of things they would like to talk about and learn about in our class.  Overwhelmingly they told me that want to talk about 80s music (and music in general), soccer, food and their families.  Easy enough.  However, if you know me very well, you probably know that 80s music is NOT my favorite decade to choose from.  I will admit that there are some good songs though, so I'm willing to give it a shot.  :)

This past week I went with an 80s artist that we all know and love, Jon Bon Jovi.  We first talked about rock stars and what kinds of things we thought that they ate, how they traveled, etc.  Then we learned a bit about Bon Jovi's daily routine by reading a passage about him.  Then we learned some vocabulary words from "Livin' on a Prayer" and sang it with the words afterwards.  Of course, we also had to watch the music video to the song too.  The guys seemed to be really excited to learn about a singer that they had heard before and liked, and it was a great way for me to get them to read, listen, talk about and learn in English.  We ended the class by reading Psalm 55:1 together and talking about praying to God about whatever is on our mind and hearts.  The homework for the week is to memorize this verse and be able to say it for me next week.  We'll see how it goes! :)

Here are some pics from our class this past week:

Asking my students to tell me what they think rock stars do.

Sentence frames for my students to say in English

Reading about Bon Jovi.  It is our dream to have a pull down screen to use with the projector in the Tutoring Center.  :)

Reading about Jon Bon Jovi

Filling in the missing lyrics to the song

English class week 2!

  

6 months later

Last week marked my 6 month in Costa Rica so I figured I'd write a list of things that are part of my life now that weren't 6 months ago:
There are 4-5 men I say hello to daily on my walk home, most of them my dad's age or older
I'm proficient at cutting both a fresh pineapple and fresh mangoes
I sometimes forget a word in English and can only think of it in Spanish
I've tried surfing and would consider trying it again in the future
Have not driven a car in over 6 months
Can give (simple) directions to a person in my neighborhood if it is asked of me
Know which grocery store to go to to buy Dr. Pepper
Carry tissues and hand sanitizer with me at all times because you just never know
Am no longer frightened by cockroaches and calmly get the Raid can whenever they show their nasty little faces
And I have never once gotten lost despite my fears and request for prayers regarding my (lack of) direction and spatial intelligence. Hopefully that won't change when I get a car!

We'll see what changes are ahead in the next 6 months!

The time my parents came to visit

This past week has been one of the most eventful weeks of my time here.  As most of you have probably heard, we had a pretty significant earthquake last Wednesday here in Costa Rica.  I was running a bit late that morning and so I left the house around 8:35am and soon saw the gates surrounding my neighbor's home shaking pretty violently.  At first I thought it was the children being silly and pulling on the gates, but I soon realized that the ground below me was shaking as well.  Not realizing that it was an earthquake, I continued walking for a few seconds and then got enough sense to STOP walking until it stopped.  I think the whole thing lasted about 40 seconds or so.  The rest of my walk to the bus stop was very interesting as I passed a school where all the children where outside in their duck and cover positions, and many a mom was running towards the school with concerned looks.  I had a few of my neighbors ask me if I was ok and I let one man know that "I'm from California so I've experienced an earthquake before."  When I got to work, Jose informed me that the epicenter was in the Guanacaste region, which is several hours away from us here in Desamparados area, but that there had been damage there and it had been a significant quake.  A very interesting day to start the morning and the students were talking about it all day long.

That evening, I took two buses from my home to the international airport to pick up my mom and dad!!  I was so very excited to see their smiling faces and to get big hugs from them.  We went to the rental car place and got their car for the week (along with a GPS) and made our way to my home.  After catching up a bit, we went to sleep to be ready for work in the morning.  

The classic long-arm shot in my kitchen when they first got here. 

Thursday morning mom and dad came to the tutoring center with me.  Even though they had rented a car, I wanted them to walk with me to the bus stop and ride the bus so they could experience a bit of what my everyday life looks like. 

Walking in my neighborhood

Waiting for the bus

Dad and mom were super helpful with labeling books, putting pictures from the summer in frames to be displayed, cutting things apart, and helping with both English and math with the students.  It was fun to see them interact with my students, and I got a lot of "you look like each other" comments from my kiddos.  

At lunch time I wanted mom and dad to see a bit of my neighborhood, so we went for a walk.  Come to find out when we returned that I had brought my home keys instead of the tutoring keys with me, and Jose had also left his keys inside because I had told him I had keys.  :(  Almost 2 hours later, Jose was able to track down some co-workers who had keys to the Center and we came back in for a few hours of tutoring and art in the afternoon.  We had a great time of practicing math facts, English, and just talking while we were "stranded" outside.

Playing games together out on the sidewalk

Practicing English

One of my kiddos in her school uniform

Beautiful day in Los Guido

Friday morning we came back to the tutoring center and Mom helped me with Girls' Club while Dad helped two of my co-workers with a repair in the tutoring center.  We left at lunch time to do some exploring of San Jose before the soccer game in the evening.

Frappuccinos en Plaza de la Cultura

In front of the National Theatre

Cailah joined us for the soccer game between Mexico and Costa Rica.  Our team lost but we sure had a great time!

Saturday morning we headed out for Monteverde for the next few days and had a fabulous time.  Rather than describe everything in great detail, I will post a selection of our adventures together and write a brief description of each.  :)

Even though I look kind of grumpy, I loved the beautiful scenery outside our hotel balcony.

Ready for our "night hike" in the rain

Going zip lining!

My adventurous parents

So relaxed in the middle of the cloud forest

Walking through the forest on the hanging bridges

The hanging bridges were a fabulous way to take in the gorgeous cloud forest

Exploring Monteverde Biological Reserve with our guide, Giovanni

Sweet little waterfall named "Tobacco Spit" in Spanish.  Too pretty for that name in my opinion

So beautiful it's almost unreal

Checking out the coffee plantation at the Don Juan coffee farm

Beautiful sunset over the cloud forest

We got back to my home on Tuesday afternoon and my parents were so sweet by helping me clean around my house and out in our garden area.  Then they headed out to go to a hotel for the night before taking an early flight on Wednesday morning.  What a blessing to have them here with me for a week, both to get to experience my life as an SI staff member in Desamparados and also to enjoy some of the most beautiful places the country has to offer.  Can't wait for them to come back in the future.  :)