A week of firsts

This has probably been the most exciting week that I've had in Costa Rica to date.  The theme of this blog post is "firsts" because there have been a whole bunch of them.  It started off with my first staff retreat with the rest of the SI Costa Rica staff.  We went to the Ara Ambigua Lodge which is about 2 hours away from Desamparados.  While we were there we did team building activities, times of worship and Bible study, sharing of testimonies, and of course, yummy food.  This was the first time that I had shared "my story" in Spanish, and I was really proud of that big accomplishment.  Was it perfect, not even close, but did our national staff understand me, mas o menos.  :)  Overall, it was a really great time of getting to know my fellow staff members better and just enjoying a beautiful place together.  Here are some pictures of the place and my team:

Tracey being my mute guide while I'm unable to see.  What a team!

The cute casita that we stayed in.

View from the back patio.  Pretty much in the rain forest.

Our staff in a meeting, it was hard to not be distracted by the beautiful outdoors.

After we got back to Desamparados, I spent my first night in my new house with my roommate and friend and SI teammate Cailah!  It is a really cute house that is very comfortable.  A bonus is that my bedroom window has a stunning view.  I actually sat outside on my window sill this morning and had some time with the Lord.  I'll have to try and make that a regular occurrence.  Here is what I see when I look out my window:

 Monday was my first staff meeting that I attended.  Since Monday was also my birthday (the first of several that I will experience in Costa Rica), my friend Bekah made pancakes for us to enjoy.  It was cool to be able to be in the staff meeting and here everyone share about what's been going on at their sites as well as to pray for one another.  We also talked about the summer and the teams that will be coming within the next month.  After our meeting I had a meeting with Jose, my coworker at the tutoring center, but not until after we had eaten some Taco Bell and I enjoyed a Dr. Pepper (NOT an easy beverage to find in this area!)  

 In honor of my birthday, I went out to dinner in San Jose with Cailah and Bekah.  I had been to a yummy Asian restaurant the first month I was here and decided to try it again.  We enjoyed sushi, kung pow chicken and a shrimp stir fry.  Jokingly I was talking about how embarrassing it would be if they sang to me, and sure enough, within five minutes, I had a whole host of waiters come and sing the Happy Birthday song, supposedly in Thai.  Since I don't speak Thai, I can't really judge how well or poorly they sang it.  Nonetheless, a yummy dinner with new fun friends was a nice way to end the day. 

The really special hat they placed on my head while singing to me.

 A really important first was that this week was my first week of working at the tutoring center!!  More than a year and a half after first hearing about the position and the need for a teacher, I started working with the kiddos the day after my birthday.  Overall it has been a good week!  I've learned that it takes about 20 minutes to walk to the bus stop from my house, and then it is about a 15 minute bus ride to the Center.  My Spanish, while it is way better than it was when I came to Costa Rica in March, still has a long way to go and will be a continual prayer request.  But it has been special to get reacquainted with the kids I met last summer and try and help them in whatever areas they need to work on in their school work.  Wednesday and Thursday afternoons I taught art lessons to the kids and that was a lot of fun!  The first art lesson that I always did with my Enrichment kids when I worked in Fowler was a symmetry name art lesson, and that is the same lesson that I did with the kids on Wednesday.  Here are some pics of the kids in action and their finished products:

 Now I'm enjoying my first Friday night in my new house, and look forward to the first Saturday morning sleeping in tomorrow.  :)