Tag Archives: Costa Rica

Wonderful and Difficult

Four nights ago, we flew back  into Omaha, NE, drove through the straight, flat, clearly marked streets, and stepped into our generously large home.  The house and our minivan were immaculate, thanks to the amazing global workers who enjoyed a sabbatical rest here while we were away.  I say “were” because we do have three children, after all,  who are reconnecting with their toy kingdoms after 5 weeks of enjoying people, bugs, sticks, playground equipment, scooters, and sloped sidewalks.

It is wonderful to be home.  Air conditioning eases away the local heat wave and neighborly noises, both human and creature.  We have enough space in our home to entertain kids in the basement and still be able to accommodate nappers in the upstairs bedrooms.  Anointed worship and teaching at Lifegate fills our hearts, along with hugs from so many loved ones in our church family.  Knowing the language, I can banter with a stranger in Wal-Mart about which garlic to buy in the produce section.  Sale prices on meat and dairy here in the prairie suddenly seem wonderfully reasonable.  In Atenas, Costa Rica, cheddar is $8/lb., boneless skinless chicken breast is $4/lb., bacon is $10/lb (pity my husband, folks), and milk is $4 a gallon.  I have two chest freezers and I know how to use them when good sales or garden harvests come along.  Our parents are each an easy 35 minute drive away, no Dramamine required.  The internet connection works from any spot in the house, at all hours of the day, without a trip to the front porch, trek to the escuelita up the hill, or sitting at the poolside concrete table and benches.  Okay, the poolside gig was pretty nice except for the parade of small ants venturing over myself and the computer.  Phone calls with friends make laundry duty a happy chore while shared language and culture make the flow of communication easy to navigate.

It is difficult to be home.  Life behind closed glass windows can feel a little small.  I miss listening for the call of the toucans (the Keel-Billed Toucan’s whisper song is what we heard) in the morning and the constant serenade of birds, bugs, and the occasional gecko chirps.  The mowers, weed-wackers, and assorted machine-shed noises are left behind unmourned, though.  I miss the mild weather that makes open windows and tiled, covered porches such a mainstay of Costa Rican homes.  I miss the glorious sounds of thunder and rain.  When I was in grade school, I loved to look at the geographical rainfall maps.  I would dream of living in the wettest areas.  Costa Rica, nestled in the skinny area between North and South America, is in one of those magical dark blue areas I longed for.  It logs an average of 80 inches a year, most of it between May and November.

I miss the simple delight in breezes and sunshine when laundry is on the line, and the victorious feeling of beating the afternoon rain by getting my clothes back under cover.   I want to hug the children at the Home, see their cheeky smiles, and have Eliana teach me half of their names again.  I have many kisses piled up to give to the right cheeks of the ladies who work so hard at the home, making a family for children who have lost theirs for a time.  I miss the new friends we made in other missionaries who call Atenas their home and gave us such a warm welcome.

It is wonderful to be back, and a little difficult, too.  Which just shows how blessed we are to be able to serve, love, and be loved in two special, yet different, places.

Snapshots and Shared Joys

Some snapshots of recent joys shared here at Hogar de Vida.

The older kids had a fiesta day complete with barrel-bull riding and championship  slip ‘n’ sliding.  The riding rules had to be amended because Elijah was so good at holding on that he  dismantled the “bull” when he was finally shaken loose.

The younger kids had a piñata party and really taught us how to swing a stick.

The Lifegate team is here and is painting, praying, and loving up a storm.  It is such a blessing to spend these days with them.  Note to self: catch up on laundry and cook up some freezer meals before picking them up at the airport in the future, because you won’t want to miss any of it.

Sometimes the team members got painted themselves.

Kris was able to spend two mornings in the central kitchen learning to cook like a Tica and, even better, spending quality time with Vanessa and Oralia.   Vanessa handles lunches and dinners for the 50 + children and staff at Hogar each day.  Oralia and her husband Sebastian direct the Hogar de Vida in Guatemala.  Her visit to Costa Rica is a special treat to celebrate Dena’s 50th birthday and learn new ideas for managing a home of energetic children.

Another trek to the waterfall.

The sweetest reward for studying Spanish:  I was able to have my first conversation in Spanish with Oralia, who has been silently dear to me since our first global journey back in 2006.

More time with Cherie, our friend and mentor in all things “Tico!”  Also, a fun dinner with two wonderful missionary families who live here.  They were kind enough to let us tour their homes and glean from their experience while our kids romped together.  What a blessing to have friends in many countries.  When they wished we were coming down sooner,  we jokingly asked them to head the committee for praying in our financial support early.

The Mango Crew.  These fearless children picked up three wheelbarrows of fallen, yucky, buggy mangoes, making the campus a nicer looking (and smelling) place to be.  I’m so proud of them.

Leaf cutter ants munching away an entire bush in one day.  We were amazed to hear the soft crinkling sound of their busy harvesting and see the 4″ wide highway they cleared through the grass to take the clippings back to their hill.

Time has been passing quickly by, and it’s hard to grasp that we fly back to the states in less than a week.  I begin to understand the roots that we’ve planted in this trip by the resistance my heart feels towards leaving.  I pray that they are well-tended and flourish in the next year so that blossoms are ready to burst forth when we return in a year.  We are ready to take the next step.

Settling In and Trip Pictures

My heart has been able to blossom here the last few days.  I feel lighter, freer, and more content.  Was it the time our family spent in Arenal soaking in the tropical paradise?  I loved every minute, but that wasn’t quite it.  The nice visit to the language school that we made on Monday?  Not really.  Getting to know more of the wonderful people here who are mentoring us in doing life Tico-style as global workers?  Having some free time in between teams to bake cookies to share with the Hogar de Vida family and trying my hand at caramel rolls?  The fried plantains of which I never seem to get enough?  Playing in the pool with the sweet children whose names I am finally learning?  All of that has been a true blessing and a great deal of fun, but the switch was flipped by something more mundane.  I didn’t even understand the change myself until after it had begun.

Two nights ago after dinner, Matt and I hauled out all of the luggage with the items we had brought down to leave here in storage here.  We cracked open the 4 thirty-gallon storage totes we were able to buy here to hold our things, and I started a colossal game of “make it fit,” listing each item by tote for future reference as I went along.  It was like wrapping your own Christmas presents, a year in advance.  Rubbermaid canisters, food storage containers, crock pot, toaster oven, mixing bowls, plastic dishes, tools, sheet sets, kitchen towels. a few pretties for decoration, physical therapy items, our favorite books, etc.  Having some of the necessary basics to do life all tucked safely away, organized, inventoried (for when we forget), and ready for our future here feels like the first layer of twigs in our Costa Rican nest.  A seed sown into our calling, waiting to grow into our family’s home.  Not every global worker has this opportunity, so I am doubly grateful for this source of blessing and comfort.  And suddenly my heart is singing again.  I’m venturing out of my English-speaking shell and trying to make more conversation in Spanish.   The presence of the Lord is sweet as I lean into Him over my daily chores.

This afternoon the team from Lifegate Church flies in and we are eager for our time together and what the Lord will do in it.  Please be in prayer as they begin this journey which has been facing opposition.  I will leave you with some highlights of our time by the Arenal Volcano.

The Central Park in La Fortuna

We stayed in simple room with 6 bunk beds and common area bathrooms, but the view of Arenal Lake from the front porch was priceless.

More of our quiet-time ambience.

We had never seen or heard so many beautiful birds.

The 3 E’s meet the Arenal Volcano (in the background).

This waterfall was one of the highlights of a complimentary guided group hike through the observatory grounds.

We each got a chance to play Tarzan and Jane on a real live jungle vine.

Ezekiel spent most of the 2.5 hour hike cuddling on my back.  Much better than a Jillian Michaels DVD.

The Arenal Volcano was often veiled in clouds. Here’s one of the best views we had of its peak.

From the massive explosion in 1968 (before which the volcano was thought to only be a mountain) until two years ago, the volcano regularly sent out red lava and plumes of ash.  Our tour guide used to promise that if you didn’t see red lava, you didn’t have to pay him.  Today, it is considered dormant.

One of the hanging bridges used to cross the rainforest ravines.

Eucalyptus trees were introduced in this area by man to produce telephone poles.

The smooth, peeling bark of a Eucalyptus Tree revealed a myriad of colors.

The boys fell asleep on the long ride home and never missed the pastries we bought at a Musmanni bakery on the way (because we ate theirs).

Things We’ve Learned Along the Way

It’s been much quieter around Hogar de Vida the last few days with the team safely back in the states.  They were a great, lively bunch and we miss them.  Ezekiel is still praying at bedtime for his friend Micah that he adopted as playmate-supreme.  Monday we sorted through the food left at the team cabins and divided up the laundry.  Tuesday Matt proved once again that he is the brave one in our family by taking the bus to San Jose himself, getting us a rental car for the upcoming week, and driving through San Jose (a task not for the faint of heart, I understand) to find the language school we will attend.   I took advantage of the sunny, windy weather for a power laundry day and prepared to enjoy our friend Cherie’s company for dinner and a game of 20 Questions–global worker edition.  Today Matt has been busy planning a family outing to Arenal to see a volcano that just went dormant in the last couple of years.  I baked up some treats for the houses and learned that my recipe for chocolate chip cookies does not actually fit as bars in the cookie sheet pan I have here.  Lots of drips and overflowing edges were enjoyed  by the cook.  Tonight we hope to join the English worship group at Iglesia Biblia.  I will leave you with a rather long list and pictures of some of the humorous things we have learned as we do life here in Costa Rica.  Thank you so much for coming along with us.

Things We’ve Learned Along the Way. . .

How to make lemonade from lemons (figuratively and literally).  The literal stuff is delicious.  The figurative stuff is much more fun than complaining.  Yes, lemons are green here.

How to get to and from the airport at midnight, 3 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m.  How to  avoid the parking police at the airport.

How to salvage the good out of a fallen mango.  How to let the mangoes go bad where they fall when your kids are tired of eating them.

Close your mouth and squint when walking through a cloud of fruit flies enjoying the fallen mangoes.

How to pick up a mango covered with bees and fruit flies and throw it downhill to clear the local atmosphere.

Just a few days worth.

When Matt makes a pre-dawn sortie with a wheelbarrow and hands covered by a plastic bag, that’s even better.

How to open and close a Costa Rican window (they have wide panes of glass like blinds).

Bugs in the house are just normal, but killing a mosquito is as satisfying as always.

Big bugs can make for excellent entertainment and education opportunities.  See previous post for visual.  Rolling up a towel and laying it across the opening under the door can curtail future entertainment opportunities indoors.

The beauty of a 70 foot waterfall, 15 minutes away.

That Jillian Michaels dvds can adequately prepare you to climb 300 steps up from the waterfall with a toddler riding on your back.

Morning hugs and salutations at devos with the Hogar family can be the best time of your whole day.

Chainsaws cut flesh and bone as well as trees.  True, but we’re just teasing.  We did get to pull a running chainsaw up a tree on a rope to cut down branches, though.

There is a cleaning solution here with the name of “Terror.”  I find this completely appropriate considering what you might find when you dig into nooks and crannies around here.

The best seats in church are right by the open door to catch the breezes.  This is a sister lesson to: Sweat is normal in church. Greeting time at Iglesia Biblia is only the halfway point of worship time.  You’ve got another 35 minutes coming right up.  Someone suggest this to Pastor Sean.

Even deceased poisonous snakes can inject you with venom, so handle carefully when a team finds one measuring 5 feet behind the waterfall and brings it out for closer inspection.  Avatar-style victory cries over dead viper are optional.

Eggs here are stored outside of the refrigerator, but once they get refrigerated, they have to stay there.  When a team mistakenly places 12 dozen eggs in the refrigerator, be thankful that they eventually ate them all.

There’s nothing quite like the sound of a Costa Rican thunderstorm rolling in.  The rumbles must echo in the valley because they go on and on beautifully.

We will go to unexpected lengths to get the best internet signal available, including sitting on a sidewalk in the tropical dark, using the computer screen as a flashlight.

One day of Matt’s labor on a house in 2007 can still be remembered five years later with appreciation and affectionate hearts.

It is pointless to buy a can of pineapple for $2 when you can buy an entire fresh one at the weekly farmer’s market for under a dollar.  Whoops.

Line-dried laundry fits more loosely than what comes out of your dryer.  Whether this is an invitation to enjoy more Tico cooking or a forewarning to buy your shirts a size smaller is yet to be determined.

Surprise! Happy Birthday, Eliana!

Contrary to our teasing, we did not need to make a late night run to the grocery store to get her presents.

It is entirely possible to have a fantastic 10th birthday here.  Sticky buns substituted for birthday cake, and a happy girl got to share twizzlers with the Hogar de Vida family at morning devotions.

Connections

It has been a fun couple of days recently.  The afternoon rain is painting circles on the puddle in front of our covered porch.  Recently we have experienced in a new way that people who love the Lord are all part of one body.  From the team of great people here from the states for a short term global journey, to the North American long term missionaries making Atenas, Costa Rica their home, to the Ticos who’ve lived here their whole lives, we are blessed to be making connections, from heart to heart.

The other night we were treated to dinner at our friend Cherie’s house and the company of a family who just finished up their time at the same language school we will attend in August of 2013.  It was a huge blessing to be able to hear about their experience and to eat Cherie’s good cooking.  Cherie’s heart of gold also gave us our first tour (cue up Gilligan’s Island theme here) of the closest Walmart and PriceSmart (think Sam’s Club) about half an hour away.  While we want to use as many local products as possible, it was serendipity to wander the aisles of American-type products and know that they were possible for our future, even if their prices made some of them not probable.  Tonight we shared pieces of our family’s testimony with the team who is concluding their time here on Sunday.    Ten days of our 5 weeks here have passed quickly by.  Some of the connections we have made, like with PriceSmart, are for a season, but many are eternal.

The afternoon rainstorms here are beautiful, especially when your laundry is safely dried and back under cover.

This is a banana tree. There is a bundle of them growing on the branch above the purple flower. They grow upside down. The stalks are very soft and can be hacked down with a few blows from a machete to gather the bananas.