Weekend Adventures

Saturday, October 27

We were able to eat breakfast this morning with the whole family together.  After breakfast, I spent time playing outside with Jaden while Eddie tried to fix his hair clippers.  These two gentlemen came walking up and introduced themselves.   I quickly told them that I don’t speak much Spanish and they switched to the little bit of English they knew.  They also introduced themselves to Eddie and we quickly realized that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Eddie politely entered into conversation with them and slyly slipped in (in Spanish) that we are Christians and that our beliefs are different.  He proceeded to discuss the Gospel with them in Spanish as best he could.  He even went into the house and got his Spanish/English Bible to share with them some verses that are different in our Bible than theirs which make the two religions very different.  They tend to claim that they believe the same things we do, but the differences in their Bible compared to ours are tiny, yet big in significance.  

One example is John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

In their Bible it says “…and the Word was a god.”

That one little word makes a huge difference in meaning.  We are not one to make a big deal with debates, but we do find it important to declare our belief in the One True God.

As Eddie spoke with them for about an hour, I was chasing Jaden around, in and out of the house.  Freddy was inside cleaning and he had gotten out his Bible and was sitting and listening to them.  I told him that Eddie loves opportunities like this where he can share the Gospel, even if they aren’t willing to accept.  After they left, Eddie and Freddy got to talk a bit about it and Freddy shared a few other key verses that Eddie could have used.  Eddie made sure to take notes and be prepared for next time.

Later, we went for a walk with Freddy, Jimena, Jose Pablo, and Jaden.  We found a tree with oranges on it so Freddy climbed up and stood on the branch so we could reach them.  

They were very sour, but Freddy made a bag out of a leaf and took them home.  We also stopped at a spot where Samia and Freddy used to go when they were dating to have picnics.

 After we got back, we watched the Amazing Spiderman in Spanish.  After watching it in English (twice) recently, it was interesting to watch it in Spanish and understand what they were saying.  I decided to make banana bread so it could bake while I finished watching the movie.  Things did not go as planned.  Since I made it here once before, I thought I would have no problems.  I proceeded to set out all of the ingredients and supplies I would need (that was a process just to find them).  I had everything so I started mixing.  The last thing I needed was baking powder, and I had to open a new packet.  When I went to measure it, I discovered that this was a packet of yeast, not baking powder (because the words in Spanish for both are very similar).  Eddie wanted to go for a run, so he ran to the store for me.  When he returned, he had bought… you guessed it… yeast.  Back to the store he went where his new best friend helped him to locate baking powder and returned so I could finish baking.  In the end it was delicious even though it took me an extra hour to make it.

This evening, we had Youth Group.  Eddie and Eddie and Amanda reunited to sing once again.  They sang one song in Spanish and taught the kids “Open the Eyes of My Heart” in Spanish. 

 

Eddie was also in charge planning the game so we played “Spear Fish” in Spanish.  It was a distinct resemblance to an evening with the youth group at Lifepointe Church… but in Spanish. 

Spear Fish

Upon our arrival home, we ate a late dinner and readied Jaden for bed.  I heard some commotion in the living room so I poked my head out of the bedroom.  I discovered José Pablo with quite a fearful look on his face and in his tone of voice, although I had no idea what was wrong.  Freddy and Eddie came into the living room and Eddie got a glimpse of the problem: 

The reason José Pablo had his whole body pearched on the couch.  

(PS Eddie only got this close cuz Freddy killed it)

Freddy said he has NEVER had a scorpion in his home and he has lived there for 12 years.  He was in shock and I was prepared for nightmares.

Sunday, October 28

We finally had a chance to attend church together as a “whole” family today.  Freddy did not have to work, so we took took the opportunity to get a family photo:

Jennea and Amanda

And of course we cannot forget our “new little sister” Jennea.

After church, we took a drive with Freddy to the next town past Tuis.  He gave a woman from church a ride home and we saw that she had to walk very far, but she comes to church every Sunday.  This is the view from our drive.  

 

Costa Rica is known as the a green country.  We can see why!  The views are never ending and always green and gorgeous.  

Freddy also showed us a factory where they process sugar cane.  We see trucks driving down the road all the time carrying loads of sugar cane.  I now can assume that they are transporting them to this factory for processing.  I would have loved to check it out (and what I really mean is I would have loved to try the sweetness that comes from that process).

Rancho Tipico Dulce

Freddy’s mom traveled by bus from Limon today and she arrived soon after we ate lunch.  She is such a sweet woman and she happily stayed in the house to listen for Jaden (who took a 3 ½ hour nap) while we played fútbol with some people in the plaza.  We played four on four and I got to be the goalie (a.k.a: the lazy team member who didn’t run very much but has bruises from being hit by the ball).  We did well at the beginning, but the locals have a lot more endurance and skill than we do… they took us down.

I also spoke to my mom this afternoon and was excited to learn that she has purchased tickets for my Dad and her to come for a visit in November.  They are excited to see where we live and to see Jaden.  I’m not too sure they will be excited to learn that this is one of Jaden’s new favorite past-times: 

Fitness class and tears...

Tuesday, October 23

Our day started bright and early because this is the day that our fitness classes began.  We opted for two days a week at 7:00 am, Tuesdays and Thursdays for 6 weeks.  Jaden’s babysitter is able to be at school then, so we meet there, have our exercise class and then shower at the school.  Samia packed us a breakfast to eat after exercise class and before our lessons began for the day. 

Daniel wanted to see what level we were at physically, so we took a walk toward Monte Verde.  We are familiar with this road because that is where Samia works.  One of the downfalls of this restaurant is that it is on a mountain and it is not easy for people to get to it (especially in the dark and the rain).  As we reached the base of the hill, Daniel instructed us to run up the hill and try not to stop until we reach the restaurant.  Now, I was out of breath Sunday night just walking up this hill mountain… he wanted me to run!?!?  I did my best.  Once we reached level ground, we walked a little farther up the road and then Daniel pointed to a little path of the side of the road and said “Now, this way.”  Are you serious?  The path was nothing more than a narrow mud slide down the side of the mountain.  He told us that the walk up to the indigenous people was much like this for a 5 hour climb, so we are going to train on the side of a mountain to build our endurance.  He instructed us to walk to the bottom and turn around and run up like wild dogs are chasing us.  Now, let me be clear, just walking down this mountain was slippery and difficult… running up was near impossible.  He was handing out 10 points to the first person who fell… guess who won 20 points?  I had muddy palm prints on my shirt and a muddy bottom to prove it.

After this fitness test, we headed back to CISA to do a few push-ups and cool-downs.  Jaden joined us for our stretching exercises.  We showered, ate breakfast and started class at about 8:20… I did not like the feeling of being rushed to get ready and eat before class, but we don’t really have a choice.  Oh well.

Sonia and I had a great class.  I got to feel like a kindergartener again.  She gave me scissors, paper, a glue stick and markers.  She helped me cut out the pictures from a comic strip and she instructed me to make my own story to go with the pictures, in Spanish of course.  She even hung my work on the wall when I was done.  My, how the roles have reversed?!? 

 

One of the other things we worked on was just having a conversation.  We spent the last 90 min. of class just talking.  I was able to tell her the wonderful story of our journey to CISA and the great blessings that God had granted us along the way.  She was moved to tears upon hearing about the generosity of our church family, and all the while I WAS SPEAKING IN SPANISH.  The very reason we are here, and I was able to tell that story in Spanish (besides words like “fundraiser” and a few other difficult words)!!!  Praise the Lord!

Wednesday, October 24

Today, Sonia and I had another emotional moment.  As she wrote the date on another project she had me make (a collage with random pictures and I had to write a story to go along with it), she shared with me that her mother passed away 9 years ago today.  She talked for a long time about how much she misses her mom.  She spent time with her every day.  She ate with her, cooked for her, talked with her, rode her bike to her house EVERYDAY.  The year she passed away, her mother told her she wanted to celebrate her birthday early (Sonia’s birthday is Oct. 28).  She didn’t know that would be the last time she would celebrate it with her mother. 

This evening, Jaden was entertaining himself while Eddie and I were working on our homework.  He was "reading" his Storybook Bible (thank you Aker family)... check our Facebook for a cute video...

and trying to jump...

We are so thankful to have our healthy, happy baby boy back... those few days where he was sick, he just wasn't himself.  We thank God everyday for giving us a healthy child... knowing full well there are plenty of children in this world who are not healthy.  We are thankful and give all glory to God.  With out His blessings like this, we would not be able to be here in Costa Rica learning a new language and discovering more about God's beautiful creation.

Thursday, October 25

Fitness class once again… this means we have to carry a lot of things with us to school: a change of clothes, shower stuff, towels, our breakfast, water bottles, our books for class, our computers for our culture class presentations, Jaden’s diaper bag, Jaden’s medicine, Jaden, and of course our rain gear in case it is raining on our way home (don’t want to get our computers wet.)  This makes for an exhausting walk and is the only time I dread our walk to class.

This beautiful rainbow made our walk a lot more enjoyable this morning.  Thank you, God, for you reminder of your promises.  

Daniel had us working on abs today.  We discovered that Eddie and I have very different enjoyment levels when it comes to working out.  I hate it, and Eddie loves it.  One thing that encouraged me today was that the ab-work-out was do-able for me (where-as the running up hills was difficult for me).  Eddie hated the ab-work-out and enjoys the running work-out.  We are very different.  Work out #2: completed.  We showered, inhaled our breakfast and headed to class.

More tears… I guess it is just that time, ya know?  I was very frustrated with my homework assignment last night, and I shared that with Sonia.  My assignment was to pick a parable from the Bible and tell her about it in class.  I did not think it would be too difficult.  I chose “The Good Samaritan.”  I did my best to tell her about it, but there were so many words I did not know.  I was frustrated because I felt like I had to tell the story in past tense because it happened in the past.   The problem is, I only know how to speak in the present tense and I didn’t know words such as: priest, Levite, robber, attacked, left for dead… etc.  When I finished, she handed me a Gospel Cube.  She asked if I knew what was.  I did, so she asked me to tell her about it.  I didn’t think I could and it was written all over my face.  She said, “You don’t think you can, but you can, you can, you can.”  Well, once I got going, I discovered I could.  She spent some time encouraging me again and I couldn't hold back the tears of joy at being reassured that I am actually learning something.  And I’ve realized that Gary Chapman is right: “words of encouragement” is definitely one of my top love languages.  Thank you, God, for providing a teacher who “speaks my language.”

When we returned home to catch some rest before Eddie had band practice, Samia invited us to her dance exercise class at 7 pm.  I really wanted to go, but Eddie couldn’t because of the youth band practice that evening.

Let me back up for a second.  I think I neglected to share with you some important news from last week.  Eddie and I had a meeting with Hector after he returned from California and after we were all healthy again.  This was a big meeting because he put a lot of responsibility on Eddie’s shoulders.  Hector told us that he was so amazed at how God works, because he could see that God had brought us to CISA just when CISA needed us.  He laid out three opportunities for Eddie:

1. He wants Eddie and Amanda to be in charge of the youth band (which does not really exist yet). 

2. He also wants Eddie to take over leading the youth group in January (or before).  

3. He asked Eddie to disciple Josué in hopes that Josué can eventually take over the youth group after we leave.  He also wants us to take time to meet with the each of the teens from the youth group one or two at a time, and get to know them better. 

Eddie is so pumped because those are three things he is passionate about: youth, music, and discipleship!  God is allowing Eddie to use his God-given gifts in Spanish!  That is where we need your help… Eddie is nervous about the language barrier and we would appreciate your prayers for guidance and peace as he takes on these new roles here at CISA.  Hector made a good point: he said that those are things we want to do in Spanish when we leave CISA so it will be good for us to practice them while we are here.

Anyway, back to today.  Eddie was meeting with Josué at 4:00 to go over the two songs before the rest of the band showed up.  Practice was at 5:00 and they did not get finished until 7:00.  Eddie then stayed after with Josué to go over a few more things for another hour.  In the mean time, Jaden stayed home with Jimena and José Pablo while I went to the dance class with Freddy, Samia, Gabby and her son Gabriel.  I LOVED IT!  We met in a random empty building about 10 min. away (by car).  There were 25-30 women, 2 men (including Freddy) and our male instructor.  It cost about $2 and he just played Latino music and demonstrated dance/exercise steps for an hour.  It was exhausting, but so much fun.  I was imagining that I was on “Dancing with the Stars” even though I am not a star and I am definitely not a good dancer (Princess? Yes! Star? No.)  They go every Tuesday and Thursday night and I hope to go with them from now on.

Friday, October 26

This morning, we were able to sleep in until 7:15!!! Yeah!  Thanks, Jaden!  Eddie wanted to take a turn going to Turrialba today, so he made plans to meet Amanda on the 9:00 bus.  He rode with José Pablo for about 15 min.  He had to get off at his school for band practice.  Eddie called me and said, “Call Amanda because she was not at her bus stop.  Hurry because José Pablo has to get off soon.”  I called her and she answered the phone with “Where are you? I’m on the bus and you are not here.”  I told her it was me, and that Eddie is on the bus, but that there must be two 9:00 buses and they ended up on different ones.  The problem is, Eddie and I only have one phone.  He left it with me because he would be with Amanda and Jennea who each have a phone.  That way we can communicate.  This was problem because Eddie could only use José Pablo’s phone until he had to get off.  Well… praise the Lord, they found each other at the bus stop and all is well. 

My morning started off with a bit of an adventure, too.  I wanted to go to the store in Tuis with Jaden (a short 10 min. walk).  I left the house before Eddie and knew that when I returned, it would be to an empty house.  As I was leaving the store, I had to go to the bathroom sooooo bad.   I didn’t think I would make it, but then I saw Freddy’s cousin who lives across the street from the grocery store in Tuis.  She was outside in her garage talking on the phone.  I went to her and asked if I could please use her bathroom (PS… I miss my pre-baby bladder).   After that, I headed home.  I walked about 20 seconds before I realized, “Uh oh… I don’t have a key.  If they locked the back door, I have no way to get in the house.”  I realized it was my fault for leaving the house without a key, but I didn’t know what to do about it.  No one was due home for hours and all I had in my bag were cookies and toilet paper from the store and my phone and some money.  When I got to house, my fear was confirmed… Jaden and I were locked out!  But… who was watching over me?  God… praise the Lord for neighbors with a key.  I saw Samia’s sister sitting near the window inside her house so I told her in Spanish “I can’t enter the house.  And no one is home.”  Her husband had a key and opened the door for me.  I was so thankful and hopefully I learned my lesson!!!

Jaden and I had a relaxing morning and when Samia came home, she made us lunch.  Now we are just resting and waiting for Eddie to come home from Turrialba.

Still Sick... but getting better!

Thursday, October 18

Well, after a couple of sick days, we were finally able to return to class today.  We had planned on having culture class today, but since we all got sick, they cancelled it.  We had our presentations prepared and now we can just do them next week instead.

After class we had our cooking class.  We made patacones with Zaidy.  She showed us how to cut the platanotes veredas into slices and cook them a little bit.  We then had to remove them, smash them, and then cook them again.  These are not my favorite, but I know I would like them with some yummy guacamole on them!!!

 

Once we got home, we all needed showers and a nap.  When Jaden woke up, Jimena was studying on her bed with a bag of popcorn.  Before we knew it, he climbed up on the bed and was shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth. 

 

I was worried about him choking so I had to put a stop to it.  Later, he climbed up on the bed and just snuggled up with Jimena.  He also cuddled on the couch with José Pablo.  You can tell our little trooper was just not feeling well yet.

 After Jaden went to bed, I had a chance to watch Samia start making a dress for Jimena.  I was amazed how she took a couple of sheets of paper and a ruler and created a pattern for the dress in about 5 min.  She then cut it out and cut it in half and started pinning it to the fabric.  She just kept going and going all the while she was talking on the phone.  It was totally second nature for her. 

Unfortunately, the sick bug did not skip José Pablo.  Right before bed, he got sick too.  The unique part was hearing him be sick and then sneezing right after… all night long.  Poor José Pablo.

Friday, October 19

We were not able to sleep in once again… our little “alarm clock” had us up at 6:00 on the dot.  I had made plans to meet Jennea for the 10:00 bus.  Since I was up so early, I was wishing we could meet earlier, but I am sure she wanted to sleep in.  

Samia serves us a plate of fruit like this EVERY morning... it is my favorite meal of the day!  Those things on the left are empanadas con queso and on the right, arepas (not sure if I spelled that right).  The Guava Jelly on the bottom right is mine and Jaden's favorite treat.  Why don't they sell jelly like that in the states?  It make so much sense!

I had a chance to watch Samia continue to make the dress.  I watched her sew until I had to leave to catch the bus Turrialba.  I really wanted to make flash cards, so I was in search of index cards.  I also had a few other things on my list, but we made it a quick trip.  We picked up some soup and went to visit Amanda who is still not feeling too well. 

When I tried to catch the 1:30 bus to go back home, I was waiting outside with Macha (Amanda’s host mom).  She was trying to catch the bus going the other way, but we both were waiting at the bus stop.  It started to rain, but thankfully I had an umbrella.  We stood there for a while… waiting waiting waiting.  We made small talk and waited some more.  Finally, we discovered that Macha had missed the 1:00 bus because her watch was running 20 min. behind.  I don’t know what happened to my bus, but a bus finally came at 2:10 and I got to go home.

This evening, Cristy came over with Ebony to play with Jaden.  I was so thankful because I didn’t know what to do with him.  He was just fussy and wouldn’t eat and all he wants to do is go outside.  Playing with Ebony was the perfect distraction.  We turned on music and they danced a bit. I also played “Ring around the Rosie” with them and they loved it.  Cristy asked me the meaning of the words of the song… I tried to translate them and explain them to her as best I could, but it is kind of weird to tell her I’m singing a song about sickness and death to kids…

Eddie had a chance to feel needed by our host family tooday.  Samia needed to get to work, but she doesn’t drive.  She asked Eddie to take her to the store and to work. José Pablo went along and Freddy wasn’t home yet.  Then Eddie was asked to pick Freddy up from the bus stop and he also needed to stop at the store.  When they got home, Eddie was helping to make dinner and learned something new.  The hotdogs here look just like our hotdogs, but they each have a plastic covering on them.  Eddie put them all in the pan to cook before removing the plastic… Well, now we know… 

 We finally got Jaden to eat a little yogurt and he seemed to be feeling so much better.  We were wrong.  We were just sitting down to eat dinner when Jaden vomited once again.  That makes for 5 days in a row, so we decided we needed to take him to the doctor.  Freddy told us that he has an aunt in Tuis that has helped out many sick babies in the past.  He asked if we wanted to go to her first.  We were open to anything and Freddy said he was sure that Jaden would be better after seeing his aunt.  When we got there, she laid Jaden on the bed and started massaging his belly with mineral oil.  She also gently massaged his arms, legs and behind his ears.  He was tolerant of it and lay very still. 

 She then looked at the back of his legs and pointed out that his legs were different lengths.  She pointed at the creases in the back of his knees and showed us that one was higher than the other.  She also pointed to his heels and they were not even.  We were very confused as to what this had to do with anything.  They explained to us that it is called “estroncado.”  It happens when babies fall hard on their bottoms.  She thinks that his part of why he has been so sick and so whinny.  She called her niece to come over and she started massaging the back of his leg and bottom.  It looked like she was pushing his leg back into place.  I really don’t understand it and wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but it made a difference.  She said for us to come back in the morning and she would do it again.  We went home thinking “if this really works, we will be amazed and thankful to God.”

We ended the night with watching “The Amazing Spiderman” and headed to bed.

Saturday, October 20

After breakfast, we headed on over to Freddy’s cousin’s house.  We met her children and discovered that they spoke English very well.  As she massaged Jaden’s legs again, we were able to ask more questions about what they thought was wrong.  I asked if they thought it happened recently or if he was born like that.  They said it happened recently and to be careful not to bounce him on his bottom and to lift both legs when changing his diaper.  It seemed to work, so we are thankful.  He did not get sick at all today!

Hector had prior engagements for this evening, so instead of cancelling youth group today, he planned it for this morning.  We headed over to the school/mission to hang out with the kids.  Hector did a Bible study on Joseph, which I understood partially (mostly because I already knew the story so I could piece together the words I understood here and there).  After the study, Daniel led an exercise class to get the kids moving.  He got us moving and sweating, and Eddie wet with a water balloon.  It was fun and I think most of the kids enjoyed it.

Freddy and Samia had a party to go to in San José, which is were Hector had to go, too.  We did not go with them so we were home alone for the day.  Amanda and Jennea came over and they wanted watch Spiderman, also.  Eddie and Jaden took a nap and I watched Spiderman with the girls while I worked on cutting my index cards in half to use as flash cards.  Later, Eddie and Josue went outside to play “fútbol.”  Eddie wanted to learn, and they ended up playing with Josue’s friends who were out there playing a game.  Jaden ran around chasing soccer balls that belonged to other people.  I think he is starting to get the concept of kicking the ball instead of picking it up and throwing it.  We also chatted with the neighbors… they were asking us if we had snow where we lived.   Samia had prepared dinner for us and left it in the fridge before she left this morning, so we didn’t even have to cook for ourselves when they were out of town… aren’t we so spoiled?

Sunday, October 21

This morning, we finally got to attend church again. With Daniel and Hector gone for 2 weeks, church had been cancelled.  Now they were back and we were excited to gather and hoped we would understand more this time.  I had to leave with Jaden so I didn’t get to hear much, but I know they talked about what a Christian Community looks like.  I love how they do church… Hector doesn’t just preach, he also facilitates a discussion.  He puts questions out there for the people to discuss.  I know I don’t know what they are saying, but it is interesting to see many people in the congregation participate.  We also had the chance to praise God because we saw a glimmer of hope for Samia’s mom and step-father.  She had told us they don’t go to church, but they were there and participating today.  We love seeing God work and we give Him the glory.

After church, we watched Josue play “fotbol” with his team… Eddie kept marveling at the fact that he got to play with those same guys yesterday, and today they were the winning team, with the help of Josue and his goal.  After some study time and a nap, we were invited to go swimming at Gabby’s sister-in-law’s house.  We were so excited to go, but Jaden was sleeping.  We had to wait for him to wake up.   When he did, we walked over to Monica’s house. 

The day had cooled off significantly, so being in the cool water was kind of chilly.  They offered to open up the Jacuzzi for us, and we warmed up in there.  

We are thankful we made friends with this family.  They were so warm and inviting, and they love to have people over.  They even have an outdoor living room with a TV and couches and an outdoor kitchen next to the pool.  We will be back to visit before we leave this town. 

A truck for Jaden to climb on!

A cute kitten for Jaden to chase!

Enjoying a snack in the outdoor kitchen.

After a snack of fresh tortillas and juice, we walked to MonteVerde for dinner.  And look what we were served: 

Tilapia: bones, fins and all!

In case you are wondering, yes… we ate it and it was good!

Once we returned home, we got Jaden ready for bed and put him down for the night.  Eddie had to go pick up Samia and Freddy when the restarant closed, and when they got home they invited us to eat some sweet bread and milk for a bedtime snack.  While we were in the kitchen, Freddy heard Jaden crying.  I went and got him and came back into the kitchen.  There is certain spot that seems like a good place for Jaden to vomit; tonight was his third time in that one spot.  I guess he is still sick.  We decided we needed to make a trip to the doctor in the morning.

This was my view at the doctor's office:
Jaden sleeping and Eddie doing homework.

Monday, October 22

We talked to Hector this morning and he said that Daniel had to go to Turrialba at 10:00 so we could ride with him.  We went to class for the first half of the morning, and then we drove to a private clinic.  The waiting room was FULL of people.  We registered at the desk and sat down to wait.  

We waited for 4 hours before Eddie decided to ask the receptionist how much longer.  She proceded to find our file and show us to a room right then and there…  I don’t know how much longer we would have had to wait if Eddie never asked.  The doctor checked Jaden and said it was a rotavirus.  He gave us two different kinds medicine and something like Pedialite for Jaden.

One happy family ON the bus
and read to go home!

We went to eat a late lunch and picked up a few things at the grocery store before catching the bus… we were not even sitting in our seat when the bus started pulling away from the station… that was a close call.  The buses leave on the hour so if we had missed it, we would have had to call a cab or wait another hour.  Praise God for His timing.

  We plan to rest, finish homework, and prepare for our first fitness class starting at 7am tomorrow…  Please pray for continued health and healing, especially for Jaden and Ebony (who had to be in the hospital today with an IV and hasn’t eaten anything for two days… she got the virus, too.  That make about 13 people we know that got sick over the past week and Jaden was the first.)

PS... Jaden has not been sick at all today, Praise the Lord!  I believe he is on the mend and that this medicine will help.  We are thankful for God's provision and protection.  

No nos gusta estar enfermo!

Sunday, October 14

This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

We did not have church today once again because Hector was still gone.  We had a pretty relaxing day and Jaden got to play with Ebony again. 

We ended up eating lunch and dinner at the restaurant, so Jaden had his chance to dance quite a bit today.  He loves the loud music and wide-open space to run around.

This is chicken with rice and beans with coconut milk.  On top are plátanos maduros.  I came here saying, “I don’t like plátanos.”  But I learned quickly that I like these… they had sugar on them.  Yummy!!!

Jaden figured out how to get the noodles into his mouth one way or another... even if he had to use two hands.

We have been saying for a long time that Jaden needs a hair cut.  I have been nervous about cutting it because I could not picture what it would look like if we started cutting it.  Eddie decided it was time he try to cut it.  I was okay with that because Erica was coming over for the party tomorrow and I knew she could fix it if we butchered it (she is the one who cut my hair last week).  Eddie did a really good job… I am impressed.  See for yourself:

Yesterday, Freddy and I heard the song “Somebody That I Used to Know” on the radio.  In my broken Spanish, I told him that Eddie made a video with his friend.  Those of you who know what I am talking about, you know where this story is going.  We had to show the video to Freddy.  He immediately asked for a copy of it to put on his computer and he showed EVERYONE the video. 

He showed it to Jimena and her friend, but we didn’t tell her that Eddie was in it.  Her reaction as she realized it was Eddie was priceless.  Same goes for José Pablo.  I think we watched that video at least 10 times over the course of 24-hours.  Each time, someone new exclaims, “Es Eduardo?!?!?!” and bursts into laughter.  Todd, you are now famous here in Costa Rica!

Monday, October 15

Today is a holiday here in Costa Rica.  It is called “Culture Day.”  Because of that, many people did not have to work today and there was no school for the kids.  We thought we had class, but Eddie double-checked the CISA website, and it said class was cancelled.  The problem was, none of the teachers told us that we didn’t have class.  Turns out, we did have class and we showed up for class anyway.  Jennea missed the bus because it came earlier because it did not have to stop for many people.  Amanda made it on time because she happened to be at the bus stop early.  It was one of those days where everyone was “there” physically, but not really there mentally.  We were all tired, including the teachers.

After class, we walked home because Samia and Freddy were having a party for lunch.  They invited some friends over, and cooked over an open fire in the empty lot next door.  They also had refried beans and cheese dip, chimichuri, and other typical Costa Rican foods.  They brought the kitchen table outside under the carport so we could eat together.  Freddy set up his computer outside so we could listen to music.  Amanda and Jennea joined us and we all ate plenty.

With music and dancing, food and family, we celebrated into the evening. 

We enjoyed our time, but as night drew near, I started to not feel so good.  I just wanted to go to bed, but it was only 6:00 pm.  I wasn’t hungry for dinner… I was just tired.  We put Jaden to bed around 8:00 and started to get ready for bed, too.  As we climbed in to bed, we heard a noise come from Jaden’s side of the room.  Eddie when to check on him, and discovered he had thrown up in his sleep.  We got him up out of bed and cleaned him up and got new bed sheets from Samia, and he went back to sleep.  This was the second time he threw up in his bed in less than 24 hours, so we knew he was sick.  We set an alarm to check on him through out the night since he didn’t seem to wake up or cry when he got sick.  We also texted Hector to tell him that I was not going to be in class because I was planning on staying home with Jaden.  Well, about 12:30am, it hit me.  I spent about 30 min. in the bathroom being sick myself.  I had to get up multiple times during the night, too.  All I kept thinking was, “I never want to even look at food again.”

Tuesday, October 16

In the morning, Eddie got up with Jaden (who seemed much better) and he let me sleep.  I pretty much slept until noon and finally started to feel better.  He went to the store for some Ginger ale and saltine crackers.  Early in the afternoon, Eddie started to feel sick.  Thankfully, Samia took care of Jaden while we both rested and tried to recover.  It is truly amazing how God works… As I started feeling better, Eddie started feeling more sick.  He took care of me, and then I in turn was able to take care of him.  Ultimately, it was God (with the use of Samia) who took care of us.  She made us some vegetable soup, which we just could not eat (all I kept thinking was “I want some Campbell’s chicken noodle soup” but that was just not an option).  Jaden ate it though.  He also ate some jello and some crackers.  After awhile, I felt good enough to eat some jello, too.

Jaden seemed so much better throughout the day, but unfortunately he surprised us by getting sick once again right after we put his clean pj’s on and readied him for bed.  Samia helped clean up the kitchen floor, while we cleaned up Jaden and got ready for bed.

As we headed to bed, we got a phone call from Amanda… She was starting to feel sick.  By now, we believed it was a 24-hour bug and that it was going around our little family quickly.  We were not surprised that Amanda caught it, too.  But poor Amanda… She got it the worst.  She called Eddie and told him she could not stop throwing up and that she thought she was dehydrated.  Her host mother sayed with her the whole time and she suggested she go to the hospital.  Eddie called Hector, and Hector picked her up and brought her to the hospital in Turrialba at about 11:30pm.  They put an IV in her immediately and 3 hours later they sent her home.  She called to say she was doing better, but that she was very tired.  Praise the Lord she is okay!!!

Wednesday, October 17

We decided not to go to class again today because Jaden got sick last night, and Eddie was not feeling very good yet.  Thankfully, I feel like I have fully recovered (although I would be okay if I never ate rice and beans again in my life.)  Eddie rested and I played with Jaden.  By the time 9:15am rolled around, I was thinking “What? It is only 9:15? ”  It felt like 3:00 in the afternoon... It is hard to study when Jaden is awake because all he wants to do is go outside.   We have to watch him very carefully outside because of the dogs roaming around and the ants (which are everywhere and bite often).  Thankfully, he took a nap so I had time to study.

We went to visit sick girl Amanda today.  She had it rough… they gave her 4 different kinds of meds (one is just salt packets… but still!!!).  She is still pretty weak, but she is definitely better than she was last night.  We had a few interesting conversations with Macha, her host mom.  They involved some funny mix up of words and a few accidental curse words…  Oh the joys of learning a new language.

We hope to go back to class tomorrow, and we plan to give our presentations even if we missed 2 days of class.  I hope all is well in the good ol’ USA… We miss you and can’t wait to see your faces one day soon!

PS… If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can Face Time us with our (305) Skype number (or it may even work with our old 407 numbers).  It works pretty good when we are at home or school (where we have internet connection.)  Just email us for the number if you don’t have it.  We would love to hear from you!