Monday, December 31
After a late night, it was difficult to roll out of bed, but we had made plans for Gatica to come at 8:00 so we had to get up. After breakfast, we made a list of things that we needed for the house and a grocery list. Gatica (our new “ama de casa” or housekeeper) and her husband Marcos were gracious enough to drive us into the city and help us find all that we needed. We went to more than 5 different stores to find all we needed, and ended with a bite to eat at a local Chinese restaurant. It was a good thing we had this day to shop, because with tomorrow being a holiday, all the stores would be closed.
Once we got home around 4:00, we put everything away and tried to get settled into our new home. Of course, I couldn't resist hanging a few pictures on the wall! (More pictures of our house to come... I promise)
We ate some left over Chinese food for dinner and then headed into town to check out the fiesta. They have a big party in the street here for New Year’s Eve, and we had heard so much about it. We didn’t get very far before we ran into Freddy and Samia and the kids. Then took Jaden and told us to meet them a home whenever we were ready. We roamed the street a bit and chatted with friends and acquaintences that we met along the way. We were not too interested in the band or dancing because we were already exhausted, so we headed on over to Freddy and Samia’s house. They said that Jaden ran into our old room and just flopped on the bed like: “Ahhh… I’m home.” We ate second dinner (because you always have to eat Samia’s yummy food) and then just spent time with our former host family. Jaden was running in circles because he was so excited to see Ivonny (formerly spelled incorrectly in previous posts as Ebony; sorry for my mistake). He grabbed her hands and started dancing with her. It was the cutest thing… check out my Facebook page for a cute video!
We are party poopers and headed home around 10:30… we were so tired and so was Jaden. We did not make it to midnight… I guess that’s cuz we are old now. Well, we did hear and see the fireworks at midnight, but thankfully Jaden slept right through them. Welcome 2013!!!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!!!
We spent the day sleeping in and cooking our very first Costa Rican breakfast on our own. Eddie made cooked potatoes and fried eggs and I made platanos and cut up some papaya. It was delicious!
We had a surprise visitor: Juan Gabriel (a.k.a: Chingy)! He came to say goodbye because he is moving away. It was sad to see him go, especially as we had just started to really get to know him after Eddie’s trip to Chirripo with him. His parents work over an hour away and they are moving closer to his job. He told us he would be back to visit, though.
We stayed home most of the day and just relaxed and prepared for a new start to our classes tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 2
Today was our first day back to class, and boy was I rusty. I was having trouble remembering so much. Sonia had full confidence in me, and I realized that I was still understanding much of what she was saying. I was just having trouble speaking. She had patience with me, and I was reminded to just try my best. It was my first day of class with new students, too. Deidre is now in my class, and so is Stevenson. Stevenson is a guy from St. Martin, and his primary language is French. He also speaks English and Hebrew and quite a bit of Spanish. I am amazed at his ability to learn languages. Sometimes he asks us what words mean in Spanish and in English, but overall, he does really well. He has been here since Christmas day, but Monday was his first day of class.
After class, we went home for lunch. That is one of the only downfalls about our new house. We don’t eat lunch with our fellow students anymore. We so enjoyed that time together, because we often processed things we learned and also spent time getting to know each other over lunch. Although we are sad to eat at home, we are also equally grateful because our first meal that Gatica cooked for us was a delicious vegetable spaghetti. We even ate the leftovers for dinner and shared with Josué, who came over for discipleship with Eddie.
Jaden wanted to play outside, and some of the neighbor kids were out. They played with him in the yard and on our front porch for nearly 3 hours. I just sat outside and read a book, played with Jaden and chatted with the kids for a bit. Jaden showed off his awesome puzzle skills (he can put together a new puzzle he got for Christmas and I am one proud Mama). It was refreshing to practice my Spanish speaking with the neighbor kids, and I look forward to more relaxing nights like this.
Thursday, January 3
Our second day of class of the New Year, and I am feeling a little better about my Spanish coming back. We practiced writing a story in “–ing” tense and my homework is to translate the same story into past tense. Good thing, because I really need to refresh my memory.
We came home to a delicious lunch of arroz con pollo and guacamole that Gatica made from scratch.
I promptly asked her how she made it so that I could replicate it. Her secret ingredient was a bit of hot chili sauce she borrowed from the school kitchen. I will have to add that ingredient to my grocery list. She also put in lime, garlic, and onion with 2 avocadoes. Eddie and Jaden took a nap before he had to go to band practice. I went to Zumba class with Diedre and thoroughly enjoyed my work out. I especially loved my quick walk home and a quiet night of playing with Jaden.
Friday, January 4
We decided to make a visit to our new friend’s house and bring them lunch. We kinda cheated because we brought leftover arroz con pollo that Gatica made because there was so much. Eddie also sautéed onions and chayote, which is a vegetable that is kind of like a squash. We met them at their house around noon and hung out for a few hours. Jaden loved playing with the boys’ train set and other toys.
After cleaning up, we all decided to take a trip to Turrialba. We wanted to buy some fruits and veggies at the farmers market, and they wanted another tour of Turrialba so they could learn their way around. We ran a few errands, got smoothies, and shopped the farmers market (where we bought a variety of things like a bag of 6 lemons that cost less than 50 cents) before catching the bus and heading home. All in all, we had an enjoyable day. Jaden went to bed early, and we had a date night: a green smoothie for dinner and a movie. We watched “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.” All I can say was that it was “odd” but cute.
Saturday, January 5
Rysen came for a visit today, and we spent some time studying. This evening, Eddie and I headed to CISA around 7 pm for youth group. Hector left Eddie in charge this week because he is on vacation. Eddie used this time to discuss 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 where Paul talks about winning people for Christ and we also discussed the true meaning of freedom. After the discussion, we all put our heads together and came up with a skit to present to the church tomorrow morning. It was a short 5 minute drama, but we feel that it packs a powerful message. They rehearsed it 3 times through, and I have full confidence that it will be great. These kids have experience with being on stage, so they are good at improvisation. The skit involves a man who is in prison but he is free in Christ, and the guard who is physically free but is a slave to his sin and to anger. Check out my facebook page for a video of the drama.
Sunday, January 6
Today we crossed a new bridge: Eduardo successfully lead worship, a drama, and taught the sermon for church today. Hector had asked him to take over the Sunday service today before we left for vacation. He was sooooooooooo nervous. He had a lot of help from Josué and some of the youth, but I am proud to say: He pulled it off and he did a great job doing it. Gatica, our “ama de casa” said that she and her husband had chills and they were both moved to tears by the music. The compliments they received were so encouraging, especially because Eddie continues to feel that he is not fluent in the language yet (I beg to differ, but anyway….)
It was also a day to be proud of Josué because he sang with Eddie and it was the first time he overcame his stage fright and sang in front of people. He has wanted to for a long time, but today was the first time he stepped up and did it. He also did awesome. He also stayed with Eddie up front in case Eddie needed help with translation.
After church, Jaden got some much needed time with our Tico Familia. He loves them so much, so it was so good to see them at church today. José Pablo took care of Jaden in the nursery during church and Freddy couldn’t resist hanging out with them for a bit, too.
We invited our new friends over to see our house, and they ended up staying for lunch. We had so much fun cooking together and letting the boys play together. Jaden loves having friends to play with. We even discovered a bunch of bananas that had fallen from a tree and hung them on our front porch to ripen. |
| Kirsten, Ezra (1 month old), and Ryan |
After they left, we did a bit of studying and I caught up with an good friend via telephone. I also spoke with my sister-in-law until Rysen came to visit again. I had a craving for some more delicious guacamole, so I whipped that up as best I could. It was almost as good as Gatica’s.
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