Chirripo - Day 1

Wednesday, March 13

Our Team: Deanna, Eddie, Josué, Daniel, Jefferson, Hector, Johan, David (and Ryan the photographer), and Adrian is missing because he was on his way home from work... yes the man went to work before we met at Hector's house this morning at 5:30AM.

Chirripo: Once our bags were packed (as light as possible) with every article of clothing and a sleeping bag inside a plastic bag inside our backpacks, we were ready to go.

The trip began at 5:30 a.m. with nine men and one woman (me).  I had several people tell me that being the only female on a trip like this would not be fun, but Eddie was so excited for me to come, that I just couldn’t say “no”.  If I had to pick one person to go with me, it would be my husband anyway, so I went.

We loaded up the truck at Hector’s house and then piled in and started our 2-hour drive from Tuis to Quizal.  Eddie and I rode in the cab of this truck.

The other 8 men rode in the back of the truck. 

As the trip began, I was “freezing” by Costa Rican standards.  By the time 8:00 rolled around, I began to warm up.  The drive was slow and bumpy, but the scenery was gorgeous.  We crossed a few bridges and even crossed a part of the river that had no bridge.   

The truck driver was very friendly, and he was our tour guide the whole way there.  He was telling us little tid-bits about our surroundings as we drove… mostly information about the various trees and plants we could see along the way.  He also greeted every person we passed and whenever Eddie would ask him if he knew the person, the answer was always “si.”

Once we arrived at the end of the road, we piled out, unloaded the truck and ate our breakfast (we were instructed to pack our own breakfast and lunch for the day in our bags).

 Around 8:30, we began our hike.  Ten steps in, I had to stop to pee on the side of the trail.  What a great way to start!  As we began, Eddie was exclaiming how very muddy this path had been the last time he did this in November.  Praise the Lord, today it was nearly dry.  I know I would have slid down the mountain on my butt if it had been muddy.  There were muddy spots, but even if it wasn’t muddy, the downhill climb was tough.  After only minutes of this, my legs were shaking and felt like they would give out from under me.  Walking down hill for 6 hours!?!?!  I didn’t know if I could do it.  Thankfully, it wasn’t all like that.  We walked downhill for about 2 ½ hours, taking many breaks along the way.  Check out this view!

Our second rest stop.

The trail we were on weaved back and forth, so we crossed the small stream at least 8 times.  About an hour and a half into the hike, I wasn’t looking where I stepped and tweeked my ankle.  I fell to the ground in pain as I grasped my ankle.  Unfortunately, it was on a section of the trail that was very narrow, and there were other people coming from down the mountain who were trying to pass. Eddie helped me up so I could get out of their way.  As I tested my weight on my ankle, I realized that it was painful, but that it was not unbearable.  I knew I hadn’t broken it and I didn’t even think I sprained it.  I could walk, so we continued.  It was pretty sensitive the rest of the hike, but I made it.  The part that was most difficult was walking over uneven surfaces, like rocks.  I learned to pray, with every step, that God would give me a flat surface to step on with my left foot.  I know God was guiding my every step, literally! 

Once we arrived at the base of the mountain, there was a plaza where we stopped to rest again.  

It was hear that I had a decision to make: Did I want to pay $12 for a horse to take me up the steep part of the hike home on Friday?  I decided “yes.”  Adrian was going to ride a horse, too, so I knew I would not be alone.  He likes to do it because it gives the people there some income.

We continued through the jungle some more until we came to the bank of the river. 

We walked along this rocky riverbank for about another 1 ½ before we had to actually cross it.  Walking near water has always been a joy for me.  I love water.  I love lakes, rivers, oceans… any source of water.  I find it beautiful, but I was so frustrated with myself today because the one part of the hike I should be enjoying most was this, but I was in so much pain walking on the rocks that I found it difficult to enjoy.  I know now that God was just teaching me to ask him to guide my steps.  It got better along the way, and I know a lot of it was mental; but what I really wanted to do was sit down and cry.  God taught me perseverance today, and he used Eddie to encourage me and show me patience.  All along he offered to carry my bag for me, but I was too stubborn to accept.  At one point, he finally took it from me, just to give me a break. 

As we crossed the river, I relied heavily on Eddie and Josué.  Every step was painful, especially because I could not see where to step with the rushing water.  The water came up to our mid-thighs, so wading through was fairly difficult.  Especially while carrying a bag that I would rather not get wet.

At this point, we were walking with some of the people from the tribe we were going to visit.  They had met us at the top of the mountain to help us carry our food, sleeping mats, and other supplies.  For them, this 4 or 5-hour trek is an everyday (or at least every week) task.  Hiring them to help us is one of the ways they receive income.  They had already made the 3-4 hour hike up the mountain to meet us this morning.  They probably left their house before 5:30 this morning to meet us at 8:30, and now they caught up with us after resting a bit.  They were very tired, so for the last hour of the hike, we all tried to carry a little something extra to lighten their load.

As we walked through the jungle some more, David pointed out a cocoa tree.  He told us that the yellow ones were ripe, and proceeded to climb the tree to get it.

The cocoa beans have a white flesh around them that is very sweet.  Eddie loved it.  I tried one, but wasn't too enthused.  The actual bean inside is a dark purple color and is very bitter. 

Once we arrived at the plaza, there were dozens of children playing “futbol” in bare feet or rubber boots.  

After 6 hours of walking... we had arrived!

Josué, Daniel, Eddie and Ryan didn’t hesitate to join them in their game.  I, on the other hand, could barely take another step.  We walked about 10 more minutes to our sleeping quarters.

This building was built by CISA to house groups when they go to visit the Chirripo people.  They carried every board and every nail and every piece of corrugated tin down that mountain and into the village.  When people from CISA are not using it, the people of the village use it for sleeping and living in.

There is also a church that about 50 people attend each week.  We planned to attend a service each evening we are here.

This is a picture of the house next door.  About 10-15 people live, sleep and eat in there.  The pastor lives here with his family.

The building that people from CISA built consists of a 15 x 15 ft. room with a bench in the middle and a sink and counter space in the corner.  There are nails in the wall and boards across the ceiling to hang wet clothing and towels.  That is it.  There are foam mats to put down on the floor for sleeping on, but nothing else.  One goal of the trip is to build a shower outside the building because there is not one there. 

Coffee had to be made immediately... those Ticos love their "cafe."  This is a picture of the coffee maker hanging over a pot on a gas stove.

Before we even rested, Adrian started working on the shower.  

Once we ate our lunch and rest a bit, we all gathered up again and headed to the river to bathe.  Thankfully, I made sure to slip on my bathing suit first.   We made another 10 minute hike down to the riverbank and tiptoed into the cold, rushing water.  Have you ever tried to bathe in a river?  It was more difficult than I expected.  I found a spot in front of a large boulder where the water slowed down a bit.  I could stand more easily there and also it was about mid-thigh-deep, so I could dunk down and submerge my body without washing away down the river.

After the refreshing bath, we headed back.  This time we all had clean, dry cloths and we rearranged all our stuff so we could properly relax.  David brought an extra hammock and I took the chance to rest in it.  

Eventually, it was time to make dinner.  Hector proceeded to dump a sack full of “dishes” onto the floor.  We unpacked the food and Josué and Hector started making soup.  I couldn’t stand the disorganized pile of plastic ware and cutlery on the floor, so I started organizing and arranging them in the space below the counter.  It was a “wash-what-you-need-to-use” kind of system, but it worked.

We waited for the pastor to invite us into the church service.  We were all cold, tired and hungry, but we went in and listened to them sing and the pastor speak.  They used a mix of Spanish and Cabecar, their native tongue.  The majority of the service was in Cabecar, and was impossible for us to understand.  I did understand the songs they sang in Spanish and Hector’s sermon about Jesus, Mary and Martha.  The pastor translated the whole sermon into Cabecar, so I was curious to find out why.  Hector explained to me later that they don’t all understand much Spanish and that I probably speak and understand more Spanish than many of them after being in Costa Rica for 6 months.  I was shocked.

After a few more songs and introducing ourselves, we were dismissed to go back to our sleeping quarters.  We all inhaled our dinner by candlelight, brushed our teeth and crashed.

 Hector making some delicious soup!

The first night was interrupted by a sleep-talking David and a towel-chewing rat, but I pretty much slept through it all.  Eddie tried sleeping on the extra hammock that David brought.  That lasted about an hour before he joined me on the mat.  It was a cold night, but the sleeping bags were toasty warm.  I can't imagine what it is like for the people of the village... they don't have sleeping bags.  Although exhaustion had set in, I couldn't help but think about those people.  And I am also reminded that I have A LOT to be thankful for.

David's Story

Monday, March 11

Monday morning meeting: Hector talked about how special this weekend was for him because Eddie preached in Spanish.  He talked about how fluent and comfortable Eddie was while he was preaching.  It was an encouragement to Eddie, to the teachers and to the other students.  Learning Spanish is possible and having a student preach on Sunday is the ultimate test.  I a proud of his efforts and also we give all the glory to God.  Eddie is the first to say “it wasn’t me… it was the Holy Spirit.”

We also met a new student and a guy who is going with us to Chirripo.  The new student’s name is Andrea and she is from Oklahoma.  The guy’s name is David and he is from Pennsylvania.  He has an amazing story.  I want to share it with you, but I will be hearing more about it tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Eddie and I had class with Patricia again, and Eddie asked if we can practice speaking in “tú” form because when we get back to Florida, we will need to speak it and understand it.  Costa Rican’s use the “usted” form and it is much more formal than people in the states.  I feel like I am relearning how to speak Spanish because I haven’t practiced that form much.  I know that I will need to just persevere when we get back and listen to any Spanish I can get my hands on.

For lunch today, we invited the Morgue family to join us.  There was a meeting for people going to Chirripo, so they needed to stay at school for that.  If they went home, they could not be back on time for it.  The Chirripo meeting consisted of question and answer time and Daniel actually being serious for once.  He shared with us a little about what to expect and even showed us a video.

When we got home, it was naptime for Jaden and homework time for Eddie and I.  Later we had dinner and Eddie went to the Core Church member meeting.  Hector and Zeidy both had very encouraging words for him.  They talked to him about how blessed they are since we came to CISA.  Although Eddie doesn’t feel like he did much, he felt a calling from God and followed through.  That tiny step of obedience led to some big changes in the church and in the hearts of all those people at the meeting tonight.  I don’t get to attend them because of Jaden, but I love hearing Eddie tell me about them when he gets home.  It is so encouraging to know that these people are on fire for the Lord!

Tuesday, March 12

David’s story:  David’s father took a trip to an indigenous tribe in the jungle of Venezuela back in the 70’s.  Ken was an anthropologist and he was planning to stay a few weeks to study the people there.  He ended up staying for 12 years.  He fell in love with an indigenous woman and they had 3 children together.  David is the oldest of the three children.  She was truly indigenous with piercings and all and very little clothing.  Some time past and David’s father made arrangements for his wife and kids to move to the states.  He has pictures and video of their life in the states. National Geographic even made a documentary about their family and their trip back to visit her tribe in the jungle.

They lived in New Jersey for 4 years before his wife fell into a deep depression.  She was in culture shock.  Everything scared her from mirrors to the sound of cars starting to waking up in a room surrounded by four walls.  She wanted to go back.  National Geographic documented their journey.  It took them 6 days on a river and a few more days of walking to find her tribe.  They stayed for about 5 days before they had to return.  A few months later, their family returned to visit her tribe, and David’s mother did not want to go back to the states with her husband.  David’s parents were separated when he was five years old.

2 years ago, David felt called to seek out his mother and go and find her.  He has memories of her and he wanted to see her.  He sent someone to her tribe to find her and make sure she was still alive.  Eventually, he got his passport and all the paperwork needed and went to see her.

He has a video of the moment he found her.  He couldn’t understand her and she couldn’t understand him because of the language barrier, but the tears were flowing.  She was so happy to see her son 20 years later.  She has one more child with a man there, but his father is still single.

His father wrote a book and I plan to read it.  It is entitled: “Into the heart” by Ken Good.  He writes about his time with the indigenous tribe and falling in love and getting married. 

We asked David if he plans to write the rest of the story.  I hope so because I would love to read it.  He is a unique individual with a precious story.  He has a website with the title “My Life’s Mission” where he plans to share more of his story.  It is not ready yet, but I hope to follow it once it is.

He is here in Costa Rica this week to visit the Chirripo tribe with Daniel and Hector and the rest of our group.  He is studying anthropology and hopes to share his findings and help those in need.

Our day consisted of learning more “subjunctivo” verb forms in class, lunch with Gatica, petting a horse in our neighbor’s backyard, and packing for our trip to Chirripo tomorrow.  Eddie went to town to pick up few necessities for our trip with Hector and some of the other guys.  Along the way, he learned that David is not a believer.  Please pray for God to touch his heart on this trip.

We also packed up Jaden’s stuff and went to Freddy and Samia’s house for dinner.  It was delicious, and I am not worried about him staying with them for the next three days.  Still, it is hard to say goodbye to your son… especially while in a foreign country.  Samia and Freddy and the kids will take good care of him and he will have sooooo much fun!

Please pray for us as we leave for Chirripo at 5:30 am and plan to drive 2 hours and then hike for 6 hours.  Pray for strength for our team, pray for good health for our team, and pray that we will be open to the changes God is going to make in our hearts through this trip to the indigenous tribe.  See you on Friday!

Happy Birthday Ivonny!

Sunday, March 10

and... Happy Birthday Kathy!

After a delicious breakfast of crêpes and fruit, we headed to church.  Deidre’s flight is this afternoon, so Daniel played drums with the band and then planned to give her a ride to the airport.  We made arrangements for the ladies to ride with them so they could stay in a hotel in San José and catch their flight tomorrow around noon.  After the music, Hector led the church in a prayer for Deidre and they loaded up and headed out.  It was hard to say goodbye to my sister, but we are thankful for the few short days we had together.

Eddie preached in Spanish today!  I was a proud wife sitting in the congregation listening (as long as jaden was cooperating).  I didn’t get to hear it all, but I heard from some of the church members that he did a great job.  He was finishing up his 3 week in a series about discipleship, and I think that they are excited about taking steps toward learning how to be disciples and disciplers.   

Macha decided to be silly and show everyone her "bebe feo..."

After church, we grabbed the gift from home and headed to Ivonny’s birthday party.  She turned two yesterday and her family is planning a big party for her at Samia’s restaurant.  We went early to help decorate.

Jaden had a blast!  There was a clown who made balloon animals for the kids and did face painting.  Jaden was all giggles as long as someone was holding him.  He also got a chance to play with Freddy, José Pablo, and Jimena.  There was also a ton of food.  Every time they brought out another appetizer or plate of food, Jaden ate some.  He polished off his very own ice cream cone.  After the piñata and cupcakes, we headed home.  By the time we got home just after 6:00, Jaden was exhausted.  With no nap today, we showered him and put him right to bed!  

"Hello Kitty" Theme

Daddies and their babies.

Pinñata Time!

 The clown ended with throwing the candy.  I guess that is more safe than giving a bunch of kids turns swinging a stick.

5-Mile Hike!

Saturday, March 9

Rain or shine, we were going on our hike today.  Thankfully, God gave us SUN!  During breakfast, we got a glimpse of the sun and decided to head out as quick as possible. Maidena wasn’t sure she could make it on that hike so she offered to stay home with Jaden.  We left her a house key and one of our phones so she could reach us.  She distracted Jaden with a trip to the playground while we headed out for our hike.

We hadn’t even made it out of Tuis before encountering our first adventure.  Some boys were hanging out on the bridge and as we passed they pointed out to Eddie a little black kitten stranded on the rocks near the river.  She was cold and wet and looked very scared.  I decided to try to get it and at least set it on dry land so she could find her way to some food or a safe home.  I followed the path down to the bank of the river and looked for the kitten.  She was scared so she was hiding in a hole out of my reach.  I climbed up a step or two onto some rocks when suddenly, a rock gave out from under me… I steadied myself and then that one gave out too.  I lost my balance and fell backwards onto my hands.  All would have been fine if a stupid boulder hadn’t landed on my finger in the process!  As soon as I looked at it, it was purple under the nail.  My first thought: “I’m gonna loose a fingernail.”  

As I dusted myself off, and searched for the cat, I realized I was not going to be able to reach it and now I was in pain.  Eddie came down to check on me and I was starting to feel a bit dizzy.  I sat on a rock and sipped a bit of water until my head cleared.  We climbed back up the the bridge and headed to meet Kirsten and Ryan and family at the start of the hike.  My finger was throbbing, but I could walk.  As we headed up the road, we got a phone call from Maidena.  She was concerned because Jaden got bit by ants.  She decided to take him home and play inside with him.

Finally, we were ready to begin.  The trail that we planned to hike goes up into the mountains starting in Tuis and ends at the first bus stop in La Suiza (a 15 minute bus ride).  We had no idea how long the trail was or how long it would take us, but we were determined.  Plus, God had answered our prayer and it wasn’t raining.

Eddie was tracking our progress with his iPod and we figured that we walked a total of 5 ½ miles.  It was a gorgeous walk, and the sun was actually shining!  We set a pretty steady pace and Noah and Ocean walked the whole way!  They are some tough 3 and 4 year-old boys!

A view of Tuis

Same view zoomed in.  Our house is the teal-green one with the red roof
in the center just below the red and white tower.  Can you find it?

What a cool bug!  God is creative!

"If you poke your eye out with that horn, don't come looking for me!"

 What a life... their house was up on the mountain... miles from town.

What a life?!?!  This house was up on
the mountain, miles from town.

More cows

The Morgue Family: Ezra, Kirsten, Ocean, Ryan and Noah

 Kathy, Eddie, me, and Alison (ps... check out Eddie's foot attire - socks with water shoes)

Kathy, Eddie, Deanna and Alison
(p.s.  Check out Eddie's foot attire: socks with water shoes)

I know... you are thinking "more cows."
But, that was what we saw.
Plus, the one on the left looks like a goat-cow.

 These branches will be used to make more fences and the fences "grow" roots and continue to be trees.

Fences made from branches that grow roots and
continue to grow as trees are popular around here.
It fascinates me that they can plant a branch and it continue to grow.

Near the end of our hike, we stopped at a familiar spot where there is a small waterfall and an area of the river that is deep enough to jump in.  We were all hot and sweaty.  After a quick snack of banana bread and grapes, we jumped in.  It was a perfect rest stop after the 2 ½ hour hike.  

King of the Rock

Family "fofo"

Sistas!!!

After cooling off, taking some pics, and resting, we packed up and headed down the remainder of the trail to the bus stop.  

What a view!  The pictures just don't do it justice, but I tried...  You gotta come hear and check it out for yourself.  It is a beautiful country!

Crossing the river.

BLUE SKY!!!

Selfie of me and my cute hiking partner.
We have more hikes in our near future.
Stay tuned.

The sun is shining! Praise the Lord!

The Morgue family went to the super market and we headed home.  We stopped for some ice cream popsicles to thank Maidena for watching Jaden.  He was napping when we got home, but she said that they had a great time together.

After showering and warming up and resting a bit, we made dinner and played a few card games.  Eddie spent time practicing his sermon and the ladies got packed up so they would be ready to leave in the morning.