Bug Bites and a Little Drummer Boy

Saturday, November 24

Bug Bite Update:  After I finished the laundry, I had so much pain from my stupid bug bite that I needed to take a nap.  After a nap, we got ready to go to youth group.  We were having a party and putting up the Christmas Tree at CISA.  When we arrived, Eddie and I got Hector’s attention to ask him about my worm bug bite because I was in so much pain.  I was frustrated because I felt like I was being such a baby and that I was letting a little bug bite slow me down.  He asked if he could try to squeeze it; and, even though it hurt more than childbirth, I let him.  I was crying and screaming, but that did not deter him.  In the end, he agreed that it was best I go to a doctor. 

April had mentioned to me that there was a doctor in La Suisa that takes patients in the evenings and on the weekends.  Daniel showed up to give Eddie and I a ride there.  We left Jaden at the Christmas party with Amanda and Rysen (Thanks for taking care of him, guys).

We only waited about 5 minutes for the doctor and we went in to his office/exam room.  He asked me several questions, and then took a look at my worm bug bite.  He swabbed it with iodine and I was sure he was going to cut me open.  I couldn’t watch.  I knew Eddie was there so I closed my eyes.  He was poking me with something and talking in Spanish and I have no idea what he was saying.  Very quickly, I understood that he was saying that it was a “grande piel infección” (a great, big skin infection).  That was WAY better than having a worm, in my opinion.  He diagnosed me with some painkillers and antibiotics that won’t hurt Jaden.  We paid for them and were on our way in less than 30 minutes.  Praise the Lord for several things:

1.     No worm

2.     We didn’t have to wait long at the doctor

3.     Antibiotics and Ibuprofen

When we were on our way home, I asked Eddie what he was poking me with.  He told me that it was just Q-tips… (oh… because it felt like needles)

We made it back to the Christmas party on time for Eddie to lead a few Christmas Carols with Hector, and then headed home to go to bed

Sunday, November 25

Bug Bite Update: I stayed in bed all day because it hurt so bad.  During the night, when I got up to use the restroom, I almost passed out from the pain.   That it is when Eddie suggested I take the painkillers… duh… why didn’t I think of that?  Once they kicked in, they helped and I was able to sleep some.  I woke up often and counted the hours until morning.  I tried to distract myself with Facebook on my phone, but not many people post new updates at 3 in the morning.  I ended up playing Solitare on my phone until I could fall back to sleep.

It rained all day, so even Eddie, Jaden and the rest of the family stayed in all day.  It was a pretty cold and dreary day, but a good day to rest and get on my way to getting better.    It was also good for Eddie to rest because he hurt his back yesterday.  Oh 28… you are coming quickly, and bringing aches and pains with you.  Sorry Eddie, we all have to age sometime.

Freddy and the kids put up their Christmas tree tonight.  I enjoyed watching but was in too much pain to help.  I was also nervous for Jaden as they brought out the ornaments.  He was too little to remember last Christmas, and this year he is very curious.  I hope he does not break anything!

Monday, November 26

Since Eddie has a sore back, Deidre is not feeling well, and I have worm… bug bite… I mean skin infection, our exercise class was cancelled.

I did make it to Spanish class and I felt quite a bit better today than yesterday.  Rysen and I are learning about reflexive verbs, and my brain just does not want to get it.  Today was a day where I felt like frustration was hanging over my head like a cloud.  I was in pain, I wasn’t learning anything, and the world was going to end.  Okay… I’m exaggerating, but I was frustrated.  I literally had to tell myself, “Today is just one of those days where you have to press on until tomorrow because 

tomorrow WILL BE BETTER!” 

I went home and took a nap.

Bug Bite Update: When I woke up, I checked my bug bite.  Low and behold, it was doing just what the doctor said it would do.  One word: Pus!  I will spare you the details, but let me tell you: Eddie will never look at mixed ketchup and mayonnaise the same ever again!

I left it alone for a few hours, and just before bed, Eddie asked Freddy if he wanted to see my bug bite.  He was so excited, he jumped out of bed and ran to get his glasses.  Next thing I know, he is trying to “help” me.  I am glad the word “no” crosses the language barrier easily!

Tuesday, November 27

Today in class, Rysen and I learned more about reflexive verbs.  They are just not my favorite, but I know I will eventually understand.  It is confusing because I cannot connect them to an English equivalent, so I have a hard time knowing when to use them.  Sonia said that we would work on them the rest of the week and that we would get it as we practiced more and started listening for them more in conversation.

For those interested, a reflexive verb is one where you are talking about yourself.  For example, you don’t “take a shower” in Spanish.  Instead, you “bathe yourself.”  It is the same with shaving.  You don’t just “shave,” you “shave yourself.” 

In Spanish: “Yo me baño en la mañana.”  That means “I take a shower in the morning,” but it really translates to “I bathe myself in the morning.”  AHHH!  I know, that seems easy, but that is because that is the only example I really understand.  There are SOOO many more!

One of the teachers at CISA, Ana, made a drum for Jaden… She knows him so well.  This is how he plays with it:

Eddie and I rested and did homework the rest of the afternoon.  We also hung out with Jimena, José Pablo, Christy, Ebony and Karen this evening.

Samia and Freddy celebrated Samia’s birthday party with her friends at the restaurant.  They started at 10:30 am and did not get home until well after dinner.  I am so glad that Samia finally got a day to just have fun.  She is always working… in fact, I would guess that she even served her friends at her party.  I think she enjoyed her day!

Bug Bite Update: more pus and the infection seems to be exiting.  The skin around it is not as red and inflamed as it has been.  I am praising God that it is in a “good” location as opposed to a really “bad” location.  Some of the stories I have heard have been about people having “the same” issue as me but in various awkward locations.  It just gives me one more reason to be thankful!

Wednesday, November 28

My week was made awesome because I received two messages from two different girls who were in my small group at Lifepointe Youth!  Both messages were so encouraging and a great reminder that God is at work.  I am thankful for their encouraging words and it just spurs me on to keep doing what God wants me to do.  Thanks, Girls!  (You know who you are!)

Eddie and I ventured out at 7:00 this morning once again for our exercise class.  I wasn’t sure what I could do, but I was willing to try.  I found out that I could not run or jump, but doing lunges and ab-work-outs were fine.  I was glad I went!  We even did crunches for a minute straight to see how many we could do.  I was going for 90 to beat Eddie, but I only did 70… I don’t know how he did 84, but I was proud of myself anyway.

We practiced reflexive verbs in class again today, and I finally feel like I am starting to get it.  I still have trouble using them, but I am starting to hear them and understand them.  También, nosotros dibujamos nuestra mascotas y estamos hablando sobre estos.  (We drew our pets and were talking about them.)  My imaginary pet is named “Diente Dulce” which means “Sweet Tooth.”  She can walk, fly and swim and she gives me sweets or candy whenever I want them, especially when I am studying.  Shhhhh… it’s a secret Eddie does not know about.  He and Amanda made their own class pet a few weeks ago and it has two heads and is named “Danector” (it is named after Daniel and Hector).

After class we rested, ate dinner and then got ready to go back to CISA for a traditional, weekly Christmas party.  Every Wednesday (from now until Christmas) Hector plans a gathering for the community.  As I understand it, they also use it as a rehearsal for their Annual Christmas Pageant.  I think they are performing it on Christmas Eve, so we are sad we will miss it.  Singing familiar Christmas songs in Spanish was fun, and I love that we get to be a part of this community outreach.

When we got home, Eddie had to pack his bag for his trip to Chirripo.  The people there are in great need of ministry and many other things.  They are the indigenous people who live up in the mountains.  They are the reason CISA exists.  The people of CISA worked for 3 years just to running water to their village.  I don’t know much about it, but Eddie can share with you more once he returns.  They are only going for one night, so they will be back Friday afternoon before dark.  Please pray for safety and successful ministry to the people in Chirripo.

Bug Bite Update:  It is soooo much better, and I continue to be thankful that it did not get worse.  It could have been sooo much worse, but God is taking care of me!  Right now it looks like a pretty deep hole in the skin, but I am confident that it will close up just fine as it heals.  I am sure it will be my permanent souvenir from Costa Rica.  I should tattoo the words “Pura Vida” around it and call it art!

Headed to Chiripo at 6:00 AM

Thursday, November 29

One last glimpse of him for 2 days...

Eddie and some others headed out this morning around 6:00am for their trip to “Chirripo” (the indigenous tribe that lives in the mountains).  I wasn’t able to go because I needed to stay home with Jaden, plus no one wanted me to risk making my infection worse with the less cleanly conditions of the hike.  Eddie was very excited to go, and Rysen was able to go with him.  I can’t wait to hear all about it when he returns.

Because Rysen and Eddie were not in class today, each of us girls had our teachers to ourselves.  Also, there was no Bible class or Culture class, so it made for an easier week.

Sonia and I had fun in class today.  I didn’t realize how spoiled I was for the first month to be the only student in my class.   Today I read my first children’s book in Spanish and understood it (It helped that it was “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears” or “Ricitos de Oros”).  One thing I noticed was that they do not use quotation marks for dialogue in writing.  They use a dash instead to indicate the beginning of someone’s dialogue.  I asked Sonia about it and she was showing me examples in the Bible.  She told me that she never had a student ask her about that in the past.  Does that make me a nerd, or what?

I was also pretty happy because Sonia decided to borrow Book 3 for me for today because she wanted to teach me one of the chapters from it.  I now understand a little bit how to use the words “para” and “por” correctly… they both mean “for” and several other things but they are used in different contexts.  We never know which one to use, but now I at least know the reasons for the different uses (not that I will remember them when I am using them in conversation, but I can start to listen for them and understand the reason behind it). 

I stayed after school today to help Diana with her English.  She is taking English classes, but her professor is not good at correct English pronunciation.   Diana wants to learn how to say the words she is learning to read, write, and understand.  We practiced pronunciation and reviewed the test she did not do well on.  I love getting a chance to help her, but I really wish that we had more opportunities to help those who are interested in learning English.

Jaden never napped at school today, so he was so tired as I carried him home.  He fell asleep in my arms and it was so precious.  My baby is not a baby anymore, but I will take those sweet moments when I can get them!

Freddy and Samia went out on a date tonight to celebrate her birthday on Saturday.  I am so glad they got a chance to do that.  They don’t usually get to spend much time together because of work, so it was great to see them make that effort!

I got a chance to practice my “Skip-Bo” skills tonight.  I taught José Pablo, Jimena, and Christy how to play my favorite childhood game, and José Pablo won both games!  He kept telling me he was the new King of Skip-Bo.  Really, it is because he had such a good teacher!

Bug Bite Update: It is even better today.  The hole is healing up and it is not draining as much anymore.  It is starting to itch, so that means it is healing.  The skin surrounding it is back to normal.  Don’t get me wrong, it is still gross inside the “bullet wound” but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  It is getting better!  Praise the Lord!

Also, we have another praise:

I took the picture on the right standing just inside the front gates of CISA (red bars).  That aqua colored house behind the tree is the one we will be living in for three months!

To the left is a little better picture of the house we plan to live in starting in January.  We were exited to hear this news because we did not know where we would be living for the months of January - March, but now we do.  We are going to be so close the the school, we can see it out our windows. 

Please continue to pray for us as we seek out opportunities to serve.  Deidre and Amanda are in the process of planning a weekly Zumba class as an outreach to the community and as a way to invite people to church.  We hope to start those classes next week.  We also hope to build connections with the people in our neighborhood and help them get connected to God through CISA.   

Thanksgiving Week

We have a lot to be thankful for, but most of all we are thankful for our Lord and Savior.  Without Him, we would be lost.  We are also thankful for the opportunity to be here in this beautiful country!  We have had so many blessings a long the way...

Monday, November 19

Our early morning Exercise Class came just a bit too early for us, but we made it.  Daniel led us on a run/walk up the mountain again, but it just doesn’t seem to get any easier.

Mom and Dad flew home from Miami at 9:00am and made it just on time for my Dad’s doctor’s appointment in Chicago.  Thankfully, he had a good report from the eye doctor, but he still has to wait sometime before his eye will be fully healed.

We have a new student at CISA starting today, bringing our total number of students to 6 (but Jennea is leaving in a week).  Her name is Deidre, and she is a friend of Amanda’s.  She is staying for 3 months.   She is one awesome woman with a cute Boston accent who speaks in a perfect Spanish accent.  She knows a lot of Spanish words, but struggles putting them together in conversation.  I believe she will learn quickly, too.

We enjoyed a restful afternoon after class and recuperated from our weekend adventure.

Tuesday, November 20

Today was a pretty low-key day at CISA.  We had Spanish Class and Bible Class where we recited the books of the New Testament in Spanish from memory.  We also discussed 15 questions about Genesis 1 that we had for homework. 

Kerlin, Samia and Gabby

Eddie stayed at school to prepare two more songs for the band to learn at band practice tomorrow night, so I walked home with Jaden.  While he napped, I worked on preparing for culture class where we are all doing a presentation on Thanksgiving.  We don’t have class on Thursday in honor of the American Holiday.

Una fiesta en la casa de nuestro para celebran cumpleaños de Gabby:  Samia hosted a party for Gabby’s birthday at our house in the evening.  We enjoyed another wonderful dinner and tres leches queque.  

Gangnam Style

There was also dancing in the kitchen once again, but this time it was Samia, Jose Pablo, and Eddie... Gangnam style...

After the party, Eddie and I had a late-night homework session because he forgot about the fact that he had to prepare for culture class.

Wednesday, November 21

Deidre joined us for our work-out this morning.  It was fun to have someone with so much energy join our “equipo.” 

We were all feeling less than prepared for our presentations for culture class today, but we usually have time in class to put the finishing touches on it with our teachers.  What we didn’t know was:  Culture Class was moved to 9:00.   It was now 8:20 and we were just finding this out.  We spent the next 40 minutes preparing, and when the time came, we were ready.  All of our presentations were about Thanksgiving, but we each chose a different topic.

1.     I spoke about the history of Thanksgiving and the process America went through for it to become a national holiday.

2.     Rysen talked about the history of Canadian Thanksgiving and how it was celebrated many years before the first American Thanksgiving.  Also, it is celebrated in October because the harvest in Canada is earlier in the year than it is here.  Interesante, verdad?

3.     Eddie talked about typical American Thanksgiving food… are you surprised?

4.     Jennea talked about typical American Thanksgiving desserts; aka: Pie.  She even made an apple pie for us to taste.

5.     Amanda talked about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and her family’s tradition of watching it while they cook all morning.

6.     Deidre talked about “Black Friday,” and how it is sadly taking over Thanksgiving Day.  I have to add, that I am more aware and more saddened this year that our country spends a day being thankful and then the next day being more greedy than ever.  I pray that everyone is able to focus on the significance of all that we have to be thankful for.  By the way, Deidre did a fantastic job on her presentation and she has only been here for 4 days.

Ana and Jennea

After culture class, we celebrated Jennea’s graduation from CISA.  We are sad that she is leaving, but we are very proud of her and how much she has learned and grown while being her at CISA.

After class, we ate lunch while discussing “who” would be preparing “what” for our Thanksgiving feast.  We were hoping to be able to all go shopping together for the food, but that just did not work out.  We did get a chance to invite the staff of CISA and finalize the number of people who would be in attendance.

Jennea had a hair appointment in Turrialba this afternoon, so I tagged along.  We needed to buy a few specialty items at the grocery store in Turrialba.  We found the rest of what we needed in Tuis and La Suisa (which was much closer.)

As I sat there waiting for Jennea to get her hair done, I was thinking “I want to get my hair cut.”  Plus, there was a woman there who had just had her hair cut there yesterday.  I loved it… so I decided to chop it off.  I didn’t even tell Eddie.

He retaliated by buzzing his head that night.

Once Jennea and I were done shopping, we loaded up our backpacks with our groceries and carried everything to the bus stop to wait.  We waited in the rain for about 15 minutes and when the bus arrived, it was packed.  I could barely find a place to stand, and there were three more people boarding the bus behind me.  The last person was basically standing on the first step next to the open door.  The lady behind me was practically driving the bus.  Eventually, some people got off the bus and a kind man offered me a seat.  That is about the time things started to fall apart.  Jennea was dropping thing out of her bag, I was bumping into people trying to get my bag off my back so I could sit, and people were staring.  It made me think twice about ever trying to grocery shop again.  To top it off, the bus was so full and it was so dark, Jennea missed her stop because she couldn't see it out the window.  We had an adventure, but tried to remember all along that we were thankful for so many things!  I mean… things could have been a whole lot worse, so I try to keep a smile on my face, even when my heart wishes for modern day luxuries that I took for granted before we moved here, like: my car.

 Thursday, November 22

Happy Thanksgiving… or as they would say here: “Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!”

We had a blessed opportunity to serve those who usually serve us.  All six students of CISA made a Thanksgiving Feast for our teachers, the directors, our cook, and Jaden's nanny.

I woke up around 7:00 and tried to make Heath bar cookies before breakfast.  That turned into a more difficult task than I had imagined.  I ended up mixing the dough with my hands… I mean literally “hands in dough.”  I had fun and after the first tray came out burned, the rest were perfect and tasted delicious.

After breakfast, we got ready to go to CISA to meet the other students to start cooking.  We all planned to be there around 10 and try to eat lunch around 1:00.  Even though we did not have class today, the teachers had a meeting so they were there anyway.  Everyone was calling Eddie and I “loco” because of our “nueva look.”

Leaning Tower of Cheese-a

Deidre made the sweet potatoes (which were actually white), Amanda made the bread pudding and coquito, Rysen “made” the mashed potatoes and corn, Eddie made rice and beans and macaroni and cheese.  I made the honey butter (thanks Adama family).  Deidre and Amanda worked as a team to make 3 chickens.  Jennea made the apple pies.  We definitely had a feast.  I helped Eddie prep the cheese for the mac n cheese... this it my "Leaning Tower of Cheese-a."

Patricia, Diana, and Ana

... and Zeidy

Their last day together: La Maestra y La Estudiante

Everyone loved the food and we enjoyed the chance to serve and fellowship with the staff of CISA.   Daniel even provided the dinner entertainment… he kept appearing with different costumes.

After we cleaned up (thanks Rysen and Eddie), we hung out and Deidre even led a little Zoomba lesson.  We then had the brilliant idea to set up the projector with Eddie’s computer and have a movie night.  We pulled the couch out to the main room, hooked up to the sound system, and sat down with popcorn and snacks.   It was a relaxing evening and we are thankful for the opportunity to enjoy such luxuries!

One additional event of the day was the discovery that may possibly have a worm growing under my skin where I have a bug bite.  I have shown the bite to several Costa Ricans and have had many different opinions given to me.  Some people say it is a worm and has to be covered to suffocate it so it dies (like with tape).  Others say it is just a bad reaction to a bug bite.  Others think it may be an infected bug bite.  I don’t know what to do, but I am now treating it with antibiotic cream. 

Friday, November 23

Everybody needs a day to relax… we slept in until 8:00 today.  We ate a late breakfast and just hung out around the house for a while.  Eddie decided to go for a run because it was such a gorgeous morning… well, it wasn’t raining.  When he returned, he told me that Rysen and Deidre wanted to take a trip to Turrialba today at 11:00.  We decided to join them.  We ate at “Cocina de Betty” again because we enjoyed it so much when we ate there with my parents.  April and her family happened to be there too.  We had a chance to visit with her and she invited us over next week for coffee.

Next, we walked into town and just wandered.  We didn’t have much of an agenda, but Rysen did want to buy a cell phone and he was hoping for Black Friday sales.  I never imagined I would go Black Friday shopping in Costa Rica, but we did.  There were many more people in the stores and many stores had sound systems set up with people talking very loudly trying to attract attention to their stores.  It was more obnoxious than inviting, in my humble opinion.

We snacked on pastries and I visited two pharmacies to try to diagnose my bug bite.  We took the 4:00 bus home and had a relaxing evening.  We ate dinner with José Pablo and Freddy.  While I was washing the dishes, Freddy was asking me about our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.  He asked me why we didn’t make turkey, and I was trying to tell him that it takes a long time to cook a turkey.  I was also trying to say that the ovens here are small only I said the word for “urinate” instead of the word for “oven.”  Wow… that was an embarrassing mix-up!  The evening ended with a movie night with José Pablo.   We watched "Lockout."

Saturday, November 24

Since the months of November and December are very rainy here, there is not much of a chance for our cloths to dry out in the sun.  Samia has been worried all week about running out of clean, dry cloths for her family.  Since they do not have a dryer, she did several loads of laundry this morning, and Freddy drove me over to Amanda's house for a couple of hours so that I could dry all of the clothes in her dryer.  It has been an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon.  Jaden took a nap, and I caught up on my blog...  Thanks for reading!

La Catarata de La Fortuna

Saturday, November 17

Although there is plenty to do in La Fortuna, it is better when the weather is nice.  Saturday was a pretty dreary day weather wise, but we didn’t let that stop us from having fun.  When we woke up, we didn’t have much of a plan for what to do.  We asked about various tours and settled on a hike to La Catarata de La Fortuna (or waterfall).  The hike to the waterfall is described as a “20 minute walk down to the waterfall.”  Unfortunately, the hike was pretty difficult for my parents.   It probably took us 40 minutes and my mom stopped half-way down because she was concerned about the climb back up.  The steps were irregular and steep, so I was proud of her for making it as far as she did. 

Dad had trouble too because of his eye surgery and problems with depth perception right now.  Being the independent man that he is, he successfully made it to the waterfall and back without incident.  Praise the Lord for continued safety.

 Once we arrived at the bottom, we all wished for our bathing suits or at least a change of clothes.  Rysen and Jennea didn’t let that stop them from swimming in their cloths.  And since I had to change Jaden’s diaper anyway, we let him take a dip too.

This family improvises in the wild!

The pictures do not capture the beauty of the falls, but that is the best we can do.  After many photo ops and thoroughly exploring the base of the falls, we hiked back up to where Mom was sitting and resting and climbed back up to wait for the taxi.  Amanda and Rysen felt like working out their arms while we waited, and Jaden joined them for a mini exercise class.

 Some other key attractions of the town of La Fortuna are Lake Arenal, Tabacón Resort, Tabacón River, horseback riding, 4-wheeling, canyoning, zip-linning, floating down the river, and several other tours.  Since we had a rental car (that we don’t all fit in) My parents and Eddie and I took a drive to visit Lake Arenal, Tabacón Resort, and the Tabacón River.  We started with a stop at Tabacón Resort where they didn’t let us enter with out paying, but we spent some time in the gift shop.  The woman there told us about a spot on the Tabacón River where the locals go to swim.  Eddie and I made our way down under the bridge and wished we had our swimsuits once again.  The river was warm like the hot springs, and there were a ton of people just hanging out.  The problem was, it was around 5:00 and it was starting to get dark, so we didn’t have time to go back to the hotel to get the others and their suits.  We will just have to come back to visit with the next visitors we have here in Costa Rica.

Tabacón River: local hot springs.

Tabacón River: local hot springs.

Lake Arenal

We headed back and walke to a restaurant for dinner.  Just before they brought our food out, the lights went dim… we quickly realized why.  They brought out our food but the plates were on fire… Obviously for presentation.  It was pretty awesome looking.

 After dinner we walked around La Fortuna again and of course stopped at Pops for dessert.  We also spent some time browsing the stores and did some souvenir shopping.  We had an enjoyable weekend at La Fortuna and we highly recommend the trip to everyone who is interested!!!

 

Sunday, November 18

Our day consisted of a day of travel for everyone:

Destination: Home

For Mom and Dad, Home = Indiana (via rental car and 2 airplanes) = 17 hours of travel time (turned in to over 24 hours because their late flight out of San Jose resulted in missing their flight in Miami to Chicago, so they had to sleep one night in Miami).

For Eddie, Deanna, and Jaden: Home = Tuis (via rental car, taxi, two buses, and Freddy) = 8 ½ hours of travel time

For Rysen, Jennea, and Amanda: Home = La Selva and Tuis (via 3 buses and 2 taxies) = 9 hours of travel time

Again, we praise God for his protection because all of our travel plans went by safely and we all arrived home in one piece… tired but happy!

 Here are some pictures of the view while we were driving home:

Last view of the volcano... we could see the peak one last time.

San José

Countryside Farm

San Ramón

Our little angel who slept almost the whole trip home!
Thankfully he is a good sleeper!