Friday, December 21, 2007

Quick note

Hey all,

Since I don't have my cell phone in the U.S. anymore, you can't call me there while I'm home. Also, all my numbers were saved in that phone so I don't have most people's phone numbers, so it will be hard to call you.

My house phone is 891-0483. I'll be getting into Omaha very late December 23. Before, I was planning on heading back to Costa Rica January 2 but now that has changed and I won't be heading back until at least January 9!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Still truckin'

Hey, it’s me. I’m hanging in here, counting down the days when I will be home for Christmas. Soon! Things are still winding down here with the school year ending. This last week one last push has been made by the teachers to get all their final reports in and give everything squared away, so it’s been pretty hectic. I’m more of an observer, and when I jump in to help, I most type and help fill things in but I don’t really understand what I’m doing.

Last night was a really great experience because I got to go to the graduation dinner of the 6th graders at the elementary school. Since here in Costa Rica there is only elementary school (kindergarten through 6th grade) and high school (7th grade through 11th or 12th, depending on the high school), a big deal is made about graduating from elementary. They get diplomas and have dinners and parties.

I can’t remember if I’ve written much about the lack of separation between church and state here in Costa Rica, but I still find it interesting (and very surprising to someone who grew up in the U.S.) that they pray in the schools and have memos sent from the principal to the parents saying “Bless you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!” I have been to two graduation dinners, and at both we prayed. At the first, they kids lit candles and the principal talked about how it represented the Holy Spirit and how with a little flame a fire can spread and they can spread throughout each other. Pretty intense.

And then you have me sitting there, only used to this kind of stuff at “churchy” functions, looking around waiting for somebody to stand up and start yelling that since they believe that God is a tree or we are God or God doesn’t exist we can’t pray to Jesus. But that I know of, that doesn’t happen here.

Did I ever mention another thing that still startles me, although I am somewhat more use to it? The first week or two I was here in Costa Rica I was standing on the bus (as usual because there were no available seats) and I was enjoying the scenery outside the bus when I looked down at the lady sitting in the seat near me and she was breastfeeding her baby…no towel or shirt covering her up. My face turned red and I wondered if anybody else noticed.

And so, I learned that, for whatever reason, it is fairly normal to breastfeed in public here. Maybe it’s because of the long bus rides since most don’t own cars, or maybe it’s something different, but it’s normal here.

Also they charge in many public places to use the restroom, and they don’t drink beer out of the bottle (only Nicaraguans do that, I’m told) so they pour it into a cup with lots of ice. Who wants watered down beer?

Anyways I am here and living and fairly healthy and waiting, waiting, and waiting to come home. Some big things are going on here, so if you’re ever talking to God and you think of me, maybe throw my name in there.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Christmas in hot weather





For the first time since I arrived to San José de Upala I actually felt cold these last two nights and mornings. Apparently December is their coldest month. Although, cold for here is that now instead of sleeping with one sheet and only my shorts on when I sleep, I put a t-shirt and socks on, so it’s still not exactly cold. It’s amazing that in the day it’s still just as hot. It’s near 90 today, so I’m sitting here sweating like usual.

On Saturday the family bought a small little fake Christmas tree. Although it seems people celebrate Christmas here, there are a few differences. First, there aren’t a ton of evergreen trees here, and it never gets close to snowing. It’s a very different atmosphere. The weather is almost the same as it is the rest of the year, so although it seems people will be celebrating Christmas, not as many people have lights or trees, although some do have lights and trees.

The other difference I found was when I was talking to my old host mom, the one from training. I asked her about Christmas but she said Christmas isn’t a huge deal there for her. The reason is, however, that she is fairly poor and can only afford a little basket of candy for each of her grandkids. I know there are people like that in the U.S., but growing up in suburban Omaha, I didn’t know anybody like that.

With the end of their school year in site and classes ending in the next couple weeks, things are winding down around town. People still pressure me to teach them English, or should I say somehow channel it to them just while being in their presence (who wants to work to gain something anyways?) but with the school year ending, I’ve been telling them we’ll start in February. That gives me time to get the books and do some planning.

One thing that I can say positively is that my health has been good, and that is something I should be more thankful for. I think I wrote about it in another entry about my experience when I studied abroad in Costa Rica and how sick I was. Plus, since I don’t have good eating habits in the U.S, I’ve never felt really healthy as far as my stomach and food goes. But here, for the most part, I feel a lot better, health wise. I’m still used to eating rice and beans twice a day (lunch and dinner). I am eating so much though, and a few people around town have taken note that they can tell, at least in my face, that I’m gaining weight! I keep telling them after my two years I’m going to be fat.

Every moment of every day here is a struggle for me, an effort to push the “hard button.” It’s not enough to think only in today, that I will have a good day, for example. It’s a fight moment to moment as I struggle to determine which activities are best for the community and how to get community involvement. So many have their own agendas or want to use people or don’t understand sustainable development that it’s hard to know who to trust or who to work with each day. It’s really hard to keep the balance between rest and work, because I know that I could let myself slip into doing favors for people all day or overworking myself, and so that’s another struggle—taking the right amount of time out for myself.

Some really good, humble, and simply very nice people live here and have helped me tremendously through these hard times when I let comments from the negative people weigh me down. With the great people that are here, there are also people that seem to have few redeeming qualities, and sometimes it’s hard living and working with them.

With some low moments here I started looking through “Shattered Dreams” by Larry Crabb again. I read it earlier during training but depending on where we’re at in life, we can see very different things when we read or hear the same thing as before but now with different circumstances. What he talks about and what I’ve been thinking about lately has to do with trying to make sense of a seemingly unresponsive God, especially through our tough times. Although I don’t really understand the specifics, people I respect and look up to talk about how the hard times can be good for us—somehow we grow or learn or move forward. It’s really hard to see that right now in the middle of the storm.

One guy I’ve met will be entering his senior year of high school in February. He’s been a very good friend to me and he is very humble. He lives only with his mom in a house that has dirt for a floor and I don’t think any right angles exist in the house—I’m surprised the plywood is holding up. They are poor. Their only form of transportation is that he has a bike. They don’t have a car, landline phone, or cell phone.

He really stands out because he has such drive. Most people out here have little vision or drive to succeed, much of which is passed down from the parents. With little options for jobs in this place, it’s not a far fetch that people don’t have a lot of inspiration or incentive. But my friend (Oscar) has been teaching himself English for the last few years. His dream is to spend a week in the U.S. He wants to be a tour guide here in Costa Rica and he loves the English language and is so eager to see what the U.S. is like. He wants me to bring pictures back of anything—the streets, buildings, people.

I would really like to find an exchange program or a way to help him have his dream come true of spending a week (or more) in the U.S. One thing we take for granted, or at least I do, is that as a U.S. citizen we can travel to so many countries with ease. Yet here, there are so many people in Costa Rica that are turned down everyday for a visa to visit the U.S. And get this—it costs about $100 just to apply for a visa—and if they turn you down, that money isn’t returned. So there are poor people that have to save up just to apply, only to be turned down. Oscar can’t even afford a visa, but even if he saves up, I’m scared he will be turned down. I’ve noticed that exchange programs help, because once accepted, they take care of the technical stuff like visas, and everyone accepted into the program gets a visa and gets to travel. So the hard part is finding and getting accepted into an exchange program.

Anyways, I’m mentioning this story because I’d like to do more research in getting him a program or some organization that he can apply for that will allow him to do something in the U.S. Work or attend school or something. I figure enough people read this that somebody might know somebody who might know of an organization. Please let me know!