Weeks 17 & 18: Washed

Last weekend my church, Templo Bautista de Atenas, celebrated its 10^th anniversary. Church services were held at the nearby church camp and we had lunch and games afterwards. It was a fun time of celebration and thankfulness for what God has been doing in Atenas through this church body. Several of the church members stood up and gave a testimony of how the church (the people) had blessed them so much in the past years. I really appreciated that time, because I feel like too often we never hear about the praises that are filling our lives. It was the largest attendance I’ve seen since being here—somewhere around 80 to 90 people. Typically, our Sunday services have only about 50-60 people.

Besides the anniversary celebration, we also celebrated the baptisms of 11 people. It was the first time I have ever seen a baptism done in a swimming pool—a dirty swimming pool for that matter(the pastor actually told us that the pump was broken and there would be no swimming after the service). Quite a unique experience! I imagined in my mind how it looked when John was baptizing people in the Jordan. Was the river water similar to this pool water? Either way, this was the biggest celebration of the day—a visible picture of repentance and obedience to God. It didn’t matter how dirty that swimming pool water was because Christ baptizes not with water but with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8).



Pastor Yeremy reads the Scriptures before the baptisms.



Other than the church festivities, it has been rather tranquil around here recently--although, I do have a few more species to add my ‘captured-critter list’:

 Last week I came home one evening to find a strange creature fluttering about in my house. When I inquired about it, my host mom said that it was bird that had become trapped in the house. I glanced back up to confirm my suspicions that the “bird” was actually a bat---“umm…yeah, that’s not a bird.” I didn’t know the Spanish word for bat, so I reverted back to the old game of Pictionary and other words that might work. Somewhere between me using my fingers as vampire fangs and “Dracula”, my mom and brother must have understood because they shot out of the house like the devil himself was on their heels. I figured it couldn’t be too hard to catch a bat—it couldn’t be harder than catching a chicken, right? I grabbed a blanket and started trying to throw it over Dracula. The high ceilings in the kitchen and the sonar of the bat made it tough to capture him very gently so I switched to more barbaric methods. I used the blanket as whip and bounced him off the wall and onto the ground. It didn’t kill him but it stunned him long enough for me to escort him outside with a plastic crate.

An uninvited house guest.

Also, on the same Sunday as the baptisms, we found a small snake in the pool a few hours after the church service. My host dad plucked him out with a skimmer and threw it down on the concrete. Before it could regain its composure I reached down (I really don’t know why) and grabbed it just behind its head. We weren’t sure if it was venomous or not, so I took him way off into the woods and let him go. I think everyone there, including me, had the same question: Was the snake in the pool during the baptisms?!

So, I guess that I have two praises this week: No rabies, and no snake bites.

Weeks 15 & 16: A Family Visit

Despite not having the usual distractions of television (in English), internet and other forms of petty entertainment, I still have difficulty finding time to keep my blog updates regularly. Even though the lifestyle is more laid-back, somehow my personal time seems to be stuck on ‘fast-forward’. Another two weeks have passed with new experiences to ponder and share.



Question: How big is this tree?



For the past four days I was able to spend time with my brother and college friend who came to visit me and to see Costa Rica. We went to a couple of volcanoes, which I had not seen before, and experienced the land from a tourists’ point-of-view. Costa Rica is now in the rainy season and consequently also in the off-season for tourism. The result was good prices for tours and hotels, and we didn’t have to fight any crowds. In fact, the tourist town of La fortuna was nearly a ghost town except for the presence of the locals.

I finally saw my first snake in Costa Rica---a little guy but really spunky!

While I enjoyed the fun and novelty of being a tourist, I couldn’t help but be excited to return home to Atenas at the end of the weekend. I think my favorite part of my brother’s visit was when he came to meet my host family. He and my friend spent the afternoon with my host family as we set around and enjoyed coffee and conversation…Well, mas o menos ”conversation.” Neither of them speak Spanish, so I had to put on my translator hat—a role I’ve never played before. As I’ve said before, I don’t speak Spanish well, and translating is something usually reserved for the fluent. When I’m speaking for just myself, I can pick---very conveniently—the things I want to say in Spanish. My brother and friend put me to the test because they had no clue as to which words I knew and which ones that I did not. I felt like I was in a language whorl wind, and after thirty minutes my mind was fried. Regardless of my translation shortcomings, it was great to share my Tico family and their culture with my brother and friend. It gave them new perspective and insight on some of the past stories I had shared with them.



Volcan Arenal

This past weekend was also a reminder that life back in the US is moving forward without me. People are graduating, friends are getting married, and work is being done. It’s hard not to think about those things and feel like I am missing out on so much. As I watched my brother and friend drive away from my host family’s house, I was hit with a sense of loneliness and sadness because I wasn’t going with them. They were headed back to all the things that I missed. Fortunately, those feelings didn’t last long as God reminded of all the great blessings I am experiencing here in Costa Rica. Every day, Christ bids us to let go of the things of this world and to follow him whole-heartedly ---And now I am realizing that sometimes that means letting go of even the good things.



Answer: That big.





Weeks 12-14: Halftime

It is hard for me to believe, but as of last week I have reached the halfway mark in my 6 month internship. I have mixed emotions and thoughts about that fact, but one thing is for sure, the next 3 months will go by even faster.

I apologize to all of the blog "regulars" that follow me on weekly basis--I have been slacking in the last month. I will try to get back on a more consistent routine with my blog updates.

Bocas del Toro: Starfish Beach

As a part of the halfway mark, the other interns and myself went to Panama for a visa-renewal trip. Our visas are good for 90 days in Costa Rica, at which point we have to leave the country for 3 days and then return. We made the best of our trip and spent some time in Bocas del Toro, which is a cluster of islands on the Caribbean coast.....Ehh-nice! The white sand beaches, clear water, and picturesque palm trees made for a great weekend of relaxation. We spent most of the time exploring different beaches, but one day we took to the high seas on a large sailboat with an interesting German captain. When we weren’t snorkeling or napping on the bow, we listened to some of his crazy stories that he had collected throughout his 12 years in Bocas.

Sailing the high seas with my fellow interns

The trip provided some great down time for reflecting on the past 3 months and preparing for the last half of the internship. I’ve been learning so much about myself and who God has made me to be, and I am excited about the next three months. As I returned home on the bus Monday morning, I thought a good deal about changes I need make for the second half of my time in Costa Rica---you could call them halftime adjustments. Many of those changes center around the use of my time and keeping focused in light of my limited time here. One practical application that stems from that conviction is studying Spanish. Even after living here for three months, I can barely hold a conversation with my host family and other Tico friends. My natural persuasion is to justify my lack of learning by the fact that I am just not good at learning foreign languages. Though that may be part of the problem, I know that much of it is my own laziness. If I can’t hold a conversation with my family, then how will I be able to learn from them and encourage them? I don’t want to miss out on the fullness of blessings that can come from living in a foreign culture, so I’ve decided to ramp up my efforts. If I can spend at least 45 minutes each day, dedicated solely to studying Spanish, I think I will be able to really improve my understanding of the language. Hopefully I can find a few folks around me to hold me accountable to that commitment. 

More from Starfish Beach

Other than my trip to Panama, things have been rather normal around here. I did have a funny experience on the walk home from work a few weeks ago. I was sauntering along when passed by a lady holding a broom and standing in the road. When I passed by I saw that there were 3 other folks standing on the other side of a hedge trying to catch a chicken and the broom lady was trying to keep the wild-eyed bird contained. I stopped to assess the situation and figured the odds were in the favor of chicken because most of the people were only a few years away from being called ‘elderly’. I might not be able to speak espanol, but I was pretty confident that I could catch a bird---this might be my only opportunity to hunt in Costa Rica! I asked the lady if I could help, only to receive a confused look----like I said, my Spanish is lacking. I think she understood me, so I stepped in to confront the fugitive. He had pushed through the hedge and was working his way along the top of a steep, rocky ditch. I raced ahead and stood in the ditch, so that our eyes were at the same level. The bird stopped... I held my position. Here we were at O.K. Corral, as I stared down my opponent. He cocked his head and glared back as if to say: “Go ahead partner, draw.” With one swift motion I came flying with a right hook at caught the little fellow mid-air before he could avoid my attack. A few quick yelps and it was all over. I grabbed the chicken by its legs and handed it to the lady, who was rejoicing like she had just witnessed her favorite team make a 9^th inning comeback. To make things more humorous, my family was returning from town in a neighbors truck and had stopped just down the street. They had witnessed the whole episode and were all laughing when I joined them in the truck. They cracked jokes all afternoon and called me something that I didn’t understand. From what I could tell, it was something like ‘chicken catcher’.


We made a sweet raft out of driftwood and vines...and it floated.