Week 5: Office Life

This was my first "normal" week in the office. Now that I'm past orientation, language school, and Mexico, I can begin the real fun of everyday office life. Our office itself is quite large and spacious, and is located very near to the center of Atenas. My walk to work is about 25-30 minutes and I typically arrive at about 7:30. The walk to work has become one of my most cherished activities; a time to escape from everything difficult and to enjoy the peace of the morning.

Besides all the normal work tasks, there are a couple of unique things about the office. Every morning, regardless of the day's schedule, we all gather together in the conference room for prayer. Every morning. To some of you this might seem overly pious and legalistic, but I would challange you otherwise. There is no better way to start a day than to offer up our burdens and praises to God. Setting aside scheduled time for prayer is recognizing our own sinful nature--we won't pray if we don't place priority on it.

In addition to morning prayer, we also share lunch together each day. Three days out of the week we prepare lunch (usually sandwiches) in the office, and the other two days we eat out at a local restaurant. It's a great time to catch up on small talk, UGA basketball and our college football predictions.

I spent most of this past weekend with my host family and our church that we attend. Temple Bautista de Atenas was having their yearly mission's conference, and it was a packed weekend of activities. The church, approximately 60 people, gathered together on Friday evening, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. During each meeting, we sang music (muy dificil!), heard testimonies, and listened to sermons with a focus on missions. Our guest speakers, interestingly enough, were from Huntsville, Alabama! Apparently the church in Huntsville works together with our church here in Atenas, and has been for quite some time. It was fun getting chat with some English-speaking folk! The messages were given in English and translated simultaneously into Spanish. It was amazing to hear and see how God is using this small church in Atenas to share the good news of the Gospel with nations across the globe.

Week 4: La Cienega (Puerto Morelos, Mexico)

When I arrived in Mexico this week, I knew little about the vision and goals of the project and consequently, I had no idea of what to expect. Amor Ministries is a Christian group based out of San Diego, California that was formed 30 years ago in order to serve impoverished people by constructing houses. With some local contacts in Puerto Morelos, they have acquired some property for a Christian university and language school. Higher education for pastors is difficult to come by in Latin America so Amor feels very strongly about the need for this seminary school.

Above: Team meeting on the site.

Our mission for the week was relatively simple: Work with Amor to understand their vision, develop a program and then provide a concept for a campus design. Simple, right? Mas o menos. Now let's throw in some fun ingredients: We have a team made up of 13 people that have never met each other, we are working on a limited time frame, and we have a whole new set of standards and codes to figure out (Mexico). Needless to say, it was an eventful trip full of unanticipated changes and barriers. We started with a site visit trip on Sunday to see the property and make some initial assessment. The land itself is really interesting--full of all sorts of plant and animal life that I've never seen before. Team members kept asking me to indentify certain plants (obviously, I'm a landscape architect, so I should know, right?). With approximately 10,000 species of plant life in the tropics, I was feeling a bit out of my element.

                                                                                                     

Above: Pondering drainage issues...

Our project team of EMI volunteers was quite a diverse group, both in displine and personality. Our members included a wastewater engineer, civil engineer, architects, structural engineer, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and one very handsome landscape architect intern. You can imagine the dynamics of the group just from the range of disciplines. Additionally, I think we had every region of the US represented in our team ( from Alaska to North Carolina). The diversity factor spawns both unique challanges and powerful blessings.

Above: The EMI team hard at work.

 

Our living quarters for the week were really quite nice. It was something between a house and a hostel, and it was affectionaly named the ''Taj Majal.'' We were treated to home-cooked, Mexican food each day---picante! Working spaces were mainly limited to the outside ''palapa'' or another small upstairs room. While the surrounding neighborhood was rather peaceful during the day, night was a whole different ballgame. Apparently the community was celebrating its 37th aniversary--which is a ten day celebration. It was literally a zoo at night: loudspeaker sound effects, music, & fireworks. The nearby parties frenquently lasted until 5:00 in the morning. Pure gringo torture.

Above: Confernce Room / office / dining room

There were times during the week in which I thought that we might not complete our objectives. Programming and masterplanning are typically challanges that take weeks to sort through--we had to do it in 2 or 3 days. I had plenty of doubts. However, I had no reason to worry. God had called us to this project, to these people, and to this purpose: To love God and love people. The work of designing the campus was merely a way of serving, not the ultimate purpose for us being in Mexico. It took the possibility of failure out of the equation, and we were free to live and work with great hope.

Above: One of several Presentations

Friday afternoon rolled around and we presented a concept for a campus masterplan and the phase 1 building. While not complete or definite, the concept stands as a foundation to build upon. Amor Ministries was very excited about the concepts and the future of the campus. Despite the challanges and uncertainties we were able to produce some quality work. It's amazing to see how God brought every awkward piece together form something great--it is a testiment to His sovereignty and grace.

 Above: As for many things in Mexico: no explanation.

Week 3: Coffee and Graduation

On Thursday we took another break from language school to visit a local coffee plant to learn more about one of Costa Rica's important exports. Coffee was the first crop/product to jumpstart Costa Rica´s industrial growth. The climate and terrain of the region are well suited for growing coffee beans and they have taken advantage of that fact. We took a tour of the local mill in Atenas and witnessed the process by which the coffee bean is washed, shelled, and dried.

This week was also the final week of language school. The school has definitely been a great refresher, and I feel confident that I can build on what I learned in the last few weeks. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me in this learning process---I still have a long way to go!

Picture- Me with a whole heap of coffee! (and

my sweet new haircut--shorter than normal)

I won´t get much time to recover from language school, as tomorrow I leave for Puerto Morelos, Mexico. This is one of the projects I will be working on while I am here in Costa Rica. EMI is partnering with Amor Ministries to design a seminary/school campus that will be used to train pastors and other students. I won't go into details at this time, but you can learn more about the project at this link: http://www.emiamericalatina.org/projects/project_7088_EN.php 

Please pray for safety for our project team while we travel. Even more importantly, pray that God will bless this time so that our time will not be in vain. Pray for us to be diligent during the week, whether we are working or building friendships. Pray that we will be humble in our labors, knowing that we our no better than the people we serve, and that we are all broken people. Pray that the gospel will be shown in all that is done and said.

Week 2: Language School and Zip Lines

This huge tree is about 100 ft from our classroom.

Bananas! Everywhere! ...Awesome

My alarm clock--el gallo. This guy lives at the house behind

us and he starts crowing at about 3-4 o'clock in the morning. His

days are numbered if he keeps up his early morning routine...

My high school Spanish teacher, Senora Jackson, would have been awfully proud of me this week for my efforts in speaking espanol. I say “efforts” because that’s about the extent of my accomplishments. Five days of language school in Atenas has left me feeling inadequate and slow. Our classes run from 8-12 each morning and consist mainly of different speaking exercises. Class is completely in Spanish, which requires constant thinking and attention. Needless to say, it’s incredibly draining and by 11, my mind usually checks out (my teacher gives me a hard time about that…). But language school isn’t all that bad. We actually have our class outside in a beautiful old fruit orchard and an open-air pavilion is our schoolhouse! The view, the orchard, and the morning breeze make it a really comfortable learning environment.

On Saturday we took a break from school and traveled to the coast, which is about an hour away. For those of you that know a little about Costa Rica, you’ve probably heard of the canopy, zip line tours. They are a big attraction for gringos ( you and I ) and they are scattered all over the coast and forest areas. These “canopy” tours must have been invented by some sicko that got his laughs from making ground-lovers (such as myself) nauseous. When I hear “zip line”, my mind goes back fifteen years ago to my grandparents’ farm where my cousin and I often experimented with old barn ropes, metal pipes, and tree platforms constructed with scrap lumber. Genius ideas were quickly exposed as poor decisions. Fortunately for us, those poor decisions were only made about 15 feet off the ground. Not so in Costa Rica. We took a tractor ride to the top of a mountain and were lead to the first zip line. I started getting sweaty palms when I saw that the first line was at least 35 feet off the ground. I connected my harness to the line and jumped off with little confidence in Costa Rican engineering. I couldn’t see the end of the line through the dense jungle, and that’s a good thing because had I seen the next tree, I don’t know if I would have gone. The second tree platform was at least 50 feet off the ground and the second line was pure NUTS! I was in the middle of something very questionable, and now I had to keep going---only one way down. Several zip lines were no less than 200 feet off the ground and 1000 feet long, stretching across large valleys. I’m getting sweaty palms just recalling the feeling. I probably won’t ever do that again; Good stories though---I will have to tell you more about them in person.

The rest of our Saturday excursion was more to my liking---a few hours on the beach in the sun. I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time, and got to test my skills on a surf board. A good time was had by all and it was a great break from Spanish classes.

I need to take a few minutes to give some culture updates. There is a saying that was taught to us at orientation in Colorado: It’s not right. It’s not wrong. It’s just different. Those words have proved true in the last few weeks. Just for fun, here are a few of those cultural differences.

In Costa Rica:
- Traffic laws are treated as mere “suggestions.”
- Pedestrians have the right… to get out of the way.
- Building codes are defined by materials available, not by safety. (we probably over-engineer things in the US anyway…)
- PDA is a way of life----obviously. A couple “necking” in the park is perfectly right and normal…
- “Widowmakers” are a luxury. (Note: a widowmaker is a unique device that caps the end of shower head and uses electricity to heat the water passing through. Often, exposed wires and not-so-brilliant wiring can give users that extra kick they might need in the morning)
- window screens are overrated. Costa Ricans share their houses with bugs.
- Toilet paper is thrown in the trash can, NOT flushed down the toilet (this is my favorite one). Apparently TP causes clogs because it catches on the small, concrete pipes. PVC seems like a simple suggestion to this problem, but I guess throwing the TP in the trash can is an easier solution.
- A “besito” is a typical greeting that women give instead of handshakes. Basically, you put your right cheeks together and blow a kiss. Yeah…I’ve already had plenty of awkward “besitos.” I’ll get the hang of it sooner or later.

Week 1: "No hablo mucho español."

A large Catholic church in San Jose.

Me, Daniel, Gabriel, and Arial.

"I'm Diving in!"...literally.

Week one is nearly over here in Costa Rica and my body and mind are in a complete tailspin. It has been long week of adjusting to a new culture, people, food, weather, job expectations, etc., etc., etc... I've finally found a few moments of escape in a small internet cafe here in Atenas. Hopefully I can give y'all a quick synopsis of the week's events in a short amount of time.

Speaking of time; It does not exist in Atenas. People are happy living their lives with little thought given to tomorrow. Life is done in the present, and they are in no rush to get to the next stage. As an good American, I plan events around schedules and do my best to stick to that schedule...time is money, and time is valuable. Here, relationships are valuable, and they always take first place in priority. Consequently, meetings and events have a loose start time and almost never have a set end time. It's a laid back life, but I think I'm going to fit in just fine (I'm from the South!).

Much of this week we have spent in the office going through a second orientation process. Again, it was a lot of information to take in, and I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the mass of input. On Monday afternoon, I was dropped off at my host family's house. I knew I didn't know much Spanish, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I was alone with them. Communication is a vital key to any relationship, and language is big part of communication. Pray for my Spanish. Much of the week has consisted of me using a few nouns and prepositions to create a sentence....without using verbs. Pictures and hand motions have been useful at times. Needless to say, it's pretty funny and I can only imagine what I sound like to them. The good news is, I start language school on Monday and I'll go for two weeks. Hopefully it will give me a better foundation and I can build upon that for the next few months.

Atenas is a small town of about 5,000 people that is about an hour bus ride from San Jose, the captial of Costa Rica. I found out that Atenas actually means "Athens." Awesome. This can only be a confirmation that I was born to live here! It takes me about 25-30 minutes to walk from my house to the office, which is in the center of town. The terrain is hilly and covered with all kinds of vegetation--most of which I cannot identify.

My host family is great! The familia Gamboa Chinchilla: Geovanni, Kathya and their three sons Arial (18), Daniel (12) and Gabriel (5). They have been so gracious in not only taking me in as their son, but for putting up with my lousy Spanish. Kathya has been especially wonderful. She cooks every breakfast and dinner for me, washes my clothes, and even straightens my room everyday! She has really made me feel at home, and it has surely eased the transition from one country to the next.

The food has been great, too. Costa Rican food is usually pretty mild, and not nearly as spicy as mexican food. (For those of you who have seen me sweat while eating, you can appreciate my enthusiasm over that fact.) I haven't had a single meal that wasn't good---on the contrary, it's fantastic.

This morning I went swiming with Arial, Daniel, and Gabriel. We went to a nearby creek that had some small waterfalls and deep swimming holes. I should probably mention that wastewater(everything but the toilets) is treated much differently here in Costa Rica. And by treated differently, I mean that it gets piped out from houses and flows down to the rivers. Sooo...I'm praying that I don't get sick in the next few days. I figure if they swim in it, I can swim in it too. Regardless, we had a good time and I think it was valuable bonding time for me and my host family brothers.

I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of things I want to tell everyone, but I need to keep these blog entries short. I love you all, and I'm looking forward to telling you more about my host family, work, and Atenas!

Hasta luego!

EMI Orientation

Here are the Costa Rica interns ( the fab 5 boy band picture)

I’m now to my final day in the United States as we closeout our week of EMI orientation. The last week here in Colorado Springs has been a really unique experience for myself (and probably for all the interns). There are about 26 other EMI interns that will be serving in various offices around the world, including: Colorado Springs, India, Uganda, Costa Rica, Canada, UK, and the Middle East. Most are in their last year of college or have recently graduated with degrees in architecture, engineering, and yes, even landscape architecture--I am one of two landscape architect interns.

The dynamics of our group are wide. We have interns from Canada, UK, and every corner of the United States. Imagine this: You’re at a large dinner table. At the table there is an Irish man, an Canadian-Asian born in South Africa, a girl from England, two girls from Louisiana and Alabama, a guy from northern California, a guy from Minnesota, and a guy from nowhere, Kansas. You can imagine how funny our conversations were during each meal. As a boy from Savannah, Georgia, I immediately set to work to correct all of their accents and cultural shortcomings. No success, yet. It has been a blast getting to know each of these people, though. Each of them has something amazing to offer, and I wish I could spend the whole next year in their company.

The orientation process has been a challenge to me. As someone described it earlier, it’s a bit like “drinking from a fire hydrant.” Every day has been packed with talks and activities that are to prepare us for the next six months. Topics included God’s workmanship, culture, personalities, strengths, poverty, spiritual gifts and EMI history. I often came into many of the lectures and group activities with strong ,cynical attitude, thinking that it was something I didn’t need to hear. Fortunately, God broke me down each time and opened my eyes to things he would have me see. It has been one of the most spiritually challenging weeks of my life, and I feel like I will need several months to process the input I received.

One of the topics for the week centered around God’s workmanship---the idea and truth the we have identity and purpose in Christ. Ephesians 2:10 says : For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We spent a great deal of time unpacking this truth and all the evidence that points to it. After taking some strength, personality, and spiritual gifts test (which I was extremely skeptical of) we were able to recognize and confirm our uniqueness in the body of Christ. As we discussed our individual differences, we were able to see how God is clearly a master of design. He is constantly at work to use us as instruments to glorify himself and redeem all creation.

Last night was one of the highlights of the week. We sat around and heard each person’s testimony--a story of good times, bad times, heritage, and heroes. For several hours we listened to how broken lives have been redeemed by God’s grace. It is incredible to see that our Father is constantly interceeding for his children and that he is not some distant clockmaker who has left us to fend for ourselves.

Overall, it has been an amazingly encouraging week and I feel even more exicted about our team and mission. I am ready to get to Central America! Please pray for our safe travel as we leave later today for Costa Rica!

Seeing my grandparent's farm from thousands of feet in the air is a new view. The once endless wilderness that I knew as a child is now just a small spec in my airplane window--quite a funny feeling!

After months of preparation, the day has finally arrived and I am now off to Colorado Springs for a week of orientation and training with EMI. I’m really looking forward to meeting some new folks, including the other interns that will be working with me in Costa Rica. Also, I think it will be a good time of actually getting a grasp on what we will be doing the next 6 months. Up to this week, my answers to questions about my trip have been rather vague and without detail (although the big picture and ultimate goal is clear). Hopefully this week will shed some light on many of the unanswered questions.

Thank you, again, to everyone who has prayed for me and encouraged me in this time of preparation. I am confident that I am not alone, and that your prayers are being continually answered by our gracious God!

Andrew