Suzanne's Mission Adventures

So I had this post all written out, pictures copied in and then my computer decided not to save my post and totally got rid of it.  So I have to start all over.  That being said I'm not sure this is going to go into that much detail cuz I want to get it done and out. So I guess I should tell you about my last weekend.  Since Julie wanted to visit the beach, Alvin and Chio started planning on going to the beach.  They had a house picked out on AirBNB, a plan to rent a car, and everything else planned out.  But the Tuesday before we were going to leave they had money taken from their bank account.  It was just enough money that it caused them not to be able to go.  So us foreigners went by ourselves.  First, we had to book a place to stay, lets just say its a little interesting trying to find a place to stay when its all in Spanish.  Second, we had to figure out how we were going to get there.  So it was decided...by the bus of course....

So I am very far behind in writing on this thing.  I started a post last week and look its a whole week later.  Apparently I'm not very good at this blog thing.  :)  So for the past 2 weeks I have been teaching English classes on Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday mornings and afternoons, Thursday mornings, and Friday mornings and afternoons.  It has been a big learning experience but has also been very fun.  The morning classes are for the younger children.  It's supposed to be 10 to 12 yr olds but we have a couple of seven, eight, and nine year olds.  Which adds a different dynamic to the class.  Last week our morning classes exploded.  Renuevos is working with a local school and are trying to help with the kids.  The classes we are teaching are actually the first ones that they have had with this school.  The children's school is much different than ours.  First off they only go for 3 hours and have 2 breaks and a snack du...

I am getting really behind here!  So this past weekend we (the foreigners) got to experience how Ticos actually live.  Sunday was Chio's brothers birthday.  So that means we party all weekend long.  Her brother and his family live in the mountain area of Chachagua.  We left Saturday after the kids program in the morning.  It was a 3 hr ride from our house.  But I believe it was a little longer because of traffic.  It was a gorgeous drive!  It is easy to forget that we are living in the city and what country looks like because of that.  All along the drive we saw multiple coffee plants, banana and plantain trees, and I know there are other fruit trees but I can't remember them at the moment.  We were also able to see multiple valleys that were absolutely beautiful!  The only bad thing was because we left so late in the afternoon, around 2:30 pm, it was dark by the time we arrived.  Because the sun sets around 5 or 5:15 and ...

So lets see what happened since I've last written on here.  The next couple of days at Renuevos weren't the typical days there.  All the children both tweens and teens were studying for the national tests that were pushed off because of hurricane Nate.  So we didn't have much to do Wednesday except get ready and try and figure out what we want to teach in our English classes.  We found out that there are 2 different classes that we will be teaching.  The teenagers, who know a little bit of English...actually quite a bit they just are afraid of speaking it.   The other class will be the tweens.  10 to 12 yr olds who don't know any English.  That class is going to be a little harder to teach.  But I do believe we will be able to do it.  Both classes start this week since the kids exams were this past weekend.  Thursday morning us foreigners went to a Bible study that they have for the leaders of CFCI's different campuses. ...

Well I had a new experience today!  And one I'm sure won't be the last.  But lets not talk about that for now.  Lets talk about what we did yesterday.  So yesterday (Monday) was my orientation to the organization.  So we (Bruna and I) learned a little bit more about CFCI and the Costa Rican culture.  What is a do and what is a don't.  We learned some interesting things, like - if you don't wear shoes inside then you are going to get sick.  That family is the most important thing.  That it isn't uncommon for someone to still be living at home and for the mom to be taking care of them as in making them meals and cleaning until the children get married.  There is also a special way that you are to indicate how tall a person is.  But it was good to learn about another culture.  We were also able to see the Costa Rican headquarters for CFCI.  They have their groups (that stay for a week or so) stay at the headquarters.  ...

I am currently sitting here listening to the rain fall in Costa Rica and loving it.  I think things have seemed to calm down a little bit.  I haven't had anything quite as crazy going on as trying to get down here.  I am staying with a couple who actually works with CFCI at one of their campus' that they have in La Carpio.  This campus is called Renuevos.  This is the campus that I will be spending my first month working at until I start in the clinic.  My host family are Alvin, Chio, and their 3 yr old son Caleb.  Also staying here are the other 2 volunteers.  Julie, who is Canadian and Bruna who is Brazilian and Japanese.  Chio speak good English and Alvin as we would say, un poco - a little bit.  But it is nice having others around to speak English with. Yesterday, (Saturday), Alvin, Julie, Bruna and I all went to Renuevos in the morning to eat breakfast and get ready for their kids program that they have in mid morning to afternoon...

Well I finally made it!  A day late but that doesn't matter right?  Before I left home I was notified that there was a possible hurricane/tropical storm heading toward Costa Rica.  So that caused me to scramble a little bit, making sure my flight from Houston to San Jose was still scheduled.  Well when I left Cleveland it was still scheduled.  Fast forward 3 hours to arriving at Houston and guess what.  My next flight to finally get me here was CANCELLED!  Ah so I guess I can say I've finally joined the ranks of problems with flying.  With the next flight being in the morning.  But I couldn't get a ticket on that flight because it was full.  So I was put on standby.  So then comes the decision.  Do I stay at the airport or do I get a hotel room?  But here's the thing, Houston doesn't have very many hotel rooms available, because a lot of their residents are staying in hotels while their houses get fixed from hurricane Harv...

It is so hard to believe that I leave tomorrow!  Where has time gone?  It seems like just yesterday I was talking about going on a trip and here I am!  I am so excited to be leaving but scared all at the same time.  I cannot wait to see what God in store for this trip. It is going to be hard to leave tomorrow but through God all things are possible.  Blessings, Suzanne