Wow, I have now been in Costa Rica for 2 months, and I only have 3 weeks (and a day) until I fly back to the states! The time has flown by; I have enjoyed every second of it, and God has been pouring his love over me every day (more of that a little later). I started observing/teaching at the high school on February 27. I observed for 2 weeks, and this week I started teaching solo again. The unit is softball (not exactly my sport), but I am quickly growing in my own skills while I am teaching the students the same. The students are used to spending the majority of every class only playing the game (in whatever unit they are in), so I am trying to integrate some drills and exercises for them to practice their skills. With Costa Rica being a Latin American country, softball isn’t exactly the most popular sport around here. There isn’t a school baseball or softball team, so PE class is about the only time they have to play softball. That being said, there are some students who still do very well with it…even hit some balls over the fence for home runs, but many still don’t have a clue as to how to hold the bat or when they should run to the next base. This makes it more challenging to try and teach important skills, while not boring the ones who are more advanced. I am really enjoying my supervising teach, Glenda, just as much as I loved being with Harlet, even though the two have very different personalities. I am still coaching/practicing with the high school boy’s volleyball team. I love having the opportunity to coach a little more while being in CR, as well as play some too.
Two weekends ago, the 4 of us girls went to another beach in CR, Manuel Antonio. This is where I’ll be going with my family (in 16 short days!!). I only made it a day trip, so that I wouldn’t see too much of the area without them. It was beautiful though; like many other beaches here, mountain shoot up right around you, there are giant rocks leading out into the ocean, and overall the landscape just makes you feel like you never want to leave.
Last weekend, Jessica and I went to Poas, a nearby volcano. We went with a company that took us to Poas first, then a coffee plantation, and finally a woodwork shop where they make wood art, furniture, and jewelry. When we got to the National Park at Poas, it was extremely cloudy and probably the coldest weather I’ve experienced in CR (and yes I was wearing shorts and a light jacket, because that’s what the website said to bring). We walked for about 10 minutes to where the overlook into the crater is, and it was still cloudy and foggy to where we couldn’t see any of the acid lake in the crater. Our guide told us that 60% of the people that come to Poas don’t see the acid lake. The reason being that they don’t wait for the clouds to clear…they walk up, see a lot of clouds and no crater, then they walk back and leave. He suggested that we wait between 20-30 minutes to try and see it. Sure enough, after about 5-10 minutes, the clouds cleared for about 30 seconds, and we saw a perfectly clear view of the acid lake!!! Just enough time to marvel at it and take a few pictures. We waited another 10 minutes or so, but the clouds stayed thick the rest of the time. As I am typing this, I’m realizing that this is what a lot of people do with God sometimes…we don’t wait for Him. We set expectations for when we need something to happen, and if it doesn’t happen in our timeframe, we walk away from Him; sometimes for only a short time, but sometimes for an extended time. He will ALWAYS be there waiting for us, so why can’t we wait for Him? This is HIS world. We are living in HIS time frame. Slow down, and wait for HIS PERFECT timing, because when you do, you get to see and experience His marvelous wonders He has FOR YOU!!
To sum up the rest of our Saturday last weekend, after Poas we went to a coffee plantation where we saw the life of a coffee bean from start to finish. The plantation was beautiful, we saw another very cool butterfly garden, we ate a delicious lunch, and we sampled (too much) coffee. At the final woodwork shop, we went on a short and sweet tour of how they make their wood, how they polish it, and how they assemble pieces together to make jewelry, furniture, and art. Check out my Facebook pictures to see more from this trip.
Now to tell you some stories about how God has been loving me :D So two weekends ago (the weekend we went to Poas), I had heard that an a cappella group from Yale would be at church on Sunday, and they would be singing some gospel-Kirk Franklin type songs (which I love!). We also heard that that Sunday morning would be the annual ox cart festival held in Escazu. This is what Escazu is well known for, and the ox carts are one of the trademarks of Costa Rica. The other student teachers really wanted to go to the ox cart festival, and I really wanted to attend both events, but just wasn’t sure which one I should go to since they were at the same time. Now back to that Saturday on our way up to Poas…as we were approaching the overlook to the crater, we heard some music, and once we got up there, we saw that it was a group singing. A cappella. From Yale!! Yes, yes, yes, it was the a cappella group from Yale that was going to be at church the next morning! I was blown away, immediately I began thanking God for bringing me there at that moment to hear them sing, since I was unsure if I would get to hear them Sunday morning. I only heard them sing one song at Poas, but it was beautiful, both the singing and the fact that they were singing gospel at the top of a volcano crater. Yay God!! So if that wasn’t cool enough already…there is even more amazingness to this story! So Sunday morning, I decide to go with the girls to the festival. We left the house around 8:30, and we got to downtown Escazu around 9. I figured that if I saw everything I wanted to at the festival, I could just take a taxi by myself to church and make it to the service at 10:30. Easy enough, right? So we get there, see all of the elaborate and beautifully painted carts, massive oxen, crazy costumes, and beautiful dancers. And the parade hadn’t even started yet. As we are walking around and taking pictures, I run into a friend from CDS (the school I’m teaching at) who does Young Life with the high schoolers and is a substitute teacher there. We start talking and she says she lives right down the road from the festival, and she walked down to take a few pictures before going to church. Church? Church where the Yale a cappella group will be? Yes! So of course I ask if I would be able to ride with her to the service, she says yes, and once again I begin thanking God for working that whole weekend out so perfectly, and allowing me to have every opportunity I wanted. Too stinkin cool man! And let me tell you, that group sounded like angels in church on Sunday. They were so amazing, and it soothed my soul to sit and listen to them song after song.
I’ll leave you with that for now, even though I have more to share from the last few weeks. I’ll try to make another blog in the next few days though to spread it out a little. I really appreciate all of you who take the time to read these and who are praying for me while I’m in CR. It is extremely encouraging, and it helps me go through each day. Love you all and can’t wait to see everyone in 3 weeks!
