The Week of Lasts

It’s officially begun.  My final week in Costa Rica.  The 52nd week.  Days 358-365.  The last days.

Yesterday was my last day of Las Gallinas (our Tuesday-afternoon women’s group).  They put on a huge surprise party for me with cake and arroz con pollo and balloons and presents galore, and I felt so special.  I cried and laughed and took a bazillion pictures with the ladies I’ve come to love so very dearly…I’ll miss them.

A few of my gallinas ❤

Then afterwards I had my last English class with my Tuesday group.  It’s been a beautiful, hectic, frustrating, laughter-filled few months with those ladies, and I’ll miss hearing “teacher, teacher!” in their cute little English-learning accents.  I’m immensely thankful for Mariana, the girl who’ll be taking my place–I met her yesterday and I know she’ll do a great job.
So I made cookies for our last class together, and gave each student a little pair of earrings I’d made.  Then we all held hands and they prayed for me, and I can’t put into words how grateful I was for that.  Many tears were shed (mostly by me, but the others too), and hugs were shared.  I’m thankful for the opportunity I had to teach those ladies, and I pray that they’ll keep pressing on.

Norma, Andrea, Noilyn, Seidy, me, and Vanesa–my students (:

Then last night I went to go watch the Costa Rica vs. Mexico soccer match with a bunch of friends, and I realised that that may very well be my last match I’ll watch here with that group of friends.  I might even start watching soccer in the States, just for nostalgia’s sake 😉
Lots of antics were had by all, and I’m thankful for that time I got to spend just hanging out with my best friends here.

So I’ve had to go through a bunch of “lasts” this final week, and I’m only one day into it!  Tonight will be my last Wednesday-night Bible study, tomorrow my last La Roca meeting, and the list keeps going on…but listing them all is depressing me, so I’ll stop there.

This week also happens to be my last week as a child–I turn 18 on Sunday.  Everyone is planning a huge giant birthday/going away party for me on Sunday night, and I’m a little apprehensive as there has been mention of dancing and egging…oh dear.  But I’m excited to spend that special day with some of my favourite people, dancing or not.

My actual birthday isn’t till Sunday, but las Gallinas gave me a party a little bit early (:

Eight

Well, it’s Monday again.  This one definitely got away from me, but it’s only 8:00 here so I’ve still got time.

I’m still feeling good…Tuesday I took a nosedive, but I’ve been on the mend ever since and I’m pretty much back to normal now.  It took long enough though…

I’ve been staying good and busy…I’ve barely had any downtime at all, but I’m glad for that–I need to keep going or else I’ll lose it.  I’ve been visiting people all over the place, giving glasses to the whole world, running errands, and praying with people.  I finished the purse that I was sewing and have now moved on to an apron; I hope I can finish it before I leave!  Seidy’s been so very patient with me, and I’m so thankful for the time I’ve gotten to spend with her sewing together.  I love her.

So then Friday I spent the day sewing, visiting, and doing eye exams, then I went to youth group–my very last youth group meeting ever.  Of course I cried.  My friends are so good to me, and they make me feel so loved and blessed.  They then proceeded to sign my shirt, and that night when I took it off and read what they had written, I cried more.
After youth group we all walked up to the youth leader’s house on the other side of Anonos to watch the Costa Rica vs Honduras soccer match, along with pizza and cake and lots of laughter.  It was partly to watch the match together, and partly a celebration/goodbye for me, which made me feel so special.

Sometimes I wonder what I’ve done to deserve so much love in my life.  And then when I realise I don’t deserve it, that makes it all the more special.  My heart is so full.

Then Saturday I spent all day down at the church for a castration clinic put on by a vet from Escazú, and 80-something cats and dogs were brought in to be fixed.  I’m not an animal person, but it was a good day and I’m thankful for the people who made it possible.  It was a blessing to all the pet owners of the community, and I’m thankful for the small part I was able to play in that.

Sunday I spent the whole afternoon over at July’s, and we baked brownies and ate lunch and took funny pictures and spent hours crammed into Daniel’s little bedroom watching funny youtube videos.

Daniel and Abraham–they tease, annoy, and love on me like adoptive big brothers (:

Also Sunday night Tito arrived home from work with the idea that he wanted to gauge his ears, so guess who got to do the honours?  That’s right, this girl.  And I did a pretty good job of it too, I might add.  Another one of those “how did this become my life” moments…but I’ll miss crazy moments like that.

Piercing Tito’s ears O.o

Then today I went with July and Daniel over to Santa Ana to buy a birthday present for my mother, and then I went into San José with Tito to do some other errands.  I stopped by my favourite jewellery vendor at the artisan’s market to say goodbye; it was good to see him one last time…he’s such a sweet person.  Then it began to pour torrentially, so Tito and I crammed under my itty bitty umbrella and ran from awning to awning down the streets of San José.  We got soaked.  But it was a good time and I found everything I needed.  We then stopped at the central market to warm up with some gallo pinto and coffee before heading home.  Another one of those things I’ll miss.

If you’re reading this, I’d like you to pray for my friend Evelin.  She has three daughters and lives in an unstable house with myriad problems and issues, and then on top of that she was given a month to be out of that house but has nowhere else to go. So she’s scared, stressed, and just pretty much a mess.  Her significant other is always having health problems, neither of them can find reliable work, and they still have to provide for their growing daughters.  So just be praying for them–for peace more than anything else, but also for a better place to live and food for their table.

Also for one of my English students, who recently informed me that her mother’s been diagnosed with cancer and it’s not looking good…she had to drop out of my English class but I still see her all the time, and she’s just really taking it rough.  I can tell she’s physically and emotionally exhausted, and needs an extra measure of peace right now.

So that’s what’s up.

I’m struggling lots.  The closer June 18th comes, the harder this gets.  I’m excited to get back and see my family again, to hug my mother and go shopping with my sister and spend the night with my grandparents like old times.
But I’m so very deeply attached here, and with every day that passes I get more and more attached.  It can’t be helped.  But it’s killing me.
Knowing that I have one week left is so hard, because half of me wants to just pull back and shrink into myself to save us all the pain of goodbyes, but the other half of me sees the value in spending time with these people while I still can.  And that half is winning out, but it hurts.
I’m having to cling to God now more than ever…but even when I’m clinging to him, that doesn’t mean this doesn’t hurt.  I’m doing the best I can…he will carry me, I know he will.  But it’s still hard.

Everyone is giving me little gifts, telling me not to forget them.  And that hurts more than anything else, because how could I ever forget these people, this place, this year of my life?  I don’t need necklaces and t-shirts and drawings to help me remember these people.  They’re in my heart and always will be.
And yet, as a person whose first love language is gifts, I’m the happiest girl alive because of the gifts and outpourings of love I’m receiving.  Everyone is so good to me and I can’t contain the love I feel.

Bring on the final week.

Taylor Swift has temporarily taken my place as big sister…one more week and you get the boot, Taylor.

Summit Team!

Well, my home team headed back to Virginia early this morning…their time here was definitely unique, that’s for sure.  But it was good to have them.  They arrived around lunchtime on Sunday, and I tagged along to pick them up at the airport.  We spent the rest of the day walking through the community, meeting people, resting from the flight, and playing board games.

Then Monday we jumped right in with an eyeglass clinic, at which we saw around 70-ish people in three hours.  So that was really good.  We were short on translators, so I was literally running back and forth between the stations all morning translating, doing exams, and fitting people with glasses.  I was already spent by lunchtime.
But then we spent the afternoon visiting people in their houses, so that was really nice.  I was excited to introduce my Virginia people to my Anonos people, and watching them connect was really special.
Then Monday night I made a feeble attempt at translating for Doug’s photography workshop, which was interesting as I barely know about exposure and shutter speed and aperture in English, let alone Spanish!  But we managed fine, and it was good.

Tuesday was heavier on the work projects in the morning; half of the team worked on clearing out a garden area in the Tajo, while the other half did painting projects to freshen up the church building.  I was with the painting group, and I was so happy.  Painting is my favourite work project.
Then the afternoon was women’s Bible study with the ladies on the team, followed by my English class, which wasn’t very well-attended but still a good time.  We talked about the weather, which was fitting because it was downpouring torrentially with thunder and lightning and the works.
Tuesday night was quiet, so I hung out with the team and we played board games and card games and laughed late into the night…my heart was so happy to have my people back with me.

Wednesday, as I said in my last post, I woke too early in the morning and spent the day passed out on the bathroom floor until Les and Di dragged me to the ER because I was dehydrated to the point where I couldn’t sit up straight.  So that was fun.  During my vomit-induced delirium, the team went on to do another eyeglass clinic and knock out some more work project stuff, so that was good.

They admitted me into the hospital, where I stayed until Saturday night, so that really sucked.  I was not pleased to have missed out on so much of my team–the team I’d been looking forward to all year.  As I also said before, several of the team guys ended up sick too, but I still don’t know if they had the same thing as me or not because I ended up in much worse shape.  But they made a quick and complete recovery, so all is well.

So yeah.  During my time in the hospital, the team went on to finish up their work projects, put on a marriage talk for the couples of Anonos, and conduct a third eye clinic in Palmares, where they saw a whopping 252 people!  I was very upset not to be a part of all that, but I’m so proud of them and pleased with everything they did.  Most of all, though, I’m thankful to God for putting everything together and making all this happen–he never ceases to amaze me, and none of this could have been without God orchestrating it all.

Then yesterday I was reunited with my people at church, both on the team and my Anonos people.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt as loved as I did yesterday morning…everyone was glad to see me, glad I was okay.  They were all asking about me and wanting to hug me and telling me they were glad I was back.  I just can’t explain how full my heart was, seeing how much these people care about me.
The youth from the team, the youth from Anonos, and the youth from Palmares all spent yesterday afternoon at the pool.  I was forbidden to go and ended up staying home for a much-needed nap, but I was really bummed not to have gone.  But they had an awesome time and I’m thrilled that everyone was able to sit back and enjoy each other after a week of hard work.
Then at night we had a little goodbye party thing for the team, and everyone took turns sharing how the week had impacted them.  I did all the translating, which was a lot of fun.  I was glad to be a part of that.
I cried lots, because watching my team leave was a sort of foreshadowing of two weeks from now when I will be in that same position.  It really hurt.  Sometimes I don’t think I can do this.

Anyway, I’m recovering nicely.  Yesterday I was so weak and tired.  Today I feel a little more like myself, though my stomach still isn’t quite right.  My appetite is far from normal, and I can only eat certain foods still (i.e. ginger ale, bananas, and noodle soup), but I’m definitely on the mend.  I only lost about 5 pounds during my time in hospital, but I feel like as I lose the water weight from the IV that number might change.  I’ve been told I look thinner, and my clothes are a little loose.
But once my appetite returns I’ll likely gain that weight back in no time flat…sigh.

I feel like I lost so much time when I was in hospital.  Those four days seem a whole lot longer when I’m so close to the end of my time here.  All I want to do is go out and see everyone, do everything, go everywhere.  It’s taking every ounce of self-restraint (and some help from Diana) to keep me from overdoing it.  I just feel like my time here is so limited.
But I’m doing my best.

It’s been really hard, these last couple of weeks.  So many things have happened to try to get me down.  Last weekend I was robbed at gunpoint along with July and Jessie in Escazú.  Then everyone got sick, and I ended up in hospital.  Then I had to miss out on so much because my body just isn’t up to par yet.
I feel the weight of June 18th ever on my shoulders.  I feel this heaviness, something I can’t really explain…I’m tired on the inside.  This is harder than I ever thought.

But I’m not going to let it get me down.  Because I’m still here, even if it’s just for two more weeks, and I’m alive, and soon I’ll be healthy again too.

Still living the dream.

Happy Saturday!

So I know I won’t get the chance to do my normal Monday blogging…because The Summit’s group comes in tomorrow!  I’m so stoked to see some people from my home team.  Granted, I only actually know six of the twelve, and only four are actually from my church, but still–Virginia people!  Some familiar faces and some new ones…should be a good time.
Plans include several eyeglass clinics, some work projects around the community, a marriage class, various photography-related tasks, and whatever else needs to be done.  It’s gonna be busy, that’s for sure.
It’s also my very last team that I’ll serve as a host.  I’m really gonna miss showing off my community, serving as translator, and everything else I’ve had the opportunity to do as an intern.  Hosting teams is so special to me.

So today I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready for that.  I need to finish sorting and organising the eyeglasses stash, I need to print and distribute flyers, I need to do laundry and walk up to the store and pack to spend the week down at Rodney and Cindy’s.  I’m organising in preparation for packing to leave for good, and I’m going to try and get a bag of stuff to send home with the team–I’ve accumulated so much stuff over the past year.

But honestly, the thought of doing anything or walking anywhere right now makes me want to crawl back into bed.  I’ve been feeling low-blood-pressure-ish this week, and last night I actually passed out at youth group (Mum, don’t read that.  P.S. I’m fine and stuff).  Combine that with getting home late and waking up at 5:30 for an early-morning trip to the Farmer’s Market, and I’m already ready for bed at 9:00 in the morning.

But nope, too much to do and too little time.  I need to have some tea and get myself in gear.  I’m headed into Escazú this afternoon with July to meet a friend of hers and bake and have coffee, so I need to get a good chunk of my work done before then.  I hope my body will decide to get over itself soon.

It’s been raining a lot, so I’m hoping I’ll actually be able to get my laundry on the line and have it dry properly.  We’ll see what happens.  I can’t complain, though–this rain has been glorious.

English class was weird this week…only one lady showed up to my Tuesday class.  She’s been in Nicaragua for like over a month, so we had to go way back and cover everything I’ve already done with the rest of the class.  Hopefully she’ll be able to catch herself up.
Then on Thursday I walked down, and my assistant came by bus from Escazú, and not a single student even showed up.  I was not pleased.  See, our rule is that three unexcused absences will get you kicked out of the class…and only one of my absent students had a good excuse.  The rest just didn’t show, didn’t even tell me they weren’t coming.  Not a big deal for me since I live right here, but for my assistant who came on the bus, it was a waste of time and money.
So I’ll be having a bit of a chat with my students next week.

Anyway, so that’s what’s up in my life this week.  Living the dream! (I haven’t said that in a while…but it’s still been true.)

Little things that make my job the best in the world…

Today I want to talk a little bit about one of my English students, Rosalina.  I have so much respect for this woman because she is in her 70s and has just decided she wants to learn English.  In a class full of 20- and 30-somethings, she comes faithfully every Thursday and tries her very hardest, even though she’s not as fast as they are, throwing her whole little self into it.
She said to me today, “My son told me, ‘Mom, what are you doing trying to learn English?  You’re too old for that stuff.'”  But Rosalina got this twinkle in her eye, and with a determined smile, said “It is never too late to learn something.”  And yes, it’s a little bit harder for her, but the point is that she’s making it happen.

So anyway, as class is starting this afternoon, Rosalina pulls out first her folder, then her notebook, then a pencil from her purse.  Then she roots around and pulls out this mangled old pair of glasses that are no longer even strong enough for her to use, and balances them precariously on her nose.  They just won’t work, so finally she gives up and takes them off, squinting at the page.  “Casi no veo nada,” she says.  “I can barely see anything.”
Ta-daaaaa!  That’s where I come in!  “Come up to my house one day and I’ll see if I can find you a better pair.  I don’t have many, but maybe I have just what you need,” I tell her.  So at the end of class, she says, “Can I come right now?”

So we walk up the hill together, and she talks and talks and talks the whole way.  She tells me about her granddaughter and how lovely a name Valentina is.  She tells me about how one of her sons is having surgery and she needs to go to Nicaragua next week to be with him.  She tells me how she lives with one son, but their house is only one little room so if I want to visit her, we’ll go to her daughter’s house where there’s room.  On and on she goes, and her Spanish has a Nicaraguan accent so I only understand half of what she says, but still she talks.

I bring her into my house and down to the garage where the glasses are, and as I’m doing the vision test, she just beams at me, still talking and talking.  “You’re a Christian?  Me too.  I’m pentecostal.  You know, you need to come visit me, help me with my English studies.  My daughter in law depresses me because she learns so fast and I don’t.  Come teach me everything so I can understand.  I’ll cook you food.  One day we should take the bus to visit my granddaughter.  Would you like that?”  I just nod and laugh, barely able to get a word in edgewise, while she spills her life to me.

I’m able to give her glasses, ones that look nice and aren’t broken, and she thanks me profusely, over and over again.  Then on our way out, the smell of spaghetti sauce is wafting through the house, and she says, “That smells so good.  One day we should go to Nicaragua together and I’ll cook you my kind of food.”
Even as she’s walking out the door and down the front steps, she’s still just talking and talking and smiling.

The whole time I’m thinking to myself, I barely know this woman.  And yet she’s in my house, laughing and loving on me and thanking me and sharing her life with me.  I felt so loved, so appreciated today.  And I will be more than happy to go up to her house any time to help her with her English.

It’s people like Rosalina that make me love my job.  Even though my job sometimes can be slow, frustrating, thankless, and hard, days like this and people like Rosalina make it more than worth it.

I can’t think of a clever name for this post.

Recently I’ve been trying to get a blog post up every Monday, since that’s our household’s day off.  But here we are Sunday afternoon and I’ve got some time on my hands, so I’m going to go ahead and do it now.

That being said, here’s a quick update.

My English classes are still plugging along.  We’re taking this coming week off since it’s Semana Santa (Holy Week) and literally everyone in the whole country takes this week off.  But when we get back on track next week, I have just a tiny bit more information to cover, then an exam.  We’re supposed to do little mini-exams once a month, so I’m just trying to get to a  good stopping point so we can do that.  From what I’ve seen, they’re making really good progress, but an exam will help me know exactly what I need to do next.

So, as I’d predicted in my previous post, this week’s been slower than most.  It’s been sort of nice.  I’ve done a good bit of just hanging out with friends and stuff around the house this week.

Friday night was the world cup qualifying match between USA and Costa Rica, so that was…an experience.  We projected the game on a big wall in the church house and a bunch of people came out to watch together.  It was sort of cool, because it was my home country playing against the country that’s stolen my heart, so I honestly didn’t even care who won.  (cough USA cough).  It was so snowy and everyone was saying how it should have been postponed, but they continued playing through blinding blizzard conditions.  Not so great for a world cup qualifier, but I do think it would be fun to play in snow like that.
And as you can imagine, there was an abundance of smack talk (mostly from Tito and José, my gosh can they talk some smack) and lots of laughter throughout the game.  We had fun.

In other news, the youth group and some others from church are planning a drama to perform on Easter Sunday.  So Thursday night they had a practice session, which I didn’t go to because I had somewhere else to go (and plus I thought I wasn’t even part of the drama) but suddenly I get a text from one of the people in charge: “Are you coming?”
I answer back: “I can’t make it tonight…besides, I thought I wasn’t going to be in the drama.”
She says, “You can if you want to.”
Me: “I actually really don’t…but if you really need an extra person, let me know.”
(five minutes later): “We need youuuu!”
So that’s the story of how I got drafted into this drama.  Two things: 1. I can’t act, and 2. I especially can’t act IN SPANISH.
So I’m petrified.  We had another practice last night (and this time I was able to make it) and we had fun, but I was scared out of my mind.  We have another practice tomorrow, so hopefully that will be better.

So then after practice, I had asked David and Kevin to walk me home since it was dark and I was by myself, so on the way up they decide they’re going to go out and get food, and invite me to come along.  So I go in and grab my money and Lindsay, and the four of us head out for a walk, not entirely sure where we want to go.
As we’re walking, we discover that the new taco bar is finally open (we’ve been waiting for this foreverrrrr) so we decide to give it a go.  And so when we get there, a waitress seats us and informs us that since it’s the grand opening, everything is free.  WHAT?!  Yes, so we had tacos and fruity frozen drinks and it was totally free.  That was a grand surprise.  So lots of good food and laughter were had by all.
I have the best friends.

taco bar tomfoolery (photo by Lindsay)

On our way home, we’re walking through the community and it’s dark and stuff, and suddenly we round a bend and David whispers, “Walk fast, guys…those people have a gun.”  So we’re just short of running, trying to look natural and not like we’re actually running, until we get across the bridge.  Just another one of those little (slightly disconcerting) reminders that I’m living in a community that desperately needs Jesus.
For the record, I don’t think anything happened with the gun.  Just better to be safe than sorry.

So after last night came this morning, as is generally the case.  It was my turn to be in the band today, which is both really fun and tiring at the same time.  Then I also taught the younger children’s class–again, fun and tiring (heavy on the tiring) so now I’m pretty spent.

Anyway, like I said, this past week was slower than normal…but this coming week should more than make up for it!  It may be Holy Week, but we will be busy busy busy.  Lots of exciting things happening, but you’ll have to wait till my next update to hear about them!

Just call me Profesora…

I have some exciting news!  I’ve been wanting to teach an English class since before I came here, and it’s finally going to happen!  So far I have three students.  A class of three will be nice because I’ll be able to invest more time with each of them individually, but also if more people sign up I’ll be excited for that too.  So we’ll see what happens.
We’ll be meeting each Thursday afternoon for one hour (though I’m looking into moving the class earlier so we can have more time if need be) starting this week.  My three ladies have absolutely no background in English, so we’ll be starting with the alphabet and going from there.

I’m working with the organisation Lifting Hands, which is a volunteer-based organisation that started very shortly after I came down here.  More info is on their website, but it’s all in Spanish…so to sum it up, they use our church building during the week to give free classes to nearly 200 students from Los Anonos.  English, computer, math, tutoring, even a boxing class–they do it all.  So I’m excited to be a part of that.

I’ve never taught an English class before, so I’m not quite sure what I’m doing…I guess we’ll all be learning as we go.  But it’s something I want to do, and I’m super excited to get started.  It’s great because I’m (obviously) a native English speaker, so that’s something valuable that I can share.

Anyway, we’ll see what happens.  I’m sure I’ll update more as we go.  So stoked!