Eating habits...

So I don't have anything super exciting to write about this weekend...so I thought I would describe some of our eating habits...because well they can be funny. Plus, that is a top ten question whenever people ask about me living in Costa Rica. No I do not eat monkey or alligator on a regular basis...so don't get to excited, but there are some interesting things. We mainly eat beans, rice, fruits and vegetables. Of course we alway import peanut butter. No we don't eat Mexican food. Whenever I go back to the States everyone is always so surprised that I want to eat Mexican...thinking we eat that everyday, but we don't (given, the general consensus that Costa Rica is an island and that we speak Mexican here too- lol Costa Rica is not Puerto Rico, we're in Central America and we speak Spanish...no Mexican). Costa Rican food is much more bland. Mostly vegetables, rice and beans. They don't even eat salsa really. I'm sure I eat at least 10 tortillas with refried beans in them a week. We do buy some meat...but we ration it out. We try to only eat meat every other day since it is so expensive. Anyway, in the rich area of San Jose (where any American business men or diplomats live), there are a few chain restaurants. Big news-we just got an Applebee's. Anyway, there is a TGI Fridays, which is by far one of my fav. restuarants in the U.S. We've never been there here because it is expensive, but last night Kate and I went...celebrating our belated Valentine's Day and well...it counted for every other holiday that we'll ever spend together once we realized how much a cheeseburger was. It seriously almost took up my whole food budget for the week. But seriously, the best cheeseburger I've ever had in my life. Since we don't eat much meat and probably honestly don't always eat the way we should because we are cheap...it was amazing. Given, my body protested today and my stomach is sickish for having that foreign food in there...but it was so worth it. Changed my life :) But today we're back to eating bean tortillas and guacamole. yummm...

Ps. Yuck...just found out. Please pray for the Chileans as they just experienced an 8.8 earthquake. That is amazingly strong. Earthquakes scare me lot especially since CR has many of them.

Preaching :)

This weekend was really great and I am so excited to blog about it. Well let me back up...on Tuesday night, I started doing a Bible study with some in my church about the names of God in Spanish. It went really well and I learned some great things about God and what some of His names signify. I learned specifically that the first name God uses in the Bible is Elohim (which means all-powerful) and that this name is plural (meaning the trinity was present). Well on Saturday, two Jehova's witnesses came knocking at our door. I went out not really knowing what to expect but feeling ready to go. The young girl in training started off showing me some verses and I listened politely until it was my turn to share. I went right to the fact that I believe Jesus is God (which Jehova's witnesses do not believe). The young girl stopped talking and the teacher took over. We had an all out discussion about the doctrine and differences between Christianity and their beliefs. What was awesome was that I was able to use what I had learned from my Bible study to back up what I was saying. We went around in circles for a bit, me preaching the gospel and the lady leading me to verses that helped her explain her reasoning. It was really interesting. At one point she said that she just doesn't believe that Jesus is God, to which I responded politely that I thought this was blasphemy (evidence that God is giving me the words to say in Spanish because I have no idea how I knew the word for blasphemy in Spanish). But God just kept providing the verses and the Spanish. They finally said that they had to leave because they had lost their group (lol they had lost their group 20 minutes before that) so I asked them to pray with us. They quickly changed the subject and I asked again. She said no because they had already prayed before they started going house to house, to which I asked why she couldn't pray again. Apparently they're not allowed to pray with other religions. I asked her if we were serving the same God, why we couldn't pray together but she had no answer. It was really interesting. How great it was to be able to use my notes from Bible study!

Then, if you remember the guy I talked to at the pool about Jesus whom I invited to church...he came to church on Sunday again, this time with his niece. The sermon was great and at the end, he went forward and prayed! I just had tears rolling down my cheeks. He said that he has accepted Christ and that he is just thanking God for saving his life and protecting him. It was amazing. It was so wonderful to see God blessing the learning He has provided me with. I'm so thankful to be able to converse in Spanish now. As I sat in Bible study tonight, sharing my story and learning more, it hit me hard that I understand Spanish, and that I speak well enough to have discussions about doctrine and its differences in different beliefs. I just started praising God because it is all because of Him. It is so hard to explain what a blessing it is to finally feel decently competent in a language after working so hard and praying so hard. God has blessed me beyond words and for that I am thankful. I also appreciate those of you that have been praying for me along the way. Thanks :)

Snow days...

Me, Chrissy, Kate, and Carolina at the beach last weekend
This week as the U.S. is pretty much covered in snow, I sent up a request for some snow days. I was slightly envious of everyone being off of school. Anyways, I got my own "snow days" in the form of another round of bronchitis. I had to miss school on Thursay and Friday. I was pretty sick and I still sound like a man when I talk, but I'm feeling a lot better. It was great to have some days off though because I had a lot that needed to get done...so while laying on the couch, I did all my stuff. I never had bronchitis in the U.S., but I've had it three times in two years here. I think its because of the mold and dampness. I had to go through the whole going to the free clinic three times in one day and I finally came out with two injections in the bum and four perscriptions lol. Today has been great. Kate is in the States taking a test so I got up and went with Eddie to the market. I got $20 worth of fruits and vegetables, came home, made a big veggie omelet and a mango, banana, strawberry smootie, and watched Tarzan in Spanish. I suppose you could say that I'm living the life today :) Tonight we're going to watch the Blindside and our church "youth group" and then to a party in the mountains. Oh how I love the weekend. Pray for Kate and her test today...she'll get the results in a month! And also for safe travels. Thanks for reading!

History made and beach trip

This weekend I was able to go to the beach with three friends for free :). My basketball team and director got together money to go to the beach to thank me for doing basketball. It was me, Kate and two other teacher friends. We went to this beautiful quiet beach on the Pacific side in a beautiful house. We were even given money to eat out on. It was such a blessing. We just relaxed and talked and ate. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the company was even better. I'm so thankful. It was just what we needed.
The other funny thing about this weekend (besides the Saints winning the superbowl-yes we were able to watch it) was that it was election weekend here in CR. There were three main candidates and they each have a specific color. It was so random here because people were out all day on Sunday, just driving around, beeping and waving their flags. lol for hours. All day. Driving around and beeping. It was so funny. I mean, people were seriously so intense. People hanging on overpasses and standing in the middle of the road just waving their flags. Everyone was decked out in their colors and shouting names. I also loved that the candidates go by their first names. Latinos all have two last names and they are usually long like "Gutierrez Rodriguez" or something...lol can you imagine screaming that over and over while driving down the street? Anyway, the president chosen, Laura, is the first woman president of Costa Rica...so history was made yesterday. Pretty cool...for what is always thought of as such a male dominated culture, I am pretty impressed by their choice :)