Hey! Well this won't be a long one because I'm super busy with getting ready to go home!!!! yay! So excited! I'm trying to get everything finished before I go home so I can just relax. I'm so thankful my parents found a cheap flight home for me...so I'll be home for a week! Hopefully I'll get to see many of you!

Semana Santa

This past week we were on break for Semana Santa (Holy week). It was great. Kim V., Kate, and I all went to Montezuma, a beach on the Nicoya Peninsula (Pacific Ocean). We had so much fun. We met a lot of crazy people, had a lot of new experiences, and had a good opportunity to relax. We left on Wednesday morning and took a 2 1/2 bus ride, an hour ferry, and another 2 hour bus ride. We finally made it to our hotel which was on the side of a mountain, in a rainforest, overlooking the beach...it truly can't get better than that...but it can, because we only payed $14 a night. As soon as we got there, we heard something outside of our window and we saw two white faced monkeys just hanging out and posing for the cameras. They were so cute. Of course we went straight to the beach and pretty much from there on out we went hiking, layed on the beach, or ate. Here are the pictures of the different beaches we went to:

We also hiked to a big waterfall. It was beautiful and we swam there, but we didn't jump off. There were some people that jumped from the very top and it was scary. Half a dozen people have died doing it there, so we opted for no jumping :)

We could hear gorillas and howler monkeys in the jungle and at one point, Kim successfully had a gorilla respond to her lame "mating call". lol I was doubled over laughing. We were totally kidding, but this roar came back from the jungle and I seriously almost peed my pants.

Finally, we were on our way back and we had to fight for seats on the bus. It was so bad in fact, that we ended up standing on the first bus. I was so carsick, it was all I could do to not throw up on the ridiculous amount of people stuffed on the bus. We then made it onto the ferry and sat for a little bit. We made some friends with some Germans and then got off and got onto the bus back to San Jose. Problem was that it was crazy packed too...so Kim, kate, and I, the Germans and a bunch of other people were stuck sitting in the aisle, which of course translated into laying on the floor of that dirty bus because the trip took about 4 hours due to traffic. The funny part comes in when I was back to back with this German guy. lol we are joking around how we can sleep like this, so he lays his head back on my shoulder...I proceed to do the same but I am laughing hysterically. For one, he is very attractive, and for two, I have never met him, so having him up in my face was so awkward. So we decide to turn around with our legs in the middle of us...which I'm sure you can imagine wasn't much better. At one point I woke up...I was laying on Kate's legs and this crazy German's legs are intertwined with mine and one of my feet is under his butt. lol I mean, he didn't seem at all to mind but I was just dying. Anyway, much more came to pass...but nothing that I can describe with words...only actions :) Overall, it was so funny....my behind has never been that numb in my life. We all came back...did Easter with our "family" of missionaries here and just sat and talked for hours. We're saying goodbye to our wonderful friends Steve and Diane Wilson who are going to Ecuador...so it is bittersweet, but I am so excited for them. And finally, I talked to my whole family on Skype with video and I cried. lol I got pretty emotional. But I'm coming home in two weeks for a short bit! Yay!

Fools :)

This week has been great...extremely busy with the play our school put on, "Fools." It's a really cute and funny play. The students did awesome. Everyone was really impressed. All week there were rehearsals and different things and then we did the play Friday and Saturday. Of course, I wasn't hugely responsible for much...so that was nice. I did the hair for the girls and helped with soundboard and whatever else needed to be done. Kim and Kate did great jobs with directing and set building. Overall, it was a success :). And that pretty much consumed my week. Today we went out to a really nice hotel for Peggy's actual 50th birthday (thanks to Kim's parents who came down). It was so nice...I felt like we weren't in San Jose anymore. We ate a lot of good food and really enjoy our time. And now, we are just preparing for Semana Santa. I'm really excited because we are going to the beach and I just love Easter :). I'm excited to see how it is done here. I'm definitely going to miss being with my family on Easter...but I'm thankful for new opportunities. I'm also so excited about going home in a couple of weeks :) I was reading the book "I'll love you forever" to my students the other day (really cute book...my mom used to read it to me) and I started tearing up and getting all emotional. You should have seen me trying to keep it together lol. Please continue praying for me, as different realities in life hit me and as I get used to real life here. I love my life here and I am so thankful to God for who He is and what He does...now I'm just learning (again) that Christ is sufficient for me. God bless you!

Hace mucho calor...

So this week I have been so busy and totally forgot to post! Life has been crazy...but really good. Hace mucho calor means that it is really hot here now. We were told that March and April here are really hot...and they weren't lying. It's probably 85 degrees much of the time...but the sun is what is crazy. It's like so intense that if you are in it too long, you feel like your skin is going to peel right off. I love it :) Let's see, what's going on... I went to the nice part of town again on Sunday. It was almost like going to Kenwood in Cincinnati. It was really fun because I was feeling a little homesick. It reminded me a lot of home. I guess I'm not homesick necessarily...more of a I miss the family. :) The family's grandma came in and I was a little jealous :) I did get to talk to my American family on skype with my costa Rican family and it was really fun because we could see each other. hmmm what else...I fought and overcame the mother of all cockroaches in my room on Friday...I went to an awesome worship service on Friday...went downtown yesterday and to the pool...where I worked on mastering my "tico tan". And we went to a party last night to watch the CR vs. Mexico soccer game...it was a big deal. CR got their butt's kicked...everyone was pretty sad. Then this morning we went to church and it was absolutely awesome. The preaching was on genuine worship and not being afraid to raise your hands. About being free from the chains. Having liberty in Christ. It was awesome. We finished the service singing and dancing and jumping. It was awesome. I'm not sure exactly how long the service went but I think about 2 1/2 hours. It was great. Besides all of that we are just rocking life :) I am so thankful for this opportunity that God has given me. :)

Finally...

So, just real quick...I just want to say thank you to all of you have prayer for my learning of Spanish. I'm obviously not fluent, but God has blessed me recently. They say that there is a point when your ears become accustomed to the rhythm of another language. I did understand bits and pieces before...mainly just picking out words that I could identify and putting together the pieces. But after going on the paseo and only speaking Spanish for 4 days, it was like a light when on in my brain. I still don't understand everything...but I definitely don't have to think so hard and I am noticing so much more. I feel like I jumped from understanding 50% of what I hear to like 80%-90% of what I hear. It's such a huge relief and so encouraging. So I just wanted to share that because I know that many of you were praying for me in that area! Please continue! Thanks!

Stranded on a deserted island...

Puntarenas...on a really scary and unsafe bridge...lol you can't see how scared I was at this point

We stopped at a farm with a bunch of these beautiful birds...

Being dramatic while dramatically stranded on a deserted island...

My "grandma" let me try on her traditional Costa Rican dress...

At the melon finca with Kim and the family

Learning to make those homemade tortillas...obviously I she didn't like my form :)

Well...this weekend, Kim and I had the unique opportunity to go with my family to the "puro campo" (pure country) with my family. My Tico family's extended family lives on a farm in the northern part of Costa Rica...they invited us to come along...so we went. It was great. We took a promise to only speak in Spanish the whole weekend...even to each other- which actually went really smoothly. God has helped me so much with Spanish...thank you Jesus! But a lot of crazy things happened. Basically...we were in the hard core country. Like they get up at the crack of dawn to milk cows for a living, chickens run through the yard, they cook everything from scratch on a fogon (cooking fire), and there is nothing around for miles. It was great. Kim and I learned how to make homemade tortillas and empenadas from the grandma who is 78 who raised 12 children, still cooks for half of them, does laundry by hand, etc. You get the picture. I learned so much about culture and family this weekend. It was amazing. We rode horses, went to two beaches, went to a melon factory and got stranded on a random island. lol funny part. So we are going to the gulf of Nicoya to fish for shrimp and stuff. We get about 50 minutes out from port and we hear a strange noise from the engine and it just dies. Clearly broken, we float for a while. The "captain" is using all of these mechanical terms that we obviously don't know...but one doesn't have to be fluent in a language to understand that you are stranded in the ocean with a malfunctioning motor. Finally another boat comes and brings us to this rather large island that is unihabited. This is all true. We get out and stretch our legs...look for life (Gilligian's Island anyone?) and find none. Kim and I explored the shore, and then we all settled in to sit there for almost two hours. LOL thankfully we had tuna sandwiches and water. Finally another boat came and rescued us and we got dragged back to port for two hours. The funniest part was that our "rescuers" were other fishermen that pretty much looked like someone from "King of Thieves." They cover their bodies and heads and faces with towels and clothing, so only their eyes are showing to prevent getting burnt. Creepy. It was crazy and rather hysterical. lol ridiculous. So we finally got back, bought some shrimp and went home. Thankfully we were safe. Besides that, the rest was just doing normal life down on the farm. It was so fun. One of the most entertaining things is that when you are in a new culture...you might understand what people are saying...but you truly have no idea what is going on. We don't realize how much in our culture/language goes unsaid. So, if I go to my grandma's, I know a little bit of what to expect (how long we'll be there, what we'll do, what I need to bring). But here, we have no idea. All they tell us is that we are going to grandma's. So most of the time we have no idea how long we'll be there, what we'll do or what we need to bring. Just try to imagine our ridiculousness the whole weekend. It was entertaining. :)

women's retreat...

I have been so tired this week! Things have been busy and I'm trying recover from being busy...do you ever recover from that? yuck... Anyways, this week has been good. We went to a women's retreat over the weekend and it was really good. God provided the money for me to go in some random ways...so that was really exciting. So it was at this hotel/country club and it was really nice. The room was a sketchy. Kim Loosa and I shared a room and it was pretty hysterical. We had some serious shower problems...we were up laughing hysterically until around 12:30 in the morning...only to get up rather early the next morning. But there was a nice pool and good food and great preaching. The speaker spoke on repentance, forgiveness and loosing the chains of sin and past hurt. It was really good. I feel like all of us were sitting there contemplating how it applied to us in one way or another. I've had a lot to think about :). Besides that this week has had a lot of interesting things. Today we had another small earthquake. It definitely wasn't as bad as the last one. My class and I didn't even feel it...but many others did. The actual epicenter was down south near Panama. We also had some guest speakers today which was fun. They are NFL football players on a mission trip with SCORE international. They came and spoke and shared the gospel. It was really neat. I can't remember their names (lol, professional athletes were never a huge deal to me besides one :) ) but I do know one was the QB for the jaguars and there were some others from the Buccaneers and someone else. It was fun and the kids really enjoyed it. Well, that is all for now...I'm going to get to finishing my work. I'm going on an adventure this weekend to the "campo" or "country" with Ticos this weekend with Kim. We're making a promise to only speak in Spanish the whole time...even to each other...pray for safe travels and that we don't go crazy with all the Spanish! <3 Finally, I just want to give glory to God for providing in some big ways for me this week. I have been praying about finances because one of my best friends is getting married in November in New York and I'm in the wedding...which means a hefty plane ticket and a pricey dress. My mom just told me about my tax refund that I just received and it was nearly exactly what I needed to pay for both. How great is our God that He even cares about those things that matter to us! Thank you Jesus.