Finally Focusing on Christmas

I make the journey home tomorrow. It's still hard for me to believe that Christmas is only 5 days away, I feel like I haven't done anything to prepare, even though I have a little ;)

Costa Rica is a colorful place. They paint their houses and their metal gates and windows bright colors. While most of the houses have lights and decorations up for Christmas, they are often lost on me. There is so much to look at here, probably because I don't live here and I am often seeing things for the first time.

Most houses have greens up of some kind. Whether it's over the doorway, or a Christmas tree on their porch (or both), They have hung their greens. Real OR fake, they have both. My friends Hugito and Katherin have a real tree in their small apartment. It is fragrant and smells like a Christmas tree, but it is different from the trees we would have at home (it looks more like a bush). I took a picture of it, but it is stuck on my phone that is off and not connected to anything :)

The trees that I have found decorated have been decorated with ribbon and ornaments that match-- like they came in a set. This tree actually had a butterfly theme and a nativity scene beneath it.

Butterfly-themed Tree

LIGHTS. Lots of places have lights. Whether it's a house, apartment complex or house; there plenty of lights here. Costa Ricans prefer lights that are colorful and that blink. Almost all the lights blink. It's fascinatingly distracting.

Many public places have decorated for Christmas as well. Not "The Holidays". Christmas. I haven't seen a single Menorah, Star of David or anything that has to do with Kwanza. Many stores have full nativity sets out declaring their beliefs. Most, if not all, people here celebrate Christmas so I guess they aren't really offending anybody. On television last week we saw a parade of Christmas Lights in San Jose (the capital of Costa Rica). There was no Menorah.

Here are some pictures of various Christmas things I've seen around San Isidro. Enjoy!

Lights on palm trees always look cool

This apartment complex made a tree out of light-up ornaments

A street in San Isidro at night, close to the town square

This is what they've decorated the park with. The tree has the logo of the local cell service provider on it and there is a Nativity Scene on the right

This is a church member's house we went to for a party

The church member's Nativity scene. Notice the tongue on the cow :)

Change of plans...

I had a list, albeit short, of things that I wanted to blog about. Things that I have seen and experienced while here that were new and exciting or just happy.

Then today happened.

While scrolling through twitter to get my fix of "home" news or whatever you want to call it, I saw the first couple of tweets from legitimate news sources. Shooting at an elementary school in CT they said. 20+ dead they said. Most of them students they said. Elementary school students.

I started soaking up as much as I could, visiting all the news outlets for their version of the breaking news. I read some friend's emotional postings on Facebook along with the ones I had already seen on Twitter. Just trying to get all the details I could.

I am far way. Even though the news here would probably be talking about it, I can't flip it on and see a familiar news anchor tell me what is going on. I can't call up a friend who knows more than me. But I wanted to tell someone. Maybe I could tell Tannia. Maybe she would want to know about this horrific thing and we could pray together. Maybe she could comfort me a little. I went out of my room to find her. She (and we, I'm her helper) was in the process of cleaning the house for the 3rd time this week. She was washing things in the laundry room when I found her and told her what I had heard and read about. It was then that she said the most mortifying words I could imagine.

"That happens so much in your country"

My country. I was left there feeling generalized. Like I was supposed to take some responsibility for some sick guy who had some SERIOUS problems going on and decided to take the lives of innocent people. I know she didn't mean it that way, she was just making an observation. A TRUE observation. But I felt embarrassed. I can't ever remember hearing of something like this happening here in Costa Rica and I am not from here.

Isn't the United States of America a place people move to for a better life? Is the "American Dream" not a thing anymore? It is turning into a country where you might send your child to school in the morning never to see them again. Or where you can go to a midnight showing of a popular new movie never to walk out of the theater.

Where is God in all of THAT? With the shooters of these tragic events? With the innocent children sitting at their desks learning a new math skill? With movie go-ers eating popcorn and drinking soda? All of them? I'm no theology expert. I consider myself young in my faith journey. Despite often feeling a closeness to God that makes all the hairs on my body stand on edge and tears pour out of my eyes, I don't know how to explain events like this. I don't even know what a starting point might be. How can something like this happen?

I have been in Costa Rica for 2 weeks now. During this time I've felt my love for this place reach the brim and spill over. But today, right now, I want nothing more than to have the comfort of my family close, to squeeze my niece and nephew until they both say ouch.

I praise and thank God that this tragedy didn't happen in Northern Virginia, but what does that say about me? Newton, Connecticut may be another community just like ours. I know nothing about that area, but there are families there. Families with children that had no idea that December 14th would bring the indescribable sadness and loss.

I pray that the community of Newton, CT can find healing. That God would provide them with the strength they need to continue. While He may never provide a "why", I pray that in time, all the families affected will reach some sort of peace.

I've been here more than a week and I'm sorry

I'm starting this post with an apology. I sent a bunch of you the link to this blog and then didn't write anything for days. I guess there were enough things to write about, but what if they were things that are only interesting to me? I'm not going to pretend to know what parts of this trip whoever is reading this cares about. But what we did yesterday was familiar.

We woke up early for what Tannia called a "day of missions". Tannia is the daughter of the family I am staying with. She is the sister of my friend, Hugito, who works with Wil and CRMP. I could spend the rest of my trip explaining how everyone I know here is connected. I've even learned more of the "web of relation" while I've been here. It makes my head spin. So-and-so is the cousin of so-and-so and is dating so-and-so who just so happens to be the brother of so-and-so. Ayyy.

Anyway, focus, day of missions. We stopped by the church to grab some supplies, then Don Hugo, Hugito and I went in the truck about 15 minutes down the Pan-Am Highway. We arrived at a small house that was clearly in a neighborhood worse-off than the one I am staying in. Most houses on the street (and in the whole country) have gates that are made of metal bars for protection and to mark the lot, kinda like a fence. The house we went to did not. It had very overcome-able barbed wire. It needed LOTS of work, but we were there only to install new front and back doors...with working locks.

The house

The other special thing about this house was that one of the sons of the family has Down Syndrome. The family has 2 young sons, Moises and Ulises with another on the way, and they didn't have properly locking doors or a gate.

Ulises

Moises

 The 3 of us got to work. Well, I mainly assisted. The boys were both so cute, I was small-talking with them-- asking them about their toys & what they were watching on T.V.-- things that I can say in Spanish. More workers joined us and we got the job done before 11. When we left, I got giant hugs from both boys. Ulises, the boy with Down Syndrome, really didn't want us to go. He clung to me for a good while. It was heart-warming to me that he could reach out to a group of people with such loud scary tools and smelly wood sealer.

It was a very full-filling morning to say the least. I'm thankful that on this random adventure/trip where I had no planned activities, I was able to participate in something like this. It makes my heart smile so big-- just those few hours that we spent with them. It also makes me count my blessings many times over. However when I do count my blessings while I'm here, it really puts things in perspective. Perspective as in distance. My daily life and daily relationships are VERY far away from here. Far in distance, but also in similarity. No mom, don't take that as homesickness. It's just an observation.

I won't be gone so long next time, I promise.

The work group

Dios les bendiga :)
Carrie

Here I am again...

HOLA!

Yes, I am in Costa Rica again. The previous posts in this blog are from my visit in February when I worked with Wil and Costa Rica Mission Projects. Since then, I have lead a team of 10 to this fine country in May/June and now I am here on my own....just visiting. Some people I've talked to about this trip called it a vacation, but I hardly think of it in that light.

I am staying with a family that I know well in the middle of San Isidro, I'm not on some beach somewhere. I don't know how many of you have been completely submerged in another culture, but it's not exactly the  easiest thing to do. But I am enjoying the moments I have just to be here, taking in my surroundings. This place is important to me.

I changed this blog title to "Christmastime in Costa Rica" for a couple of reasons. I love Christmastime. It's my favorite time. I've never been away from home for this long before the beloved holiday, so it is kind of serving as a reminder to what time of year it actually is. Also, I want to compare what I see here at Christmastime to what we do in the states. Please note that it says ChristmasTIME and not Christmas. I will be coming home the 21st :) 

Staying with this family is pretty perfect. I feel like I am at home with how involved in their church they are. I've set foot in that building everyday since I arrived. It's been awesome. Today we even did mission-type work for church which was a familiar feeling.

They are also feeding me well. Every meal I've had since I've been here has been delicious. Which concerns me since there is no consistent "working" aka sweating. Nothing to work it off! Also, I've been the last person to finish eating every meal. I don't know why and I don't know what this says about me. I didn't think I was a slow eater. Just something I've noticed I guess.

Hasta luego!

Carrie