NC friend

On Saturday I had lunch with a guy from North Carolina, Octavio, who works with my mom in North Carolina. He was in town for a few days leading a conference and he had heard about me so he wanted to meet me and vice versa. He lived in Costa Rica for about 11 years before moving to the states. He is in the Italia shirt and his Costa Rican friend (who was super nice) is in the red shirt. It was an enjoyable lunch of Pollo Campero chicken and fellowship.

Upcoming events

Hey,
I thought I would share with you some upcoming dates…

On Thursday of this week, July 30, I’ll have an oral test at the language institute. The lady I’m having it with can be very intimidating. God gave me the idea that I should go in with the attitude of how blessed I am to be able to talk to her because I never have the opportunity to talk to her. It will be at 12:30 my time which is 2:30 pm East Coast time.

On Monday August 1st I’ll have my OPE, oral proficiency test, this is the one that will be given by a lady from my mission. It’s the same type of test that I’ve had each trimester since I’ve been here. It will be at 1 pm my time which is 3 pm East Coast time.

Saturday, August 8th, Kim will come for a visit to be here for graduation and to help me pack for Guatemala. For those of you who really know me, you know I don’t like packing. You would think as much as I travel I would be used to packing. I guess I am but it’s just something I don’t enjoy doing. Plus it sounds like a good excuse for a visit, right? Graduation is Friday August 14th.

Saturday August 15th Kim will leave to fly back to North Carolina and I’ll leave to go to Guatemala. I’ll arrive there in the early afternoon. I’ll be living in the house of a missionary family who will be in the states for a few months. I’ll live in their house while I look for a place of my own. The family will be leaving their cat and dog for me to take care of as well. I am looking forward to having pets to take care of again.

As you can tell the next few weeks have a lot of big things coming up but it is what I’ve been preparing for the past year.

Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement!

Cats & dogs at the hotel

Of course I enjoyed the cats and dogs that were around the hotel.

A cute little girl

I'm not sure if the Costa Rican girl knew what to think with my taking her picture.

Enjoying ice cream

Ice cream is one of my favorites and it was the favorite of others on my team as well.

Chasing the birds

I had a fun time chasing the Lapas, the birds in the photos. One morning they were in the trees at the hotel. Then the next morning I had to track them down in another part of the beach. I had an enjoyable time trying to get photos of them.

Enjoying the ocean view

Enjoying the ocean...

Various photos

Various photos of the kids at Vacation Bible School

The limbo

It was fun to see the kids doing the limbo.

Women's Meeting

On Thursday afternoons the ladies from the church have a women's prayer and Bible study time. It was a sweet time of fellowship with the Costa Rican ladies.

Showing off bicycling skills

A few of us on the teams couldn't resist trying out some of the kid's bicycles. The kids enjoyed watching the big kids try to fit on their bicycles.

Mission trip to Puntarenas

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Puntarenas, Costa Rica. It was a really good week. This is the group that I worked with. It was a mix of people from Missouri and Costa Rica. We worked with VBS activities in the morning with the children. In the afternoons we visited in homes and in the evenings we had a church activity. It was a very enjoyable few days.

The lady in the photo by herself is Cathy. She wasn't in the group picture because she was taking the picture but she was a definite part of the team.

Crocodile Bridge

One of the favorite places to stop and look when you are traveling is at a place called Crocodile Bridge. There are always crocodiles at the bridge. I counted 24 the day we were there. No I wouldn't want to fall in that water!

Taking it easy...

In one of the restaurants I went to eat at recently they had the right idea. In the restaurant there were two recliners you could sit in and watch TV or read the newspaper. Of course I wasn't going to pass up a chance to sit in a recliner after we enjoyed a buffet meal of roaste chicken, french fries, rice, beans, and tortillas. Also Carmela, a Costa Rican child, wanted her turn to sit in the chair too.

Fish before and after

This fish didn't stand a chance....It was good as you can tell by the before and after pictures. The lady in the white hat was the cook. The next day at church I showed her the before and after photos and she just proudly smiled.

Broccoli or trees?

When one of the Costa Rican families was young she said "mom are those broccoli?". So thats been a joke now, is it broccoli or is it trees?

Meat market

These were two happy guys who were glad to have their picture taken..

Scooby Doo shirt

My sister sent me this shirt recently so I know she'll like this photo...

A few more photos from country house

The country house where we went is about 40 minutes outside of town. It's one of those times that in a short amount of time you can be out of the city, traffic and noise and go to a place of fresh air and cool air. It was nice to be able to wear a sweatshirt. Friday afternoon and Saturday morning Barb and I went on long walks which was nice too. These are some of the photos from the area.

Swinging

At the country house they had two swings set up which were a lot of fun. It's been a while since I have swung so it was fun.

Bruno the watchdog

This past weekend I went with the Costa Rican family who I used to live with to their country house. It's a really nice. Bruno is a good watchdog. Barb and I were walking in the road going past the house. Bruno saw us and ran behind the gate and he was barking at us the whole time. He was saying if you try and come on this property and open this gate I'm going to know it. It was cute...And of course I almost always find the dogs and cats to take pictures of..