An enjoyable Friday night

On Friday night I had an enjoyable time of eating good food with friends and playing Mexican Train dominos. In the photo are David and Glynis Miller and Ron and Margie Carothers. David is at the head of the table and Glynis is beside him. Ron is showing off some of the food and Margie is beside him. It's interesting because until I came to the mission field I thought there was only one game you could play with Dominos and then I found out that there are many games you can play iwth Dominos.

Costa Rican rocking chair

A Guatemalan lady, Lucilla, and I had a fun time putting together my Costa Rican rocking chair. It was one of those fun times when we laughed so much that we had to stop working every few minutes so we could laugh. Once we finished putting it together we were a little hesistant to sit in but she tried it out...So far so good...

Some of the teachers from ILE

I liked this photo of some of the teachers from the language institute where I studied in Costa Rica. Since being in Guatemala I have a new appreciation for all they wanted to teach me. The teachers there see it as their ministry to teach the missionaries the Spanish language.

Different photos from Guatemala

My 3 buddies...

The other night my 3 buddies were in my room waiting to see what I was going to do next. I thought they posed pretty good for the picture.

A good meal

I couldn't resist putting a picture of a really good meal I fixed the other night. It was good....

Update 8-25-09

I thought you would like some kind of update about how things have been going since I arrived in Guatemala. It’s Tuesday afternoon about 5 pm as I write this. I can always tell when it is almost 5 pm even if I don’t have a clock close by. Why? Because I have 2 dogs that are ready for their afternoon food which they receive at 5 pm. They start getting excited before that and I know it’s getting close to 5.

I’ve enjoyed being able to get out and walk in the neighborhood where I’m living. It is middle class neighborhood. All of the houses have walls around them and usually barbed wire at the top of the wall for safety. There are quite a few embassies in the neighborhood. I have seen the ones for Brazil, El Salvador, Panama, Russia and a couple of others. There are fast food restaurants like Wendys, Taco Bell and McDonalds in walking distance. Also two grocery stores, American used clothing stores, local cafes, a drugstore, movie theater and other places.

So far I haven’t driven. Tomorrow morning there is a national lady who is going to come to the house and then we’ll go for a drive. I’ll drive and she’ll be my copilot. That way I won’t have to worry about getting lost. The hard part is that you may be able to find a location but then because of all the one way streets you can’t always return home the same way you went. Plus on the roads here you have to make a decision and go with it. So we’ll go mid morning tomorrow when there is less traffic. I asked her if she wasn’t afraid to go with me, she laughed and said I don’t have fear in the car, just panic. It was cute. She has children so I’m sure she went through the same with them as they were learning to drive.

On Monday and Tuesday nights there are small groups that meet here at the house. One group is studying The Purpose Driven Life book and the other group is studying a book on Phillipians 4:8. The Monday night group has 5 or 6 people and the Tuesday night group has 8 or 9 people.

On Thursday mornings there is a Ladies Bible Study in English that I can go to. I went to it last week and I hope to attend again this week. There is an English speaking interdenominational church close by and that is where I attended the Bible study.

This past Sunday I went to a Guatemalan Baptist Church. The people were really friendly. I think it was about a 2 hour service.

This past Saturday I was able to enjoy a complete day of rest. I was happy because I found a blender in the cabinet so I made a milkshake and it tasted really good.

I had the opportunity to visit with some of the missionaries last week and this week I’ll visit in the homes of other ones.

I’m sure there is more that you would like to hear and more that I could say but I don’t know what it is right now.

By the way, the Voices of the Faithful second book is available now. You can order it from the IMB website at www.imb.org/resources or it should be in stores soon. I received my copy in the mail today and was happy to see my writing on July 25 and to see other writings where I recognized the writer. It’s really neat to look at a day and think I know that person….

Ziplining in Costa Rica

When Kim was in Costa Rica visiting we went to a place where she and others could zipline. They went over 11 waterfalls and 25 stations plus they had a 45 minute horseback ride to go to where they started the ziplining. She enjoyed it alot. I enjoyed waiting by the pool reading my book while they were ziplining. We were both happy on that day.

Bodyguards

I have 2 dogs and 1 cat that are living with me in the house where I'm staying at in Guatemala. I'll stay in this house for the first six months or so before finding a place of my own. The other day I commented that I have 2 shadows (meaning the dogs) following me and someone else commented no those are your bodyguards. Of course everyone knows that the cat runs the house because cats rule and dogs drool...haha I just remembered that line from a movie I think it was called "The adventures of Milo and Otis".

Travel to Guatemala

All the luggage is not mine, it is a combination of mine and Kim's even though I know my suitcases were the heavier ones. It was nice being upgraded to first class for the flight. That was mainly nice because it meant exra luggage allowance!

More photos from graduation

This is photo of the Costa Rican family who I lived with when I first arrived in Costa Rica. It was sad saying goodbye to them but I think they'll come visit me in Guatemala someday.

Kim, Carol, and Karen Carney. Karen is from Oklahoma and will be going to Mexico. She made the flags in the photo below using paperbags from the grocery store.

Kim working

Kim was a big help with cleaning the apartment while I would go to class and packing and transporting luggage for me. After all I thought the least I could do was make sure she got a good meal at Rosti Pollos, a chicken restaurant in Costa Rica.

Saying goodbyes..

There are alot of pictures which I could put for this posting but these are just a few of the ones who I was sad to have to say goodbye to but I am very thankful that I met them...

Graduation Day

On Friday August 14 I graduated from the Spanish Language Insitute in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was a bittersweet feeling for a lot of the students as we thought about finishing our official language studies and yet leaving many dear friends. My sister Kim was able to spend the last week with me in Costa Rica and be there for graduation which was neat.

Playing soccer

Aldo is Dora's grandson. I had a fun time playing soccer with him. Of course I must admit when he said let's go play futbol, my American mind immediately thought of American football. But futbol here is soccer. It was still fun though.

Timmy

Even though Timmy isn't my dog, I still enjoy playing with him and I'll miss him along with Dora and her family when I move to Guatemala. He belongs to Astrid, Dora's daughter but he visits quite often at Dora's house. Of course Kim gladly bought a toy and treats for Timmy and he enjoyed them.

Goodbye with Dora and family

Dora is a Costa Rican friend of mine. She had a going away for me with her family. Also we celebrated birthdays of her two daughters. It was neat because Dora had a Costa Rica shirt to give me and I had a North Carolina shirt to give her. Dora is in the NC shirt. Kim in the pink shirt. Dora's daughter Astrid in the sleeveless shirt with the dark hair. Another missionary Susan is in the blue shirt. Chuck is the only guy in the picture, he's visiting Costa Rica for a couple of months. Another student, Karen is in the glasses beside me. It was a fun night.

More photos from the weekend travels

More photos from the weekend...

More Photos...

"Zipping into Costa Rica!"

Who would've planned a trip like this?? Only in the country for 1 1/2 hours and on the road to an adventura grande!

Carol and I were headed to an Adventure Park with a group of other language students for a time of fun and relaxation and that's exactly what we got!!

I had my fun time riding horses to, ziplining over, rappelling down and swimming in the waterfalls and Carol had her fun time chilling by the pool! The view was awesome from the top of the mountain! I can't even put into words how relaxing and breathtaking it was!

The challenge of ziplining, rappelling and climbing over the waterfalls was a wonderful way to start my time with Carol! Even though this was my fourth or fifth time ziplining, I definitely believe this one will hard to top! Check out the photos below to catch a little part of the fun!

Making chocolate cake

The other week I had the opportunity to have a cake baking time with a Costa Rican friend of mine. I had made one recently and taken her a piece of it and she said she wanted to know how to make it. So we had a cake baking lesson. Of course we enjoyed eating the cake batter while we were making it. I said it's interesting that in Mozambique I taught some ladies how to make cakes too. It's something that I enjoy doing baking cakes..

Nice food treats

Kim arrived on Saturday for a visit. One of the nice treat items she brought me was Chick fil A sandwiches and Diet Mountain Dew. Items that you can't get here in Costa Rica so they are a special treat!