Picures Report
As you can see, in our morning work time the theme was to put the women to work while the men (and the birthday girl) looked at stuff.
For lunch we headed to RostiPollos and picked up Jim. He brought so much extra luggage
(Megan's pillow, Randy's pineapple coring device, cables that Chip forgot), that we had to strap it all to the top of the van.
For her birthday, Grace got a baby. John was in shock about it too.
Don't accuse Grace of being a pyromaniac, it appears that she hasn't seen fire before.
After arriving at Principe de Paz we played some get-to-know-you games.
In this one, you say someone's name and the person in the middle tries to hit them before they say someone else's.
I think that Mauren is trying to hit Stephanie (either she was really popular and kept getting called, or people just wanted to hit her).
Then we made a big spider web.
Then we played a version of tag. Here Ashley is chasing Maria (who she later discovered was her host Tica).
Finally we had a traditional piñata for Grace's birthday. I don't think that she liked to play it the traditional way though.
Maybe she wanted to use that newly discovered fire thing.
Costa Rica Day Four – July 2, 2007
Today we started early. Breakfast was done and over with by 8:15. After breakfast our last day of working at the multiplication center began. Tessie and Lauren chipped tile for a mosaic, while the rest of us dug an opening for a water pipe. After our work was done, we packed and headed out to the airport to get Jim. We ate lunch at RostiPollos, where the waiters all sang happy birthday to me. My birthday cake was something called tres leches (I think Chip was the only one that liked it. He ate about 5 pieces).
When lunch was over we headed over to Principe de Paz to meet the Ticos that would be hosting us. It was a little awkward at first, but after we played some “get to know you” games, we were all interactive. Each gringo and each Tico seemed to fit together perfectly. I think Stephanie and Meg were especially pleased to find that their Tica was a translator and was fluent in English.
My favorite part of the night was when we had a birthday “fiesta.” We got a piñata and had cake and they sang happy birthday to me again. Everyone really made me feel at home on my birthday and it was one of my best ever.
Being in Costa Rica and living with the Tico families is a lot like home to me. For example, Enola’s family is always late and we ate dinner at about nine o’clock. See . . . no differences from my family at home. Actually my family would be perfect for the Costa Rican culture, because this is how everyone is.
I’m looking forward to learning more about the Costa Rican culture and I hope I’ll be able to share what experience I’m having and how God is working next.
Hasta Luego,
Grace
Today was one of our busier days. Aside from it being Grace’s birthday, we worked all morning, met up with Jim, then proceeded to meet our Ticos before heading home with our host families for the evening. Needless to say, there was a lot of activity.
Ashley and I had to wake up at 6:40 to help make breakfast for the rest of the group. After French toast and watermelon, we were given the task of making one of the drainage systems deeper and wider. I made everyone sing, “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide” with me (remember first grade Sunday School?). After a lot of sweat (and showers), we drove to RostiPollos for lunch and waited for Jim and Eric to come from the airport. Once everyone was there, we drove to Principe de Paz where there was a lot of staring and awkward hello/holas. After rounds of bonk, link tag and some Costa Rican games, everyone felt more comfortable. They had a piñata and cake for Grace’s birthday and we then headed home with our Ticos for the night.
Megan and I are staying with a girl named Rebecca, who happens to be bilingual: her mom is from Florida and her dad is Costa Rican. We had an American meal of mashed potatoes and chicken (but tomorrow we are eating arroz con pollo) and shared our photo albums. She actually remembered my sister from their trip to Nicaragua together. We talked a lot about cultural differences and I thought about you, mom, when we watched CSI: Miami at nine.
Thanks for your prayers,
Stephanie