John Gilbert

On Thursday evenings, I am attending a Bible and basketball group that meets in the gym with a leader from our church, John Gilbert. Each time, we go home with an interesting story. John, Rodney, and I take down some refreshments, share a lesson from the Bible, play basketball, and sometimes John even demonstrates some martial arts. There is anywhere from 10-15 boys that come.

During the basketball time, John leaves his car parked outside the gym, unlocked. He doesn't keep anything valuable in it, but sometimes the snacks. A couple of weeks ago, a young man notified John that one of the boys was in his car (presumably looking for something to steal). John checked the car out and nothing was missing. John asked which boy was in his car and started for his home. The mother of the boy answered the door and said her son wasn't there. So, John gave the mother a bag of cookies that was going to be that evening's snack. He told the mother that her son had been in her car and must have needed the cookies. The other boys looked on in disbelief.

As they were leaving the house, John asked the boys what they should do when someone slaps them in the face, and they replied, "Turn the other cheek."

John reminds me of one of the men in Donald Miller's book, "To Own a Dragon." He is a good father-figure to the young men in this community, and I am so privileged to be able to participate with him every Thursday.

Playa Quiones

Two weeks ago, we took a mini-break from work and went to the beach for three days. After a five hour drive to the west coast, we arrived at Playa Quiones. I have been to the beach once before in Costa Rica in June of last year (Punta Leona), but this was different.

A friend from our church here allowed us to stay at her rancho on the beach. We felt like we were camping on the beach. It was amazingly beautiful, quiet, and the locals were extremely kind. Most of the time we swam, surfed, read books, cooked great food, and chatted. One morning we purchased fresh red snapper from the fisherman. The amount of shells we collected was astronomical.

Check out the link to my photo album to see other pictures including the howler monkeys in the backyard, bats, crabs, and some of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I definitely would like to visit Playa Quiones again in the future. Strangely enough though, after three days there I was ready to head back "home" to Los Anonos.

A visit with Doña Carmen

Doña Carmen is 96-years-old, fragile, and one of the cutest elderly ladies I have ever met. Her smile is lacking teeth, but certainly no joy. She has lived in Los Anonos for almost her entire life. Most of her family members have passed away, or she is estranged from them. Her two previous houses built on the same property where she currently resides have been destroyed in fires. We have learned from a past visit that she really enjoys a cup of coffee.

So, yesterday, we arrived at her home with a mug of black coffee thinking we were just peachy! We had no idea what was about to happen...

Upon entering Doña Carmen's home, we greeted one another, and she invited us to sit down. She shared that she was feeling better, as she was sick the last time we saw her. We offered up the coffee and she was grateful. After I poured it into one of her dirty looking mugs for her, she took a swig. No sooner was the coffee in her mouth and there was a look of disgust on her face. Very slowly she bent forward in her bed, stuck her head over the edge, and then spit it all out onto the floor of her home. I was rolling laughing at this situation, and at the same time felt awful for being the cause of such an unpleasant experience for her. Yes, she wanted sugar!

I'm not a coffee drinker, but next time I visit Doña Carmen it will be with more coffee and LOTS of sugar.

Our Wednesday night group

On Wednesday evenings, we have "church" in the local gym. Really, it is an outreach from our church, the Escazu Vineyard, to Los Anonos. We have about seven groups for youth and one for mothers. I help out with the girls group for 9-12 year-olds. We pray together, share a teaching from the Bible, and just about always do some jump rope at the end with a snack.

The girls in our group are full of energy and always wanting attention. Ale, the leader, and I decided to take them to the park for a Sunday morning. We rounded up seven girls and took the mile and a half walk to Parke Sabana. The weather was perfect. We played on the playground, tasted salted mangoes (a favorite treat here), ate ice-cream together, and took lots of pictures . Even though I am not able to communicate well because of my limited Spanish vocabulary, we are able to laugh and play together.

It was great to get them away from their community for a few hours and see them playing. It seems to me that so much of the time they are having to be adults: raising younger siblings, experiencing poverty, seeing drug use, and always feeling unsafe in their own neighborhood.

I look forward to taking them to the park in the future and allowing them to "be kids" for an afternoon.

Holidays

I think there has been at least four holidays here in Costa Rica since I arrived on March 1st. One of them being Holy Week for Easter. Ticos looove to celebrate!

Today is another holiday... I think it is Labor Day. The schools are closed, government offices are closed, ... oh, and the trash that is now setting out in a huge downpour as I type this blog is not getting picked up today. Whoops. Another thing, winter is starting here (perhaps today) and is characterized by daily afternoon rains. It's a good excuse to take a nap... thunder and a holiday (typed as I yawn).

Last night there were a lot of people out having a good time... I was unaware since I sleep like a log, but Rodney and Cindy told me that they saw lines outside of bars as they were driving to the airport to pick up a friend.

I wish we had this many holidays in the States. Or, maybe I'll just have to move to Costa Rica permanently. Hmmm...