Gettin' into the groove and out of the ditch :P

     It's been a busy past couple of days since we arrived here in Costa Rica! These days have been filled with so many encouraging conversations, joyful interactions, and overall filled with so much love for Jesus. 

Nuestro equipo! 😊

Okay, let's get caught up on the past couple of days! As soon as we arrived on Tuesday night we immediately came to the airbnb that we are staying in for the summer. What's cool is that this airbnb is owned by Tannia's family (you might remember her from some of mine or Sam's blogs from last summer), but it's really cool because we have been taken care of so well and feel so welcomed here! After settling in we went to grab food and then talked about our plans for our first full day! 

The next day was wednesday which means we were going to H@ngout with the students at the university! I was super super excited to go to H@ngout to get to reunite with some of the friends I made in my previous trips here. I had been texting them beforehand that I was coming back and that I would love to see them (Thank you Jesus for Whatsapp and technology!). There were 3 specific friends that I had been texting which are Monse, Ana, and Ada, and I was (and still am) excited to see them because they are literally such amazing people. I was a little worried before the trip about going to H@ngout because there is another team that is here from Ohio that have a lot of people so I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to join them, but thankfully we were able to! Back in January I got to meet Monse while helping the Iowa team put on a VBS for the kids and learned many awesome things about her including her desire to be a translator which I think is so so cool that she would be able to breakdown some of those language barriers and have that bridge between people in conversations. Now, Ana I met last summer and she's also super cool, she is studying English and just recently started working a new job while still going to school, definitely pray that she would be able to rest amongst the busyness. Then Ada, I also met last summer, I think she is studying English too (I could be wrong, Ada if you see this I'm sorry jajaja 😅), she is involved in a RVB group at the university, did I already mention that she's awesome :D. Anyways, as soon as we arrived at H@ngout we were met with so many hugs and excitement to see each other! Wait, let me back up a bit, in the morning before H@ngout we walked from our house to Casa flores which is the house where the Ohio team is staying so that we could help them prepare the food for lunch at H@ngout. It was super fun getting to meet them, they had so much energy and so much joy to be there. There's a lot of college students on their team so it's awesome to see them be a part of the ministry here. The lunch we prepared was burritas which are a honduran typical dish, it was tortillas con frijoles, queso, platanos y huevos. Once we had finished it was about time to head to the campus. 

Ahora, H@ngout! Okay so I got to reunite with Monse, Ana, and Ada came later and then we ate lunch. I met a lot of new people, learned to dance merengue a little bit (my hips would not move whatsoever jajaja), I played Dutch Blitz with Ana Raquel, Livy (from the Ohio team) and another student. If I remember correctly after that or maybe before Lucas (another member of the Ohio team) gave an awesome explanation of the Gospel and why we have a relationship with Jesus and how each person can have a relationship with God. It was very encouraging and opened up many opportunities with students for conversation. Right after Lucas had finished I had been standing next Jesus/yizus/jose (lol he goes by many things) and I felt I should ask him what he had thought about what Lucas had shared. He told me it was very good and that he understands it but doesn't desire it. He told me that he loves to live his life day to day being kind to every person he comes into contact with. After he said that I then asked what about love for him like how does he feel loved and how does he stay optimistic/positive about loving others. He didn't seem to have a full answer and that he is able to encourage his mindset to keep going, which I think is a blessing for the Lord even though he may not know it yet. He also mentioned that he used to be religious growing up but them strayed away from it. So I got to bring in how I feel the term religion and relationship with God are 2 very different things to me. Religion feels like going with the motions, an obligation, and just overall a part of life rather than something that brings hope and joy, even love. Maybe in small ways it still brings those things, but I feel that a relationship with God brings so so much more. We get to walk with him, trust in him and allow him to guide our lives, as well as, allow him to bare our burdens. It was a good conversation and I got to hear more of his heart, it ended a bit abruptly and didn't have a resolution for lack of a better word, but it was very good and I am looking forward to more great conversations like that. For me that felt very encouraging because leading up to this trip I hadn't been fully thinking of this trip as a mission trip because I feel very comfortable with Costa Rica in general and love it here and know what to expect. I had been praying that the Lord would reignite in my heart the desire to pursue him more and the desire to share about him with others. That initial conversation made me feel happy to see firsthand the Lord working on my heart because it didn't feel hard or scary and I didn't feel incapable. I don't know it was just really encouraging for my heart. After that there was people still hanging out, playing games, throwing frisbees and just having a good time. Later in the evening we left and came back home and went to buy a few groceries for our house. 

Low quality pic, high quality friendships! 

Nuestro equipo con el otro equipo!

Ah, we're amazing! Look at those wonderful human beings! 

Sheryl's new thing with me is to randomly look at me and make random faces because apparently I react every single time and it's super funny lol 

At the end of the day of H@ngout it was time to decide who was going to the CDI and who was going back to campus. Those that were going to the CDI were Evan, Mallory, Ben, and I! Which I was so so excited to go see the kids again. This also meant that I was the only one out of the 4 of us that knew enough Spanish to get by which felt a bit scary and a bit nerve-racking, but I was still pretty confident in myself because for almost a year now I have been learning Spanish. What made me more nervous though was that I had to give the devotional in Spanish (ahhhhh *small panic moment*), but I am so so thankful for my team. We all sat together and came up with ideas to finish up the book of Job that the kids have been going through and then came up with a plan. Once the plan was formed with an activity Sam and Sheryl helped me translate what I wanted to say and I wrote it down in my phone so I wouldn't forget. The kids have been talking about giving thanks to God in all circumstance and have been memorizing the verse 1 Thessalonians 5:18. So in our plan we talked about the many truths of God like he is always good, powerful, all loving, all gracious, etc. Our activity was to give each kid a cookie which represented the goodness of God. Then tell them to do things like close their eyes, cover their ears, tickle their neighbor (jajaja denle cosquillas a su vecino, what a fun word to say, cosquillas). After each thing I would ask whether or not the cookie (God) changed. This activity was to show that God never changes in any circumstance that we experience like going through hard things, pains, or trials even when we cannot see it. 

Thursday came and we needed to be at the CDI at 8:30ish so we hopped in an uber and headed there. Well, when we got picked up our Uber driver wanted to go in reverse to have an easier access to where we were going, but the car got stuck in a big pot hole aka a small ditch. Evan and Ben had to get out and help push his car out 😂. We eventually made it to the CDI and jumped right in with the kids. It was so sweet to see Doña Maria (one of the ladies that volunteers at the CDI) again, she immediately greeted me with excitement and a hug! There was only about 4 kids at the CDI in the morning, Diego, Valentina, Aidan, and Juliana. We played a lot of Jenga and Uno at the beginning which was super fun. I haven´t played that much uno in a longggg time. Then it came time for the devotional and thankfully Ana was there with us so I asked the questions and led the time but she facilitated the discussion more. That definitely relieved a lot of my anxiety and nervousness. I think it went super well for both sets of kids and Ana gave me a few tips and things to add or change. Wasn´t as scary as I thought it would be. The entire day today was filled with a lot of playing, laughter, and joy. Going to the CDI, I was also super excited to practice my Spanish and be able to connect with the kids on a more relational level. I got to help with homework more, make a few jokes here and there, and have an actual conversation with Doña Maria. After today I feel a bit more confident in myself because I do know things and can understand a lot. I also feel like I have almost completely gotten rid of my fear and insecurity of trying to speak Spanish and just going for it. That is a great step forward in my learning process 😁. 

I didn´t take pictures today except my BeReal so here ya go! 😆

It was also very cool to see Ben, Evan, and Mallory jump right in wherever they felt they could or where help was needed. It was fun to watch them interact with the kids and be very sweet to them! I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the week goes and see them shine whether at the CDI or Hangout! 

Our time at the CDI ended and all the kids left, so we cleaned up and got an Uber back to the campus to meet up with the rest of our team. We got to then go eat Pizzahut!! Let me tell you, if I haven´t said this before, Pizzahut is legitimately better in Costa Rica than in the states. I have been hyping it for my team a lot even before we got here and I am happy to say that they all said it lived up to expectations (or they just said that lol but I think they were telling the truth jajaja). What a great end to a great day!! Fue un día muy lindo! We ended the day with some worship, prayer, and the gals got to have a great lifegroup time!

Tomorrow we are going to go on an adventure for some souvenirs and explore, possibly another grocery trip and then in the evening we are going to church. It should be a more restful day, especially after the past 2 days of go, go, go. 

Prayer Requests:

• Rest for all of us, including Ana and Carlos
• Continued opportunities for great conversations
• For each person to learn where they fit on this team and for God to reveal their purpose here
• For quality time with the Lord 

Thanks friends and family! I love you all! 

Los amo a todos!!