rapidamente, entonces regresamos a costa rica en jueves el 25 despues de 10 dias en Cuba! Cuba=una enigma para mi en ingles aunque estoy pensando en espanol para mi tarea : } Cuba included scary customs ladies, old u.s. cars from before the blockade, only political advertisements, beautiful architecture, the malecon (sea wall), the most brilliant blue ocean...
we went to a local concert--so much art/music culture in cuba, the old fort to watch the shooting of the canon, heard different lectures, read, journaled, met some crazy and cute cubans of every age and shape and color, visited schools and community centers...
spent time at Varadero beach :), saw amazing artwork, danced on a rooftop, on the bus, in the street, at the beach... lots of dancing, our bus (gua gua) broke down on the way back to la habana, it was a beautiful spot, but not really planned : } also desafortunadamente, 3 girls got terribly sick and had to make a short hospital visit-- maybe food poisoning, but nothing too serious since they are all better now!
heather and paige tried unsuccessfully to catch a cat for my medio cumple for two days and then decided instead to chase chickens--I received a rooster--Gaston el gallo--for my 1/2 birthday this year!
Got a very annoying virus the last day of the trip and now it's still going, but I have been able to dar de cuerpo finally : } anyhow, not feeling so hot, but trying to be all ready set for the next phase of the adventure that is Latin America!
Spent some time with my host family and my friends here in San Jose with enough time to wash clothes, pack, and make banana bread and wild rice minestrone before leaving for grecia (the town not the country, to avoid confusion) for the rest of the semester. Sad to leave my great family, but it's time, so here we go!
adventuras de la gringa tonta (continued every day): returning from a run this week, I went to the back patio to wash my clothes, I was proud of myself for remembering to stick a towel in the door and prop the lock so that it couldn't shut on me. However, I needed to do a second load, when, of course, I forgot any notion of the door, the towel, the lock, the wind... so, de repente, me quede encereda--the door slammed and I was locked in the patio. way to go. nobody is home at this point, of course, and I never picked up the skill of picking locks, although at this point I figured, I'm a smart gal, let's try this bobby pin I just found--no go. I don't think that works on this kind of lock--who puts a lock on the laundry room anyway? after pondering what God could use this time for and if I should just resign to skip ICADS, I notice the little window to my room above the main window--it as 3 little slates of glass which one can remove! I carefully slide them out, hoist myself up, hold on to the ceiling bars and slide myself through the hole into my room. success! oh man. Late to ICADs, of course, but did my laundry and learned a little lesson that I thought I already new... : D
Went to "Alicia en el pais de maravillosos" maybe the strangest thing I've ever seen. "I just love a good warm pig for my aching feet. Would you like one?" ...the futterwaken? I mean, really? we were there with our backpacks, in the mall, oh boy, and anthony accidentally asked for an oatmeal cookie with frogs--avena con rana--instead of raisins--pasas-- :D
Rafting today in the best river in Costa Rica--soo beautiful all God's made! toucans, bright blue butterflies, waterfalls, green green green plants, rapids! I almost drowned a few times and think we were laughing too hard to be a great help, but it was amazing.
Woah. that's a lot. Thanks very very much for your time!
(as our panamanian dad says,) Amor, mucho amor, mas amor, Linnea Ness--Lina, Michelle, Linita, Lili, Linnita . . . cualquier... Gracias a Dios...Filipenses 1:9-11 9 Esto es lo que pido en oración: que el amor de ustedes abunde cada vez más en conocimiento y en buen juicio,10 para que disciernan lo que es mejor, y sean puros e irreprochables para el día de Cristo,11 llenos del fruto de justicia que se produce por medio de Jesucristo, para gloria y alabanza de Dios.
Digamos, hola hola coca cola! pero despues de hoy y porque mi papa me envio una carta con algo comico, hoy es hola--a la ola :)
No he escrito hace semanas por causa de viajes, vacaciones, y el inicio de una nueva clase más, me falta sueño…
Quiero contar algunos cuentos de las semanas pasadas en ingles y un resumen en espanol.
Pues, las semanas pasadas vivimos unos 10 dias en Nicaragua que ahorra parece un sueno a veces : } pasamos tiempo en Managua con charlas y preparando para unos pocos dias con una familia en un pueblo, digamos "cuenca de polvo" (no habia ni un gota de lluvia). --Fue un tiempo bonito pintamos la verja (dos veces) jugamos bastante kickbol, fuimos a la iglesia, cantamos, sentamos, fuimos al juegos de beisbol/kickbol, fuimos a la finca-- terminamos en Granda con el grupo otra vez--que linda la ciudad antigua!
Tambien, este tiempo incluyo mi "descanso/vacaciones" para este semestre y fui a Panama con dos amigas en el fin de semana, nos quedamos con una pareja, em, interesante, pasamos tiempo con abel--nuestro papa/abuelo loco y amable, el sol nos quedo un poco en la playa etc.
Empezamos nuestra clase de la fe en practica en latinoamerica esta semana en LASP y solamente tenemos una semana mas en ICADS.
Hoy, hicimos rafting!--un dia brillante, (como dijo una mujer de Inglaterra) Que bonita la creacion, muy fresco, y disfrutimos muchisimo. :)
[had a pic of lake nicaragua--lots of lakes, like home : }--this was supposed to be where the canal went through--much less work than Panama. Huge lake with two volcanoes on an island in the middle to welcome us to Nicaragua. not sure where the picture went : ( ]
Pasamos 2 dias en Managua, revisamos y aprendimos y vimos mas de la historia, incluyendo Sandion y el Frente . . . un gran personaje en mas que una manera.
New Cathedral after the earthquake, not as welcomed and a semi-eerie feel, juxtaposed with the Hermanos en Cristo church in Buenos Aires.
Caimito--uhhh, hmmm. about that... Kickbol! do(s) ou! (nicas drop s's--ma o meo)
food wise, though ate more food than I ever
thought possible. wow, even lactose.
boo hoo pictures are failing again, will put more up as computer allows.
A couple stories to share
could take place any day of the home-stay--
¡Batea muy duro, muy duro, Michelle! (They call me by my middle name here, and it sounds like Meechel)
¡Pst. Pst.A la surda!
¡No, a la derecha!
Just as I am about to kick, Cesar runs up with a cookie for me. This is a normal occurrence throughout the game, last time it was a coca cola and before, a mandarin. –Everyone shares and gives so freely and frequently, I am constantly humbled—
I pawn off my cookie to another little friend as the little crowd looks on... I kick a home run again and almost hit the horse that was standing in the field!—it is one of the best feelings to come to home plate covered in sweat and plovo (dust—we live in a dust bowl : }), laughing with my new friends.
We play kickball every day for hours, such a simple part of the day, but it brings everyone together.
the final day in our home-stays:
I couldn’t stop smiling in church last night—I decided just to go all out and could hardly keep from cracking up when we sang todo poderoso for a special with some of our friends and it hardly had a recognizable melody, but we were so happy and praising God together. I pretended like I knew all of the alabanzas with a rhythm and melody that as some say “only God knows,” and sang and clapped along. I had no idea that I was going to have to read the scripture passage for the night and lead the church in prayer in Spanish, but it all works out. How great to fellowship with people almost every night—sometimes it might seem tedious or repetitive, really, but there is so much joy and sharing, how can you miss it?
This also provided a neat opportunity to say thank you for being Jesus to us, passages like John 13 were literally acted upon in such a short time of hosting us, even my mom sneaking my clothes to wash every day on the washboard or kari's sister washing her feet . . .
note My family was pretty complicated, woven and connected in strange ways, but afforded so many wonderful relationships : ) and apparently I earned the best compliment in that I was "casi baron"-- normally I wouldn't choose to be called a boy, but it translates to a high status... huh.
Granada--the colors and combinations in the colonial city are great! Minibus, horse-drawn cart, car, bicycle, pedestrian . . . all sharing the street.
Panama! no stories ahorita, but we swam/boogie boarded in the ocean, hung out in the little towns, ate delicious fish, met some crazy people, hiked and saw beautiful views, laughed a lot, slept . . .
