Sunday, May 27, 2012

Food

When you think of Latin food, "spicy" might come to mind, but not in Costa Rica.  The food here is just the way I like it - mild.  Overall, I like the comida típica, or homemade Costa Rican food.  We like to eat at sodas which are little mom and pop restaurants with affordable prices.  A staple item on the menu is black beans and rice, or gallo pinto.  This item is consumed at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  While available at all sodas, you can also find it on the breakfast menu at Wendy’s, Subway, and McDonald’s!
Plantain, gallo pinto, and scrambled eggs.
One day, I ordered a casado (meat, two sides, gallo pinto, and salad) at a soda.  While I was waiting on my food, I was brought some tortilla chips to munch on.  At Mexican restaurants, you’re used to chips and salsa, right?  Well, when he brought me the chips, they already had some “sauce” drizzled on them…mayonnaise and ketchup!

Another day, Kelsey and I went to a different soda and as we ate, we noticed an unrecognizable food under the heating lamps.  The owner informed us that it was a plantain split down the middle with melted cheese.  No thanks!

In March, we went to an awesome arts and crafts festival where lots of food stands offered a variety of fare.  I ordered the patacones with shredded beef and guacamole.  Patacones are fried, flattened slices of unripe banana used as a base to be topped with the aforementioned beef and guacamole and/or beans and cheese.  Mmmm!

I've also enjoyed eating my own trout that I caught and Enrique liked drinking a pipa fría (fifth video from the top).

While almost everything that you want to buy is accessible here, American brands are expensive!  When I first moved here, I bought what I was used to - Campbell's, Planter's, Smucker's, etc, but now I try to buy local brands to cut back on the prices.  Other products that are expensive are American apple sauce, peanut butter, and (Canadian) maple syrup.  There is only brand of maple syrup and it costs $31 for a pint!  That's liquid gold, my friend.

Friday, May 18, 2012

God’s Been Good to Me

I can’t go a day longer without letting you know how good God is to little ole me.  This song by Crystal Lewis explains exactly how I feel. 

More specifically, I really enjoyed my whirlwind visit of 10 days in Atlanta visiting 20 families.  I drove from Lithia Springs, to Lawrenceville, to Cumming, to Villa Rica, to Norcross to everywhere in between.  I have such a great family and caring friends.  God used them to care for me in very specific ways.

Ever since we moved here nine months ago, it seems like I’ve been making a shopping list for whenever I would be able to go back to the States.  My list was much longer than my budget!  And unanticipated travelling costs really ate into my pocketbook before I ever set foot into the first store.  But God knew all of that and provided everything that I needed – even down to olive oil and hair clips. 

We ran out of olive oil the day before I went to Atlanta, but I didn’t buy more assuming that Enrique wouldn’t need it in my absence.  When I got to my Dad’s, I found a bottle of unopened olive oil that I had stored in the closet.

I am growing out my hair so hair accessories were on my list.  When we moved here, my hair was too short for clips and such so I left them all at my dad’s.  I had forgotten about them and was pleased to find them!
There are a few Christian book stores here, but nothing as awesome as LifeWay!  I went a little crazy buying $7.99 movies, $5 cds, and $1 packs of note cards.  I gladly paid the $80, but started to feel buyer’s remorse as I drove on to my next store.  That night, I began looking through some of the stuff that we didn’t bring last August and found all of the note cards and cds that I need so I returned practically everything two days later.

The credit back to my check card took longer than usual which prevented me from shopping for five days.  I was frustrated with this restriction, but then saw that it was God’s way to protect me from buying more stuff either that I didn’t need or that He was going to provide.

Unfortunately, I tend not to listen to God and do things my own way.  Since I didn’t see the money in my account and really wanted to go shopping at the thrift store, I moved some money around and drove to half-off day.  Even though the pajamas for David on my list were only $1.50 (for the top and bottom), the very next day a friend gave David some brand new pjs as a gift.

God also used family and friends to bless me with three new tops; three home cooked meals; eight times to go out to eat; toys for David; gas for the car; an awesome tour of Chick-fil-A headquarters; and money to buy a much wanted purse and shoes, and pay to check my two suitcases at the airport.

While at the airport today, I must share a few more examples of God spoiling me. 
  • I weighed my suitcases at home and each piece weighed between 40 and 42 pounds (40 lbs. is the max; if you go over, there is a $25 charge.  I know this because that’s one of the travelling fees I experienced on my way to the States).  When I got to the airport, they were both a few pounds below the limit which allowed to me put some of the stuff I was carrying in my hand into the suitcase.
  • You know how for international flights, you’re supposed to get to the airport three hours ahead of time?  I got there just in time, three minutes before they started boarding.
  • We travelled on Spirit which is a no-thrills airline. The seats recline ½ inch and are very small.  If you want to choose your seats or enjoy one of the limited larger seats, it costs about $30 for each “luxury”.  Even though I didn’t request the roomier seats or pay to pick where we sit, David and I got to sit on the third row in the big seats (two seats per row versus three)!
  • On the way to the States, David’s ears and my head hurt upon descent even though neither of us was sick.  I was dreading that to happen again –especially since we were both a little sick with runny noses and congestion – but there was no pain whatsoever.  As a bonus, David slept the majority of the six-hour trip.


Sleeping in the roomy seat with Buddy, the dog.
Please take five minutes to listen to the lyrics of the song that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog entry.  I am humbled by God taking care of every detail of my life and loving me unconditionally. 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Gone fishin'

On Saturday, Enrique, David, and I drove to Cartago to pick up Kelsey and bring her back to civilization.  She had talked with us about where her missionary friends lived, but I didn’t realize the tranquil beauty until I laid eyes upon it myself.  We live in the metro area of San Jose so I’m used to smelling exhaust as my neighbors drive by to go to work in the morning, and walking to the corner to get to the butcher, locksmith, or David’s school.  The closest neighbors to the Folks are the cows in the pasture and the trout in the pond.
The Folk family live on the side of the Irazú Volcano on a family’s property that rent a house to them.  This family has a restaurant that is only open on Saturdays and Sundays for lunch.  Since we were there last weekend, we had the joy of eating at this delicious little mom and pop operation.  Before having lunch, we had to catch it!  I don’t ever recall going fishing, and if I did, I never caught anything, and if I did, I certainly never ate it!

While we waited for the couple to prepare our lunch, Enrique and I talked with Jacob and Courtenay to get to know them better and find out about their ministry in Costa Rica.  They and their three kids are from South Carolina and arrived in Cartago in 2008.  They conduct Bible studies on week nights and also serve at a local orphanage.

When our meal came, I was delighted to see perfectly seasoned potatoes, fried plantains, salad with a delicious herb dressing, and of course my fried trout.  It was superb!

After lunch, we walked up a hill to see their home.  Jacob had built swing for his children so David and I gave it a try.

Their log cabin is very open, and large enough to house small missions teams who come to help out.  Jacob built their bed which is unusually high.  When I asked why, Courtenay told me that it’s so that none of her sheets touch the floor.  Why?  So that tarantulas don’t climb up.  That’s right, tarantulas!!!  While the climate difference that they experience frees them of the pesky ants that we battle on a daily basis, they deal with the occasional tarantula.  Ugh!

After we visited for awhile, we walked back down to our car to go back to the city.  On the way, Jacob dug up a calalilly for me so that I can plant it at our place in memory of my mom.



We will definitely be returning to the Folks’ home to enjoy the good company, fresh air, and peaceful serenity of nature.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Our new friend, Kelsey

At the end of January, an American girl went to our church and needed a ride back to her house.  She had taken a bus two hours to get to church so Enrique had sympathy on her and drove her all the way home.  He couldn’t believe how far away she lived!

We asked Kelsey what she was doing in Costa Rica and she replied that she was here to serve the Lord.  Kelsey is a 22-year old who recently graduated from Anderson University.  She studied Spanish there and has been to Costa Rica several times since 2007 visiting some missionary friends from her town in South Carolina.  They’re the Folk family who live on the side of the Irazú Volcano in Cartago.  The Folks conduct Bible studies in homes during the week and help serve at a local orphanage.  Through a roundabout way, Kelsey had heard about our church, Openhouse, and wanted to help.  She wasn’t sure how she would help, but she was open to whatever God had in store for her.

We needed help as the administrative and technical side of things were piling up and I was busy helping Enrique with small groups and Ashley with Waumba Land (the nursery).  Kelsey was willing to move to our side of town, but needed a place to stay.  We checked into one place for her, but it didn’t work out.  Oh, what to do!

One of David’s little friends was about to move to California for six months so I asked the family who was going to watch their home.  They said that a family member was going to drive by it every so often.  I asked them if they’d be willing to let Kelsey housesit for them and they agreed.  They hadn’t even met her yet and were ready to give her the keys to their home!

On the night before their departure, we had them and Kelsey over for dinner to talk about the arrangements and then to go to their house to explain when to take the trash out, water the grass, which key goes where, etc.  Instead of at least two hours away by bus (3 buses, actually, and a taxi), or one hour by car, she now lives the next street over!

Kelsey is a welcome addition to our church and readily and willingly helps in many ways.  She puts the ProPresenter slides together for Sundays; sends out the weekly e-mail to our members here, a monthly e-mail to our partners in the States; runs the slides on Sundays; shows one of Andy Stanley’s sermons in English on Monday nights; proofreads various publications; updates our church’s website; helps to co-lead a women’s Bible study, and other tasks, I’m sure.

We are glad to have her near and it’s always nice to have another American close by who can relate to how you feel about the hundreds of ants in the kitchen (and the few that are crawling on my arms as I type); the freezing, unheated pools that Costa Ricans say feel lovely; and the sensor tags on certain blocks of cheese..