I got my Costa Rican driver’s license!

In the States, a driver’s license serves as your ID for everything.  Here, that is not the case.  Everyone has another type of ID called a cédula.  Since residency is required to obtain a cédula, I use my passport as a form of ID.  I don’t like carrying it on my person at all times, so I’m glad to have a local form of ID now.  It may not be as important as a cédula, but if you’re in an accident with an expired (or without) a driver’s license, your auto insurance is invalid!

Fortunately, the process was pretty easy, albeit time consuming.  I was able to use my Georgia DL as proof that I know how to drive so I didn’t have to take any kinds of tests.  I did, however, have to get the required medical exam ($20).  I’m glad that I had my Red Cross blood donor card with me so that I didn’t have to pay the additional $10 fee to prove my blood type.

Once I found the driver’s license place (Thank goodness I have a GPS in the land of no street names!), I paid $1.40 for a woman to make copies of my passport and GA DL.  I then walked through a maze of buildings and offices following the signs to get my license.  A man at the door checked to make sure that I had all of the proper documents and told me and eight other people to sit in a row of chairs inside the very pink building.  While waiting, I took a picture of a poorly translated sign which made me laugh.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, five people were sent upstairs and the rest of us moved down a few chairs.  After waiting even more time with no direction, the rest of us got to go upstairs to have our copies officially given a stamp of approval and then sent back downstairs to wait in line again.

The lady that was supposed to help all of us wasn’t at her desk so we waited and waited.  While sitting there, I saw that everyone had a yellow receipt in hand, everyone but me and another guy.  I asked a fellow American what that was for and he said that you have to go to a bank to pay the $8 for the license, and then they’ll give you a receipt to give to the lady.  I asked if I should get up and go to the bank while we wait and he suggested that I stay and wait for the lady to tell me that.  Finally, she started seeing each one of us and the process was fairly quick.  I saw another poor translation that made me laugh.

It makes sense in Spanish, but not so much in English.

When it was my turn, I went to the lady’s cubicle and gave her my papers.  She gave me a white slip of paper to take to the bank so I walked about two blocks to pay and get my yellow receipt.  I was the last person that the teller saw before he went on his lunch break.  Phew!  The poor guy behind me had to wait an extra 45 minutes until the teller returned from lunch.

I walked the two blocks back to the office and handed her my receipt.  She asked me for an electronic signature, a digital fingerprint, and then took my picture.  Voila, a Costa Rican driver’s license!  

FAQ: How’s Church?

Since Enrique and I are in Costa Rica as missionaries, family and friends commonly ask us how church is going.  Enrique’s specific role at our church is the small groups director.  North Point Community Church (our home church) has a goal of having 80% of their congregants in groups.  As a new church, our goal is 60%.  So far, people have been meeting in homes for short-term 6-10 week studies.  This month, we are introducing long-term 18-24 month groups.

At the end of January, Julio gave a talk (that’s contemporary code for “our pastor gave a sermon”) about the importance of small groups.  While you may be very familiar with this concept and welcome it, a lot of people have not heard of small groups.  After the sermon, people were asked to fill out a card if they were interested in joining a group.  Enrique was hoping that about 30% of our average attendance would sign up.  Would you believe that over half of the congregation expressed interest in “doing life together”?!?

Now we have the exciting challenge of placing people in groups according to their spiritual maturity, age range, marital status, and area of town where they live.  Enrique’s had smoke coming out of his ears for the past few weeks trying to figure all of this out.  On top of that, additional people continue to visit our church’s website to register for small groups.

Some people are hesitant about making such a long-term commitment with strangers.  The good thing is that the first eight weeks are just about getting to know each other (a dating period, if you will), so if someone doesn’t like the group for whatever reason, they can regroup. 

Many of the singles don’t like the idea of separating men and women.  After all, they’re single and want to be around the opposite sex!  While there will be plenty of opportunities for singles to mix and mingle, it is a fact that long-term groups are more effective when single (never been married, separated, divorced, widowed) men meet with other single men and single women meet with other single women.  There is a greater sense of openness and trust.

On February 29, everyone who signed up will be meeting at a restaurant to form groups.  Please join us in praying for the people who have signed up.  We want for their experience in small groups (Círculos is what we’re calling them here) to be great.  Enrique is teaching people that the term small group isn’t just a code word for Bible study.  It encompasses two other elements which are deep bonds with the other people in your group and reaching out to others in the community.  He likes to say that it isn’t about the transference of information, but about life transformation.

The video says it all. Enjoy!

A day in the life…

Sometimes living in another country doesn't feel too different.  Other days, living in another country feels like…living in another country!  Even though we live in a nice area, there are some things that are quite different.

Many businesses offer home delivery, or express as they say here.  You can order express service for everything from a pharmacy prescription to a movie rental to Office Depot to McDonald's.  Here's a picture of a Pizza Hut delivery motorcycle.

The "trunk" is open and it reads "Siempre Caliente  Hot".

Trash is collected on Monday and Thursday mornings.  There are several ways to put your trash outside – bags on the sidewalk, or bags in some kind of receptacle, but not a big trash bin like we’re used to.  Here is an example of some homemade ingenuity of cutting a plastic barrel in half and mounting it outside the home.

The street that we use everyday has been under construction practically since we moved here.  Behold, a short video depicting the daily mess that goes on. (If you watch to the end, you'll see David.)

And last, but not least...The mom and pop store around the corner is so convenient with practically everything you need in a pinch before driving to the grocery store again.  Tonight was the first time that I went near closing time.  Grandpa was serious about security!