March 7-14, 2009
This past week has been CRAZY! But before the craziness inundated me and I had to surf the wave of homework and projects, we took a Saturday trip to the Volcano Mombacho as well as the city of Granada with the provost of Trinity Christian College and her husband and another important figure from Dordt College. We took a ride in the back of a big tourist truck up the volcano and at the top is a little ranger station that we stopped at and bought some snacks and coffee because it was COLD up there! I was in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt but it was legitimately cold to me! Maybe that’s because I’ve gotten used to it being so hot but still. It was REALLY foggy up there and we couldn’t see ANYTHING at the lookout points and were quite disappointed. We chose a couple hikes that we wanted to go on and then headed out. We trekked through the foliage, flora and fauna of the Nicaraguan forest and jungle until we came to a beautiful lookout over the entire city of Granada that lies beside a large lake with TONS of islands…like literally. We had moved down in altitude, the fog had lifted and it was also warmer…a wonderful series of events. We saw one of the many vents of the volcano that guarantee the pressure won’t build up and create another explosion, the first of which created all the islands in the lake. We then headed back to the station to catch out ride to our awaiting canopy tour of zip lining through the forest/jungle. The zip lining was a lot of fun and even the provost, her husband and the other man from Dordt did the zip lining. For the first time I did the “superman” which is where you are attached to the zip line by your back and go with one of the guides soaring through the air like superman. Then I did it upside down! We failed to see some foliage that I could hit because of my lanky body and I barely escaped a face full of brush. Then we descended into Granada for lunch and watched a good game of soccer on TV while eating. I got the Chales burger that had an egg on it with some fries and a fake orange juice. It was great except for the orange juice. We then headed towards the islets to take a tour amongst them. What an amazing experience! We saw so many islands and many had a house on them! I thought of you Dan, wanting to get your own private island…ahem. There were many for sale too! For like $50,000 or so. We visited a small but old Spanish fort on one of the islands and then went to Monkey Island! It’s a very small island with 3-4 monkeys on it that a professor put there and all the boat tours go to it so the monkeys get PLENTY of food and attention. I took lots of pictures of this and one of the monkeys came right on our boat and we had a hard time getting it to leave…and the girls with us couldn’t have been happier when we did. We headed back through Granada and on to Managua after a great day! On the car ride back we saw a Quinceañera of a girl who had reached her 15th birthday. At first we passed the church at which it would take place and a little further down the road we saw the procession of girls and family members as they walked from her house to the church. Here the Quinceañera is almost bigger than the wedding of the girl depending on how she lives her life after her 15th birthday (if she keeps herself pure or is loose). On the bus back to my house in Acahualinca, I saw a fight between two men on the side of the road as we stopped at a red light. One was stuffing his back pack up his shirt as if to protect it and was quite upset with the other man who seemed like he was trying to calmly get past the other man. The Backpack Man would have none of that and I wondered if the other man had tried to take something out of the back pack or the bag itself. I don’t know how it ended as we drove away but the whole bus was busy watching as long as they could.
Ok, so I told you about the rabbit incident, but here’s an even better one. We came home from church on Sunday and Henry hadn’t even been at church and he’s the pastor so I asked Jacqueline where Henry, Pilar and Sarai were and they had gone to León for a pastor’s convention or something to do with the Nehemiah Center. When they came back they brought a little surprise back…an iguana! I think they must have found it or something or maybe they bought but Doña Pilar tied its front legs so it couldn’t run off and then the next day Don Henry grabbed the iguana by its tail…which came off but of course was still wiggling around……I don’t know what happened to that Iguana…I haven’t seen it for a while. I can’t remember if I said this before but I seem to have quite the animal population in my room. The little geckos called “perros son popo” chirp at night, the ants crawl on the walls and ceiling in their little trails, the mouse that scurries across my floor and I can’t catch it yet and then the other day a toadly looking frog hopped across my floor…which I caught and offered to Jacqueline. She didn’t like it at all. That same Sunday while Henry, Pilar and Sarai were gone, one of the women from the congregation who was actually from Panama preached a great sermon from what I could understand. She held back no punches as she talked about how we as the body of Christ have a HUGE responsibility because each of our personal actions affects the body! She had read the passage in the Old Testament about Achan and his sin of taking what was forbidden and it affected ALL of Israel and caused many deaths in the camp. She addressed the modesty problem of Latin American women that is quite evident even within the church because it is such a part of their culture. But she gave no excuses as she addressed both men and women and how they should dress and react to those dressed like that. I was saying “Amen sister! Preach it!” Then we had a time of prayer at the end that the Holy Spirit would fill us and probably a lot of other stuff I didn’t catch. She went around and was praying over a few people and I just felt like she really needed to pray over me and asked God that she would. At first she went by me and prayed for someone else but then looked at me and came and prayed over me as well. I don’t know all that she said because she was a REALLY fast talker but she said “Holy Spirit” a lot and afterwards I felt a peace in my heart as I reflected on a difficult past month and looked ahead to the next few weeks.
One night early in the week, Shalom brought me a brown/grey bag. She wanted to know what it was and what you do with it. I found that quite interesting as it was something quite normal and familiar to North American culture. It was a bag of instant oatmeal! I explained that you put it in hot water or milk and they understood that but still didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t find the Spanish word for oatmeal so I couldn’t explain what it was! Oh well, I wonder what they will do with it.
This week’s workload has been heavy and hard with a teach back lesson for video class where I had to watch Memento and then break down the structure of the film and teach it to the class for 10-15 minutes. Then I had a huge load of Spanish homework this week and I still have 2 video projects to shoot and edit before this upcoming Thursday and then I had a presentation of Liberation Theology in Nicaraguan History that had to be 30 minutes to an hour. More specifically it was about the Sandinista revolution and how Liberation Theology played a role in it and how it applies to today and what churches and Christians are doing with it today. I stayed up until 4 AM the night before it was due to finish it because I had no time to work on it earlier in the week which was EXTREMELY late because I usually go to bed at 10…and the earlier the better. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough material for the time allotted but ended up going for an hour and five minutes! The teachers seemed impressed and told me I did a great job so that was a relief! I seriously started the PowerPoint and writing it all out the previous night.
Then yesterday on Friday the 13th during a break between history presentations I got a big birthday surprise which is usually very hard to do. But I didn’t think many people knew it was my birthday and even if they did it’d not like I’m great friends with anyone here. So for some reason we took our break in the Ranchón where we eat lunch during the week and I was greeted with a Spanish happy birthday song that I hadn’t heard before with a Spanish guitar and a tambourine! They brought out a cake that read “Feliz Cumpleaños Stephen!” and Dan pointed out to me that there was a HUGE tweety bird piñata awaiting me. So they blindfolded me, spun me around and made a fool of me as a 6’7” man swung blindly at a big yellow bird. Don Juan who is a hilarious short older man held the rope and I think was having more fun than anyone making me miss the piñata. I gave it several good cracks and whenever candy fell out, grown men and women would rush in to get the candy. It was seriously a mass return to childhood. It was so much fun and a complete surprise…even with Jeff standing there with his camera telling us to go out to the Ranchón. In fact I wasn’t sure if it was for me when I first saw them but then thought “Who else would a birthday celebration be for?” I got to talk with my Mom, Dad and Katie after class which was great because they have a webcam now! I love seeing their faces and did get to see Jonathan the day previous. On the way home, I rode with Doña Mercedes is a lovely 54 year old woman who is one of the cooks at the Nehemiah Center for the teams that come through. She also was the one who ran all over town looking for the biggest piñata she could find for me! So anyway, on the ride home I sat with her and talked a little bit. I asked what she was doing that night and she said she was going to church with some friends of hers. I was about to turn and ask her where she lives when she pulls a parrot fledgling out of her purse! I started laughing and pet the little guy and THEN asked her where she lived. She explained it but I couldn’t keep up so I just smiled and nodded. Then she told me she wanted to have me over to her house at some time to which I agreed would be great! Then I just chilled at home for the night…tranquilo! I slept in this morning until 8:09 which was much needed. And….I’ve done nothing else but write this post, tidy up my room and miss my family and friends back home. Maybe something will happen tonight. Jacqueline and Shalom have both wished me a Happy Birthday and tried to get Belen to do so as well but she is still scared of me or shy or something.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Interesting Day
March 4, 2009
Today was quite interesting. After Spanish class in which I had an oral exam AND written exam that I think I did decently on, I went directly home with Don Henry…or so I thought I would. We dropped one of the guys from the Nehemiah Center off at the bus stop and then drove for a long time before coming to a store finally that Don Henry went into. I was in the car forEVER…but not really…and then he came out with a satchel for his computer. He had been looking for one the previous day as well but after a couple stores…they were just too expensive. When he came out he asked me if I knew much about digital cameras because he wanted to get one. I said I knew a little bit about it but when he mentioned the name of the camera he had been looking at I was not familiar with the name…I think it was Codex or something like that but I told him that my professor Jeff at the Nehemiah Center would know a lot about cameras. Then we went to Metro Center which has a mall there and I thought he was looking for a camera again so I told Henry that I did know SOME about cameras and what is good to have in them and junk like that. We walked for a while and went to what seemed like a dead end…but turned out to be a pet store. I’m thinking, “Why are we in a pet store?” There were a lot of birds, some cute dogs, rabbits, and maybe a few other animals. Don Henry picked out a rabbit to my surprise and handed it to me while the lady got a box for us. I asked Henry who the rabbit was for and it was for Belen, his granddaughter who lives within the surrounding houses who is just under 3 years old. Then on our way home we went past some government building and a very important looking convoy of cars exited right in front of us escorted by the police and everything. Don Henry said that it was the president of something or somewhere but I don’t know who it was. I asked if it was the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, but it was not. I’m not sure if Belen liked the rabbit when we got home but she is still afraid/shy around me which is disappointing. She was warming up to me a little bit before I left for Costa Rica and Blas said that she even wondered where I was while I was gone, but seems that my progress has regressed with this little girl who I guess just can’t get over the strangeness of a giant gringo in her home. I had a great time of talking with Blas and Jacqueline and Raquel and Sarai even joined as I taught Jacqueline a little English. She wanted to learn how to say you didn’t want something when someone is trying to sell you their merchandise so I translated “No quiero comprar eso” into “I don’t want to buy that!” It was quite humorous as they all tried to pronounce the English…Sarai is probably the best at getting the correct vowel sound and accent. So there is my uncommon and interesting day for you…or rather for me…to tell YOU about.
Today was quite interesting. After Spanish class in which I had an oral exam AND written exam that I think I did decently on, I went directly home with Don Henry…or so I thought I would. We dropped one of the guys from the Nehemiah Center off at the bus stop and then drove for a long time before coming to a store finally that Don Henry went into. I was in the car forEVER…but not really…and then he came out with a satchel for his computer. He had been looking for one the previous day as well but after a couple stores…they were just too expensive. When he came out he asked me if I knew much about digital cameras because he wanted to get one. I said I knew a little bit about it but when he mentioned the name of the camera he had been looking at I was not familiar with the name…I think it was Codex or something like that but I told him that my professor Jeff at the Nehemiah Center would know a lot about cameras. Then we went to Metro Center which has a mall there and I thought he was looking for a camera again so I told Henry that I did know SOME about cameras and what is good to have in them and junk like that. We walked for a while and went to what seemed like a dead end…but turned out to be a pet store. I’m thinking, “Why are we in a pet store?” There were a lot of birds, some cute dogs, rabbits, and maybe a few other animals. Don Henry picked out a rabbit to my surprise and handed it to me while the lady got a box for us. I asked Henry who the rabbit was for and it was for Belen, his granddaughter who lives within the surrounding houses who is just under 3 years old. Then on our way home we went past some government building and a very important looking convoy of cars exited right in front of us escorted by the police and everything. Don Henry said that it was the president of something or somewhere but I don’t know who it was. I asked if it was the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, but it was not. I’m not sure if Belen liked the rabbit when we got home but she is still afraid/shy around me which is disappointing. She was warming up to me a little bit before I left for Costa Rica and Blas said that she even wondered where I was while I was gone, but seems that my progress has regressed with this little girl who I guess just can’t get over the strangeness of a giant gringo in her home. I had a great time of talking with Blas and Jacqueline and Raquel and Sarai even joined as I taught Jacqueline a little English. She wanted to learn how to say you didn’t want something when someone is trying to sell you their merchandise so I translated “No quiero comprar eso” into “I don’t want to buy that!” It was quite humorous as they all tried to pronounce the English…Sarai is probably the best at getting the correct vowel sound and accent. So there is my uncommon and interesting day for you…or rather for me…to tell YOU about.
Monday, March 2, 2009
COSTA RICA
March 1, 2009
For the past 4 days, February 26-March 1, I have been to San Jose, Costa Rica and back again! We left early Thursday morning at 6 to get to the bus station where we would take TransNica to San Jose. It was only 2 hours to the border but from then on out it took quite a long time. It took 1 hour at the border to get our passports checked OUT of Nicaragua and INTO Costa Rica. Then we sat for 8 more hours all the way to the capital of San Jose; but we did get to watch 2 films on the way. The Tale of Desperoux which was in Spanish so I’ll have to watch it again and…I can’t remember the name of the 2nd one but it starred Liam Neesan and his daughter is kidnapped and he tracks her down and gets her back. Pretty intense movie. I didn’t realize how excited I would be to go back to Costa Rica until I got there. As we neared San Jose I started recognizing several land marks and roads that I had driven 15 passenger vans on just this past summer! It really lifted my spirits and gave me a new energy in the wake on the month I’ve spent in Nicaragua so far that has been quite difficult and trying for me. I can’t remember if I have talked about it much and I’m not going to go look to see what I’ve said in previous posts but basically it’s been hard because of the lack of common standards and morals of those around me here in Nicaragua…or at least those I am most around including one of the students and the professor. It just seems like not many people really stand strong in Biblical principles…and maybe it’s just because they don’t talk about their faith a lot, which is still a big change for me. So it has been a bit of a discouragement and certainly a big change from my awesome friends at Cornerstone University and my family at home…all of whom I miss very much. This weekend however, was very good for me because I DID get to see the faith of those I went with and was encouraged by what I saw. “So anyways…” on the way to our destination, we went by the Alajuela Airport that I flew in to Costa Rica and I saw the road that led to Pura Vida Missions that I had driven a few times and knew I could find my way again to my “home” from memory. As we went further into San Jose I recognized the road we traversed to go to San Francisco de Dos Rios for our second outreach last summer…oh my goodness what good memories of those trips!! We arrived around 4 or so and got a little tour of the area around the university we stayed at called UNELA. We then arrived at UNELA at Dan and I were in a pretty nice sized room with 3 beds, a table and a sink and stove…that looked like it hadn’t been working for a very long time. We ate supper and for some reason, we thought just about everything was funny. Dan of course was the jokester and we all were adding to the fray. I haven’t laughed that hard for a long time. We played rummy in our room and had a great time just chillin. The next day we went to part of the legislative branch of the government: the defense of human rights. We were there to find out about the emigration policies and practices of Nicaraguans. Nicaraguans are protected by the Costa Rican government for their human rights but are still often treated badly and Costa Ricans stereotypically have a very bad view and attitude towards Nicaraguans saying that they come into Costa Rica (CR) bringing only violence and problems and that they take up all the jobs of the Costa Ricans (Ticos). However, we watched a documentary that told of the role that Nicaraguans play in Costa Rica. Without the Nicaraguans, many plantations growing Coffee, pineapples, and many other fruits and foods would simply rot in the sun because the Costa Ricans don’t want to do those jobs anymore. So much for “taking jobs from Costa Ricans”. Next we went to a Museum of Costa Rican history that had a great view over the city. The structure itself used to be a prison but has been turned into a children’s museum. After the Museum we went to lunch at a nice restaurant and then went to the open air market where I made my first souvenir purchase in the month we have been here. I got a pullover made from alpaca fur at the same place I got my first one…but this one is blue and white and quite different from the other one. After the market we went to the Gold Museum in San Jose which was also a great time and a good look into the history of Costa Rican money and gold.
On Saturday we started out the morning on a journey to Volcan Irazú, a volcano that has been dormant since 1994. To our surprise, we were accompanied by a man whose cousin worked at UNELA. At first it was rather awkward as he didn’t speak and didn’t seem like he wanted to be there with 5 gringos. Pamela, our leader for the trip started talking to him in Spanish about his sweatshirt which said “Niagara Falls”. Alicia, our other leader is from Canada right by Niagara Falls and when they were talking to Roberto we noticed that he pronounced the English words like “Niagara Falls” and “Wal-Mart” with a very American accent. So we asked him if he spoke English and of course he did. It was funny to realize that Pamela had been translating what he had been saying and we had said to each other, “Oh look, he’s got a Niagara Falls sweatshirt on” when he spoke English! He said he wanted to see what we would say and I think I would have done the same thing. So after a while Robert turned out to be quite sociable and learned that he was Peruvian and had been adopted by missionaries and that English was his first language and Spanish he second. We all shared some stories of our lives and realized how small the world is with connections here and there in our stories. Volcan Irazú was great! It was VERY clear which is not normal and actually turned out to be quite warm which is ALSO quite unnatural for the place. This was my 2nd time at Irazú but was even better sightseeing this time. After Irazú we ate lunch at a restaurant on the way down the mountain which was a BEAUTIFUL ride. I had guanábana con leche for lunch! It was SOOOO good! Guanábana is a fruit that grows almost exclusively in CR and you can make a white liquid with it. ¡Muy delicioso! With milk it is a sweet, creamy party in the mouth. Off we went to the largest Catholic Church in Costa Rica which I had also been to before and it was just as beautiful and enjoyable. I even drank from the water they believe can bring about miracles just in case I would need one…and I bought a rosary. Don’t worry I am not converting to Catholicism! Then we went to the ruins of an old Catholic Church that now has a garden in the middle of it. It is rumored that a priest was assassinated there and because of that, they were never been able to put a roof on the old church because of his ghost. We briefly stopped back at UNELA and then proceeded on to La Carpio, a community made up of mostly Nicaraguans…a little Nicaragua if you will. It was great to go there and talk to the people there and a lady who is from North America but has lived in La Carpio for many years working with Christ for the City. They are also in La Cuenca near Heredia that Pura Vida works with. We heard from Alexis and his wife about their trek to Costa Rica and about how God has blessed them so much! It was AWESOME to hear how strong his faith is and just how thankful he is to God for the unlimited air that God provides for us and that we have nothing to complain about. It really inspired and humbled me to hear what he said and made me wish I could really get to know him better. The stereotype of La Carpio is that it is full of illegals and that it is very dangerous in there and they will probably kill you! Hahahaha That is SOOO not the case. Yes there is crime and recently a couple people were killed, but that kind of crime happens outside La Carpio in Costa Rica as well! On May 31 a couple years ago, the police raided La Carpio which only has one way in and one way out. The police were ruthless and arrested over 600 people using tear gas and a lot of brutal force. It didn’t help that some of the gangs in La Carpio started throwing rocks and anything else at the police force. Out of approximately 620 people detained…only 23 were found to be illegal and were than deported! And so the question arises, “WAS THAT NECESSARY?!” It seriously makes you upset to see women and children choking on the tear gas and men being chased down, handcuffed and beaten almost entirely because they are Nicaraguan and MIGHT be illegally there. And a ratio of 1:30 being illegal is not a good reason to carry out such a task and in many senses dehumanizes the Nicaraguans when in reality…Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans are brothers! They have the same blood, the same heritage, the same geography, the same religion and yet there is this great injustice. I would like to do another documentary about that someday if I could to show Nicaraguans in Costa Rica and then come back here to Nicaragua and film on this part of the story as well. But we will see where God leads. After we a had a great time in La Carpio we went back to UNELA to chill for an hour before heading to Taco Bell for a bit of American food…it really wasn’t worth it. For some reason I just didn’t like what I got as much as I do in the States. I think it’s because I could almost feel the grease and artificial junk going into my body and have been used to beans and rice for a while now. I tried and tried to get into contact with DeLynn Hoover at Pura Vida but I think everything was working against me and sadly didn’t get to spend time with my friends at Pura Vida but I do plan to go there for Spring Break from March 20-30 and see my host brother Rizzo and his family! We went to bed a little early and then woke up at 3:45 AM to get to the bus station on time!! We slept a lot of the way to Nicaragua on the bus to make up for it but didn’t feel like we caught up with our sleep. When I got home it was great to see the expressions of those at home who were happy I was back! Please pray that I will be able to continue to learn Spanish but at an unnaturally rapid pace!! I desperately desire to be able to speak with my Nica family and those around me. ¡Gloria a Dios!
Only by His strength,
Stephen
For the past 4 days, February 26-March 1, I have been to San Jose, Costa Rica and back again! We left early Thursday morning at 6 to get to the bus station where we would take TransNica to San Jose. It was only 2 hours to the border but from then on out it took quite a long time. It took 1 hour at the border to get our passports checked OUT of Nicaragua and INTO Costa Rica. Then we sat for 8 more hours all the way to the capital of San Jose; but we did get to watch 2 films on the way. The Tale of Desperoux which was in Spanish so I’ll have to watch it again and…I can’t remember the name of the 2nd one but it starred Liam Neesan and his daughter is kidnapped and he tracks her down and gets her back. Pretty intense movie. I didn’t realize how excited I would be to go back to Costa Rica until I got there. As we neared San Jose I started recognizing several land marks and roads that I had driven 15 passenger vans on just this past summer! It really lifted my spirits and gave me a new energy in the wake on the month I’ve spent in Nicaragua so far that has been quite difficult and trying for me. I can’t remember if I have talked about it much and I’m not going to go look to see what I’ve said in previous posts but basically it’s been hard because of the lack of common standards and morals of those around me here in Nicaragua…or at least those I am most around including one of the students and the professor. It just seems like not many people really stand strong in Biblical principles…and maybe it’s just because they don’t talk about their faith a lot, which is still a big change for me. So it has been a bit of a discouragement and certainly a big change from my awesome friends at Cornerstone University and my family at home…all of whom I miss very much. This weekend however, was very good for me because I DID get to see the faith of those I went with and was encouraged by what I saw. “So anyways…” on the way to our destination, we went by the Alajuela Airport that I flew in to Costa Rica and I saw the road that led to Pura Vida Missions that I had driven a few times and knew I could find my way again to my “home” from memory. As we went further into San Jose I recognized the road we traversed to go to San Francisco de Dos Rios for our second outreach last summer…oh my goodness what good memories of those trips!! We arrived around 4 or so and got a little tour of the area around the university we stayed at called UNELA. We then arrived at UNELA at Dan and I were in a pretty nice sized room with 3 beds, a table and a sink and stove…that looked like it hadn’t been working for a very long time. We ate supper and for some reason, we thought just about everything was funny. Dan of course was the jokester and we all were adding to the fray. I haven’t laughed that hard for a long time. We played rummy in our room and had a great time just chillin. The next day we went to part of the legislative branch of the government: the defense of human rights. We were there to find out about the emigration policies and practices of Nicaraguans. Nicaraguans are protected by the Costa Rican government for their human rights but are still often treated badly and Costa Ricans stereotypically have a very bad view and attitude towards Nicaraguans saying that they come into Costa Rica (CR) bringing only violence and problems and that they take up all the jobs of the Costa Ricans (Ticos). However, we watched a documentary that told of the role that Nicaraguans play in Costa Rica. Without the Nicaraguans, many plantations growing Coffee, pineapples, and many other fruits and foods would simply rot in the sun because the Costa Ricans don’t want to do those jobs anymore. So much for “taking jobs from Costa Ricans”. Next we went to a Museum of Costa Rican history that had a great view over the city. The structure itself used to be a prison but has been turned into a children’s museum. After the Museum we went to lunch at a nice restaurant and then went to the open air market where I made my first souvenir purchase in the month we have been here. I got a pullover made from alpaca fur at the same place I got my first one…but this one is blue and white and quite different from the other one. After the market we went to the Gold Museum in San Jose which was also a great time and a good look into the history of Costa Rican money and gold.
On Saturday we started out the morning on a journey to Volcan Irazú, a volcano that has been dormant since 1994. To our surprise, we were accompanied by a man whose cousin worked at UNELA. At first it was rather awkward as he didn’t speak and didn’t seem like he wanted to be there with 5 gringos. Pamela, our leader for the trip started talking to him in Spanish about his sweatshirt which said “Niagara Falls”. Alicia, our other leader is from Canada right by Niagara Falls and when they were talking to Roberto we noticed that he pronounced the English words like “Niagara Falls” and “Wal-Mart” with a very American accent. So we asked him if he spoke English and of course he did. It was funny to realize that Pamela had been translating what he had been saying and we had said to each other, “Oh look, he’s got a Niagara Falls sweatshirt on” when he spoke English! He said he wanted to see what we would say and I think I would have done the same thing. So after a while Robert turned out to be quite sociable and learned that he was Peruvian and had been adopted by missionaries and that English was his first language and Spanish he second. We all shared some stories of our lives and realized how small the world is with connections here and there in our stories. Volcan Irazú was great! It was VERY clear which is not normal and actually turned out to be quite warm which is ALSO quite unnatural for the place. This was my 2nd time at Irazú but was even better sightseeing this time. After Irazú we ate lunch at a restaurant on the way down the mountain which was a BEAUTIFUL ride. I had guanábana con leche for lunch! It was SOOOO good! Guanábana is a fruit that grows almost exclusively in CR and you can make a white liquid with it. ¡Muy delicioso! With milk it is a sweet, creamy party in the mouth. Off we went to the largest Catholic Church in Costa Rica which I had also been to before and it was just as beautiful and enjoyable. I even drank from the water they believe can bring about miracles just in case I would need one…and I bought a rosary. Don’t worry I am not converting to Catholicism! Then we went to the ruins of an old Catholic Church that now has a garden in the middle of it. It is rumored that a priest was assassinated there and because of that, they were never been able to put a roof on the old church because of his ghost. We briefly stopped back at UNELA and then proceeded on to La Carpio, a community made up of mostly Nicaraguans…a little Nicaragua if you will. It was great to go there and talk to the people there and a lady who is from North America but has lived in La Carpio for many years working with Christ for the City. They are also in La Cuenca near Heredia that Pura Vida works with. We heard from Alexis and his wife about their trek to Costa Rica and about how God has blessed them so much! It was AWESOME to hear how strong his faith is and just how thankful he is to God for the unlimited air that God provides for us and that we have nothing to complain about. It really inspired and humbled me to hear what he said and made me wish I could really get to know him better. The stereotype of La Carpio is that it is full of illegals and that it is very dangerous in there and they will probably kill you! Hahahaha That is SOOO not the case. Yes there is crime and recently a couple people were killed, but that kind of crime happens outside La Carpio in Costa Rica as well! On May 31 a couple years ago, the police raided La Carpio which only has one way in and one way out. The police were ruthless and arrested over 600 people using tear gas and a lot of brutal force. It didn’t help that some of the gangs in La Carpio started throwing rocks and anything else at the police force. Out of approximately 620 people detained…only 23 were found to be illegal and were than deported! And so the question arises, “WAS THAT NECESSARY?!” It seriously makes you upset to see women and children choking on the tear gas and men being chased down, handcuffed and beaten almost entirely because they are Nicaraguan and MIGHT be illegally there. And a ratio of 1:30 being illegal is not a good reason to carry out such a task and in many senses dehumanizes the Nicaraguans when in reality…Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans are brothers! They have the same blood, the same heritage, the same geography, the same religion and yet there is this great injustice. I would like to do another documentary about that someday if I could to show Nicaraguans in Costa Rica and then come back here to Nicaragua and film on this part of the story as well. But we will see where God leads. After we a had a great time in La Carpio we went back to UNELA to chill for an hour before heading to Taco Bell for a bit of American food…it really wasn’t worth it. For some reason I just didn’t like what I got as much as I do in the States. I think it’s because I could almost feel the grease and artificial junk going into my body and have been used to beans and rice for a while now. I tried and tried to get into contact with DeLynn Hoover at Pura Vida but I think everything was working against me and sadly didn’t get to spend time with my friends at Pura Vida but I do plan to go there for Spring Break from March 20-30 and see my host brother Rizzo and his family! We went to bed a little early and then woke up at 3:45 AM to get to the bus station on time!! We slept a lot of the way to Nicaragua on the bus to make up for it but didn’t feel like we caught up with our sleep. When I got home it was great to see the expressions of those at home who were happy I was back! Please pray that I will be able to continue to learn Spanish but at an unnaturally rapid pace!! I desperately desire to be able to speak with my Nica family and those around me. ¡Gloria a Dios!
Only by His strength,
Stephen
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