Leo and I got back on Wednesday, the 20th, from Costa Rica, and thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We left initially thinking of coming back Monday, but we decided to make it more of an experience and stay there 5 nights instead of 3. We had plans to try to get to some of Costa Rica's beaches, but we had such a good time with the family that we stayed with that we decided to just stay around the San Jose area. We stayed the first four nights in Cachi, a small village of around 5,000 people. Leo and his family attended another church in Managua until two years ago, and used to do projects with the church in Cachi. Through that, Leo knows a lot of people in Cachi, and we were able to stay with a really great couple, Ronald and Melania, and their sons Mituyoshi and Jatsai. There's a story behind why their sons have Japanese names, but I wasn't able to hear it. Ronald and Melania were amazing hosts, and we had great food for breakfast and dinner each day. We ate lunches in other places as we got to know a little of the country. I had my first hot showers since I've been here, and they were amazing.
The weather in Costa Rica was very different than what I'd expected. It was a bit more cloudy, and much fresher. I slept for the first time with a blanket, and it was bliss. There's nothing better than a hot shower and a cold set of covers to crawl into after a long day of walking, and I got to do that a few times there. We were fortunate enough to see the towns of Osori, Cartago, and Paraiso, as well as Cachi, during the days we were there. We also spent two days in the capital, San Jose, before leaving for home. Even though I was only there a few days, I was made to feel very welcome, and think I'll be going back sometime.
On Saturday we had a men's retreat with Impacto, and we went to a volcano to get away for the day and have some guy time. We grilled some sausages and had some really good talks about being real men of character. I absolutely love the group of guys we have in the church. Edwin, in particular, is a great leader and had some really good words for us. We had planned on going to a place that had a basketball court, pool, soccer field, and the like, but it was closed, and instead we spent the day talking and just growing as a group. Saturday night we celebrated a couple birthdays of people in the youth group, and went out to eat and have some fun. The birthday cake was actually good, which is not very common in Nicaragua. Needless to say I ate my share.
Yesterday I visited Verbo, my old church, for the first time in a while, and afterwards went to Impacto. There are a lot of things I like about Verbo, but Impacto really is much more alive and has much more visible growth within its members. One of my friends, Carlos, is quite the character, and wanted to make a fashion show video as a joke. He cut up and colored on some old t-shirts for a few of us to model, but it fell through when no one showed up. I stayed with him anyway and we designed a couple more shirts, but more serious. Another guy, Eric, saw what we were working on, and our conversation led to the idea of actually designing and selling some t-shirts as a possible ministry/fundraiser for the church. It's a developing project, but it might be kind of cool.
The big spring break group is coming in on Friday and I'm pretty stoked for that. 200 kids are coming down from Virginia Tech, UVA, JMU, and William and Mary. 75 are from Tech alone, 30 of which are friends of mine, so I can't wait to see some familiar faces. Esmir and I will be translating for the group from Friday to next Saturday, so this might be the last update for a while, but I think you guys are getting used to that by now... hopefully afterwards I'll be better at giving more frequent updates.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Costa Rica Tomorrow!
Hey everyone,
I'm running a little short on time but i wanted to give a quick update on life down here. I've been spending a lot of time with Impacto, the new church I'm attending, and yesterday I confirmed my stepping on as an intern. I'll be concentrating in three main areas. First, I'll be working with Arnold, doing college evangelism in the UAM, which I'm really excited about. We'll be spending a few hours a day a few days a week in the college talking with the students and trying to get them excited about life. We'll be playing soccer with them as well, and hopefully really be able to build some friendships. My second role will be helping Edwin, another leader, with the logistics of the youth group (the youth group includes people from 16 to 29). I'll be helping with organizing events, as well as trying to build up the members and encourage them to grow. Thirdly, I will be taking seminary classes with the other leaders, and hopefully will really learn a lot through that. All of this will be in Spanish, which is really exciting to me because I should learn a lot in a short amount of time. We'll be doing fairly deep bible study, and will be conversing and writing about what we learn. Pretty exciting.
Sorry for the overuse of the word exciting, but also exciting is being part of the UCC football team. Practice was like a shot out of the movie The Longest Yard. The field was half dirt and half meter-high weeds and burrs. The half with dirt had a bunch of rocks and broken glass, and the part with tall plants also had cow droppings throughout. We played on the dirt half, which was more conducive to running but maybe less conducive to getting tackled. Only about five of the 22 players had padded pants to practice in. Everyone had shoulder pads and a helmet, but the majority, myself included, had no other protection. Let's just say it was a painful experience. On the bright side it looks like I could have a starting position as receiver. I got thrown to a lot and made some good catches, but also got smashed and cut up pretty bad. They say we'll practice on a better field next time. The season starts the end of the month, but in order to play I may have to purchase my own equipment. We'll see.
Tomorrow I'm going with my friend Leo from Impacto to Costa Rica. We'll be staying for free with some friends of his, and should get to see a good taste of the country before coming back Monday. I'm excited about that too! Tell you about it when I get back.
I'm running a little short on time but i wanted to give a quick update on life down here. I've been spending a lot of time with Impacto, the new church I'm attending, and yesterday I confirmed my stepping on as an intern. I'll be concentrating in three main areas. First, I'll be working with Arnold, doing college evangelism in the UAM, which I'm really excited about. We'll be spending a few hours a day a few days a week in the college talking with the students and trying to get them excited about life. We'll be playing soccer with them as well, and hopefully really be able to build some friendships. My second role will be helping Edwin, another leader, with the logistics of the youth group (the youth group includes people from 16 to 29). I'll be helping with organizing events, as well as trying to build up the members and encourage them to grow. Thirdly, I will be taking seminary classes with the other leaders, and hopefully will really learn a lot through that. All of this will be in Spanish, which is really exciting to me because I should learn a lot in a short amount of time. We'll be doing fairly deep bible study, and will be conversing and writing about what we learn. Pretty exciting.
Sorry for the overuse of the word exciting, but also exciting is being part of the UCC football team. Practice was like a shot out of the movie The Longest Yard. The field was half dirt and half meter-high weeds and burrs. The half with dirt had a bunch of rocks and broken glass, and the part with tall plants also had cow droppings throughout. We played on the dirt half, which was more conducive to running but maybe less conducive to getting tackled. Only about five of the 22 players had padded pants to practice in. Everyone had shoulder pads and a helmet, but the majority, myself included, had no other protection. Let's just say it was a painful experience. On the bright side it looks like I could have a starting position as receiver. I got thrown to a lot and made some good catches, but also got smashed and cut up pretty bad. They say we'll practice on a better field next time. The season starts the end of the month, but in order to play I may have to purchase my own equipment. We'll see.
Tomorrow I'm going with my friend Leo from Impacto to Costa Rica. We'll be staying for free with some friends of his, and should get to see a good taste of the country before coming back Monday. I'm excited about that too! Tell you about it when I get back.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Beach Trip
On Thursday (yesterday) morning, bright and early, Esmir and I packed up a few things, hopped on the motorcycle, and took off on our first adventure together. It was quite a tiring trip... 150 kilometers or so, averaging 60 km/hr. Some of the roads there were in pretty bad shape, but for the most part it was smooth cruisin. The trip from Managua to San Juan del Sur gets quite uncomfortable on a motorcycle, so we stopped after two hours in Rivas to get some breakfast and take a break from driving. They didn't have many good looking options at the comedor, so we played it safe and just had gallo pinto (i had a double portion). Gallo pinto is so cheap and filling, not to mention flavorful, that when I finished I was in quite favorable spirits to continue the journey. So was Esmir, so the next, bumpy, and slow 25 kilometers went by quickly.
We checked into a hostel in San Juan del Sur and left most of our things in the room. We took a towel, the cameras, and our swimming suits and headed of to explore the Nicaraguan Pacific Coast. The beach roads were something else, we had to cross some small rivers, and go up and down some serious slopes, but the motorcycle, nicknamed "la poderosa," made it just fine (surprisingly). We left the motorcycle in a beach called Maderas, famous for surfing, but still practically barren compared to the beaches back home. There were probably about 30 people surfing and a few more in the surf bar. We decided to just walk (hike) between the three connected beaches of Maderas and Majagual. The two beaches of Majagual were absolutely gorgeous, and great for swimming/bodysurfing. Although the beach was practically empty, we enjoyed chatting with a couple different tourists which were in the bar. There was a person there from Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, New York, Israel, and maybe other countries, all there just to enjoy the waves.
We had a good time swimming and checking out the wildlife in some of the rocky ridges. We headed back to the city before dark to rest a little, and then spent a couple hours in a bar on the beach. I had a horrible night's sleep on a paper thin mattress, but it was worth it.
The next day we went to Playa Coco, which was a bit of a journey but it was probably my favorite beach. It was a much larger spread of sand than the other beaches, and had a cool collection of rocks to hike around. We collected a bunch of shells that had been washed ashore in a big nook between some rock formations. We're going to attempt to make some necklaces. The return trip wasn't quite as exhausting as we took a shortcut and as the construction crews had actually worked on some of the roads.
After everything, it was a great trip. Tomorrow is my first day of American Football practice by the way, so wish me luck! I'm excited about this recent opportunity!
We checked into a hostel in San Juan del Sur and left most of our things in the room. We took a towel, the cameras, and our swimming suits and headed of to explore the Nicaraguan Pacific Coast. The beach roads were something else, we had to cross some small rivers, and go up and down some serious slopes, but the motorcycle, nicknamed "la poderosa," made it just fine (surprisingly). We left the motorcycle in a beach called Maderas, famous for surfing, but still practically barren compared to the beaches back home. There were probably about 30 people surfing and a few more in the surf bar. We decided to just walk (hike) between the three connected beaches of Maderas and Majagual. The two beaches of Majagual were absolutely gorgeous, and great for swimming/bodysurfing. Although the beach was practically empty, we enjoyed chatting with a couple different tourists which were in the bar. There was a person there from Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, New York, Israel, and maybe other countries, all there just to enjoy the waves.
We had a good time swimming and checking out the wildlife in some of the rocky ridges. We headed back to the city before dark to rest a little, and then spent a couple hours in a bar on the beach. I had a horrible night's sleep on a paper thin mattress, but it was worth it.
The next day we went to Playa Coco, which was a bit of a journey but it was probably my favorite beach. It was a much larger spread of sand than the other beaches, and had a cool collection of rocks to hike around. We collected a bunch of shells that had been washed ashore in a big nook between some rock formations. We're going to attempt to make some necklaces. The return trip wasn't quite as exhausting as we took a shortcut and as the construction crews had actually worked on some of the roads.
After everything, it was a great trip. Tomorrow is my first day of American Football practice by the way, so wish me luck! I'm excited about this recent opportunity!
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