Tomorrow I head to Panama until March 2nd.
I'm going with Rachel and Abby, the interns, to Panama City via bus. It's a 13 or 14 hour bus ride, but I don't think it will be too bad since a good portion of the trip is overnight. We'll just sleep. :)
The girls have to leave the country for at least 72 hours in order to renew their tourist visas, and they invited me along. I took them up on the offer because it's a really great opportunity to visit Panama for way cheaper than I would be able to if I flew from the States.
We're really excited! Our hotel is in a great, safe location so we can explore the downtown area on our own a little. And we also have a few connections there who have offered their help when we arrive. Georgiana Thomas is half Panamanian so she e-mailed her cousin just to ask him how far our hotel was from the bus terminal, and he offered to spend his Saturday playing tour guide for us. We'll go to see some of the major tourist attractions such as the Panama Canal and the old city ruins. It was such a nice gesture on his part.
We'll also be able to visit some missionaries that our church at the Project has sent out. They are located just a short drive outside the city, and we plan on attending their church service on Sunday and delivering a care package of some of the comfort foods they miss from home (Costa Rica). I'm really glad we have the opportunity to do this. I understand firsthand how it feels to be away from your home country and miss certain things.
Please pray for safety on the bus and that everything goes smoothly in Panama.
Thank you! Be blessed!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Happy Valentine's Day!
This past month has been busy, busy, busy! But I like ‘busy’. It gives me things to do.
In January, we had a team come down for a week, and they were a lot of fun! They were super interesting to get to know as well, and I now know people in New Jersey in case I ever want to travel there, which is very likely. That week we did a lot of construction work; however, I missed out on a couple days because I went to see a friend from college who was in the country studying for a couple weeks.
That was an awesome, refreshing, and fun trip. I spent a good amount of time on the bus as I had to take a bus downtown so I could catch a bus to northwestern Costa Rica, an area called Guanacaste. And then their group invited me to go to some hot springs with them, which I enjoyed, and that was another three hours on a bus. J But I’m so thankful for those few days I could spend with Zach. I was so excited when I found out he was coming to Costa Rica, and I’m glad we could work something out to visit each other. God really blessed our time together, and it was nice to be able to hear what God is doing back in Madison, my college town. Zach is the current President of the InterVarsity chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is a Christian community that God is working in and through in tremendous ways.
Since the two new interns, Abby and Rachel, have been here I’ve been mostly following their schedule. That means I’ve been working in the Children’s Homes more. Two or three mornings a week we make ourselves available to one home or the other, and they usually put us to work cleaning. We’ve done anything from dusting and cleaning bathrooms to climbing up a ladder and washing the outside of second floor windows. And last week we got to do a deep cleaning of the Thomas’s tile floor. That was fun and interesting as it involved moving all the furniture out of the living/dining room and scrubbing each individual tile with pure bleach and a scrub brush. But then Emilia, their maid, brought the hose into the house and flooded the floor while we swept the water outside with brooms! Although you might think that flooding the house may be counterproductive it definitely did the trick.
Of course, we have babysat many times. One time, there were two of us girls watching eleven kids for six hours. That was challenging for sure. We ended up making dinner for them as well, and it went well and was actually pretty fun. That was a milestone as I never thought I’d be in charge of making a meal in one of the Homes because mealtimes can get pretty hectic. Thankfully one of the houseparents got back before the meal ended, and he was able to take charge of getting the kids in bed. We were also babysitting the two Thomas kids one night (all three of us interns were there so it was more like a little party), and we ended up learning the Hoedown Throwdown dance with ten year-old Bethany Thomas. In case you didn’t know, it’s a Miley Cyrus dance from a Hannah Montana movie... I do not like Hannah Montana, but we had a lot of fun!
Overall, it’s just been a blessing to have Abby and Rachel here. They’ve been great friends and spiritual companions. We’ve been able to have edifying conversations and have prayed for and with each other often. It’ll be so weird after they leave, but thankfully that won’t be for another 2 ½ months so we have lots more time to get to know each other. Yay!
In other news, Jonathan and Amy Griffith have finally had their baby. They welcomed Jonathan ‘Isaac’ Griffith into the world on February 1st at 6:35pm. Congratulations, Griffith family!
We also had an awesome Super Bowl party with a bunch of the Gringos here. I was happy because the team that I was rooting for won. Woohoo! Go Saints! Can’t miss the Super Bowl, even if you live in Costa Rica. :D
Oh! And how could I forget to mention that we're in the process of printing brochures. We have placed the order for 5000 brochures from an online printing company in the US, which is much cheaper than printing in Costa Rica. We are just waiting for the color proof to come so we can make sure everything looks how it's supposed to. Yay! So exciting to know this project is finally almost done!
Corn dogs that I made, for the first time. The first batch was for my host family to try; then I brought them to the Super Bowl party. My 9 y/o Tica 'niece' took this photo.
Gloriana, trying a corndog for the first time ever.
Us interns went hiking on one of the mountains, and this was our guide, Randy.
One of the beautiful scenes we hiked past.
The interns! Me, Rachel, Abby
After the first hour or so we were rewarded with this stunning view of part of the Valley.
The boy is Randy's son who accompanied us on the hike.
Prayer Requests
-We have 21 days straight of teams coming in March. Pray for the interns and Jonathan (team/intern coordinator) to be able to get some rest and be energized for this packed month.
-Continue to pray for deeper relationships between me and my host family and the youth from the church.
-Pray for confirmation of where God might be leading me next after returning to the US this summer.
-Pray that God would instill new desire and fresh insight as I read and study His Word in my quiet times.
Thank you for all your prayers!! It's so reassuring to know that there are people back home who support me and are thinking of me. I love you all and am praying for you!
In Christ who gives us more grace, in whom is our hope and confidence,
with love,
-Shaina
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