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 1^st 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!

Here are some photos for more explanation of the past month's events:

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

Photos from Home

As I sit and post my third blog update of the night (granted the first one was from a while ago, and this was meant to be just photos) it is loud in this house! The American missionaries are having a pizza party and having a chance for everyone to meet the new interns and a couple who is here on a scouting trip... they're planning on moving here in June or July. These people are crazy about their Lost and 24... the shows.

Anyways...

I have a lot of photos from my trip home, and also some prayer requests.

Prayer Requests

-Please keep praying for my relationship with my host family. Despite everything that's happened I still feel that this is where God has placed me and that His desire (and all of ours) is that this be a blessing for all involved. Please pray specifically for forgiveness and healing. As Proverbs 17:9 says: Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates [even] close friends. Please pray that my thoughts would reflect the way that God sees my host family.


And now, please enjoy pictures of my family and me during the holidays.

Christmas morning at my house

My mom with two of my little cousins

Audience participation in a play we went to

Playing pool

More pool

Out to eat with my Dad, sisters (minus one), and brother-in-law

One of my favorite Christmas traditions: Grandpa reading the Christmas story

My sister, Amy, and two of her gifts--Shoulder Devil and Shoulder Angel

Oldest sister, Tania, and one of her dogs

Mom and her 'grandkids'

It snowed almost every day! This is my street... It's not in the country

Playing games. My entire family loves games, Mom's side and Dad's

My sister abusing her husband... haha. just kidding! ...
or am I?

Abby and Amy. Love you!

One of my favorite cousins!

What cute sisters!

Oldest and youngest. They look so alike

Like I said, we love to play games!

Rice Krispy 'gingerbread' house decorating contest
...They won

Our house

The last is actually the first. This was my first time getting on a plane from stairs. Fun!

Funny and Thoughtful

Today was the first day of English classes in the daycare this year. There were a lot of us helping Bethea with her classes today as the two new interns, the teacher’s college-aged son, his friend, one of the other English teachers, and I were all in the classrooms together. In one of them, the kids were singing a song to learn about what each of their fingers is called.

To the tune of “Are you sleeping, Brother John” we would sing:

(with thumbs up, hands behind back)

Where is Thumbkin

Where is Thumbkin

Here he is (take out one hand)

Here he is (take out other hand)

And then the thumbs would talk to each other: “How are you?” “I’m fine.” “ blah, blah, blah” etc. And they would each in turn ‘run away’ behind your back again. Well, this would go on with the other fingers, using the correct name for the finger of course.

Well, we got past Thumbkin and Pointer easily enough, but when we got to Tall One and had to stick both our middle fingers in the air you can imagine what affect that had on all of us young American helpers. We all just looked at each other and burst out laughing and could hardly bring ourselves to use profanity in front of all these innocent children. Of course, the song and gesture were harmless enough because in Costa Rica ‘giving someone the finger’ doesn’t exist except where it’s been imported from Western culture such as in movies, but it sure cracked us up!

Working with kids provides some really funny situations sometimes, but there are also the touching moments as well. I've never thought of myself as someone who's really good with little kids, nor has it ever been my desire to work with them, but I do love kids. God is also teaching me, the more I work with the kids here in the Children's Homes and the daycare, how special little children are to him.

There's a girl here named Angelly, and she's 3 or 4 years old. She's a tiny thing with dark eyes, lots of dark curly hair, and a big smile missing her top front teeth. She came a few months ago with her older sister and brother. They are all orphans because their father, who wasn't living with their mother, came into the house one night and decapitated the mother...while the oldest daughter was sleeping in the same bed. Angelly is such a sweet thing and she just wants to be held. She's so smiley and happy all the time, and it's hard to remember that she lost her mother less than 6 months ago. Lately I've noticed that she's getting quieter when she's upset, and she doesn't want to tell me what's wrong, but I didn't really think about it.

Just the other night I was outside dancing with her and the other kids, and I put her down to dance with her sister. But a few minutes later I looked down and she's just standing there crying, and she wouldn't say why. I brought her over to another lady to see if that would make her happy, but she still just looked so sad. So I scooped her up and went somewhere where we could sit, away from the noise of the music and dancing. I realized she probably just needed someone to love her, so I just held her close and told her I loved her. Then I asked her if she missed her mommy, and she just nodded. I asked her if she needed more hugs, and she nodded, so I just hugged her and let her hold me. I asked if she needed more kisses, and she nodded, so I kissed her all over her face and each of her fingers until she laughed. Then we just sat there, she leaning her head on my shoulder, and me stroking her back and playing with her hair until I felt her relax and she fell asleep in my arms.

In that moment as I was simply holding her, not doing anything, not even saying anything, I asked God about it. He just said, "Whatever you do unto the least of these, you have done it unto me."

I often have doubts about whether what I'm doing is even making an impact, if it's a waste of time. I'm learning that it's about more than just the doing. It's about loving on these kids. They're often spoiled, inappropriate, loud, and rowdy, but they need love. The Children's Homes seem to have a perfect model, with comparatively few kids, a 'mom' and 'dad, a big beautiful house, and plenty of green yard to play in. But more and more I'm realizing it's not the same at all as having a real Mom and Dad and their own family who will love them. That's what they're missing, and sometimes they need a lot of extra love just to try to make up for it.

Written January 3rd...

Happy New Year!

2010--a new year, a fresh start, time to do taxes... yet another mystery to solve. One at a time I suppose.

Oh, goodness, it’s been so long since I updated. That would be due to reduced internet access, going to visit my family over Christmas, and just plain busyness before the holidays. Well, I suppose I’ll just have to make up for it with lots and lots of photos. That way I won’t have to write quite so much... you know, since one photo is supposed to be the equivalent of one thousand words.

I will say that December was definitely full. I think the week before Christmas was one social gathering (read: party) after another. A girl’s get-together, one for the American missionaries, making tamales with my host family, an annual block party, music ministry dinner... There must be more, but I can’t think of any right now. But it was all very fun, and we can’t forget that it culminated in a nonstop seven day party with my family in the States.

My visit was filled with family, my mom’s delicious cooking, spending time with my sisters, and generally having a ball! It snowed almost every day I was home. I went sledding on a hill that was pure ice with only a dusting of snow and shoveled the driveway with a broom pan (the two shovels were already in use). I played games with my family to my heart’s content. I gave in to every chocolate and carbohydrate craving that I had; after all, I was on vacation! (And I went to the gym one time and played DDR—a kick-butt dancing video game that makes you jump around like a madman—so I made up for it. *Grin*) And I spent every waking minute with people that I loved and missed over the last six months. What could be better than that!

Aside from that, many people around here are having babies. My neighbor across the street had a little girl on Dec. 26^th; Amy, one of the missionaries here, is due any time in the next month (her first came early); and one of the house parents in the Children’s Homes recently found out she is expecting her third.

Also, two new interns just arrived in Costa Rica on Sunday afternoon. Their names are Abby and Rachel, and they are college kids/recent graduate like me. We had a blast this morning cleaning one of the Children’s Homes together, and they’re really nice. We will have the next four months to get to know each other better and hang out. Yay!

Making Tamales

Mixing up the Masa (cornmeal batter with lots of other flavors)

Cutting and cleaning the plantain leaves

First you add the Masa and some meat

Then you add in some veggies.

We used 2 garbanzo beans, 3 of another type of bean, a slice of red pepper, a slice of carrot, and a spoon of rice

A tamal with everything added. Time to fold!

We used two squares of leaf to wrap each tamal

Wrapping it up. Then you tie it with string

To cook tamales, you boil them for an hour in a big pot of water over an open fire. Wait til the next day to eat; they're set better then.

Block Party!

some of the gang that lives around here

Cooking 'chicharrones' to make a typical dish called 'Vigoron'

Basically, these are fried pig skin... pork rinds. You serve it with yucca, salsa, raw cabbage, and a slice of lemon