Por Supuesto- For sure

Life lately has been like this old man running... POR SUPUESTO- FOR SURE :)

No, I have not grown a bushy mustache, my hair has not turned gray, but I have been running- physically and emotionally- and I've felt like I've been leaving things behind as the pace gets busier and busier.

Example #1. My blog posting got pushed back to today, despite the fact that I have a lot to write :) But part of this is due to the fact that I misplaced/lost my camera. That is definitely a prayer request. 

Before I keep on running right through this blog let me stop, slow down and catch you up on what has been captivating all of my time these past two weeks.

 School

Thankfully I do not believe my students saw me looking like this during this week, but at times I definitely felt like pulling out this face.

School is the #1 reason why I am here so it makes sense that it is the #1 consumer of my time, but that doesn't make it any easier. 

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the school's Pancake breakfast. It was a great time to eat delicious pancakes, interact with parents, and see the special community of my school. Somehow I was even drafted into the parent/student vs. teacher softball game. Thankfully my church softball skills kicked in and I made it to 2nd base each time I hit. My students were very proud of their "Teacher Rachel," as they proudly let everyone know by screaming "RUN TEACHER RACHEL!!!" and cheering me on throughout the game, which my team won :)

Unfortunately all of my other candid game shots were on my camera, which is missing :( But this is a pre-game shot with the 5th grade teacher. She has been a great encouragement to me and her classroom is right across the hall from me.

 
INBIO Parque: 2nd-5th grade field trip

This was a special field trip my 2nd graders (along with the 5th graders) took this week. INBIO stands for Institutio Nacional de Biodiversidad: National Institute of Biodiversity. It is an institute dedicated to scientific research and promoting the importance of conserving the country’s rich biological diversity. We were able to go on a tour of the four different types of Costa Rican forest: Rainforest, Pre-Mountainous Forest, Wetlands and Dry Forest. 

My students and I were able to see sloths just chillin' in their habitats, iguana's crossing our paths (and almost falling on our heads...two times I almost had an iguana land on my head!), poison dart frogs sleeping in their safely enclosed areas, turtles sleeping on the rocks in the lagoon, Caimans taking little siesta's in the sun (alligators), and some snakes, which were also safely enclosed in their cases. *I became like a magnet to the 2nd grade girls when we entered the snake exhibit*


These pictures do not do the trip justice, but sadly I lost my camera after we got back from the field trip. I managed to have it the whole field trip and then lost it when we got back!


Next we move on to my time spent outside of school:   Social

 This past weekend was a lot of fun, as I had gelato with one of my Costa Rican friends. *I forgot to take a picture at the restaurant, but there was a huge fake penguin inside with a giant ice cream cone*  


I also got to have my first sleepover with my friend Lisa! Funny story because she is from the U.S, but I met her here in Costa Rica. She came here to study Spanish at Veritas, which just so happens to be the university that Mani and Majo also attend. She is a friend of a friend in the states, so we were able to connect and form a friendship. 


And save the best for last: Spiritual

 The reason I chose "por supuesto" as my Spanish for this week's blog is because that means "for sure." It is a phrase that often gets thrown out in conversations for 100% agreement: "of coure" or "for sure." 

Well, this week I have not been "for sure." In fact, I have been the exact opposite. I had the opportunity in January to apply for a teaching job in Indonesia. I was not sure if that was where God was calling me, but the doors seemed to be opening, so I proceeded. And they kept proceeding. This week I had an hour long Skype interview with the head supervisor of the school in Indonesia. It was a great 1st interview. Talking about my passion for teaching, God's role in my life and my growth in Him, and my Christian worldview, made for a great conversation. But the next few days I felt confused and excited about if this is where God wants me for the next two years. 
 
I spent a great deal of time in prayer, along with counsel from family and friends and last night I finally had a great peace about my decision. Strangely enough it partly came from all the white stuff that the US has been hit with recently :) As I was laying in bed, talking to God, I thought about how much I missed snow and that I would really miss another winter away from snow. I also realized that being there to see my brother and sister graduate from high school is very important and I don't want to miss these special events, as well as friends getting married and other events that are important to me. God also reminded me that I will be fresh out of college. Yes, I will have fresh, new ideas, but I will also struggle with the actual life of a 1st year teacher and learning many new things. Being overseas during this 1st year of teaching would be extra hard. I don't believe God is calling me to start off teaching overseas, but someday He may open this door. And my last Google search may have been for teaching positions in Colorado :)


"Por supuesto"- for sure God is the only one in my life who can say this and whom I can reassuringly look up to and know that "por supuesto"-of  course He has everything under control. 
I was reminded of this as I read Jeremiah 29:11 this morning "For I know the plans I have for you Rachel. They are not plans to harm you but plans to give you hope and a future." (RRV-Revised Rachel Version)

And this all ties into my next adventure, which is my travel to Nicaragua this next week. 


In order to say in Costa Rica 4 months I have to leave the country for 3 days and then return. My two options were Panama or Nicaragua. However, everything worked out for Nicaragua, so Tuesday morning, 6 AM I'll be heading off on a bus to Nicaragua for 3 days. I really do not have any idea what the trip will entail. It is a huge leap of faith, so your prayers would be greatly appreciated. (I'd love to have my camera back before I leave too, else I'll be taking pics with my camera phone, which are decent but nothing like the quality of my camera) 


I'll look forward to blogging those adventures next! And I will conclude with this word from God (which I was encouraged by from my mom): "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." 

2 Corinthians 1:2-7

 


 

Mi primer temblor!- My 1st tremor

"Who is shaking my bed?!"  

That was my first thought Monday morning at 4:57 AM, as I was rudely shaken awake. I couldn't figure out why my bed was moving and where all the noises in my room were coming from. Then it hit me...thankfully not literally...THIS IS AN EARTHQUAKE!!!

*I have to admit that I was more excited than scared, since it didn't seem like a huge earthquake, and I have never experienced an earthquake.

The earthquake didn't last super long. I later found out that it was a 6.0 on the Richter scale. If you are right now wondering, "Richter who?" I was too, so no worries. Here are some helpful facts:
#1. The Richter scale was developed by Mr. Richter :) 
#2. The Richter scale uses single numbers that measure the energy contained in an earthquake.
#3. Usually the range is 1-10 on the scale. To get an idea of what a 6.0 magnitude is I have provided an example of an 8.0 magnitude: A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6 million tons of TNT. 

*Also, here in Costa Rica they usually classify earthquakes as "temblor" or "terremoto," "Temblor" is more of a tremor and "terremoto" is the beastly quake that destroys buildings and homes. I am fine with the "temblor's" but I do not have any interest in experiencing Mr. Terremoto...just the name is intimidating! 


That was definitely the main highlight of my week, but there are a ton more highlights to share and pictures too! 

 La escuela (School):








I took over Social Studies last week. I became "Lady Liberty" the tour guide. However, I have a smart bunch of 2nd graders. At one point my crown fell off and one of my little guys said, "Hey look! It's Teacher Rachel!" 

This week I began Science and we've been learning all about the Solar System Solar. Teaching them about the four seasons proved to be difficult, as Costa Rica really only has two seasons: The dry season and the rainy season. And a storm is brewing as we head to the weather section next week ;) 

La boda (Wedding): 


On Saturday I attended my first Costa Rican wedding! It was beee-yoo-ti-ful. It was held in Zarcero, which is about two hours away from San Jose (mas o menos- more or less). The drive was gorgeous! Zarcero is 1,736 meters above sea level in the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range). I went with Evelyn (my host mom) her sister (whom I call "tia," as that means aunt in Spanish), and Evelyn and tia's parents: Tata and tita (Grandpa and Grandma). I'm not sure of the relation, but the bride was somehow related to Evelyn.

This is the church where the wedding was performed, Iglesia de San Rafael. It was a gorgeous building and the ceremony was very nice. The groom even sang a love song at the end to his bride.

 

Evelyn's sister 
and I at the end
 of the ceremony.

 

 ***Parque Francisco Alvarado is the park in front of    
 the church in Zarcero. It contains special bushes/plants, which are described below.***
***Grandpa and grandma with the lovely bride.***

 I love spending time with Tata because he is a lot like my grandpa, who passed away when I was little. He is very funny and always has a sparkle in his eye. 


At the wedding reception one of the ladies at our table had a whistle in her purse. Tata took it, winked at me, looked around quickly and blew it as hard as he could. Then he quickly hid the whistle and looked casually around :)


He also loves to dance. No one was dancing, so he pulled Tia (Evelyn's sister and his daughter) out on the dance floor and eventually many people joined him, which even included me!

 One similarity I saw was the money dance. I know that I have attended many weddings where those attending the wedding pay a dollar or so and dance with the bride or groom. They did the same thing here, but instead of just putting the money in a hat, or container, they pinned it to the groom or the bride. Evelyn got me a pin to pin on the groom and dance with him, but we ended up having to leave early. Oh shucks ;)

 And save the best for last...

I had one of the best Valentine's ever! Here are some pictures to prove it:  

*Yesterday night I made little Penguin Valentines for my 2nd graders. Kudos to my loving mother for sending me all the cute stickers! 

Chef Rachel is back!!!

*The maid was gone, so I asked if I could make a special Valentine breakfast*

 

One of the moms brought little helium heart balloons for all the students! Made for a rather chaotic classroom :) But hey, it's Valentine's Day!!!  

This was my stash of treats and cute little Valentine's from the kids.

And last but not least, here are some Valentine flowers for YOU! :)

As I mentioned before, Evelyn loves to garden and the flowers around the yard are in full bloom! God's love is bursting throughout creation.

 

 

 I'll end with this little love note from God and one of His special reminders, which I was able to catch with my camera!

Psalm 121
 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
 ³ He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.
 ⁵ The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.
 ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore.

   

La Palabra de Dios- The Word of God

Psalm 51:10 
 "Create in my a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Breathe it in. Let it soak into the depths of your soul. La Palabra de Dios (the Word of God) is living and true, and like a sponge I was able to soak it in throughout this week.

This week was a pretty chill week. I celebrated my 1 month anniversary for being in Costa Rica (I arrived here January 2nd) and found out VERY exciting news: My Parents Are Coming To Visit Me!
But most importantly, I was able to spend quality time in "La Palabra de Dios"-the Word of God, and fellowship with other believers. Here are some highlights of the week, plus the meat (carne...which I also found out means "flesh" in biblical references) of the blog: La Palabra de Dios- God's Word.


School: I spent another week observing in the classroom and helping wherever I could. I was humbled, as I adjusted to the grading system that my cooperating teacher uses, and all the new experiences in the classroom. This week I take over Social Studies. It is a nice, slow transition into teaching, as Social Studies is only taught twice a week, so I will teach a lesson tomorrow and Thursday.

I was REALLY excited to find out that the classroom next to ours contains a Mimio board. It is very similar to a Smartboard, which is teacher-technology that I enjoyed in the States. Here are some pictures to help you visual learners ;)  *How it works: My computer is hooked up to the projector, which also has speakers. You can just make out the little white USB, which is sticking out of my computer on the right side, and this configures my computer with the projector to the Mimio board. Unlike the Smartboard's, which are actual boards, the Mimio's board is just a white board, but the little white bar on the left is what makes the board "interactive." It is sort of hard to explain unless you have seen or worked with a Smartboard, but I was super excited to find out that my school has one! 

One of the really exciting parts is that the teacher with the Mimio board is right next door to my classroom and she leaves everyday at noon, since she is only part time, so teacher's can reserve her classroom any day after she leaves. 


I jumped at this opportunity and my first lesson tomorrow will be in her classroom using this engaging technology.

Tomorrow my students will be "traveling" to the State Capital in Washington D.C (aka: the classroom next door) to take a tour of the State Capital building. Using the Mimio board technology, I created a lesson to help my students walk through basic parts of America's government. From the picture below you can see that it is sort of like Power Point, but more engaging, since you can write on the board and do all sorts of fun things! Needless to say, I am pumped to start teaching in the classroom and excited for my students to see the wonderful, and fun world of learning.

Social: I already covered "Social Studies," but I thought I'd cover my social life too, since I am still managing to have one, despite lots of lesson planning and school duties. 

This is Majo and I with some "muy rico" (very yummy!) Fro Yo-frozen yogurt. There is a special fruit here called "Cas." You can see it to the right. It is somewhat similar to lemons and has a sour twang to it, which makes it a memorable experience. I have enjoyed "cas" in juice, frozen yogurt, and most likely other foods, which I did not know had "cas" in it :)

 I spent the majority of my weekend recovering from a cold, which made its rounds through the school, and the rest of the weekend with Mani and Majo. They took my to their church, to the movies, and out to eat at a fancy steak restaurant. 

*No, I did not see "Sherlock Holmes 2" again! We saw "Jack & Jill." Normally I do not like any films that are associated with Adam Sandler, but this one was surprisingly clean...for the most part...and pretty funny! Mani sat next to me and was dying of laughter throughout the movie. Ha, it was a fun time.

Now on to the meat of this blog...

Spiritual: Mani invited me to go to the cell group that him and Majo hold on Saturday nights. It is very similar to a Bible study. Mani gave a small message, which Majo translated for me. I can understand a lot of Spanish (despite my lacking "speaking" skills), but it is still nice to have someone who can explain the things I don't understand. 

Mani spoke on Psalm 51. He talked about the devil trying to get into our lives by telling us lies and waiting for us to open the door and let him in. However, he emphasized that we have the weapons to fight against the devil and leave the door shut, but many times we get sucked into the devil's lies and swing the door wide open. 

Psalm 51:17 says, "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise." It is easy to feel broken and unworthy when we allow the devil in. It is then that we often shy away from God's Word and like Adam and Eve we hide from God. However, God wants us to turn to Him. For, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

God can handle our brokenness, as He loves us and paid the ultimate price for our sins, by sending His one and only Son to die for US! (John 3:16) Ultimately, I was reminded that I need to consciously choose to shut the "evil whisperer" out (that is Amy Carmichael's name for the devil) and even when I feel far away from God He is right there waiting for me to call upon Him. 

But wait! There is more :) 


Just three more quick things! 

#1. Saturday night was great, as I got to worship with other believers. The music was very powerful...rock bandish, and they had teen dancers for a few of the songs. (The dances were choreographed by Majo!)It was so cool to look around as I worshiped and realize that despite the language difference we were all united in worshiping the same, true God. And one day we will ALL be together in heaven worshiping as One body.


#2. Sunday I went to the actual church service with Mani and Majo. Majo's dad is a pastor of the Misión Carismática Internacional church in San Jose. Here is the churches website if you want to check them out http://www.mci12.com/. They had a Colombian pastor from another MCI church speak, and it was a really good sermon/service. He also plays the guitar/sings/composes music/and enjoys acting, so I felt privileged to be at the service. Majo once again translated the message for me :) *And it was a cool little God wink because before I left for Costa Rica I felt God telling me to bring along one of my extra Bibles. I didn't know who I would meet that would want an English Bible, as they speak Spanish here, but I obeyed. (Even though my suitcase had been pushing 80 lbs ;) Well, Saturday night Majo mentioned how she would really like an English Bible...ding, ding! I remembered my extra Bible, tucked away in my suitcase, and I was able to give to her on Sunday. She was very excited, and I was excited to see how God had planned that!


#3. Here is an extra juicy highlight:


My host mom and Vero picked a TON  of oranges, mandarins, and lemons. They are super juicy/messy/and ever so delicioso (delicious). But I must say I have never seen so many seeds from one orange before.


*Also, I am still getting used to the way they eat oranges. (This picture is not an accurate description of how they cut them, since I just cut one up to eat after school today) Instead of peeling it and eating it in little pieces they usually peel the whole orange, cut it in half, and then suck out different sections. Kind of hard to explain :)


And this picture on the top left is the pantry, which is usually full of very colorful vegetables, fruits. Currently it has been taken over by all the fruit Evelyn and Vero picked!




Well, that is my update for this week! I need to go over my lesson for tomorrow, as I will be playing the role of "Tour Guide: Lady Liberty" (Made my Statue of Liberty hat today and everything!). May God richly bless you as you go about your week. Remember to not let that "evil whisperer" in. Instead, stay grounded in the Word of God-la Palabra de Dios, which will help you fight against the devil's attacks. 

^{Ephesians 6:10-19}  

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel."