Gifts

The gifts have started to come in. It's really funny actually. Jennifer and I were talking and we were just saying that it didn't really seem like Christmas, then Phil and Russ pulled up with a van full of presents! It turned things around pretty quickly. It's definitely starting to feel like Christmas. We have lots of work though. We have to sort, label, and bag almost 500 gifts! We will have help with the sorting. It may just be the three of us on delivery day though. It will be lots of work but lots of fun too. I'm so glad I got to be here last year for this. It was awesome! I'll be sure to get lots of pictures

On my own

Well I feel like I don't have much to write about. I guess I should have been writing about my experiences while I was here alone. Phil, Josh, Russ, and Jen all went to the states and left me here. It really wasn't that bad. I went a few places by myself and bought some stuff I needed. I just looked up what I needed to say on the internet ahead of time. I understand most of what's being said to me it's just being able to talk back that's trouble for me. My Thanksgiving was spent at the beach. Which is great for me, I love the beach! The ladies at bible study were very sweet to me while Jen was gone. They made sure they were there on time and wouldn't leave until they were sure I had a ride to get home. They didn't want to leave me alone. I continued with Beca as well. It went well. A couple of the girls speak English pretty well so they were a big help. I was definitely glad for Russ and Jen to be back though. Things are winding down here for the year. I'll try to be better about keeping you posted. I do have some new pictures. Here they are....http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGHK

Protection

Well Russ and Jen are in the States. Becky and I have decided to continue ladies bible study on Friday by ourselves. It went pretty well. I think the dictionary will be my best friend now that Jen isn't around. I tried to speak to the ladies and the kids as much as I could. They told my I had 3 weeks to learn. I think it will take more than that. After the study a couple of that ladies wouldn't leave until Andrew got there to pick us up. I think they were worried about us. It's funny they walk all over all alone but they didn't want to leave the two of us by ourselves. It was really sweet.

Pictures

Here's some new picture's from the last month or so. Enjoy!
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGG9

Children's Home

We were able to visit a children's home this week. It was pretty amazing. It's in the mountains with an incredible view. They have 75 children right now. They take children that are being abused or maybe their family just can't care for them right now. The maximum amount of time that they spend there is usually 2 years. They then are returned home if the situation has improved there. They take kids from age 2 to 12. There is a school on the grounds. They also take children from a nearby town. They have one class that is devoted to children with special needs. There are 8 houses with house parents, each house with approximately 10 kids, not including any of their own that they may have. We were able to visit a class and have lunch with the kids as well.

The Boda

I had the opportunity to go to a Costa Rican wedding. It was not typical tico. The bride is Costa Rican but the groom was American. I've been told that most weddings take up to 3 hours. There is a complete church service that includes praise and worship. This one was only about 30 minutes but it was beautiful! It was to be held in a garden but we have been having so much rain that it had to be moved indoors. It was still very nice. Phil and his band performed at the reception. I have several pictures from the reception. I will get them downloaded soon.

Electricity

Things have been a little different around here. The man that collects for the electric bill in the precario ran off with all the money. (about $4000) So now one section doesn't have power. It's our section of course! We haven't had power for about two weeks. We are hoping that it will be turned back on today. Because there hasn't been lights we haven't been able to have English or computer classes. Everyone is asking when they will start again. Computer classes will have to wait but Jennifer has decided that if it's not back on soon we'll just move the classes close to the front of the rancho and make them earlier in the day so we can use as much natural light as we can. We have also been contemplating buying a generator, but they are very expensive. So who knows what will happen. We are going to do a clothes outreach this week. I'll let you know how that goes.

Driving

Well my latest adventure has been driving here in Costa Rica. I had the opportunity to drive the 15 passenger van to pick up the team from SCCC. Keep in mind that Jennifer has been here 5 years and still will not drive the van! Anyway, back to the story. All went smoothly until we picked the guys up. No accidents but I'm sure everyone was out to get me! A GIGANTIC bus decided that it wanted in my lane while there was a van in the next lane leaving me no where to go. We made it and the truck stayed where it was. Then on the way to the precario a rather large truck tried the same move. But I held my ground and we made it through. My next experience was driving alone. Phil had to take Josh to the doctor and I had to get the van back to the Precario to pick everyone up. Yeah right! No I did make it. I think I made an illegal turn along the way. Who knows. Besides the rules of the road are just suggestions here. (Gene, just to let you know. Jen didn't yell at me once!) I've since been taking Phil to the precario in the evenings so he can spend the night in the rancho. I even pull in the yard with very little difficulty. Now Jen says I get to teach her how to drive the van. I'll let you know how that goes.

Here are some new photos. Keep in touch!
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGGs

Classes

Phil came back from the States ready to start construction. We will be adding a second story to the rancho. Stevens Creek is sending a team on September 1st. Hopefully we can get a lot accomplished when the guys are here.

We have implemented a new plan with the BECA kids. Just a side note. Beca in Spanish means scholarship. Anyway back to the plan. Some of the kids were having attitude problems. Can you believe that? Teenagers with attitude problems? So we decided to implement a point system. The earn points each night and can cash them in on things like a Coke for dinner, a cook gel pen, notebooks, and then the prizes go up to the big one which is a shopping trip, a CD player, a trip to the movies, or dinner. They all wanted to go shopping but they are starting to cash in their points. We'll see who holds out the longest. It really seems to work. If they think they didn't get the right amount of points for the night they make sure to ask Jen about it.

There are still lots of babies. We have two baskets to deliver this week. I'm sure by the time we get these out there will be at least two more.

English classes are going well. The kids are learning vegetables in one class and the other class is learning clothing. The adult classes are learning adjectives, and verb tenses. I feel sorry for that class. My Spanish tutoring is going ok. I have a long way to go. I still don't feel like I can respond when someone asks me a question. Jen says it will come. I just have to make myself start talking to people. She said I will say it wrong but they will understand or they will just laugh at me. Great!

Russ started computer class. He has two classes on Sunday. Both classes filled up pretty quick.
It's neat to see how eager people are to learn.

My sister is coming to visit me. She gets in today. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures from out time together. I'll get them loaded as soon as I can.

Routines

We are pretty much into our routines here. Sunday: Church and then 2 computer classes and 3 English classes. Monday: errands and Beca in the evening. Tuesday: our day off. Wednesday: errands and Beca in the evening. Thursday: Family day. Friday: Women's Bible Study. Saturday: every other is a food outreach. Of course there are always baby baskets to be delivered and work to be done at the rancho or ministry house. Those things get done when there's nothing else to do. HA! HA!

We had quite a rainstorm Sunday afternoon. It took us 40 minutes to get home from the precario. It's usually a 10-15 minute drive. The water was really deep and the car kept stalling. I offered to push.

Today is Mother's Day. It's a National holiday here. No school and lots of places are closed today. Learning about the culture is really cool. Some things are the same but there are always some differences.

I got my driver's license! That's scary isn't it? You have to wait in lines for a couple of hours just like in the states! I could have driven with my license from the states but it's only good for 90 days. I figured I was going to be here longer than that so I'd better go ahead and get one.

I started Spanish lessons. Jennifer gives an outrageous amount of homework! Even the Beca kids felt sorry for me. I can translate what I read pretty well and I understand some of what is said but I definitely can't say anything back yet. That will take a long time. I'm not complaining though. After sitting through the advanced English class and them having to learn all the exceptions to every rule they learn Spanish isn't so bad. It sounds just like it's spelled unlike English. For some reason I keep having trouble with the "A" sound. It's funny but that's the sound that the English student's have trouble with too.

Sorry about the mix up with the pictures. You'll have to go to the website directly. For some reason I can't put in a link. Also the new pictures are at the bottom of the page so just keep scrolling down. www.joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/
Hey it looks like it might be linking for me. I guess just try it. Keep writing!

July

We had about a week break between teams. We got a team from LA/New York. The pastor is from LA. He travels around the country telling people about mission opportunities and brings teams down. The team was from New York. With that team we cleaned the rancho. Phil had to do some repairs as well. The rancho had been broken into. They were able to get a small radio, a fan, and extension cords. He replaced fencing with rebar. That should keep people out. The other project we worked on was concrete for the faucet. We mixed the concrete right in the street. We also showed the kids the movie Toy Story. Now they want to see part 2. We'll have to do that the next time.

The team went to the beach. It was beautiful! Black sand beaches, cabanas, all the food/drink you want; what more could you need?! It was great. I hope we get to go back there at some time.

The rancho had some damage to the roof. I thought I was going to have to get on the roof to help Russ fix it. Lucky for me Julio was home. He jumped right up there and got it done in less than an hour. Julio lives in the precario. He has helped Russ and Phil do lots of construction around the rancho.

The next project we have is to replace the bathroom sink. I somehow managed to break it. There is a candle on a shelf. Well........ The candle has a glass lid that fell on the sink. It broke the corner into about three pieces. OOPS! I'm hoping it won't cost too much to replace it. Russ said that the toilet they put in the rancho cost about $40. I'm hoping a sink won't be too much more than that.

English classes start back this week. Russ will be starting computer classes this week or next. I am supposed to be starting Spanish tutoring with Jennifer this month.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. For some reason this won't link so go to this site to look at the pictures.
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action

Keep in touch. Email me.
joyncostarica@yahoo.com

Pictures

Finally! Sorry it's taken me so long to get these pictures downloaded. I will get better. This was my first time doing it by myself. They aren't in any particular order. I promise to get better at editing. Keep writing. Thanks for the support!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeAMWzly5at3DiA&open=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=0

Team Time

Well I did take my camera to Price Mart. I promise to get the pictures downloaded so you can see. We have 4 carts full of food and cleaning supplies! The team flew in on Friday. Because of the rain we weren't able to get into the precario that day. We went to a 4th of July party on Saturday. We had lots of fun. I did at least. We played volleyball most of the time. I was a muddy filthy mess! I just can't help that competitive spirit. That afternoon was a clothes outreach. We were able to give away 650 pieces of clothing! Jen is hoping we can do another one soon. Later that evening the team went to church. Gene preached and Pedro translated. It was very good. We were able to participate in their very first bilingual communion. Pretty neat! VBS was on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It went very well. Just typical of how God works; We had just enough crafts to finish the last group. We were cleaning up the tables and the glue sticks were completely empty but every child was able to leave with their project finished. Great isn't it?!

We are preparing for another team to come next week. Just 10 loads of laundry his time. Cleaning the house and food shopping are next on the list. I promise to get pictures in soon. Keep in touch. It's always great to hear from you!

Busy

Well we have been staying very busy here. There is always something that has to be done. The English classes are over until August. Beca is out of school for two weeks. Thankfully this will give us time to prepare for the teams that will be arriving soon. I did 10 loads of laundry on Monday. That is no exaggeration either. I'm sure the team will appreciate clean sheets and blankets though.

I have learned a couple of things so far. I can get breakfast right across the street for less than $2.00. It's huge too I couldn't even eat it all and it was very good. The next thing I learned is that when Russ yells for me to come and help; I need to put on tennis shoes instead of flip flops. I've pushed their car from the grocery store. Then helped push the van out of a hole yesterday. I'm a little sore today. For some reason the van was much harder to push than their little car.

Well we will be going to Price Mart today to buy food, and supplies for the team. Jennifer said that it would be quite an experience. I'll have to let you know. I wonder if they would let me take my camera in. HMMM........

Made it!

I had a great send off from Augusta. Thanks everyone! The flight was good. I got out of the airport about 2:30 and Russ and Jennifer took me to lunch. I have unpacked and we've talked about the next couple of weeks. It looks like there's lots of work to do. I can't wait to get started. Jennifer said there are 7 baby baskets to be delivered. That will be lots of fun.

June 2, 2005 Welcome

Just wanted to get this thing set up before I go. My email address is joyncostarica@yahoo.com.
Please email me and let me know what's new with you.

I have set up an album with photos from my trip this Christmas. You'll find them at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeAMWzly5at3DgI&open=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=1

Thanks to everyone for their help. If you would like to support me on this mission, please make your check payable to Stevens Creek Community Church. The address is 600 Stevens Creek Rd. Augusta, Ga. 30907. Make sure to put my name in the memo.

I'll write more later.

Joy