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