"es un cheese steak..."

Hey guys. Sorry that it has taken me so long to update this thing. I’m a slacker, I know.

I’ve now just finished my second week of having groups and it has been amazing and tiring and challenging!

The first week we had a group of 11 from Chattanooga, TN, and they were amazing!!! I honestly don’t think I could have asked for a better group to begin the summer with. We worked at the church in Sarapiqui doing things like grouting, laying tiles, painting, laying blocks, putting ceiling up, etc. I have LOVED getting to hang out with the Ticans. Abraham is the man that is in charge of all of the work projects for Ray. I have spent a lot of time getting to know him and his son Johan and they are just tooooo funny. Not to mention they help me with my Spanish a lot. We were also lucky to have Javier as our bus driver that first week. He is just hilarious and so much fun to be around. He even sang the Sapo song with the kids two of our VBS days!!

I’m not sure how I feel yet about doing VBS at a different place every day. While one part of me agrees it’s a good idea to get to know a whole bunch of different churches and a whole bunch of different people, I mostly think it would be a lot better to be at the same place all week. That way, the group can build relationships with the kids rather than seeing them once and then never seeing them again. I have loved getting to lead the VBS and such though. It is a lot of fun.

Thursday of that first week I had to translate for a church service for the very first time. I was scared out of my MIND. I hate speaking in front of people, I hate microphones, and its so nerve-wracking thinking about the fact that the preacher could very well preach on something I know absolutely nothing about. Luckily, it turned out really well though. Andrea was there to help me if I needed it, but I ended up not using her too much. At the end of the service, although I know I of course could always improve, I felt pretty proud of myself.

Friday I headed to San Jose to get my second bag and bring it back to Sarapiqui with me. It was a long time on the public bus but I actually really enjoyed. It was hard saying bye to the first group on Saturday, but it wasn’t very long until the next group arrived.

The second group was HUGE compared to the first one. They had 26 people in all and were from Fleming Island, FL. I have to admit that I was a little nervous at the beginning since it was such a big group and I have never been in charge of such a big group. In the end, though, I absolutely fell in love with the group. They are so much fun to be around and so sweet and loving. We did a lot of the same work this week, but also a lot of the group spent time outside digging ditches for the clinic. It was a lot of fun working alongside these people and also really beginning to get to use my Spanish a lot. Since Chris wasn’t here this week, I was really the only one who spoke Spanish. It was kinda funny (and tiring) because I would try and work on a specific thing but there was just no way because every time I did, somebody would call me to translate something or ask Abraham something. Although it was tiring, I loved it. I can really tell that my Spanish is getting better and better and I LOVE that.

I translated for the church service on Thursday again and, although I was so nervous, things again turned out well. I am working right now on trying to remind myself that God will give me the words I need in order to get the points across that I need to. I still feel like every time I have to translate though I’m going to freak out.

Friday I was planning on sleeping all day but in the end one of the girls in the group was sick so she and her mom stayed back at the hotel which opened up 2 spots for people to go on the excursion. We did a boat ride, horseback riding, and then zip lining. It was pretty fun doing all that stuff and hanging out with the group some more, but I passed out and slept for 3 hours when I got back because I was so tired.

The FL group had to get on the bus and leave at 3:45 this morning so that they could get passed the part of the road that was going to be close from 5-12. I went back to sleep until about 10:30 and then got up and spent some talking on the phone with Daniel and then my parents. I ended up talking to my dad for about 3 hours which was so nice. I miss my family so much so it was good to spend some time just hanging out and talking. The rest of today I’ve been working on learning how to make a new bracelet and watching the finale of Lost (finally!!)

The next group should be landing in San Jose in the next hour or so and then will make it to the hotel around 11. Its going to be a long night but I’m excited to meet the new group and see how things are going to be. This is going to be a different week cuz this group is from Ray’s home church and they are the ones who are funding the clinic. I think they are going to spend the week doing some different projects such as taking surveys and such.

Next week Matt and Chris and I get to work on the project in Coronado and I’m SO excited!

I haven’t had the chance to go to Los Guido yet since the summer started and I’m kinda bummed about that. I miss my kids sooooooo much…

Love you all!