Mi Vida en Costa Rica

Last Thursday a small group from the language school went to a nearby suburb of San Jose called La Carpio. It's an area populated mostly by Nicaraguans, although their children are considered Costa Rican since this is where they have been born. La Carpio is an extremely poor area with the people living in poverty. Their is a missionary who is working there called "Lalo." He has been encouraging volunteers from the language school to come out once a week and just hang out with the kids there, do some work around the place, and help get programs going for the people there. So we got to meet some of the kids and see the area. We walked across a bridge they built there this past year. It serves the whole area. Many people use it to cross the river (which is beyond filthy) to get to work. I don't even know how far they had to go before the bridge was built.

"Nelson" Bridge, La Carpio

Lalo is the man on the left.

We were also invited inside a woman's home. Two of her sons are doing a lot of work for Lalo and were some youth that he has served. She babysits her grandchildren and takes care of her own children in a small, one-room house with a small area to the side for the kitchen and a small closet where I believe the bathroom was. There is a hammock strung across the room where a baby was resting. The floor is a dirt floor that is covered in tile to make it cleaner and nicer. The mom even apologized for the house being dirty, saying that she doesn't have clean, running water to clean with. There is only one actual door, the front one, and then a doorway to what I assume is the "backyard." No windows. All families have shrines in their homes where they show off the things that are special to them. This one was a larger one because the kids go to McDonald's and get Happy Meals. There were about 10 of those toys and then some trophies the sons have won through the futbol (soccer) team Lalo started.

View from the bridge in La Carpio

It was after we crossed the bridge and could see more of La Carpio that you got an idea of how many people were living in such poverty. Over ten people many times in one one-room house that is only tin pieces put together. Some people do not see Costa Rica as being a third-world country. I happen to live in an area of San Jose--Sabanilla--that is really nice for many Ticos. So it was very good for me to be reminded of how some of my students live. But to realize the scale of poverty...that is when you start wondering how that many could live like that for so long, knowing there is better. But that is something missionaries here are working on--improving the lives of Ticos and helping them not only set high goals but accomplishing them as well.



I went to the beach this past weekend with Beth and her kids--Jesse, Drew, and Kirsten. We had a really fun time! The national park is very nice and clean, and they got to see the monkeys! We played in the waves the next day and got more sunburned, but overall it was a wonderful trip. Colegio Metodista starts school this week! So Beth and Bryan decided it would be good for their kids to have one last "hoorah!" before going back to school.

Can you see the iguana???

White-faced monkeys


I think this is a coconut farm....

Language school is going well! It's a lot of vocabulary to remember, but it's getting there:). I have a test every day this week except tomorrow (Thursday), so that's not much fun, but we also had a birthday party today in the second half of Grammer for Yung. He's from South Korea, and his wife made a special dish they serve on special occasions. It was veggies, sausage, egg, and cheese surrounded by white rice, all wrapped in seaweed! That's the first time I have ever eaten seaweed:). It wasn't too bad. Really different, but not too bad (mostly because of the sausage, I think!).

We are still waiting for our washing machine to get fixed, so please pray that something happens soon. The Women's Retreat is coming up next weekend. The language school and a mission team from the states is putting it on, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Sorry for the length of this one:). It's been a while!

Paz