ROCKING IT OUT, STEPPING IT UP…PUN INTENDED! (Monday, March 3rd)

Brought to you by Stacey

After breakfast we went straight into our morning work. We hiked up the mountain to where we could see down the valley and the mountains in the background. It made for a beautiful backdrop for our first project of the day, which was planting trees. We dug holes in the hard, hard dirt and planted some fruit trees. After the fruit trees, we took a hike together as a group down the creek. There were HUGE river rocks, brisk water, lots of overhanging trees and the walk was fantastic. Several folks ended up wet, but that’s the fun of it, right?

After lunch we headed back to work, and hard work at that. We worked for four hours shoveling wheelbarrows full of rocks, carrying them across camp, framing steps up the mountainside, leveling the ground on the steps and filling the steps in with rocks (carried across camp)! It was hard work and we were all excited to get a chance to put some of our sweat and energy into their camp. So with our sunburn, sore muscles and dirty bodies we headed to dinner.

I forgot to mention that several of the counselors who had been with the kids over the weekend came back to join us for the day. Manolo, Alvaro and Jimmy all spent the day with us. Grettel (la Negra), Isidro (Chilo) and Moses joined us after their regular work/school day. We all ate dinner together and spent the evening together. Among the evening activities was a talent show filled with skits, typical Costa Rican dance, talented cup girls, some two step dancing, and Costa Rican songs of friends and love. They then joined us after devotion for some Yahtzee, cards, dance party and talking. It has been great to spend time with our new friends and learn pieces of their culture while teaching them some of ours. You may soon have the opportunity to meet some of our friends, as we are working to bring several of them to the states to work at Camp Kanata this summer! They were so excited at the option and they are AMAZING counselors… ones that our association would be proud to call our own!

Well, that seems to bring us to where I sit now, on the cold tile floor with about 15 of us here in the common room playing and some of the muy cansada (very tired) folks already asleep in the bed. We could not have asked for a better first three days of our trip. Thank you for all your prayers, as we have felt God’s Hand on our every move. We pray that we can continue to walk in such favor throughout the rest of the trip.

THINGS WE’VE LEARNED AFTER 3 DAYS IN COSTA RICA:

10.Dance parties begin and end each and every activity/meal/hike/work project/you get the picture
9. Rice and beans goes good with every meal.
8. Daily highs in the 80s don’t mean you won’t turn to an ice cube at night!
7. There is a never ending supply of magically sugared and hot coffee ALWAYS
available!
6. No matter how much bug spray you apply, your legs still look like a kindergartener
who can’t get rid of the chicken pox.
5. You can have a computer lab with 15 brand new computers, 3 wireless routers,
your own cell tower on the mountain and STILL not be able to communicate with
the rest of the world!
4. Did we mention that dance happens anywhere and anytime?!
3. Hot showers doesn’t mean you can control WHEN you get the hot water!
2. A walk in the river ALWAYS results in someone falling IN the water.

1. There is always a way to communicate and build relationships even when you cannot speak the same language!