The Blessing of Travel

I love to travel. And as a citizen of the United States, it is easy to take the privlege of travel for granted. The majority of the world does not have such a privlege, and there's nothing fair about it! I am so blessed to have traveled as much as I have. It's always so eye-opening and educational and fun to experience a new culture and place and people and food, etc. My friends and I are determined to do our best to not miss out on the chance to visit and know a few new places on this vast planet. Before we head back to the States, the other interns and I have quite the travel itinerary ahead. We spent the last weekend in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, we leave tomorrow for the Carribean coast of Costa Rica, and then we plan to cross the Panamanean border before heading back to Atenas in order to visit the Bocas el Toro islands. Only two weekends remain after that, which may include visiting another beach town in Costa Rica and/or returning to Tuis to visit the dear friends we met at language school. So exciting!

While it will be difficult to sum up all of these destinations in words, I will at least do my best to provide for you a photo journal of our travels. So please check out my Online Photo Album page (link to the left) to view pics from Nicaragua, and check back often for new additions!

Supervised Splashing!

For the last month or so, Steph and I have been teaching weekly swimming lessons at the local orphanage. We had some grand ideas about what and how to teach the valuable skill of swimming to the kids, but have come to find that our time at the orphanage is better spent supervising and playing than actually doing much teaching. But what the heck, at least we're all having fun!

We usually take a group of between 5 and 15 young kids (ages 2-6) to enjoy about an hour of splashing about in the 'big' swimming pool. These kids are pretty young and there's a bunch of them and the tias (women that care for the kids) at the orphanage are pretty paranoid (usually for good reason), so all of the kids are required to wear life jackets when playing in the 'big' pool. We do our best to give a couple quick lessons (blowing bubbles, kicking, etc), but the majority of the time is spent giving 'dragon rides' and loving on the kids and doing our best to help avoid any major injuries (only one split lip so far (-: ). The most challenging part of the whole ordeal is getting the kids in and out of their swim suits... it takes a while!

It's been so great to have this opportunity at the orphanage. For one, it gets Steph and I out of the office for a couple hours! But it's also such a blessing to hang out with the kids, get to know them, and hopefully show them a little bit of the love of Christ! And although the kids may not be expert swimmers, they are however leaps and bounds beyond the majority of Costa Ricans that have never learned how to swim! And based on the fact that a few of the kids used to be incredibly scared of water (even taking a bath!), I'd say they're doing pretty well! Enjoy the pics!

Family First

It's funny how life changes you... For as long as I can remember, small kids have always somewhat intimidated me, and I can never remember having a strong desire to ever have kids of my own. When my boss here in Costa Rica told me that I would be living with a 2 year old kid, I was a little nervous to say the least. But the Lord really does have a sense of humor sometimes. There have been some rough times with my small host family brother, but we have really grown close over the last several months. When I return home after work I am often greeted with jumps of excitement and a wet kiss on the cheek. We then spend the next hour or so running around the house, chasing each other or playing with toy cars and imaginary chickens. He really exhausts me at times, but he's such a joy!

Here in Costa Rica there are several things about the culture that really contrast that of the States, one of which is the importance of family! Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but the States as a culture really emphasize the importance of individuality and independence. It's very easy, once in that mindset, to take one's family for granted.... which is precisely what I have done.

Another big recent change has to do with travel plans. At the start of this internship in Costa Rica, I was 100% set on taking some time (maybe up to a few months) to travel around Latin America. What better time, right? Before getting sucked into the commitments of work, life, possibly a family some day. What could be better than seeing more of the world, learning about different cultures, and making new friends?

In November my brother and sister-in-law found out that they were going to have a baby! This news was quite a shock to me... and based on previously mentioned views about kids in general... I wasn't sure how to feel! ...so I just kinda brushed it off and went on with MY life and MY plans.

I don't want to get lost in the silly culture of the States anymore! I don't want to take my wonderful family for granted! I want to enjoy them and love them and grow with them! I want to enjoy the good times, the ugly times, the funny times, and the crazy times. I am so excited to be an aunt!

All of these new feelings and outlooks on life have lead me to a very difficult decision. My new niece or nephew is due to be born on July 23rd. My internship is scheduled to end on July 11th, just in time to get home to see my VERY pregnant sister-in-law and witness the first days of life for my niece/nephew.

I honestly don't know what I was thinking! I can't believe that I was planning on traveling instead of being with my family during this incredible and exciting time! I just hope that I make it in time and don't miss out on this beautiful time for my bro Jason, his wife Kendra, and my soon-to-be-grandparent parents.

I love you guys and hope you will forgive me for not sooner realizing the blessing that you are in my life! XOXOXO