Scribbles in the Sun

I do not enjoy visiting the doctor. But today I finally had to give in. I was sick with the flu back around the new year, and the cough has been lingering. And so I decided enough was enough. But, oh....that meant I would have to go to the doctor. There is a doctor who comes to my language school twice a week so it is very easy and convenient for students to make an appointment. He is a Canadian MK who grew up and then stayed in Costa Rica...and he was certain that his sister in law MUST know SOMEBODY from Cold Lake. We got everything checked out and he gave me a prescription for a mountain of medications to open my lungs, stop my coughing and get rid of whatever I've been stuck with. Unfortunately, he also told me that my blood pressure is too high. We decided that it could be because I had an hour and a half Bible study to lead right after my appointment, so I'm going to go get my pressure taken again tomorrow and see if has gone down! Today's doctor visit also...

Well, with all the buzz over "The King's Speech", it's interesting that today in my grammar class we started to learn a song. I have long believed that music is the best way to memorize certain things. I can't remember my cell phone number for the life of me, but I can (and will always be able to) sing the theme song for "Scooby Doo". Working with children these past years, I've realized that music makes memorizing scripture FUN! Imagine that! If you don't believe me, listen to this kids song a few times and I guarantee you will be able to recite the verse! Music also is a great way to learn pronunciation, so this week my class is learning how to sing this song. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have it memorized!

In another week, I will have been here in Costa Rica for 6 months! Unbelievable! Second trimester of language school has been going really well, ...well....as good as it can go when you are stumbling through learning another language! This trimester I'm really coming to realize some of the intricacies of language and it's really interesting how some things translate exactly the same between languages, and sometimes things don't translate at all! Right now I'm learning the past tense, and it's interesting as it's a little different from how we speak in the past tense. We have been focusing on it since classes started a month ago, and it sometimes still bogs me down but I think I'm getting the idea. But I'm thankful that it allows me to have more complex conversations and I can make more sense. For example, now I can say "Last year I lived in Canada", whereas before I knew the past tense, I would have to say "Last year I live in Canad...

So here is my second attempt at a book review for Thomas Nelson Books...I have been working on reading this book for a while and finally finished it up!!! "Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore is a true story of two very different men who formed a very unique and inspiring relationship. Ron Hall is a successful art dealer, and Denver Moore is a man who grew up in poverty and spent a good number of years in jail and living on the street. Through the love that Ron's wife had for the homeless in Fort Worth, Texas, Ron and Denver are thrown into each others paths. This books was a pleasure to read, although not easy at times. The experiences that Denver recounts in his narratives are, at times, excruciating and you are left with the understanding that he has left out some of the worst bits. "Same kind of Different as Me" is written from the perspective of both authors and switches back and forth between the men. Some parts of the stor...

December has been quite the whirlwind month!! The last few weeks of the trimester seemed jam packed with new info, while my brain capacity seemed to diminish as the month went on. I made it through exams though, and will begin my next trimester mid-January. I've gone on a few trips here and there, and have been busy with a bit of Christmas shopping (here in CR and online for family---I love the interweb!). I've also been able to catch a few Christmas programs, at Sojourn Academy and at my church. I'm finding it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit, since there is no snow (amazing the difference it makes!), but little by little I'm getting excited for the special day. I was walking in the mall last week with the Hieberts and Mackenzie saw that there were snowman decorations all over the mall. He asked me "Why do they decorate with snowmen when they don't have any snow? How do they know what a snowman looks like if they've never seen a real one...

Hello all, just wanted to share a link with you today. As many of you know, I'm studying Spanish here in Costa Rica for a year in preparation to move to Venezuela next fall. Also planning to go to Venezuela is the Hiebert family. Chris and Angela attend the same school as me, and they have two very fantastic boys named Mackenzie and Lukas. A few weeks ago, Chris had the opportunity to head to Caracas with Murray Derksen, our Regional Developer. You can read his blog post here about his trip and what it was like to meet the people who we will be hopefully working alongside next year. While you're there, why not check out their other blog posts and get to know this family better. They have been such a blessing to me here in C.R. and I really wish that all of you could meet them. Please remember to pray for the Hieberts as well, as I will hopefully be doing ministry with them for many years to come!

This has been a crazy week, I am sooooo glad it's the weekend! On Tuesday I got brave and headed to the other side of the city (Heredia) to visit a friend of my aunt's who is in Costa Rica for a few weeks. To cut costs, I decided to take the bus there and then come back in a taxi. Lucky for me, a few friends were heading downtown San Jose so I joined them for that leg of the journey. In San Jose, there is no published bus schedule so once we got downtown, one of my friends began asking people where to catch the bus to Heredia. It's always good to ask 3 or 4 people, because more than likely you'll get a number of different answers! And oh ya, did I mention that in San Jose most of the streets are not named or numbered? And if they are (mostly downtown) people don't really know the names or numbers??? After a bit of a hike through the streets, we found the place and I was on my own the rest of the way. I had no idea where to get off the bus, but once we got ...