Ecce Huomo

What I'm learning about: Today in my Ecology class we were learning about Ecce Huomo. At first, I had no idea what that meant, or how it applied to Ecology. Ecce huomo means "your own man," "the man inside," or "the man itself." Philisophically it means that we all have the capacity to do everything in life. It's all about the journey and finding oneself. I thought this was a really interesting concept, especially when we are in Costa Rica.

My teacher had a beautiful painting of Jesus on a slideshow. He was telling us about the painting. It is in a church in Spain, and the government wanted to restore the painting. They hired an 80 year old female artist to restore the painting. Below is a copy of the original...and what she did to it...

From: here

We were all in shock when we saw the second painting... The government paid this lady thousands of dollars and she was not even a real artist. She did not know what she was doing! The point my teacher was trying to make was the relationship between us as a society and companies. The government had to TRUST the lady would do a good job. My teacher said, "Trust is a hard thing to do."

Here is a link on Youtube that tells the whole story. SO crazy that one old lady could change a painting so much.

What I'm doing: This week I've spent a lot of time at Aroma's Cafe. It is the cutest place right down the street from our program office. We went there a few days ago and purchased the yummiest chocolate cake. Last night Sydney and I met our friend Sarah there for dinner. Sarah is from Chicago and is in a different program in Costa Rica. I had nachos for dinner, and aftewards we walked to church together. 

Wednesday nights are my favorite evenings because I love going to church! The people there are so incredibly nice. Lucy, a friend of my Mama Tica's, came up to me after the service. She told me that she did not know I was a Christian, and that it made her so happy. She wants me to come over for coffee sometime, I think. If I understood her correctly. :) I came home from church last night and just sat on my bed and smillied while I was journaling. I feel constantly blessed by the people in my life here in Costa Rica.

My host brother came into my room last night when he got off work. He asked me if I had ever thought of traveling and teaching English when I graduated school. It really got me thinking...I feel like I am growing so much in the past weeks in Costa Rica. God has put the best people in my life. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to travel and teach for awhile when I graduate!

Today I was talking to my Mama Tica about something that was frustrating me. She told me that God has a plan for what is going on, and that I should pray about it. It was super convicting, and exactly what I needed to hear. :)

Tonight I am going to watch a Mexican ballet, and tomorrow we leave for our field trip to San Jose, Cartago and Tapanti National Park. So excited to visit new places!!

Con mucho amor.