This heart of mine...

This was too good and perfect not to share. :)

Con mucho amor.

What I'm doing: Tomorrow is Costa Rica's independence day! We have been busy this week learning about it. They celebrate the day before the 15th with a parade of faroles in the nighttime. Faroles are lanterns. Hundreds of years ago Guatemala was the captial of Central America. They found out they were independent from Spain on September 15th. They news took a month to travel to Costa Rica because CR was more remote. The news traveled by donkey all the way here. Costa Rica did not know they were independent until October 29th. At the moment there is a debate going on to see if they should change their independence day to the 29th of October. But anyways, the night of the 14th there is a parade of faroles. Earlier this week we went to a school and helped kids make their own "lantern."

We took soda pop bottles and cut them in half. They painted the inside gold and cut the "fire" out of colored paper. We added a ribbon in the colors of the Costa Rican flag.

Kristin and I were helping a table of 3 boys. One of the kids, Sebastian, was talking to us a little bit. I found out he likes all the colors of the rainbow and also likes Winnie the Pooh. The little boy to my left, however, refused to talk to me. Which was actually pretty funny. He was still a cutie, though.

After making the faroles we all sat in the middle. My Spanish teacher started talking and introduced me and then said that I was going to teach the group a song.... She did not warn me of this beforehand. I stood up and looked at her. She motioned that I could do head, shoulders, knees and toes. We taught it to them in English.

Here's our whole group with the little ones. :)

Last night I went to something called Pizza Attack. I paid $8 for all you can eat pizza and pop. It was my first time eating pizza in Costa Rica, and it was SO good. Pizza Hut is not the same as Bellagios, but it was pretty close. :) One of my host brother's friends came with us. We took a bus to get to the city and met my host brother there. It was my first time on a bus and I was very, very nervous! It was a short 15 minute ride.

I had 6 slices of pizza, Manfred had 9 and my host brother, Juan Manuel had 12! We were talking to the lady who works there and she said that one time a guy ate over 40 slices of pizza....SO GROSS. I did not even think that was humanly possible. We were the only ones eating there, which was surprising. They had chairs outside on a covered patio area. It was not like a typical pizza place in the US.

After pizza attack, I helped out with my second English class at the church. There were more people this time, including a family of Nicaraguans who did not know any English. My host brother is the one who teaches it. He is good at thinking on his feet. He put them in separate group and worked with them on house vocabulary while I helped the main group with describing their home and their ideal place to live. I am starting to get to know a few of them, and it is so rewarding. We dropped a girl off at her house again, only this time I remembered to bring my camera.

It is my very favorite view of the city. It makes me feel so small looking over all of the lights.

What I'm reading: Some of my favorite quotes that are very applicable to my journey right now. :)

There will always be a reason why you meet people. Either you need them to change your life, or you’re the one that will change theirs.

Refuse to be content with just the knowledge of God, but insist on experiencing His presence. -Kerri Weems

Lord, I am stepping out of my comfort zone. Letting go of me, and holding on to You.

"No busques personas con tus mismos gustos, busques personas con tus mismos valores." (translated: Do not look for people with your same interests, look for people with your same values.)

My plans for this weekend? Fri: antorcha, parade of faroles, Bocaditos Sat: independence day parade Sun: beach bound! Oh and trying to get my homework done sometime too... :) Every single day I am here, I am beyond amazed. I feel like I am learning so much about myself and a totally different culture.

Con mucho amor.

I am with you

What I'm reading: Jesus Calling is one of my very favorite devotional books. It has a short encouragment with a few verses at the bottom of the page. Today's entry was too perfect not to share. Being abroad has taught me a great deal already. I rely on prayer ten times more here in Costa Rica than I do at home. I need to remember that God is with me in Oregon and in Costa Rica.

I never distance Myself from you. As I assured Jacob, when he was journeying away from home into unknown places, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.

For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. Isaiah 54:10
What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you. Genesis 28:15

Con mucho amor.

Crazy First Fieldtrip

What I'm doing: This weekend we had the wildest fieldtrip ever. Everything that could possibly go wrong, did. But it was an amazing adventure that brought together the group. :) We met at the school at 8am on Saturday morning. I managed to pack everything in my backpack, which is really surprising if you knew that I have the hardest time EVER packing lightly! We drove in two vans that were supposed to bring us to the gate of the biological reserve where we would then drop our stuff off in a truck and walk 6 miles to the station. However, the drivers refused to drive us all the way to the gate because they did not want to get their tires dirty. Here is a picture of us at the place they dropped us off. We are smiling because we do not know how horrible the next few hours were going to be...

We started walking. Our teacher told us it was around 11 kilometers to get to the biological station where we were going to spend the night. 7 kilometers to the gate (which we were supposed to be driven to) and then another 5 kilometers to get to the station from the gate. This was not normal walking though, it was up a mountain. We walked for so long with all of our backbacks and duffle bags. Not very many people brought much water. Mariah, Chandler and I brought up the rear of the group. We were so tired and exhausted. We finally made it to the gate, and there was no truck... So we kept walking. I honestly did not think I could make it much longer. We all were literally soaked in sweat. Then...I heard a truck coming to get us! I have NEVER been so happy and grateful in my entire life. Here is a picture of Chandler, Kristin and I in the back of the truck.

We got to the biological station and ate lunch. Our meals there consisted of rice, beans, and tang. We slept in bunks. We walked to the river and our teacher talked about the nature around us. We were going to hike to the waterfall on Saturday, but it was too late by the time we finally reached the station.

It rained a lot on Saturday afternoon and evening. We sat around inside talking and bonding. We watched the rain and the river from the station. Saturday night we went to a bug screen. There were two different types of lights that attract bugs. We got to see lots of different insects. The cook, Hugo, caught several scorpions that he showed us. We also had to check our beds for cockroaches. My favorite thing we saw was fireflies though! I have never seen them in the jungle before, or seen them anywhere actually. It was magical.

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early. Only two people showered, so we were all looking and smelling REALLY good. After breakfast we walked to the waterfall. It was 2 kilometers away, and took us around an hour to get there. We had to cross the river 14 times going one direction. We all had boots on, but mine were the short kind. It was easier to walk with water in them, though. They did not hurt as much. :) Here is a picture of part of the river we crossed. We would all hold hands and help one another.

We got to the waterfall which was absolutely beautiful! We were all sweaty, so the cold water felt very nice. Some people jumped off the rocks into the water, but it seemed a little dangerous for me. Here is a group picture. I love the people I am with here in Costa Rica. We are the best group. :)

We walked back to the station (crossing the river 14 more times), and packed up our things. A very nice worker at the biological station offered to drive us back to the place the vans were going to pick us up. 17 people total were in the truck. I was luckily in the cab part, I did not want to be in the very back. We started driving when all of a sudden we heard a funny sound...

Yes, we had a flat tire. What are the odd of that happening?! Jose ran back to the station and got the few parts we needed to fix the tire. We played a few games while we waited for him to run back. Once the car was fixed we continued driving. Here is a picture of a mudslide that happened along the road as a result from the earthquake.

We also got to see a few snakes sleeping along the side of the road. I felt safe looking at them since we were in a truck.

We made it back to San Ramon, and needless to say I am still very tired and sore a day later! What did I learn from this trip? Two things:

• Nothing in life ever goes perfectly.
• You can get by with A LOT of help from your friends. :)

I can only imagine what will happen on our next fieldtrips...
Con mucho amor.

Earthquake!

What's going on: Well yesterday, as many of you probably already know, there was a huge earthquake in Costa Rica. I am alive and well. :) And now I have a little bit of time to write about what happened.

We were in Spanish class when all of a sudden the tables started to move back and forth. I didn't really realize what was going on until my teacher said, "There's an earthquake!" Our whole class got under our desks. I was grabbing onto Sydney next to me, but she was laughing about what was going on. It lasted for probably a minute, but still such a scary experience. After it was over, we continued class like normal. There was no electricity or water in our school. Our program director came to check on us, and to make sure we were all okay. People in Oregon were already concerned about us.

After class my friends and I went shoe shopping because we all needed to buy more sandles. My host sister texted me to make sure I was okay. Things fell in the shower, and a few things on the wall in our house. One of the TVs fell and broke, but other than that our home was totally fine. When I finally got home for lunch my internet was not working. I kept checking it, because I knew my mom would be concerned. Sure enough, when I was finally able to Skype her a half hour later, she was in tears. I checked Facebook and so many people had wrote on my wall and messaged me to make sure I was okay. I know I am very loved in the States. :)

The epicenter of the earthquake was around 3 hours away in Guanacaste. Here are some pictures I found online. I did not take any because there was not any damage around San Ramon, thankfully.

from: here and here
Most schools were cancelled yesterday, but not for us. :) We continued like normal in the afternoon. Yesterday we also had our first dance class and learned salsa! Yes, I have been a dancer for years, but latin dance is much different than the lyrical/jazz I have done in the past. We really should have worn yoga pants, but I did not think it was going to be as intense as it was! So I had on my same outfit from earlier...a long black skirt. Needless to say, I was very hot and sweaty.

Last night I went to another church service. I went with my host brother, and we got there a little early. He left me by myself for awhile while he went to say hello to people. I sat awkwardly by myself for a few minutes, but then the girls in front of me talked to me. I was just praying that God would give me friends and help me feel welcome. When the service started the pastor pointed at me and said, "Welcome back, Hillary." Such a simple thing as remembering someone's name goes a long way. The church is a family, and I can feel the love of eachother and for God. After singing a few songs, they divided us up by gender. The girls talked about Eve and the consequences of sin. It went a little long, but I am so glad I went. Hopefully I can meet people there who will be my friends, and good influences on me. :)

After class this morning Mariah and I went with Sydney to get a cell phone. We were talking a mixture of Spanish and English while the guy set up her phone. He complimented us and said our Spanish was good! I love getting compliments like that. We were about to leave and he told us to wait. He gave us these notebooks and pens! I was more excited that he thought we spoke Spanish well and that we got cute notebooks than that Sydney finally got a cell phone.

Tonight I am helping my host brother teach an English class and church. I am SO excited about it. I have been given amazing opportunities to grow here in Costa Rica and I cannot wait to see how God moves and grows my faith.

Con mucho amor.

primer dia de la escuela

What I'm doing: Yesterday was my first day of classes! I had Spanish and History/Culture yesterday. I am in the lower level Spanish class, which I was a little sad about at first, but it will be much easier for me to understand everything. I told my host sister that, and she said "Your Spanish is so good, why are you in the lower level?!" which made me feel a little bit better. :) My Spanish teacher is hilarious. We spend the first part of class talking about ourselves. She would ask us different questions like if you were an animal, what animal would you be? And we also talked about when we see a guy walking down the street, what is the first thing you notice about him? Our teacher told us all about how she loves black guys! I could not stop laughing during class; we were having so much fun.

History/Culture class is more lecture based, so it is not as exciting as Spanish. Our teacher is so enthusiastic and clearly loves to teach about Costa Rica.

Last night my host mom and I went to the store to buy fruit. I love outings like these with my family. She had a special bag to put her fruit in that we dropped on our way to the market. We went back to look at it, and it was gone already! Someone had taken it... My host mom was very sad because it had been her mom's bag. It's crazy because if we had been in the US in my neighborhood, someone would have ran after me saying, "oh you dropped your bag!" But that is not the case here in Costa Rica.

My host family are the nicest people in the world. They are so sweet, and I feel incredibly blessed to have been placed with them. Here's a picture of my host mom and I. :)

Today we were given our assignments for our service learning project. Service learning is a 3 credit course because we are also doing a research project for it. Sydney and I are partners, therefore we were placed in the same place. Some students are working in preschools, others are working in public health centers. Sydney and I are in a bilingual high school. It is perfect since we both want to be teachers!

This afternoon we had our first ecology class. The professor is new, young, and equally funny as my Spanish teacher. He mostly spoke to us in English today, and he said that we would ease our way into Spanish. I have not taken any science classes since highschool, so hopefully I will understand what we are talking about. The course will be focused on sustainability, which was one of my favorite things we talked about in Envi Sci during high school. We are going to a forest this weekend for a fieldtrip, which will be fun.

Does anyone have any questions they were wondering about Costa Rica?

Con mucho amor.

Las musas y la iglesia

What I'm doing: Yesterday we went to a place called Las Musas. We had to take a taxi, and there were 6 of us. One of our friends ended up chasing down a van taxi and we all climbed in. I am sure the taxi driver probably thought we were crazy because we were taking pictures and giggling in the back seats.

There was a beautiful waterfall that we swam around, and a huge pool. There is also ziplining and horse back riding that we did not do. The waterfall was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It really felt like we were in a forest by ourselves!

We took lots of silly pictures by the pool and entrance. Almost our whole group went to las musas together, which was so fun to spend time together.

I also got a cell phone yesterday! I have around 7 contacts and received my first text and call yesterday!

My goal for this week: to stop speaking English. One of my friends who went abroad last year told me: "It's easier to speak english but you're there to challenge yourself and learn my love." And that is exactly what I need to do.

Last night I went to a youth group at the church my family goes to. We played some silly games, sang a few songs and listened to a message. Today I went to church with them. The youth group definitley reminded me of campaigners/Younglife in high school. I was much more shy than normal; it is harder to connect with people in another language because a lot of the time I do not know how to ask the deep questions that friendships and relationships are based on. I understood a lot of the sermons, but not everything. I figured that God would let me hear what I needed to hear. :)

I really feel like God has a purpose and plan for me here in Costa Rica, but I just do not know what it is yet. Some of my favorite points from church:

• No necesito tomar y fumar para disfrutar.
• Donde estan los critianos en este tiempo?
• Necesito la paz del Dios.
• La esperanza con El que es la fuente de la vida.
• Has escuchado a que el Dios tratando decir a usted?

What I'm loving: These quotes. :)

from: here, here, and here

Con mucho amor.