This was my first full day in Costa Rica.
You see, knowing that I would have no cell phone service in a foreign country, I decided to be practical and leave my phone at home. This would be very hard for some people…and during the school year it would have been a big deal…but during the summer, I am not really attached to my phone because…it’s summer. So it was not really a sacrifice. However, I always use my phone as my alarm (1 of 3 that I use during the school year to avoid the above scenario)…but since we were staying in a hotel, I figured I would use the alarm clock in the room. But there was no alarm clock in the room; and Emily had left her phone at home, too. No problem; I can fix this…we are on this trip with 18 other teens and adults…almost all of whom have their phones…because they are teens and adults (college kids are in a category all their own I guess). Therefore, I go knock on the door of one of my favorite sponsors, Heather, and request a wake-up call at 6:30.
On Sunday morning, I woke up to the sound of people talking…children, mainly. I was rather proud of myself for beating the wake-up call…but then, I wondered if it was still night time and I was awake after having only slept for about an hour and the teens had not even gone to bed yet and it was actually 3am and I would get up and shower and be ready to go in the middle of the night (so maybe I have come close to enacting this scenario before). As I lay there, deliberating over this, I decided that I had been very tired thus it was not the middle of the night because I would have slept through it. Therefore, I would go ahead and get my shower.
I exited the shower to the sound of a knock at the door. Which led to me, wrapped in a towel, trying to figure out how on earth I was supposed to get this Costa Rican hotel door open; they have this weird way of opening…which I will never be able to explain fully…but you turn all the way to the right and pull this lever thing back…suffice it to say that if you locked it from the inside, it was almost impossible to get open in a completely dark room when you are wrapped in a towel. I woke Emily up and asked her if she could open the door so that I could escape back to the bathroom. As I stood behind the partially closed bathroom door with my head pocking out, I suddenly saw a fully-dressed, Bible-holding Sonya appear in our room and the sinking/butterfly/panicked feeling began. She looked at us and immediately said “Oh, guys, I’m sorry!” We all knew what had to be done. I looked at her and said, “What time is it?” discovering that we had 5 minutes to get ready.
The next few minutes flew by in a blur of me trying to dry-off and get dressed while Emily tried to wake up and get dressed. These few minutes were stressful and do not to be dwelled upon. We got ready, grabbed our backpacks, and ran down the hall and the stairs where we immediately commenced walking down the street.
I must admit that I loved walking to the church in Costa Rica in the early morning; and on this walk, I was actually able to give the attention they demanded to my surroundings. Trucks are parked all along the sidewalks as fresh fruits, meats, sugar, and wares are all carted into the various shops and markets. Houses are in between stores and stores spring up in the center of a long row of beautiful homes. Front porches are the gathering place of the family pets and more often than not I was thankful for the walls and bars that kept their world from mine. The colors are what I love most…the peach and the blue, the purple, red, and green. Everything seems to be a giant mismatch of colors…and it’s wonderful.
Breakfast having been quickly consumed, it was time to get ready for the service. An executive decision was made (I believe by Pastor Jimmy) that all of us would be singing rather than a select few. After we had spread ourselves out through the chairs in the sanctuary, the people of the church began trickling in. There were around 15-20 Costa Rican’s in attendance…meaning we more than doubled their size.
After some congregational singing led by Jose and a greeting by the church’s pastor, Pastor Jorge, we all marched up front and offered our worship to the Lord. I enjoyed singing with the group; it felt like my old Wednesday night band days in the youth group.
Summer, Wes, and Stephen each gave their testimony after which Pastor Jimmy shared a brief message. Ronee translated the entire service: either for us or for the congregation, depending on what nationality had the floor. When Pastor Jorge stood up to preach, he looked at Wes and said, “You have the voice of a preacher.” Something about that moment just stands out to me. It is moments like this that everyone remembers; it is moments like this that Wes will need to be reminded of. I know how thankful I am when I am reminded by someone of my moments.
My favorite part of the service came when Jose sang. He has one of the most amazing voices of anyone I have ever heard. I did not know the words he was singing; but that is the beauty of music…I didn’t have to…I understood him without knowing the words. Music transcends all language barriers; it’s message can be conveyed whether or not the words are heard.
Near the close of the service, we had a “meet and greet” time. Ronee had warned us earlier that morning that many of the people would probably kiss us on the cheek so that we would not be caught off guard. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. While all I could say was “Hola!” as I smiled and nodded, I felt that these people were family; we were connected. That is one of the greatest gifts of Christianity. I have family all over the world, and while we may not understand one another’s language, we can understand one another’s hearts.
After having lunch at the church, Pastor Jorge asked if we wouldn’t mind to start working a bit that afternoon. We were a little surprised at his request, but Ronee quickly explained that, because it was the rainy season in Costa Rica, it was smart to work while conditions were good. They had not gone one day without rain for quite some time, now, and with a great chance of rain tomorrow, our work would most likely be cut short.
We had a team meeting and Pastor Jorge (with Ronee’s help) explained to us what he hoped we would accomplish during the two days we were slated to work at the church. We were to paint the church inside and out along with the roof, paint the fence and the two gates, paint the parsonage, and construct an office for the pastor by enclosing in the front of the long room we had been eating in. As Pastor Jorge listed all of these projects, I found myself slipping into my “nursing school overwhelmed” place. However, I reminded myself that we had 20 people, I was not in charge, and God would help us spruce up His house.
Thus, without much ado (but some changing of clothes…though not me and Emily because we had missed the “bring work clothes” memo with the whole not getting woken-up thing) we got to work. We swept the walls (yes, with push brooms), wiped down the window sills, sanded the old paint off the fences and gates, moved the table and chairs into the sanctuary, moved all the furniture and musical instruments from the periphery to the center of the room, and took speakers off the walls.
All the while, Mr. Jeff (an amazing handy-man and jack of all trades) along with Mr. Don and Mr. Phillip began working on the office they were constructing for Pastor Jorge…and by the time we were finished they had strategized and put up the metal frame.
When dinner was over, we once again traveled down the dark streets of Quesada…only this time we had our ponchos to deal with as it was misting…it did not start “raining” until we were safe in our rooms, praise the Lord.
Back at the hotel…
We had a pizza party in the Kihnley’s room…because we apparently needed that 4th meal after Saturday. It was so much fun…15 or so of us crowding into one of our little ice-box rooms. We laughed until we cried and then we laughed some more. Until we were asked to be quite by a lady who said she had to get up early the next morning. Thankfully, Ronee had joined the party by this time, because she did not speak English and none of us are fluent in Spanish. Eh, we laughed more after that too…we just tried to keep it down. I don’t really think we succeeded, but we tried. I am guessing everyone will be glad to see us go!
These are just some quotes from the party…you won’t understand them unless you were there…but they make me smile:
“I have a funny body!” –Heather
“It wasn’t in your face…it was at eye level!” Bieber…and his draw string pants…
“Oh, and I blogged today too.”—Jimmy
“You have dog soup??”—Heather
“Ohhh is that a pop tart?” –Bieber
“It sure is! Do you want the other one?”—Bethany as she offers it to Bieber
“Oh...its off-brand? Never mind.”—Bieber
“You don’t like my pop tarts, Alex?”—Bethany as she and the rest of us crack up
“I just can’t eat off-brand.”—Bieber
Thus ended my first full day in Costa Rica…with good friends and good food…and the accomplished feeling that I had upheld the week’s motto of “Be flexible.”
P.S. Emily and I forgave Heather…but we did appoint two different people to wake us up every morning from then on.
Costa Rica sounds like a fascinating place! Also, the decision to have more people waking you up in the morning is probably a very smart thing to do :D
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