It’s the last day I have in Costa Rica…so here are some things I learned. 11 things, ya know, to be ironic.
But first, I’ve had some people ask what ministry looked like for me this month. So here is a quick sum up (which does no justice to the actual experience, may I add).
We painted a church and a classroom. We taught English at a public school down the street from where we live. Basically, sometimes we’d address the whole class in the lesson, sometimes we’d break into groups by ourselves (which we learned to not be so effective) and most times we’d start as a whole and break into groups with 2-3 people addressing a group. This wasn’t always easy being that our Spanish is by no means fluent. But we made it work and love filled the gap! Our first two days were a workshop in a different public school. Jherson taught on respect and we did a small conversational circle of English/Spanish. We also played a game and sometimes just hung out with the kids. We started preparation construction for an add-on to a house for a family in need. We set-up/tore-down a concert. We taught Sunday school classes. We did a medical expedition (I was turned into a nutritionist for the day). We sorted and folded over 3,000 sweaters one afternoon. And just about everywhere we went, we played with kids.
My favorite ministry by far though? Prison. We all had 1 turn there. But that 1 turn was so worth it. It is an experience I don’t think I’ll ever have again. To be honest, I can’t even do a quick summary of this experience.
I could very well be forgetting some things. But, this is the majority of it for sure! The schedule was flexible and always changing at the drop of the hat, a very Costa Rican thing to do. We got to do a variety of things and it was so cool to dip our toes in a lot of new and familiar places.
The ladies of my team and Beth, our host momma in Conexion.
Ok, now, to what I learned!
1. Words
Tico/Tica is slang for Costa Rican boy/girl
We are called North Americans not Americans since we are technically in Latin America. They also call us gringos.
Se quebro is a phrase that basically means an item broke itself—we could say that this happened to us between the almost fire, a sink falling off the wall and the fridge breaking. But the Tatums showed us grace for our many accidents.
Never call yourself “hot” by using the word caliente. It means something different than you think…
I was always taught that you’re welcome was de nada but they actually say con gusto.
Lo siento isn’t really a thing either. It’s perdon.
When you enter a house/room, you say con permision. It means with permission and it’s polite. So even though they don’t respond when you say it, you still should do it.
2. School
Public schools have uniforms.
They do half days and their schedule makes no logical sense to me. Half the grades go in the morning and half go in the afternoon. They alternate everyday whether they go in morning or afternoon. This means that you will go to school in the afternoon one day and the morning the next day back to back. Why they don’t just stick to either morning or afternoon consistently is beyond me.
Teaching English was so much fun because these kids were literally jumping up and down when we walked in their classroom to teach.
3. Driving
Basically, you’re best off getting a motorcycle if you wanna get anywhere fast. They weave through the stand still traffic and even on the sidewalks when they can! All delivery food is done on a motorcycle for efficiency.
They don’t really follow rules here…so it’s mayhem. You stop and go where and when as you please.
Roundabouts in Costa Rica are wayyyy different than the states. Here, the “yield” sign means nothing. You just go where you can squeeze. There are multiple lanes going around, coming in and going out. It amazes me how it just kinda works itself out.
Each car has a day during the week that it can’t enter the city to help with traffic.
We had a car that could hold all of us but if we had any extra people or supplies, the struggle was way too real. There were times that we were practically a magic clown car where people just kept getting out!
There are tons of potholes, but the locals are kind enough to stick something in the holes to warn drivers. Sometimes it’s a tree or really anything that will fit and draw enough attention.
There are also tons of speed bumps. As if the ride isn’t bumpy enough, we were constantly slowing down for a speed bump. You can’t really get anywhere “fast” in Costa Rica.
4. Relational Lifestyle
The people here are incredibly relational. The relationships here are valued so much. I really love this about the culture. Your relationship with people is the most important thing. You greet people with an almost kiss on the cheek and a hug, same when you leave. You will stay to talk to someone even if that means you’ll be late to your next thing.
5. Not very punctual
People aren’t commonly on time. Being on time just isn’t really something of a lot of importance like it is in the states. It is kinda nice to be honest. Do as the Costa Ricans do, right?
6. Weather
It’s rainy season, which means it rains every single day. The mornings are sunny and the afternoon/evening is rainy. But the temperature is perfect, eliminating the need for air conditioning. The doors stay open and the breeze goes through the house and it’s awesome. Dry season is basically the same but breezy and no rain—which I imagine is probably amazing. The biggest downside of the rain is that everything just stays damp.
7. Nutrition/Food
For our medical expedition I was the nutritionist and Beth was my translator. I had patients, y’all. I realized how much I really know which surprised me. And it turned out to be a lot of fun. In the school we always asked what their favorite food is because it’s easy English. The most common? Pizza. But the most common meal is something with rice, chicken and beans. I’ve been overly blessed that my host, Bryan was a chef in Disney so he cooks like no one else I’ve ever met. I’m keepin my eyes pealed for that much anticipated cookbook that he should write!
8. Currency
500 callones is about $1. But, 1,000 callones is called 1 mil. So you can only imagine my face when I went to the ATM for the first time and pulled money out. I got a few 10 mil bills and thought I was gonna go bankrupt!
9. Expensive Living
I will never again complain about the price of gas. Here it is roughly between $7-$8 a gallon. To make brownies and have ice cream, we spent almost $20. I kinda wanted to learn the Rubik’s cube but it was $40! (so like, if you feel led to send me one, I won’t say no…) A Thanksgiving turkey? $50.
10. Family Meals
We ate together for at least 2 meals a day—breakfast varied. This is the time I’ll cherish the most. We always bond and have a great time eating with one another. It kinda feels like Cheaper by the Dozen. We eat around a huge table, all 9 (sometimes 10) of us. We pass plates around to serve each other the food closest to us, we’d pass things around, pour drinks and pray. It really was something else!
11. Love looks different
I really learned to be more selfless just being a witness to the Conexion ministry. They do so much for the people of Costa Rica and it blows my mind to see their faith in the Lord and his sovereignty in always providing what they need. I could go on and on but the team of this ministry is just something unique. The term “family” almost doesn’t even do justice to the love that pours out of these individuals. Their love is unconditional with no strings attached. I’m so grateful for this being the place I started for it has built a foundation for the way I will run the rest of this race. I’ve been so blessed by their welcoming hearts to having us. I am really gonna miss the relationships I’ve built here.
UPDATE: We are getting ready to leave our host family and head to a hostel. We will leave for Nicaragua tomorrow, have debrief then start ministry! Goodbyes have been emotional but we are so very grateful for our experience here in Costa Rica.
Also, a video from Costa Rica will happen, when? Well that I do not know. 🙂
PRAYER: Please pray for smooth transition to a new place with a lot of people. Please pray for us to be intentional with each other and balance our focus of our team and our entire squad. Pray that we seek the Lord in all circumstances!
Huge thank you to my supporters and to the Tatums and Conexion family. Costa Rica wouldn’t be the same or possible without all of you!
