Today I said goodbye to the kids I’ve affectionally called my own for the last month. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. The love I feel for these crazy misbehaved, adorable children could only come from God. I’ve never felt more at my wits end than when in a class room with all five of them while they run in circles, yell at each other, and draw on my arms with markers. But just seeing their faces makes me happy inside, even if I’m partially dreading the next hour I spend with them. And thats just my first and second graders! I also had the occasional opportunity to spend time with all the other grades, they just didn’t need my help the same way the little kids did. It was pretty hard to say goodbye to them. I held it together pretty well until Abi and Sara started crying, and then I was a mess. But I wasn’t the only one with tears on my face.
Something that has been really fun to watch this month is the relationship my teammate Katie has with Miss Kayla, the teacher she works with, and every one of the kids. They all love her, even Mattías, who told her that he hated her…but he says that to most people. 🙂 Katie loves boldly and fiercely. She doesn’t give up on you even if you pretend you don’t want her love. I’ve seen it in her and can’t wait to see it again and again in the next couple months. So needless to say her goodbyes were even more painful than most, but so beautiful to watch.
Tomorrow we get on a bus to San José, and the next morning we get on a bus to Nicaragua. We just recently found out about the ministry we will be working with in Nicaragua! Light and Salt ministries, which is an all boys school (yaaay! Us girls will be totally and completely outnumbered!) in the city of Dario. We aren’t totally sure what we will be doing, but we do know whatever it is will be both an adventure and exactly what God wants us to do.
Costa Rica has been legit, all. (I still refuse to say y’all. Period.) I wish I could tell you every detail of everything that happened this month. The big things and the little things. The hard things, the fun things, the unbelievable things. Things that are going to stay with me for the rest of my life. It really feels like we just got here yesterday. It makes me a little sad that it flew by so fast…is life always this short? Costa Rica has changed me. The people here love deeply and don’t worry about personal space, but in a good way. I have friends here that make me SO grateful for social media, so that I can keep in touch with them. I don’t even have words for most of the things I want to say, except this:
Costa Rica, my heart is full. Thank you for equipping me to go out and share the love you’ve given me. I’m never going to forget the things I’ve learned here, and I wish I could stay. Pura Vida!
Love,
Hannah
