As of last Monday, I’ve officially been living in Costa Rica for a whole month. Here are just some of the things I’ve learned in the past 31 days:
1. DO NOT flush the toilet paper. Just don’t.
2. All you need in Costa is beans, rice, and Jesus Christ.
3. Xenia cooks the BEST food. She makes you actually excited to eat rice and beans every day.
4. Alfredo is the BEST bus driver a squad could ask for.
5. Also, if you see Alfredo causally carrying a tree through the house, that’s normal.
6. having 5 roommates has its challenges, but is honestly such a blast.
7. You can replace just about any phrase with ¡Pura Vida! in Costa Rica… (Except I’ve never actually heard a Tico say Pura Vida…).
8. Oh yeah, Costa Ricans call themselves “Ticos” or “Ticas”, and white people are called “Gringos” or “Gringas”. (It’s not meant to be offensive and it grows on you, trust me.)
9. Pedestrians DON’T have the right of way here.
10. Communication can solve 87% of problems.
11. PB and J on corn tortillas isn’t that bad.
12. Ask God what your waiting room with Him looks like. Seriously, He can teach you so much through it.
13. Prayer is POWERFUL. Pray dangerous prayers.
14. I am NOT a dancer, But…
15. Dance classes at House of Raw are super fun!!!
16. You can’t love others well if you don’t let God love YOU.
17. Just because we sometimes still act like orphans, that doesn’t mean we are orphans. We are the adopted sons of Christ!!!
18. Santo Café has some fire espresso, it’s worth the uber ride.
19. Sometimes church is squeezing 26 girls into a living room in their pj’s, worshipping and reading Matthew 9 together.
20. Evangelism can be scary but can lead to some super cool experiences.
21. Try to speak Spanish even if you’re afraid you’re going to sound stupid!! The connections you’ll make are worth it!!
22. God can work even in the smallest moments.
23. Embarrassing in Spanish is embarazoso, NOT embarazada. (that means pregnant…)
24. Google translate doesn’t work guys, don’t use it.
25. Even with good intentions, handouts can hurt people. Instead, we’re here to empower and equip others to help themselves.
26. Building relationships and encouraging others is so important!
27. Sometimes you have to cast a demon out of the guy’s bathroom. It happens.
28. God has given each of us unique gifts and abilities and passions and dreams for a reason. We can use them for His purpose!
29. Your story matters.
30. The people here are SO amazing…
31. and I’m most definitely going to cry when I have to leave this place.
I hope you’ve learned something too! I can’t wait to see what the next 31 days hold.
Thanks for reading!!!
