Poco a poco (little by little)

Our theme this week has been "poco a poco," which is the Tico way of saying, "little by little." This past week of school has been humbling to say the least. Our classes require a lot of preparation. Each class builds on the other and you have to stay on top of things. I am trying to not be discouraged by my process or lack there of. Most of our classes also require you to spell new words constantly and reading aloud. I'm not a fan of reading out loud in English, I know strange for an English teacher, let alone in Spanish. There is no hiding with only 4 students.

As we said before, we have a house helper, who comes three times a week. We had a funny miscommunication on Monday. I had taken the sheets off and put new ones on to help her out because I didn't want her to worry about doing them. Well, when we got home, through a series of poor attempts at communicating, we realized that she had taken the new sheets off, washed them again, and put them back on the beds. I felt so bad, but she did make the beds better than I had which was nice.

The highlight of the week for me was my grammar class on Friday. We were reviewing adjectives and articles for an upcoming test. The teacher asked us to describe the parable of the sower. He drew four simple pictures and we had to describe each scene. Once we did that as a class, we split up into small groups and had to select a story of our own. My group decided to do Noah's ark. Our phrases and pictures were very elementary, well probably more like preschool, but we had fun doing it. We were all excited to be able to communicate a Bible story, even though it was done in the simplest of terms. Our teacher laughed with us as we delighted in our small accomplishment.

Jon and Kendall were able to go to church on Sunday. I stayed home with Parker who had a fever. They seemed to enjoy the service though it was differnt than what we are used to.

Kendall and I have been watching Spanish cartoons to help with our Spanish. It's fun to recognize words during the programs. I also find myself reading the signs and billboards to see if I can read them or pronounce the words. My brain is so full of words and we haven't even started verbs yet--that's tomorrow's class.

Praises: Kendall's ultrasound for her reoccurring UTIs showed no abnormalities.
We are making some wonderful friends here at the school.
More language learning is helping me be able to communicate better with our house helper Carla.

Prayer Requests:
1)Parker has a fever now and we go to the doctor tomorrow. The doctor is coming to the school early to see us. It is a blessing to have such a wonderful doctor connected with the school. Pray that he would get better soon and that our bodies would adjust to the new environment. It's really hard to miss class and we can't take the kids to school if they are sick.
2)Pray against attacks from the enemey. It is easy to feel discouraged. Pray that we would take every thought captive for Christ.
3)Pray for possible ministry opportunities here. There is another school close to ours that teaches ESL (English as a second language) classes. I would like to look into working there to get some experience before Colombia. Jon also wants to work with a youth ministry that meets once a week on Thursdays.

May God bless you and keep you. May He shine His face upon you and give you peace.

Not in Kansas

Whenever you go to a new place or culture, you realize fairly quickly that things may not be exactly how you remember them from back home. Our friends Daniel and Sarah put together a list of some of these things...so I'm borrowing a few from their page and adding some of our own. You can see their page here.

*Spanking your children is illegal and is considered corporal punishment. (Now this is a law that Kendall can really get behind)...no pun intended.

*Blowing your nose with a tissue in public or around any "Tico" (Costa Rican) is considered very bad manners. You are to either leave the room and blow your nose in private or sniffle your way through the day.

*We discovered last week that the "sand" or "dirt" on the playground that our children play at on a regular basis is manure. No wonder they are so filthy dirty when they come home from the park! (Don't worry, it's clean manure)

*Stop signs don't serve any purpose--they don't even mean "yield."

*All of the man hole covers and tops of gutter drains are missing everywhere. People steal them to sell as scrap metal. We had a "Tico" friend here tell us they are "gringo traps." (Gringo is a slang term for Americans)

These are mine:

*Abortion is illegal here.

*At church yesterday, there were some volunteers who would walk up and down the isles with tissues in case anyone was crying and needed to dry their tears.... I didn't need one. But after sitting with a squirmy 3 y.o. I did after 2hrs and 15 minute service.

*When passing someone on the streets, greetings are generally met with silence.

*A friend recently told us that whenever a law is passed, anyone can contest that law as being "unfair" and they are required to have a debate regarding the law's fairness and legality... This was recently done with Costa Rica's desire to give stiffer penalties for drunk driving. Before the law, drunk drivers were just given a fine, now the law gives jail-time. This law is now being contested.

Here's a few pictures of our school and our children... in case you've forgotten what they look like.

Love Hurts

Some of my fellow classmates discussing Spanish

Fellow SAM missionary checking for light-leaks

I'm in need of special attention

A look up at the admin. building

First Week

Well, we have finished our first week of classes and boy was it a humbling experience. You know it's not every day that you begin down the road of learning something that you won't really master even if you study it for the rest of your life. We feel like children again. Even though it can be extremely frustrating, it's been really a fun week. We both really like the people in our classes. Amanda has all girls in her class and I have a mix in mine. It's amazing what you begin to pick up on as the teachers speak Spanish 98% of the time.

We are beginning to pick up on a lot of vocabulary and sentence structure. It's really satisfying when the teacher says something and you can actually understand what they are trying to communicate. It's funny though, many times the people sitting next to you know just as little as you do, and when the teacher says something that we don't understand, we will "pool" our ignorance together and come up with what we think the teacher might be saying. Amanda and I both have 2 hours of Grammar that have 8 students, then we have an hour of language and phonetics that each contain 4 people. It's really nice having classes this small, but sometimes it can be quite uncomfortable as there is nowhere to hide. Amanda has done really well on the 3 tests that she has taken this week. We are both thankful for that.

But God continues to be good to us. One of the things that we have taken advantage of while we are here is what they call an empleada...or basically a house helper. While this might be an extravagance in the US, it's very common here. We see it as means of helping a Costa Rican provide for their family, and also alleviating us from several things that would take away from the purpose of our being here... learning Spanish. I'm not sure that we will have one in Colombia, but while we are here it's a blessing.

Our helpers name is Carla and she's a very sweet lady. She not only helps with the things around the house, but she also helps us learn Spanish. As we eat lunch we "practice" our Spanish on her and she very graciously helps us learn new words and phrases. We are very thankful for this.

Prayer Requests for our Family:

Kendall has been sick for that last few days. At times she has had a relatively high fever and keeps saying that her stomach is hurting. We've talked to the doctor here and we are keeping a close eye on her. We just want her to return to feeling better soon.

Also, just like most big cities around the world, safety is always a concern. Please join us in prayer for wisdom and protection

Last thing, we really desire to be diligent in our studies. Please pray that we persevere and learn to be humble and laugh at ourselves as we will undoubtedly make mistakes...over and over and over.

Laughing is a Good Thing

Well, we have had quite the past 10 days: moving into a new apartment, attending language school orientation, visiting the farmer's market, tasting "authentic" Costa Rico Chinese food, and surviving our first earthquake. Yes, I said earthquake. Of the last 10 days, that was our most memorable experience. It was a 6.2 earthquake and one of the biggest that they have seen in a while. Thankfully, God kept us safe and we were all together (including the kids). We were in the process of having an interview with one of the directors of the school when the walls started shaking. For those who have never experienced an earthquake before, it was quite unsettling. You felt as if you had just gotten off a roller coaster and things were still spinning. Even after it was over, we felt like we were moving up and down.

Kendall was more aware of what was going on and asked, "Did God do that?" It gave us a good opportunity to tell her how God knows all that goes on and helps us through them. When we concluded the meeting, she promptly reminded us that we should pray before we left. The faith of a child is a wonderful thing.

Our orientation classes went well. The kids have been in their classes too this week and have done well. Kendall has enjoyed making new friends and she's already picking up on the Spanish. Just yesterday I heard her playing with her dolls and she said, "Como se llama?" which means "What is your name?" Parker has also started to understand some Spanish. Sometimes he repeats Spanish words better than English.

School is about a 12 minute walk from our apartment. We push Parker in the stroller and Kendall walks. She likes to sing on the way. There's nothing like trying to lay low. We obviously stick out, but this gives us the ability to demonstrate Christ's love to those we meet by being gracious and appreciative for their help. We need a lot of help, so any guidance and assistance with words and the general workings of things is great.

We have had some humorous situations lately. As we fared the farmer's market on Saturday, several vendors laughed at my pronunciation and lack of vocabulary. Thankfully, I was able to laugh with them. Laughing was a piece of advice that our instructors emphasized. It's good to not take yourself too seriously. Plus, this is why we're here--to learn Spanish. We never want to allow our pride to get in the way of our learning and God being able to use us.

Our classes start on Monday morning. Jon and I won't be in any classes together, but we do have the same free period. We will both be taking two grammar classes, phonics, and language (conversation). We start classes at 7:30 and go till 12:05. It will be a long morning, but we will have the afternoon to get things done.

Our work load is going to be challenging and the school does not "sugarcoat" how difficult it is going to be. I can feel myself getting a little anxious already, but the academic director gave us an encouraging word to help us keep things in perspective. She quoted Matthew 24: 14: "This good news will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come." Our language study is part of Christ's returning. We are here so that through the Holy Spirit we can effectively communicate the gospel. Even though school is going to be challenging, the goal of knowing Spanish so we can be involved in cross-cultural ministry, is more important than getting an A on a test. Our depth of language learning is going to increase our depth of ministry involvement.

Please pray that we would know how to balance all the new things coming at us. Pray also that the kids would continue to do well and we would stay healthy. Give God praise for a relatively easy adjustment and the opportunity to be around like-minded people who are all going through this together.

These pics are from a trip to the Park.

Just a Bunch of Gringos

Well, we have finally made it to Costa Rica. I'm sitting here in our living room with the doors open, the breeze blowing, it's about 70 degrees, and the kids are sleeping. God is good :). The kids did great on the planes and were really quite compliant. It's amazing what a little Dramamine can do. Me on the other hand, never wants to travel through the airport again with as much stuff as we had...never ever ever. I had the car seat connected to my backpack, making me look like a giant gringo turtle, while pushing a stroller full of bags and carry another stroller on my other arm. If people could do that just once in their lives, as I know most of you have, and understand that Hell is so much worse than that, there would be a great revival in this land. Thankfully Amanda is much more patient and understanding than I am. She helped to calm me down some.

But I digress...God is still good and it's over now :)

We are safe and sound in our little apartment a few blocks from the school. We live about 1 1/2 minute walk to a nice little grocery store where we can buy oreos if the mood strikes. We have great views all around us, but all that really pales in comparison to how wonderful God is. Right above us is another missionary family and the father's name is Chip. He reminds me of Columbia Chip in that he's just a humble guy who loves the Lord and understands what an amazing thing it is to serve Him.

We are still trying to make our little apartment home for the next 8 months. That should be interesting. Amanda and the kids are adjustinging really well, but part of me is still waiting for the culture shock to take it's toll. But it may not. The kids are enjoying playing in our little yard where I expect many a wound for Parker. We are still praying that God would give us flexible and open hearts. We are also praying that God will keep us focused on Him during this whole process of trying to adjust and learn a new culture and language. It's neat for me to think of Christ and his entrance into a culture and language and His desire to become part of us. That's what our desire is with the Hispanic culture. We understand that this might take the rest of our lives...but that's o.k. with us.

Our email if you're interested is jahoward@southamericamission.org