Addicted to Coffee

I think that by the time I get home I am going to have a serious addiction to coffee. Like I said before, we have coffee twice a day - which is a lot more than I am used to! Wednesdays are our day off and tomorrow we are going to a coffee place where they grow some of the best coffee in the world! We are going to get a tour, see a drama, the factory where the coffee is processed along with free iced coffee and free samples of chocolate covered coffee beans. We are all really excited about it!

I want to tell you more about the area that I am in. We are in the Orosi Valley, which is about 37 miles from San Jose. It is a beautiful area that is surrounded by mountains. Everything is very green with the rainfalls that come every afternoon. In fact, it is raining right now and has been for about 2 hours now. When we run in the morning, we run past large fields of coffee trees and go all the way up the mountain side. I do not understand how the coffee trees can be cared for on the steep mountains but I guess it is done somehow. Something else we get to see while running is an active volcano that is smoking constantly. It is very cool to see! Just a couple of mountains down from the active volcano is an unactive volcano. From the Valley, it is nothing cool to look at but I guess it is a popular tourist spot.

The Camp where we are working is very pretty with tons of flowers and fruit trees. There are bananas hanging out of trees along with lemons, limes, grapefruit, and oranges and some other fruit. Every day for lunch and dinner the cooks make juice for us with fresh fruit that comes from the camp. I am getting spoiled! The one side of the camp is bordered by a river which is moving very fast and is very pretty. No matter where you are on the camp, you can hear the river. It is pretty neat! The camp is about 5 acres with 3 cabins, a large building where church is held, a kitchen, and an office.

I am hoping to post pictures soon, although I do not know how to do it yet. If I do not get them posted, then I will have them when I get home!

Adios!

Costa Rica!!!!

Hi Everyone! So I am in Costa Rica!! It is beautiful here with lots and flowers, fruit trees, banana trees, and coffee trees! Some of the best coffee in the world comes from Costa Rica! They drink coffee at every meal and at 3:00 and 8:00 and some mothers put it in their baby's bottles...crazy, I know!

Right now, we are preparing for a VBS that we are doing for some orphans. We are preparing skits, puppets, crafts, and learning songs in Spanish! The people here are wonderful and a joy to work with! I will let you know how the VBS goes after the first couple of days. Even though we are preparing a ton, it could still end up being crazy - especially with the language barrier!

Well, I need to let other people use the computer so I should probably go. Here are a few things you can pray for:

- All of us here as we prepare for the VBS.
--We are having printer problems that makes if difficult to get the copies we need!
--We are attempting to learn some songs in Spanish - pray that we get it down!
--The Dundon's (the missionaries here) van broke down leaving us with only buses, taxi's, and walking as means of transportation. Pray that the van can be fixed in a timely manner and that the orphans will all be able to get here for VBS!

- Pray for my foot to heal. I ran yesterday with two other team members and as wonderful as it was, my foot was really sore this morning. Pray that I am wise about running and that it will somehow heal.

Pray for the team (Sarah, Jason, Rose, Don and myself) and the missionaries, Ken, Sherri and their children Kyle, Heather, and Jordan, and the missionary interns, Kyle, Tamra, and their children Keenan, Tyson, and Jackson, as we build relationships with each other and work together to share Christ with children!

Pray for us on Thursday as we cook spaghetti for 90 homeless people and share our testimonies with them all.

Good night everyone!

And I'm off!!

Hey Y'all!

I am just about finished packing and Mom and Dad and I will be leaving later this afternoon to head to Minneapolis for my early morning flight. Mom and Dad's plan is to find a hotel that has an airport shuttle so that at 4 am I can just get up and go on my own. Sounds OK to me!

I am having trouble keeping my suitcase under 50 pounds. At least from what I can tell from weighing my suitcase on our bathroom scale! Hopefully the scale is a little off... I suppose I am just over-packing, which is easy to do when my suitcase is so big (I could probably fit 100 pounds worth of stuff in there!) . I guess I just need to learn how to pack lighter!

Well, I'm off! My next post will be from Costa Rica!!!!!!!!!!

Shop till you drop

Today I went shopping...at the store that EVERYONE in northeast Iowa shops at because it is pretty much our only option - unless you want to drive all day. Yup, I went to Walmart. I had a dr's appointment in Decorah for my foot. He said I should still bike this week but starting next week (when I get to Costa Rica) I get to start running! YAY!!!!! He said I need to start easy - like not talking easy, but I should be able to sing an opera while running it should be so easy. Good thing that only has to last 4-5 days (considering my foot feels fine - please pray it will!).

At Walmart, I saw the same lady about 10 different times in about every single area of the store. I should have gotten her name so I could have said hi when I saw her. I felt like we were old friends by the time I finally checked out.

As far as shopping goes, I got several different gifts, especially for the orphan children we will be working with. I got chapstick for the girls and matchbox cars for the boys (suggested by a good friend with lots of experience on the mission field!) and I got a 3.5 pound bag of jolly ranchers. Ironically, I also got toothbrushes. You know, so they can brush their teeth after sucking on sugar...aka jolly ranchers. I wish I knew what specific needs are so I could get things that they really need. Maybe I can still find that out in the last few days before I leave. I also got a few things for myself such as bed sheets, a flashlight, an alarm clock, and of course, duct tape because according to Red Green, duct tape fixes everything and you never know when you might need some!

When I got home I sewed three pillowcases - one for Bjorn, Isaac and Rachael - and put some curtains together for my house at school. :-) I still want to make a quilt some day. Maybe next summer...if I'm home.

Well, I'm off to spend some time with the family. Good night y'all!

in 7 days at 6:45 am....

...I will be flying out of Minneapolis on my way to Costa Rica for three weeks!!! I can't believe it is only 7 days away! I am SOO excited! One of the girls on the team is from Minnesota so we will be flying together which is awesome. I've never flown internationally before so it will be good to be with someone. It sounds like we will be very busy while in Costa Rica and will spend a lot of time with orphans (60 of them!!). We will also be working with homeless people, and of course, doing medical clinics.

Right now my family (yes all of them!) are in Lake Geneva, WI for my cousin's wedding. It is beautiful here! If only it would quit raining. Earlier today a bolt of lightning struck a electrical pole outside the house we are renting and sparks went flying! Hopefully we'll get time to go to the beach for a while tomorrow morning before the wedding.

That is all for now!

12 days and counting...

Only 12 days before I leave for Costa Rica! I am getting really excited for the trip! As always, God has shown Himself faithful in providing funds. I am so thankful for my home here in northeast Iowa and my family and church family.