Two Weeks Later...

Well, it's been about two weeks since my last post and a lot has been happening! My goal is to post weekly, so I'll try to do better about that. I am going to be out of the country next weekend, however, so it will probably be another two weeks until my next post. I have been extremely overloaded at work lately, and have been putting in 50-60 hour work weeks the last couple of weeks, and I expect this one to be the busiest yet. It makes it hard to find time for much else, but I have managed to squeeze in some other events that I will now share with you about:

Last weekend I went with the Nazarene church in Tibas (where the host family I was living with goes) to a young adult camp. It was at the same camp where we took the youth back in August. I had a great time, and met some really cool people. There are pics up on facebook. While it is the third camp I have been to, it's the first one that was actually for me, instead of me being a helper or counselor for the teenagers. I got to know a lot of other people my age, and I actually have some friends I met there coming over on Wed. for dessert and coffee.

I am loving the new place! It is absolutely perfect for me, and I am finally bedbug free! The mosquitoes are pretty bad, though as it is right across the street from a park and the windows have no screens. My roommate Nina, is super nice and we get a long really well. She is actually from Germany, but has lived here since she was 5, so she speaks perfect Spanish. Her English is pretty good too. Anyway, pray that I will be able to get to know her better, and pray for opportunities to talk to her about Christ because I don't think she is a Christian. I would love to hear more about her background and beliefs.

In the last blog as asked for prayers as I seek out where to go to leave the country. It didn't work out for me to be able to go home, sadly. The tickets haven't come down at all and are just too expensive. BUT, the good news is that a found a really cool and inexpensive place to go nearby: Granada, Nicaragua. If you're like me, you've never really thought of Nicaragua as a tourist destination, but it is actually really beautiful there. Granada is right on a giant lake, and it's a historic colonial town with lots to do. The best part is that Nicaragua is more like Mexico than like Costa Rica in that things are CHEAP! I found a hotel/spa where I can stay for three nights for under $150 and in includes, a full buffet breakfast, AND a facial, hour massage, and a pedicure! I'm so stoked! I think it's going to be exactly what I need! When I come back I'll post some pictures of my trip, but until then here are some pictures of Granada I found online:

Ok, so I found that place earlier this week, and then it got even better today. My parents were a little worried about be traveling by myself, but I tried to reassure them that it was a safe hotel, and that there is always risk involved in traveling, but honestly, I was a little nervous about it myself....I mean, a grenga taking a bus and crossing a boarder to a country I've never been to when I don't really speak the language very well? But God must have heard my parents' prayers, because today a girl came to look at one of the rooms that is still for rent in the house. (Nina and I are still the only ones here). We got to talking, and she is from Philadelphia and is teaching English too. We started talking about the challenges of getting our work visas, and I told her I was planning on going to Granada, Nicaragua at the end of October, and she told me she was going there next weekend! We are going to go together now! It was such a God thing. Granada is not even a very common place to go to get your Visa renewed because it's not that close to the boarder. Anyway, so we are going to split the cost of the room, and she has a taxi driver friend that is going to drive us! So it worked out perfectly! Praise God!

Last night I had quite the adventure trying to get to church. It's a long story, but basically I got on the wrong bus, and ended up wandering the streets of the bad part of Escazu on a Friday night. There were bars all over, and drunk men yelling at me. I had no idea where I was, no working phone number for the people at church, and no idea how to tell anyone directions to get me where I needed to go. I hailed a taxi and asked if he knew where International Baptist Church was, and he said he did. About two minutes later I realized he had lied when he pulled over to ask someone. They gave us directions to a different church. This continued, about six more times. We were finally talking to someone who spoke English, when the whole cab started to shake violently. It lasted at least 30 seconds, and we realized it was an earthquake. I found out later it was a 5.9. After that our cell phones wouldn't work at all, so I couldn't call Mr. Juanta; I was pretty sure he knew where the church was even though he doesn't go there. Anyway, finally he understood my Spanish when I told him it was near the freeway and the mall at the top of the hill. I had been saying it the whole time, but apparently he didn't get it until then. Then he took me right to the church.

I spent the night with Buster and Tracy, the couple who lead the youth group. Buster is a history teacher at the school I teach at. They are a really remarkable couple, and it was very encouraging to me to spend some time with them. I'm hoping to get to know them more, and maybe even get some discipleship from Tracy. I really respect her a lot, as she has such a heart for God and missions. She is a teacher at also. Please pray for Buster because he got hit by a car two weeks ago and broke his back in three places. He is going to have to have surgery now, and he is in a great deal of pain. He has an appointment on Monday. Pray that everything will work out with the logistics of the insurance/red tape. If you think that stuff is convoluted in The States, you have no idea how bureaucratic it can be. That's what socialized medicine does.....Ok, that's all I'll say about that. I will resist the temptation to go on a political rant.

Oh, and I should also mention that I am not teaching 5th grade like I talked about in my last post. After offering me the job, Ms. Duckworth, who they were going to replace me with, turned the position down. After volunteering for two weeks, and seeing how the school is run and how the kids act, she was not interested. Anyway, because the didn't have anyone to replace me, and because they had an extra person for third grade, they just did some shifting around in the elementary and I am still teaching middle school. I had actually started to get really excited about it, so I was disappointed. This job is by far the hardest I've ever had, and sometimes I wonder how I am going to survive the school year. Things have been going better though, and I feel like I'm really making some headway with respect issues with most of my classes.
Well, I could write more, but I still have to write a test before I can go to bed tonight.

Prayer/Praises requests:

• Praise God that I have someone to go to Nicaragua! Please pray that the trip will go well, and that we wouldn't have any problems.
• That I will be able to get all the documents together for my work visa. It is much more involved than I expected, and before I cam the school promised to do it for me. This has not been the case, and if I don't want to keep leaving the country every three months I am going to have to take care of it myself.
• Buster's back: for a speedy recovery, and streamed-lined polotics
• My health. I have been in really good health so far, but a lot of people around me are sick. I have an unbelievable amount of work to do right now, and I absolutely do not have time to get sick. Please pray for continued protection from germs.
• My dad was bitten my a dog while taking a walk this morning. Please pray that he will be ok, and that God would take care of everything as he had to file a police report and everything.
• That I will be able to get everything done I need to for school. The term ends on Friday, and now that I am going to Nicaragua this weekend, the pressure is on even more to get everything done. Pray for my sanity amidst all the work and stress.
• Please pray that God will show me what is effective with my students. They have all gone to school together since preschool, and are very close. It makes it really hard to teach a group of 21 best friends because they think they are there for social reasons instead of to learn. Sometimes it's like they are annoyed that I'm interrupting their social time to try to teach them. The level of disrespect is worse than anything I've had in The States, and I've had some tough classes before. The hardest part is that the school has no real consequences for anything, and the kids are parents are really the ones in control. It makes it pretty much impossible to establish a productive learning environment in those circumstances. Pray that God will enable me do the impossible.
• That God would reveal to me his specific purpose for me. It's been kind of hard not really knowing what that is. To be honest, most days I don't feel like I am getting through to the kids, or having an impact on them. I desperately want him to use me in my students' lives, but it is really hard to get to that sometimes. When I think about all that I've given up to be here, it makes it hard not to wonder why.....to not feel like I'm accomplishing much. It's just discouraging. I keep reminding myself that I don't know the impact I'm leaving, and maybe I'm getting through to them more than I realize.

Thank you so much for all your support and prayers! I can't imagine trying to do this without you! You are amazing and I love you all!

Crazy times!

Well it has been a fairly eventful week. For starters, I went out checked out the house that I mentioned in the last post, and I liked it a lot! There is currently one girl living there named, Nina, and she seems really nice. They are trying to rent three rooms out, so there will likely be a couple other people their as well. The house is really big, and there is a fenced in yard. I was impressed enough that I emailed them and asked if I could bring my dog, Maisy with me when I come back after going home for Christmas. I was actually really surprised when they said they would, so after a lot of prayer, I’ve decided to go for it. I will be moving out the first of October, and I’m really excited about the new place! On Sunday I broke it to my host family and they took it really well, so that is an answer to prayer! I still think I’ll hang out over there sometimes and come over for family dinners and make them all some American food. So far I’ve cooked three meals, and they love American cooking, so I a feeling that tradition will continue. Maybe I’ll even have them over to my new place! Below are some pictures I took from the Craigslist ad.



A bedbug-less bed!

At school, things were pretty eventful as well. I had to deal with a very upset parent, who showed up and yelled and cursed at me in front of my students because. She was angry because I had asked her son to step into the hall when he was disrupting the class. I tried to calm her down, and encouraged her to come back when I did not have class so we could talk about it further. It ultimately ended well, and she apologized for her behavior. Unfortunately, however, the school told me that I cannot send students to the hall to talk with them anymore. I am feeling frustrated because there is very little I am allowed to do to the students here; discipline is even more soft than it is in The States. We are expected to maintain control and order in our classroom, yet they take away our means of doing so, and do not back us when we are challenged. I am very concerned about how I am going to survive this school year if this a sign of things to come. Please pray that God will help me to come up with creative ideas to motivate students towards positive behavior and academic success.

One positive that that has been happening at school is that Ms. Duckworth, the volunteer teacher that has been helping in my classroom, is still with me and doing a fabulous job! It is so nice to be able to rely on her to help share the massive workload, and I think she is a God-send and definite answer to prayer.

On Friday the elementary school principal approached me and asked me if I would be willing to teach 5^th grade instead. I think they are planning on offering my position to Ms. Duckworth and moving me to 5^th grade. Dan, the elementary school principal was the first one from the school to contact me, and ask me how I would feel about teaching 5^th grade. On Friday he told me that the reason his brother Mike, the high school principal was the one who called me for an interview was because Mike said he needed me worse, so Dan let him call me. Anyway, after they let this teacher go, Dan immediately thought of me, and wanted to see how I felt about it. I wasn’t really sure what to say, but I told him I would pray about it. As I thought about it and prayed about it over the weekend, I realized that my favorite grades of the grades that I’ve taught are always the younger ones. I think this might be a good change for me, and I sense God is in it. I went to talk to Dan about it more after school today, and he explained a little about the curriculum and the schedule and actually offered me the job. I told him I’d take it! I start next week. I’m excited about it, but a bit nervous too because I’ve never taught 5^th grade before, and I’ve never taught all subjects. I would appreciate your prayers about this.

On Sunday, I went back to International Baptist Church this weekend, this time for the young-adult class and the service. I really liked it a lot, and I’m feeling more confident I want to make this my church home! I even talked to Buster, another ICS teacher who leads the youth group there, about getting involved with the youth ministry. The church has a bus that picks people up in downtown San Jose, and it’s pretty easy to catch a bus from anywhere to downtown, so that’s what I did. I was harder getting home, because I took the city bus and it let me off in a totally different spot. I had no idea where I was, which made finding the bus I needed to get home quite an adventure. I asked about 4 people where the post office was, because I knew my stop was close to it, but I found out later I was misprinting the word for post office, and no one knew what I was saying. Ultimately I found someone who knew what I was meant, and he told me how to get there. I wandered around for about a half hour in San Jose, which is not really a safe place to be by yourself, so I was really glad when I finally found my bus.

One thing you can pray about is that I would find some place where I can go to leave the country for three days. You see, in order to renew my tourist visa, I have to leave the country for 72 hours every three months until my work Visa is processed. From what I’ve heard, that takes a minimum of six months. I would really like to come home for my birthday weekend and be able to be there for Joel’s birthday as well. For those of you who don’t know, Joel is my nephew and is turning four on Halloween, three days after my birthday. From what I found so far, I can’t fly home for less than $600, and I don’t have that kind of money. It’s probably going to cost me at least $350 just to travel to one of the bordering countries and stay in a hotel for three days, and even that is a stretch. Anyway, I heard that Continental and United are about to merge, which is expected to drop ticket prices significantly. Please be praying that they will drop enough for me to be able to be there for my nephew’s birthday. That would be the best birthday present FOR ME that I could imagine!

Welp, that’s all for now. I’ll update you again next week.

The Latest...

Greetings, and thanks for taking the time to read my blog! Things are going quite well here, and I am feeling more and more at home as I adjust.

Here's an update on the bedbug situation: I had pretty much gotten used to them, and was able to go to sleep without thinking too much about them most nights, when I saw them crawling all over my bed one night. It totally creeped me out! I got out my camera and took a short video (with you can see on facebook), and I woke up my host mom. I was hesitant to do it, but The last time, after she found out I had slept in the living room after I first discovered them, she told me I should have woken her up. Besides, I was getting the impression that they didn't really believe me, so I felt it was something she needed to see for herself. Anyway, I woke her up, and she saw them and changed the sheets. I tried to tell her that I think they are living under the bed frame and that clean sheets wouldn't solve the problem, but I'm not sure she understood my Spanish because she just changed them anyway. Then she sprayed something under the bed, but when I looked at the bottle I saw it was just air-freshener. She said that we could spray the Buygone (Costa Rican version of Raid) because then I wouldn't be able to sleep from the fumes. Anyway, getting back in that bed and going to sleep after that was no easy feet. I coated myself in Deep Woods Off and sprayed it all on and around the bed. I felt like crying as I laid there, but I just prayed that God would keep them off of me. The next day I sprayed Buygone, and I have only seen once since then. I know there are still some there because I have seen their feces, and I wake up most mornings with new bites. Somehow it's just easier to go to bed when you can't actually see them though. Anyway, my mom has some bedbug spray in the mail to me, so please pray it arrives quickly. Also, Patty Green, from GGBC, said she is going to sent a mattress cover. The mail system here is not always the most reliable or fastest, so please pray I will get both of those soon!

Another possible solution I'm considering is moving out altogether, and I have found a place to look into. I'm still praying about whether or not this is the right thing to do, however. Part of me doesn't want to go because, other than the bedbugs, I really like it here. I really don't want to hurt their feelings, and I don't want moving out to send the message that I am not appreciative for all that they’ve done. Please pray that God will guide me in the best way to handle this situation.

On a more positive note, one great thing that happened recently was that I got to have dinner with my cousin, Nate. I hadn’t seen him since December of 2006, so it was great to spend some quality time sitting down and really talking with him. We share a call to missions, and it was so refreshing to be able to talk about our love for God and desire to follow him together. I’m so grateful for the chance to spend time with family like that!

Nate and I at dinner

School is going pretty well, and I feel like I’m staring to develop a routine and get the kids settled into it as well. The workload continues to be a challenge, as I am teaching 35 classes per week, an average of 7 per day. They changed the schedule again, so I am now on the third schedule so far this year. I now have three days a week (instead of two in the previous schedule) that I have zero preparation time. Overall, I have 225 minutes per week to plan, grade, and prepare for 35 classes of 120 students. I have not only never had a work load this demand, but in my 4 years teaching in The States, I had never heard of one.

I have struggled some with what my role is a Christian to respond to this amount of work. On the one hand, I know that I was called here to serve, so part of me things I should just accept it, and continue to do it to the best of my ability. On the other hand, I am feeling a bit taken advantage of, especially with the average teacher has between 7-10 free periods (compared to my 4). I know of one teacher, who is also in his first year with the school, who has 17 free periods, yet we are all making the same. I know that what I am doing here is ministry, and that it isn’t just a job, so I am trying to keep that perspective in mind.

I did decide to talk to the dean about it one morning as he was driving me to school. I’ve developed a pretty close relationship with him, as I am living with his in-laws; he and his family spend quite a bit of time over here. He said that as far as taking classes off my plate, there wasn’t much he could do because there aren’t enough teachers qualified to teach English. He said that he thought he was going to be getting a volunteer teacher for a couple of weeks, and that he would assign her to me. The next day she arrived, and he brought her to my classroom. That was on Friday, and she did a really good job helping me out! I think having her around is going to be very helpful! She has moved her from South Dakota, where she was an English teacher, and is looking for a teaching job here in CR. I am not sure if she is a Christian or not, so pray that I will have the opportunity to talk to her more about that.

This weekend was pretty low-key, which was nice for a change. I got my room cleaned yesterday, and finally unpacked the last thing from my suitcases. Only took me a month, LOL! Today I met, Heather, (seen at with me at camp in the photo below) and we caught two buses to her church in Escazu, a fairly large city south of San Jose.

The church was called, International Baptist Church, and all it’s services are in English! I didn’t get to be there for the whole service because the buses took longer than we anticipate and we didn’t get there until the sermon was half over, but from what I saw, I really liked it! Afterwards we went out to eat with some of Heather’s young adult friends at a place called Hooligans, and I actually got to eat buffalo wings (my FAVORITE!) and watch American football (Colts vs. Houston)!! Then Heather and I went for coffee with one of the guys form the group and had some very intellectually stimulating conversation about God, Christian living, politics, and even aliens! I could really see myself getting plugged into a church like this. I immediately felt right at home and apart of the group. I wish it wasn’t such a long trek, but I may just make it my church home anyway. I noticed that three of my students were there (siblings) who live in Tibas also. Maybe I cold see if I could get a ride with them.

Well, I still have to finish my lesson plans for the week, so I better wrap this up. I love and miss you all! Thanks for taking the time to read, and thank you for your prayers!

 Prayer Requests Summary:

• Bedbug dilema. Pray for God to show me what to do about this. If I am to move out, pray that I would be able to do so without hurting anyone's feelings.
• God's guidence in finding a church
• That I would be able do a good job despite the heavy workload
• Devine appointments with my students

Camp La Montana

If I could sum camp up in one word, I would have to go with AWESOME! I got to know my students a lot better, developed and strengthened some relationships with other staff, and just had a great time. Be sure to check out my facebook page for two videos and 40 photos of camp. I took some more videos that I had planned to upload, but the internet is very slow here, so uploading even a really short video can take about 20 minutes.

This camp was by far one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life. Sometimes I just had to stop and look around and thank God for allowing me to serve here. I feel so undeserving to be so privleged and blessed. The kids, I suppose because they've grown up here, seem to have no idea how lucky they are. I didn't hear a single kid remark on the beauty of the place even one time. They were more interested on the many activities the place had to offer; and there was A LOT, including: a place for roller-blading; a rock-climbing wall; air hockey and ping-pong; a full gym; a soccer field; a ropes course better than the best I've seen in The States (I wish I had taken some pictures of that); two lakes, one of which had a trampoline, a high dive, a rope swing, a bike ramp, and a volleyball net; mountain bikes, and an archery range. Some of the counselors preferred to watch, while others jumped right in and played alongside the kids. If you know me I bet you can guess which I did. I wish I had time to do more of the activities, but I did make sure to play a lot of basketball, volleyball in the lake, go off the rope swing and high jump. When I played basketball the atletic director noticed that "Ms. McWhirter got game" as he put it, and they are talking about plugging me into coaching the 6th-8th grade girls team in the spring, which I would love! I've never had more fun doing something I got paid for than when I coached the 7th grade team back home a couple of years ago.

The group of girls in my cabin were in 7th grade, and I was thinking how interesting that is, as in recent years I have really felt like God has placed a special love for that age girls on my heart. I could have had any grade from 6th-12th in my cabin, but God gave me them. It was really neat to get to know them better, and be able to openly share the plan of salvation with them twice. Each night before bed we would pray together and talk about what we had learned that day. I can really see God working in their lives, and I'm excited to see them progress this school year.

At chapel several students raised their hands to accept Christ. I never heard any official numbers, but I think it was over 25. I noticed that one of my most difficult 7th grade boys, Jose, raised his hand, and I plan to ask him about it this week. He's a really bright kid, and I actually like him a lot; he just has a lot of extra energy that sometimes gets him into trouble. He has very strong leadership skills, and I know God could really use him. It is such a privilege to see God working in lives like his. There's a picture of him on facebook where he is sitting on the ground looking up at the camera if you want to see what he looks like.

We got back on Friday, and I have been getting some much needed rest. As great as camp was, it was three cram-packed days full of draining activities coupled with very little sleep. I came home exhausted and a little sick. I think I caught a stomach bug from one of the girls in my cabin, so that has not been fun. I almost over it though.

There was no school today for Labor Day; ICS celebrates both American and Costa Rican holidays since it is an international school. I tried to go the bank to put more money on my cell phone, but no luck. Apparently I need my passport for that, and I didn't have it with me after I took two buses in the rain. I have found that most errands in this country take at least two attempts: one to find out what you need, and another to actually do it. If you are lucky, when you go back they won't tell you that you need additional items that they failed to mention the first time. I am feeling more and more confident doing things like this all on my own and in Spanish though.

In a few hours I am going to dinner with my cousin, Nathan. I am very excited to see him because he lives in Texas, and I haven't seen him for a few years. He is in Costa Rica for a business trip/vacation, and he flies out in the morning.
 
Here are a few pictures from camp. For more, check out my album entitled "ICS Camp" on facebook.

Me with some of the girls from my cabin:

(L to R) Yulissa, me, Mariela, Rebecca, Kayley

 

Some of the other high school teachers and I.

(L to R) Angie, Me, Dan
Angie is the Special Ed teacher,
And Dan is from Canada and
teaches 6th grade

Culture Shock Has Hit...

I've been here exactly two and a half weeks now, and it's starting to feel more like home. This does not mean, however, that I am used to everything here. I sometimes wonder if the culture shock ever really goes away completely. I go though phases: most days I really like it here, but others....well, other days I need to stop and remember why I'm here and what it's all about. I know this is going to be really good for me, and God has already been working in my life in big ways. He has been teaching me about being a servant, and the suffering that goes along with that.

This week at school was good, but definitely challenging. They decided to give us new schedules on Thursday, with no warning, just as I was adjusting to the old schedule. And this one has me teaching an additional class when I was already teaching more than any teacher at the school. Two days a week I am teaching the entire day, and don't even have a lunch break. The absolute most frustrating thing about this culture is that, but US standards, it is extremely disorganized. You would all be shocked if I went into the numerous examples of this. Another thing about this culture, is that they are not interested in improving the system, and they are not open to suggestions, particularly from Americans, about how to do so. That is seen as trying to "Americanize" them, and they see that as us thinking that we are better and trying to make them like us. I have learned this by listening to the other American teachers that have been here awhile. I am trying to remember that I am not here to change the system, and that I just have to accept it and live it with it, but it is not easy.

This weekend has been really fun! Yesterday morning I got up early to go the farmers market with Raul and Xenia (host parents). I picked out lots of fresh produce for the nachos I would make later. Everything is so fresh here, especially when you buy it directly from the growers. The fruit is amazing! Xenia continually makes "juice" by throwing some fresh fruit in the blender. I know I will miss this when I go back!

Then we went home, and a few hours later, Tave and I walked to Auto Mercado, which is an American style grocery store where you can find a lot of American foods you can't find anywhere else. I bought the rest of the ingredients for the nachos along with some other things I needed, including (FINALLY) some American snacks I've been craving. I like the food here, but some of it gets old fast. Just imagine eating some form of beans and rice with every single meal. Anyway, we caught a cab back so we didn't have to carry all the groceries, and that's when I got myself into trouble by accidentally flirting with the cab driver. He asked me in Spanish if I liked Costa Rican men, and I didn't know what he said, so I just looked at him and smiled and nodded and said, "Si." Tave started laughing, and told me what I had just said. I was like, "No, no! I mean, I don't know. I mean..." Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing....he was laughing and was like, "Gracias, Gracias!"

I got to talk to Gabe for a while after that and then I made the Nachos. I wish I would have remembered to take pictures, cuz I'm not gonna lie, they were stinkin awesome! Raul (Jr.) and his girlfriend Carla, Elimelec and Krhis, Tave, and of course Raul and Xenia were all there, and they all said they were the best nachos they've ever had. It was fun to cook again since I haven't in a while.

This morning I went to the same church that I went to the camp with last weekend. It's a Nazarene church where my entire host family goes, including Elimelec and Krhis. (Elimilec is the dean of students at the school). I really like that church, and the people are really friendly, but I would really like to try out one of the international churches that either has services in English, or translated services. Elimilec sat next to me and whispered the translation though. Also, I kind of would rather go to a church that I agree with more doctrinally as I've already heard a couple of things preached that I don't really agree with. The church is walking distance from me, and since everyone that lives near me goes there, it's going to be difficult to go anywhere else. Besides, I don't want to offend them, so I don't know what I'll do about that...

After church, we went to lunch with Elimelec and Crhis at a Costa Rica seafood place. The food was not like American seafood, but good. After that we went to some place for ice cream, and there was a tour bus full of Americans stopped there too. That was the first time I've talked to any other Americans except for the teachers at the school. It was weird how I felt a sense of camaraderie with a bunch of people I don't even know. It turned out some of them were Christians, and were very interested in what I'm doing here. One of them was even a teacher and she gave Elimelec her information.

Then we came back home, and I took a nap. Oh, and you may have read on facebook about the bed bugs....yes, that is something you can be praying about. I told my host mom, and she changed the sheets for me. I didn't know how to tell her that based on everything I read online that would not be enough, so I decided to sleep another night and see what happened. In the morning I still had more bites, so I told her. She said she didn't think it was from my bed, but she would change the sheets again and spray bug spray in my room. I don't know what to do, because after that I still have more bites. I think she thinks I'm overreacting and that I am getting the bites from somewhere else, but I know that they aren't there when I go to sleep and they are when I wake up. Plus, I have found their feces. Please pray about this situation. I don't want to damage our relationship, but I also don't want to sleep in a bed with bedbugs. If you have any suggestions I am all ears.

Overall, things are going really well here. I love the people, and I feel like I'm forming some relationships. This Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I will be going to camp with the school. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to get to know my students better and bond with them. It is so surreal and amazing to be able to open a Bible in the classroom and pray with them. I've already had two 7th grade girls come to me crying with different problems, and it was so neat to be able to pray with them and tell them what they really needed to hear. It is so foreign to me coming out of 4 years of public school.

Prayer requests:

• Camp is this week. Pray for God to soften the hearts of the students who don't know Him and they would give their lives to Him. Pray for the movement of The Spirit in the lives of believers and non-believers alike. Pray that I will get to know my students better and form positive relationships with them.
• Pray for patience with my students. As they have gotten more comfortable in their routine, behavior issues are coming out. I am having to be really strict until they get the message of what won't be tolerated. I don't like being strict, but I've found that if you aren't in the beginning, you regret it all year long.
• The love of Christ to be evident in me. Let me see my students with His eyes.
• Continual adjustment to the culture. This is harder that I even anticipated, and I knew it would be hard.
• PRAISE! The school finally came through with the check to reimburse me for my airfare, so I now have enough money to get me through to when I get paid.
• That I will be able to get a bank account in time to be paid. This is a long story, but the short of it is that nothing is ever simple here, and it still has not happened.
• That I will be get registered with the insurance and everything will come through with my work permit. I have been getting the run around on this too, and it is very hard to do when you don't know the culture or speak the language fluently.
• Please continue to pray for my Spanish development. I think it is getting better, but I still have so far to go!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! God is answering them, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for each of you!

First Week of School, Open House, and Church Camp

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been really busy, and I was also locked out of my gmail account for awhile too, and since that is the email account this is registered with, I was unable to log in until Friday.

Anyway, the first week of school went really well. I am teaching 6 classes, grades 7th, 8th, and 9th, and I have each grade twice. The schedule is going to take some getting used to for me as it is very different from anything I've taught or even seen at high schools in the US. It's more like a college schedule because you don't have class every day. I teach mostly 90 minute periods, with one or two 45 minute classes. I only have a full prep period two days a week, so that is going to be a challenge. The nice thing is that they are 90 minute prep period so I should be able to get a lot done with a chunck like that.

The students are very racially mixed. There are a lot of Asians, of course lots of Ticos, and a handful of Americans or "greengos" as they call us. (It's not really derogitory here like it is in Mexico). Their behavior is pretty good, although I did have to take a kid out in the hall for a little conference a couple of times. I think 7th grade is going to be the biggest challenge, and one of my 7th grade classes in particular. I'm not sure how supportive the administration is going to be with discipline issuses, so I'm really hoping I don't have many.  A couple of my 7th grade girls made a card for me and brought it to me on the second day. It had a little pop up basketball on the front since I had told them the day before that I like basketball. They wrote that they thought my class sounded like fun and they were glad I am their teacher. It really encouraged me and really made me feel welcome. Here are a couple of pics from the first week of school:

We had open house for the Jr. High on Thursday, and it went great! I had probably around 30 parents, and they were very supportive and encouraging. It was so nice to hear parents tell me that they would be praying for me! They seemed very pleased with me, and one parent told me so. Another one told me she thought my class sounded ideal. It was nice to have that kind of support especially when I have been feeling a little insecure about this year. It is so different in so many ways from anything I've ever done before. Sometimes feel like I don't really know what I'm doing and am really just winging it. I don't know if everybody feels that way or if it's just me.

Friday was Sr. High open house, and I was supposed to go since I teach 9th grade too. Elimelec Jaunta, the dean of students, was taking me home from open house on Thursday and asked me if I was going to go to the youth group camp with my host family's were he leads music that I had visited last Sunday. I told him I wanted to but I couldn't because of the open house, so he talked to Mr. Tabor, the high school principal and got me out of it. I put some syllabi in the box by my door so parents could take one.

Right after school on Friday I went with Mrs. Ferre to the bank to open an account. I have to have one at a certain bank in order to be paid by the school. Even though I brought everything the school told me to have, I wasn't able to open account. They said I also had to have two reccomendation letters from Costa Rican citizens and a statement from the person I rent a room from stating that I rent at that address. It is so frustrating in this country to try to take care of business stuff because things are so disorganized. It seems that everybody has a different idea of what I need to do and I have no idea who to listen to.

Anyway, I caught the bus home after we got back to the school and I found out that I had been given permission to go the camp. It was pouring down rain, and I mean POURING! It was like the whole sky was a giant waterfall. Despite having an unbrella, I has drenched to the bone. I literally wrang water out of socks and it looked like I had gone for a swim. I was really worried about my laptop (which I am still toting back and forth as no one has delievered on the promised computer), but it was ok.

I rushed to get packed for camp and ended up forgetting some things (like socks). Just before we left for the church, Melissa (the cousin that has been staying with us) got home from the hospital with her new baby boy. Isn't he Adorable!? She named him Jose Fabian.

It was still pouring when Tave, Daniel (Tave's boyfriend) and I left for church, so we were going to take a Taxi, but we couldn't get one to stop for some reason. The camp was only about a half hour drive away. I had a good time, but I got really sunburned on Saturday when we did a bunch of relay activities in our bathing suits for three hours. I forgot sunscreen, and I didn't know how to ask for it because I didn't know how to say sunscreen in Spanish, so I just did without. I very mistakenly thought that I would be fine since they didn't seem to be putting any on. So I am sitting her lathered in something called Zopal, which smells like Listerine. Oh well, with any luck it will turn to tan, although I'm not sure how likely that is because it is blistered and I think it will peal. Let me know if anyone has any good sunburn remedies. I'm unbelievably white compared to these Ticos.

And here are some other pics from camp:

After relays we played in the pool.

Me with Tave, my Tica Sista

Playing Uno with the girls in my cabin.

Getting ready to start the relays.

Elimilec leading us in camp songs as the bonfire

I went as Judas for Biblical characters night.

Prayer requests:

• Finances! I don't get paid until the 31st, and I have very little left to last me. I haven't been able to access my money in my US account yet, so pray that I will be able to get to that in time before I run out of money.
• Language! I think my Spanish is improving already, but sometimes it gets really frustrating not being able to understand so much. It can really make me feel stupid sometimes. Pray that it will come quickly!
• Pray that I won't be homesick or lonely. I have had some of that already, and I can only expect it to get harder in the next few weeks.
• My classes to go well and for my students to be engaged and learn a lot. Pray especially for me to find the best ways to keep my 7th grade class motivated and disciplined.

First Day Out and About

I slept in until 9 this morning which was nice! After a shower and breakfast Teva (21 year old Costa Rica girl I'm staying with) and I took the bus into the center of San Jose. We got off one bus to stop and exchange money. The first bank was closed, so we walked down the road to another bank. They only allow one person in to the back at a time, so it was scary cuz they let me in without Teva. He told me in Spanish to open my bag and he checked it. Then he let Teva in. You have to take a number and wait like at the DMV. We watied about 15 minutes and then I gave them $100 in twenties. They wouldn't take one of the twenties because it had a very small tear. A few of the bigger stores take American money so I'm going to try to use it there.

Once I had some colones (Costa Rican money) we got on another bus. This was was really full, and oh my.....what an expereince! I thought I was going to die! There were no seats and it was PACKED for standing up. We were crammed at the very front of the bus and they drive with the door open. They drive so crazy here, and I was holding on for dear life! When we finally got off my hands and arms were sore from holding on so tight.

San Jose was very bustling with vendors and people everywhere. Tomorrow is Mother's Day here, so there were people selling all kinds of things. I wanted to just  go in all the shops and just look around, but we were in kind of a hurry because Teva had to be back for a church activity. I got an alarm clock finally....I've been sleeping in a room with no clock and that drives me crazy. And yesterday Teva was supposed to wake me up at 6 and she forgot until 7 when we were supposed to leave. Anyway, I have an alarm clock now and I'm very happy about that. It was ridicuoulsy priced though...it's just a battery powered little clock and it was almost $30 US. I also bought some flowers for Cenia (the mom of the family) because of Mother's Day being tomorrow, and a Spanish/English Dictionary. I saw a vendor selling fresh produce, so Teva and I bought some avacodos for the family. They are soooo good here!

Then we caught the bus home. This one wasn't as full so we got to sit down the whole way. When we got home we ate lunch. I've had a little down time, and I'm about to leave to go back dowtown with Raul and his girlfriend. He is the son/brother and they family but he has his own house and car. He and his girlfriend have to go downtown anyway, so they are taking me so I can buy a cell phone. Apprently you have to go to one place to get a phone, and then another to buy a phone line. The phone line places are closed today, so that will have to wait until I can get someone to take me next week.

I'm hearing thunder as I'm writing this. I don't see any rain yet, but it's gotten really couldy. It sounds like it's going to storm. When it rains here, IT RAINS!

Well, Raul is here so I better go. More to come.

Safe, Sound, and Getting Settled

Well, I'm here. Thanks for taking the time to read my frist blog post. Here's a little run down of the last 24 hours or so:

I made it in and the principal and dean picked me up at the airport. They told me that the family that will be hosting me is actually the in-laws of the dean, and he just leaves a few blocks away from them. It was about a half an hour drive and we were there.

I was welcomed with Costa Rican warmth and the cultural hug and kiss on the cheek. The family I'm staying with is so nice and they seem geniunely glad to have me. They speak very little English, so my Spanish is definitley going to improve. Mostly I just walk around not knowing what people are saying because it takes to much effort to try to decode it. I've actually been pleasantly surprised at how much I am able to communicate though.

Anyway, my "new mom" as they put it, made me a some rice and beef that I ate before Skyping with Gabe and going to bed. I got to bed shortly after 11:30 here, but I was wide awake as that was only 9:30 PST. Morning came REALLY early because I had to be up at 6, or 4 the time I was used to. The tiredness lasted all day, and when I got home I took a three hour nap.

I got up in the morning and went to work with their daughter that lives here. She is a teachers aide in the pre-kinder classroom, so she had to be at work at the same time. We walked for probably 1.5 miles to a bus stop that another teacher picked us up at.

They had breakfast for us at the school, so after we got there we ate, and Mike (the principal) introduced me to Mrs. Ferrias, the English Department head, who I spend most of the day with after that. I think she will be a immense resouce and blessing to me this year!

After breakfast we met for 4 hours. I was surprised that it was all in Spanish. I suppose that because this is an international school in which all instruction is supposed to be in Enlish, I thought the meetings, devotions, etc. would be as well. I sat next to a lady who translated some of it for me and another man who wasn't fluent in Spanish either. It seemed to go on forever, and to be honest I had a hard time staying awake for some of it. I'm not a one for lectures and sitting for more than a couple hours when I DO understand the language. Anyway, I have the same thing to look forward to for tomorrow morning as well.

After work we came back to the house. I had a snack and then took what I thought would be about an hour nap....I woke up three hours later, which was just in time for dinner. It was something kind of like pork fried rice, (except I think it was chicken that was in the rice) cabbage, tomato, cilantro salad, and some carrot purre stuff. It was pretty good! All the food so far has been.

Anyway, now I'm in my room about to read over some stuff they asked us to for tomorrow. I have so much to do to get ready for school to start next Wednesday! I am feeling a little overwhelmed and behind.

Things you can pray about:

• Reimbursement of my airfare: They said this would happen today, but it didn't. Pray they would do it tomorrow.
• I will be able to get what I need for my classroom. It has no computer, no projector, no overhead...nothing but desks really. The English Department head said I might be able to get some of that. Otherwise I may be transporting my laptop back and forth...
• That I would quickly pick up the language
• That I would be able to get everything done that I need to in order to be ready for school to start on Wednesday.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support!

Kristin