Sunday, June 29th

Buenos Dias, from Costa Rica! I arrived early in the morning on Friday, and was picked up at the airport by one of the staff from YWAM, holding a sign with my name on it…I’ve always wanted to get picked up at the airport like that! The last couple days have been very interesting and I’ve met probably thirty people, all from different countries. In my specific program, DTS (Discipleship Training School) there are people from Canada, New Zealand, India, Mexico, El Salvador, Heredia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the U.S.- and some of the staff are from Canada, Nicaragua, Kenya and Uganda as well. So needless to say, the next five months will be an exciting cross cultural experience, even just within the house. What’s really funny is that out of the five from the U.S., three are from California. And the neighborhood we live in is called San Francisco. Small world, even over in Costa Rica.

There are two houses that YWAM owns in San Jose, a few blocks apart. The main house is where I’m living, with about 20 other people. My room has four bunk beds and seven girls- and in case you’re wondering, I got first pick at the bunks and so I’m in the top bunk by the window. I’ve always wanted to climb a ladder to get into bed, and now my childhood dream has come true. Throughout the day, staff and other groups visiting come in and out of the main house, and all the meals are also served here, making it the place to be. It’s great though, because there are areas all over the house and backyard to sit and read, study, pray, or listen to music by yourself; everyone is very respectful of each others’ individual time. The second house is home to many of the YWAM leaders and also where guests/speakers stay when visiting. We meet for our classes in the second house, which means we walk back and forth between houses several times a day.

Both the weather and food have been fun the last couple days- very different from what I’m used to in Sacramento. Rainy season just began in May, so the day starts out a little cloudy and can get pretty warm and humid by late morning. Around noon the dark clouds roll in and by 2 pm it’s lightning and booming thunder, accompanied by a steady rainfall. It hasn’t really gotten cold though, the weather seems to stay above 65 F and it’s always humid. As far as meals, there is a kitchen staff that prepares each meal for us, and everything has been quite tasty. Friday night we had tilapia, mashed potatoes, rice, and a pudding-like dessert made with plantains that was very delicious. Costa Ricans typically have rice and beans as a side dish for most meals, including breakfast- it’s a good thing I like both! And perhaps the best (or worst) part of the food is the coffee…as you can imagine, Costa Rica has amazing coffee, and everyone drinks it constantly. Because of this, there is a “coffee room” in the main house with couches, a nice view of the backyard, and a huge coffee maker that is always full of fresh, delicious coffee. I said this might be the “worst” part of the food here because it’s so tempting to always have a cup of coffee sitting beside me…but I’m trying to be good and limit myself. We’ll see how that goes…

My first adventure began last night: after dinner, a group of us (about 12) headed down to the park to play soccer. It was past dark, and so we played on the basketball court, which also has goal posts. Being my first time playing an actual game of soccer, I was a little nervous and feeling unequipped for what was to come…not to mention a few of the guys from Costa Rica have been playing since they were in diapers, and John from New Zealand played professionally in England. So since that wasn’t intimidating AT ALL, I just tried to kick the ball if it ever came my way (which was more often than I expected). About half way through the 2 hour game, I chased after the ball and did an interesting dive/roll/tumble combination onto the concrete and muddy grass, gaining the respect of everyone else on the court, I’m sure. After the game, we walked back to the house tired, sweaty, smelly, and (some of us) bruised, only to discover the water had been turned off…so we all went to sleep without showers, probably the most unfortunate for the bunkmates who didn’t play and had to fall asleep next to us. It was nice to finally scrape off the mud that was still caked to my arms and legs this morning. :)

Tomorrow will be the first day of class and it will be exciting to hear how the next several months will be. As for now, I’m starting to feel at home and more adjusted to the wonderful community here in San Jose. I’ll try to take some pictures over the next few days to put up on my next blog. Adios!