Engineering - Tico Style

Caleb Jonathan Fraze... Mi sobrino!

2008-07-25T15:21:00.003-06:00

Just 5 days after returning to the States, on July 16th (a week earlier than the due date), at 8:43pm, my beautiful nephew, Caleb Jonathan Fraze, was born into this world! After nearly 24 hours of labor, my sister-in-law, Kendra, gave birth to a healthy baby boy that weighed in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and stretched out to 19 inches long! Que belleza de muchacho!

I just happened to be in Boulder the day that Kendra went into labor. We had planned to hang out and get coffee that morning, but my brother woke me up early to inform me that Kendra had been having contractions all night, and asked me to come over and be with her while he went into work! It just so happened that Jason had a HUGE meeting on Wednesday for which he had been preparing for weeks, and his boss threatened him that his baby better not decide to come on that day! Well, it's funny how things work out... and some things you just can't plan for! I spent a few hours with Kendra at their apartment. We played some scrabble and she called various family members to inform them of her progress. After an intense contraction Kendra started to feel nauseous and texted Jason in his meeting. He called a few minutes later and after talking with Kendra for a few minutes in the hall, his bosses gladly urged Jason to head home to care for his laboring wife!

We headed into the clinic to get Kendra checked out. Their midwife assessed the situation and informed us that Kendra was dilated to about 5cm! The midwife said that she could go home and wait it out for a couple more hours, or go ahead and check into the hospital and get prepared for the fun evening ahead! I stayed with Jason and Kendra for a few more hours in the hospital room. After Kendra and the baby were monitored, Kendra spent some time in the bathroom hot tub and the doctors urged her to allow them to install an entry port into one of her veins just in case an emergency were to arise. It turns out that Kendra has some pretty stubborn veins... and after about 10 tries and three different people, they finally managed to find a vein! Not surprisingly, the good little Boulderite granolas that they are, Jason and Kendra decided to do everything completely naturally! A little later the contractions started getting really intense, and I opted to leave the happy couple alone... not to mention the screaming was starting to scare me. I waited in the hallway for a while, but then my parents arrived and I joined them in the lobby to wait to meet our new family member.

Around 9pm I was getting really impatient, and dying to know what was going on! I begged the receptionist to go find out if there was any news of a new baby yet. She said that she wasn't at liberty to leak any info to us, but she went to the room to put a little guilt trip on the expecting dad to come give us an update. Around 9:20 Jason finally came out to tell us that he was a new dad to a beautiful little boy!

It's so incredible to be an aunt! And I feel so blessed that I was able to be here during this exciting time! I have already spent several days with little Caleb and am really enjoying getting to know him! Praise God for his faithfulness and provision! What an incredible gift!

To see more pictures of Caleb, check out my brother's online album at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jdfraze/CalebSBirth

Final Thoughts

2008-07-21T15:55:00.004-06:00

I returned home to beautiful Colorado on Friday, July 11th. It's hard to believe that this experience has already come to an end! It's amazing how fast time flies. Before leaving Costa Rica, I was required to complete a large packet of debriefing questions. I wasn't too excited about it, but at the end, it turned out to be a great way of reflecting on my experience and recognizing all of the ways that the Lord has changed me and grown me. Here are a few highlights and conclusions from the debrief.

Dominant Themes that God is revealing through my time in Costa Rica:

*God is BIG and Faithful
-He cares about the big and small issues, loves me more than I could ever comprehend, and loves everyone else more and better than I ever could.

*Following Christ (being His disciple) is a serious commitment
-It requires effort, time, discipline, and serious lifestyle changes (against the norm)

*Following Chirst (being His disciple) is a group effort
-I can't run the race on my own, I need a mentor in my life to challenge & encourage me, and I need to be pouring into others.

*Family is important, a gift from God
-I have a great (Christian) family and I cannot take that for granted. My family should be considered in ALL big life dicisions, and I should rely on them for fellowship, encouragement, prayer, counsel, love, friendship, and accountability.

*Kids (& old people) are a gift from God
-Life is so much richer when it is lived close to people of ALL generations!

Practical Next steps for following through on what God has shown me:

*Commit to daily morning quiet times
*Commit to finding a Godly female mentor
*Commit to purity & righteousness in all relationships
*Commit to making family a priority
*Commit to finding a place to volunteer my time
*Commit to being plugged into a church and involved in a small group

It is absolutely amazing to look back and testify to all that the Lord has done in and through me during my internship in Costa Rica. Thank you to everyone for your love and support and encouragement! I hope and pray that all of these lessons and convictions from God will have a significant and lasting effect on my life. God Bless!

"God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his peole and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." (Hebrews 6:10-12)

Red, White and Blue... stripes, but no stars.

2008-07-08T17:46:00.009-06:00

It's always an interesting experience to celebrate America's day of independence in a different country. This happens to be my 3rd 4th of July in 23 years out of the country. The first was when I was 10 years old on vacation with my family in Europe and consisted of our crazy drunken Scottish tour guide lighting off fireworks (with beer and cigarette in hand) somewhere in France. The second occured 2 years ago during my internship with Youth for Christ in La Paz, Bolivia (can't currently remember how we celebrated).

Here at EMI Costa Rica, we did not take the 4th off as a holiday, but we did however clock out 2 hours early for some fun and patriotic activities! We headed over to my boss Tom's house around 3pm. His 3 young kids had a whole afternoon of events planned. We started things off with an indoor obstacle course (it was pouring outside), then moved on to the revoluntionary war trivia contest, followed by a flag design contest. We then ate yummy grilled hot dogs, german potato salad (so good!), baked beans, and salad! After filling our plates with patriotic cake, we sat down to watch 'Facing the Giants' (a good football movie produced by a church in Georgia).

My host family picked me up from the 4th of July celebration to head to the next party. It just so happens that my host family brother turned 3 years old on the American independence day! We sat down together for dinner (which I skipped out on), then sang 'feliz cumpleanos' and cut up the cake that Lucy brought home (which I did not skip out on). A little later we broke out the 'funfetti' cupcakes which I had baked the night before for Walnercito (which I partook in as well, making it my 3rd type of cake for the night!). Lucy and Walner bought all sorts of new toys for Walnercito at the American toy store! The coolest (but unfortunately not the best for a 3 year old) was a 700-piece Lego set with directions to construct some awesome construction site equipment - a little office building, a dump truck, and an excavator. Chris and I spent about 2 hours assembling the new Lego toys (by choice... fun, frustrating, and addicting), while doing our best to fight off Walnercito and his urges to grab a hand-full of tiny pieces and half-assembled trucks and soliciting the help of the adults when necessary.

A fun 4th filled with good friends and 'family'. It would have been great to spend the holiday with my very loved and missed friends and family back home, but this was a nice substitute, despite the severe lack of pyrotechnics! Cheers.

The Blessing of Travel

2008-06-17T18:08:00.002-06:00

I love to travel. And as a citizen of the United States, it is easy to take the privlege of travel for granted. The majority of the world does not have such a privlege, and there's nothing fair about it! I am so blessed to have traveled as much as I have. It's always so eye-opening and educational and fun to experience a new culture and place and people and food, etc. My friends and I are determined to do our best to not miss out on the chance to visit and know a few new places on this vast planet. Before we head back to the States, the other interns and I have quite the travel itinerary ahead. We spent the last weekend in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, we leave tomorrow for the Carribean coast of Costa Rica, and then we plan to cross the Panamanean border before heading back to Atenas in order to visit the Bocas el Toro islands. Only two weekends remain after that, which may include visiting another beach town in Costa Rica and/or returning to Tuis to visit the dear friends we met at language school. So exciting!

While it will be difficult to sum up all of these destinations in words, I will at least do my best to provide for you a photo journal of our travels. So please check out my Online Photo Album page (link to the left) to view pics from Nicaragua, and check back often for new additions!

Supervised Splashing!

2008-06-17T17:37:00.004-06:00

For the last month or so, Steph and I have been teaching weekly swimming lessons at the local orphanage. We had some grand ideas about what and how to teach the valuable skill of swimming to the kids, but have come to find that our time at the orphanage is better spent supervising and playing than actually doing much teaching. But what the heck, at least we're all having fun!

We usually take a group of between 5 and 15 young kids (ages 2-6) to enjoy about an hour of splashing about in the 'big' swimming pool. These kids are pretty young and there's a bunch of them and the tias (women that care for the kids) at the orphanage are pretty paranoid (usually for good reason), so all of the kids are required to wear life jackets when playing in the 'big' pool. We do our best to give a couple quick lessons (blowing bubbles, kicking, etc), but the majority of the time is spent giving 'dragon rides' and loving on the kids and doing our best to help avoid any major injuries (only one split lip so far (-: ). The most challenging part of the whole ordeal is getting the kids in and out of their swim suits... it takes a while!

It's been so great to have this opportunity at the orphanage. For one, it gets Steph and I out of the office for a couple hours! But it's also such a blessing to hang out with the kids, get to know them, and hopefully show them a little bit of the love of Christ! And although the kids may not be expert swimmers, they are however leaps and bounds beyond the majority of Costa Ricans that have never learned how to swim! And based on the fact that a few of the kids used to be incredibly scared of water (even taking a bath!), I'd say they're doing pretty well! Enjoy the pics!

Family First

2008-06-11T17:57:00.003-06:00

It's funny how life changes you... For as long as I can remember, small kids have always somewhat intimidated me, and I can never remember having a strong desire to ever have kids of my own. When my boss here in Costa Rica told me that I would be living with a 2 year old kid, I was a little nervous to say the least. But the Lord really does have a sense of humor sometimes. There have been some rough times with my small host family brother, but we have really grown close over the last several months. When I return home after work I am often greeted with jumps of excitement and a wet kiss on the cheek. We then spend the next hour or so running around the house, chasing each other or playing with toy cars and imaginary chickens. He really exhausts me at times, but he's such a joy!

Here in Costa Rica there are several things about the culture that really contrast that of the States, one of which is the importance of family! Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but the States as a culture really emphasize the importance of individuality and independence. It's very easy, once in that mindset, to take one's family for granted.... which is precisely what I have done.

Another big recent change has to do with travel plans. At the start of this internship in Costa Rica, I was 100% set on taking some time (maybe up to a few months) to travel around Latin America. What better time, right? Before getting sucked into the commitments of work, life, possibly a family some day. What could be better than seeing more of the world, learning about different cultures, and making new friends?

In November my brother and sister-in-law found out that they were going to have a baby! This news was quite a shock to me... and based on previously mentioned views about kids in general... I wasn't sure how to feel! ...so I just kinda brushed it off and went on with MY life and MY plans.

I don't want to get lost in the silly culture of the States anymore! I don't want to take my wonderful family for granted! I want to enjoy them and love them and grow with them! I want to enjoy the good times, the ugly times, the funny times, and the crazy times. I am so excited to be an aunt!

All of these new feelings and outlooks on life have lead me to a very difficult decision. My new niece or nephew is due to be born on July 23rd. My internship is scheduled to end on July 11th, just in time to get home to see my VERY pregnant sister-in-law and witness the first days of life for my niece/nephew.

I honestly don't know what I was thinking! I can't believe that I was planning on traveling instead of being with my family during this incredible and exciting time! I just hope that I make it in time and don't miss out on this beautiful time for my bro Jason, his wife Kendra, and my soon-to-be-grandparent parents.

I love you guys and hope you will forgive me for not sooner realizing the blessing that you are in my life! XOXOXO

Volcanoes and Beaches!

2008-05-29T17:56:00.005-06:00

**In case you don't have the perseverance to make it to the end... check out the link to the left to view my photo album from the trip!

Last week my parents came to visit Costa Rica!!! It was great to see them and get a little taste of home to carry me through the end of my internship! Their visit was also a great excuse to do some of the traveling that I have been itching to do! This country is so beautiful and there is so much that I have left unexplored! Fortunately, this little excursion allowed me to cross a couple beautiful destinations off my list!

My parents took a non-stop red-eye flight from Denver that arrived in Costa Rica at 530am! They were joined on the flight by Steph's parents and sister. Even though they were completely exhausted when they arrived, their spirits were high and they were ready to start the adventure. We went directly from the airport terminal to the rental car lot to pick up our vehicles for the week. After a quick bite an Denny's (yes, you know the one), we hit the road!

The first leg of the trip involved a 3 hour drive on the narrow, curvy, fog-covered highway toward La Fortuna. The drive was gorgeous and amazingly uneventful. La Fortuna is a quaint little town that lies at the foot of Arenal Volcano, a quite impressive, lava-spewing monster that has been erupting everyday since its awakening in 1968. We pulled into town, struggling to pull our gaze away from the cloud-covered volcano, and quickly found our hotel.

After settling in and taking a quick walk around town while my dad caught up on some sleep, we rallied the troops and headed off to the Baldi Thermae hot springs. This was the cheaper of the hot springs options, but turned out to be absolutely incredible! If the other place is actually worth 3 times the price, I can't even begin to imagine the extent of its extravagence! There were dozens of pools at various temperatures ranging from 98 to 145 degrees!!! There were acres of beautiful tropical gardens surrounding the hot springs as well as the most extreme water slides I have ever seen and numerous bars that you can just swim on up to. We must have spent over 4 hours at that place... and it was still difficult to leave when they closed down!

The next day we woke up early to find the best deal on canopy ziplines. This is one of the largest tourist spots in the country, so there is no lack of options for the common tourist. We ended up finding the best (as several parties claimed) zipline experience in the country! The excursion consisted of ten ziplines, including the longest one in the country (980 m), a horse back ride, and frog & butterfly farms. It was such a blast!!! Being quite the adventure seeker... this one tops the charts for me (even surpassing skydiving)!!! The ziplines were fast and exhilarating, and the incredible wildlife was the icing on the cake! During our couple hour excursion through the rainforest, we spotting several animals including a sloth, a blue jeans dart frog, and toucans! So awesome.

It turns out that Steph's dad (Steve) is quite the social butterfly, able to strike up a conversation with absolutely anyone that he comes across! As an introvert, it was very interesting to witness him in action and benefit from his boldness! All of us ate at a small, locally-owned restaurant right across the street from our hotel 3 times in 2 days! As a result, and with Steve's help, we ended up making pretty good friends with the owner and waiter of the restaurant. On our last night in La Fortuna, Steve invited our new friends over to our hotel for drinks and conversation. It was so fun to get to know them and learn more about each other's countries and cultures. It was especially memorable because a local high-school musical group was staying at the hotel that night and entertained us for hours with traditional Costa Rican serenades. The night made complete with a dance from my new tico friend and we finally turned in around 2am.

Our experience in La Fortuna was beautiful. We were very blessed by relatively clear skies, being able to see the tipity top of the volcano at several different instances, beating the typical visibility odds. It was sad to leave, but we were beach-bound and ready to see more of this incredible country.

On Sunday afternoon, after about 4.5 hours on the road, we rolled into the beach community of Tamarindo. We quickly checked into our hotel, dropped our stuff and headed to the beach for sunset! It seemed a little odd that we didn't really see anyone else swimming in the water at sunset, but we decided to take a quick dip anyway. The water was warm (seriously... like getting in the tub) and the sunset was breathtaking.

The next morning we made our way to the tourist booth to plan out our next few days. Steph, Jen, and I immediately booked a surf lesson for that afternoon! I was pretty nervous about the whole situation... being from the Rocky Mountains and fairly intimidated by the big blue ocean! Despite my nerves and fears, we had an awesome experience. Our instructor was very patient and knowledgeable and encouraging. I was stoked to pick it up pretty quick and catch several waves. I think the years of snowboarding may have helped! It was sad to see our lesson end, but it would not be our last time on a surfboard.

The next day we enjoyed an afternoon catamaran excursion. We sailed for several miles to find a calm and prestine snorkeling location! We spent almost an hour marveling at the incredible underwater world. God is so creative! We saw some incredible things including blow fish, angel fish, parrot fish, puffer fish, octupus, and an eel. After eating some yummy food, we pulled in the anchor and headed back toward shore. The experience was topped off with an incredible golden sunset! Unbelievable.

We planned to hit the road the following day and explore another beautiful beach town further down the coast. However, some sickness in Steph's family convinced us that it would be wiser for us to avoid any extended travel and take it easy in Tamarindo for a couple more days. We finished out with week with several days of surfing and a small snorkling excursion to a quiet beach called Playa Conchal, named after its unique entirely shell-pieces sand. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the beach and my shoulders are sufficiently sore from the five straight days of paddling around on a surfboard. It was also such a treat to be visited my large families of howler monkeys right outside our beautiful hotel!

On Saturday morning we finally bid farewell to the beach and headed inland to introduce my parents to my little town called Atenas. It was really cool to see my parents meet my host family! When we left their house after dinner my mom started crying! She said she was so happy that I lived with such a nice family... Aw. I also took my parents to the little church that I attend here in Atenas. I think they appreciated the experience, but it was a long service entirely in Spanish! Oh well, at least they got to witness the church sing happy birthday to me and enjoy some cake!

It was sad to say goodbye when my parents had to head back home, but I am so thankful to have shared this place with them. Now it seems like no time at all until I will be back with them in Colorado. Love you mom and dad!

P.S. Check out the link on the left to my online photo albums!!! Now you can see many more pics, with much less effort on my part! Enjoy!

La Visita de Mis Padres!!!

2008-05-15T17:21:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow morning, 530am, my parents arrive in Costa Rica! I am super-excited to see them! We have a busy week planned including Volcano Arenal, Tamarindo beach, Hermosa Beach, Manuel Antonio, and Atenas! I expect it to be a great time of relaxation and rejuvenation! I'll post updates and pics after the trip!

Wedding, Maracuya, & Good Friends

2008-04-29T12:57:00.009-06:00

As many of you know, I served as a volunteer with Youth For Christ in La Paz, Bolivia about two years ago. It was an unbelievable, live-changing experience! Randy, the missionary that I worked alongside in La Paz, proposed to his Bolivian girlfriend while he was home in Colorado for the holidays! Randy made it into quite a production and I, along with many other friends, had the opportunity to be involved in the proposal. Anyways, he and his fiance, Dani, planned their wedding to take place in La Paz, at the end of April. I didn't really even consider going since I am down here in Costa Rica serving with Engineering Ministries International. BUT, sometimes God works in mysterious ways. Randy kept dropping little hints about me coming to the wedding, but I didn't pay much attention to them, since I figured that flying down to La Paz would be out of the question. The interns and I were scheduled to leave the country the same weekend of the wedding to renew our visas, so it turned out to be perfect timing, and due to many fortunate circumstances, I was able to make it down to Bolivia! I've been dreaming about getting back to Bolivia ever since I left, and I feel so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to return!

I flew out of Costa Rica last Monday afternoon and arrived in Bolivia around 1am. I was graciously and enthusiastically greeted by Pedro and his kids as well as a good friend Ramiro. It was so good to see them!!! I stayed at Pedro's house (Youth for Christ director) in his daughters' room. It really did feel like home!

The week consisted of a bunch of pre-wedding activities, but also some great time to catch up with old friends! It was especially cool because almost all of the gringos that I worked with down in Bolivia came down for the wedding, so we got to have a bit of a reunion! I won't go through all of the specifics, but some of the highlights include: playing soccer with the shoeshiner guys, eating my favorite mayacuya (passion fruit) ice cream (several times!), riding around the city in public transport minibuses, dancing the night away at the wedding reception, eating anticucho (grilled up cow's heart) from a street vendor, visiting with Bolivian pastors, volunteers, and shoe shiners, late nights of chatting with Pedro's daughters (definately like the little sisters I've never had!), seeing many of the shoe shiner guys wearing suits for the first time in their lives, falling in love with Bolivia all over again!!!!

Upon leaving, one of Randy's friends (Keith) who works for Youth for Christ in the States had a little talk with me. He said that he would really be praying for my future and the decisions that I will be making for my life over the next several months. He told me that the Lord can definately use me as an engineer in a typical job in the States, but that he can really see a fire inside of me and a passion for Bolivia. That I really look comfortable and like I belong in Boilvia. The conversation kind of took me by surprise... but made me think a lot too. I always think about Bolivia, but haven't really seriously considered moving back there long term. I guess you never know what the Lord might have for my future. Please pray with me as I seek the Lord's will for my life!

I feel so blessed to have been in Bolivia and shared in the amazing union of two incredible people! Please enjoy the pics!

My Bolivian sisters, Deborah and Priscila

Getting my nails done with the girls!

I got the hot wax treatment!

The end result! Kinda cute, eh?

Eating anticucho with Jon and the happy couple!

A breath taking view of Mt. Illimani and the city from the soccer court!

Ross and Freddy, an old shoeshiner friend

David, Ramiro, and Ross chilling at Randy's place

Dani trying to identify her man by only being able to feel his calf at the bridal shower! And she did it!

Eating a ginormous ice cream cone at Brosso's!

Most of Randy's groomsmen at the rehearsal dinner

Me and Ramiro at the rehearsal dinner

The church just before the wedding ceremony

Half of the wedding party during the ceremony

The shoe shiner gang after the ceremony!

Randy and Dani - their first dance as a married couple!

Hanging with the Fam

2008-04-07T18:18:00.005-06:00

Last week I was really frustrated with my host family because I had yet to spend a weekend with them. They usually just relax at the house and watch tv on the weekends... so I usually make my own plans with my friends. So, last weekend I made plans with my friends to go to the zoo and the pool and have breakfast with a neighbor, but very late the night before, my family informed me that they were going to the beach! I didn't want to cancel my plans, so I just hung out with my friends and missed out on the beach. This has happened a few times...where my host family doesn't tell me about their plans until the very last minute after they know that I have made my own plans. So, I was beginning to think that they didn't like me, and didn't want me to hang out with them! But... after informing the rest of the gringos of my family woes, my boss told me that it was simply the latin culture, and that next time, if I really wanted to spend time with my family, I would just have to commit to canceling whatever plans I may have already made to be with them!

So... low and behold... my friends and I made plans to travel to Montezuma (a sweet tourist spot on the Nicoya penninsula) over the weekend, but my host mom invited me to go to this new zoo nearby! Even though it was tough to do... and Steph was really pulling for me to go with them to the beach... I decided to stick with the game plan and cancel my plans!

Saturday, I headed to the zoo with Lucy, Flor, and Walnercito. It's this new zoo that they just opened called PANACA (Parque Nacional de Agro-something). They only have farm-type animals and really promote the importance of agriculture. Their slogan is, 'Sin campo, no hay ciudad', which means 'without country (farming/agriculture), there is no city'. It was a really fun day, especially with the little one, because there is so much to do and see! Walnercito feed a bunch of different animals, took rides on a buffalo and a pony, and got a huge hug from the park mascot! It was a very long day... but so fun to be with the family!

Then on Sunday the family decided to take a trip to the beach! Of course we had planned to leave right after church, but we didn't get out of the house for several hours! Right when the clouds rolled in and the lightning started, we piled in the car and headed to the closest beach. Unfortunately, there wasn't any sun at the beach either, but it was still plenty warm to enjoy a nice dip in the sea! The beach we went to was in Puntarenas... not a very pretty beach (lots of trash and dirty sand), but it was fun none the less! We enjoyed our time swimming in the water, building sand castles, and burying each other in the sand! As the sun was setting, we packed up our things and stopped for some ice cream. Yum!

Steph, Brad, and Josh had a great weekend in Montezuma and it was slightly painful to listen to their fun stories! But I am so glad that I finally got some time to be with the family! Especially since I recently found out that they are planning on moving to San Jose in the very near future! It sounds like they may be moving away in less than a month! ....leaving me homeless! So, you can be praying for good quality time with my family before they move and a new host family for me to stay with for the remainder of my time in Atenas.

Zoo Ave

2008-04-03T18:57:00.004-06:00

Last weekend, Steph and I took a trip to the local Zoo with her Costa Rican sister. It was a fun day and really cool to see all the cute and colorful animals! Our favorite attraction was the toucans! They are so cool, especially how they hop around and turn their heads to see past their enormous beaks. Enjoy the photos!

Semana Santa

2008-03-27T18:51:00.008-06:00

Semana Santa (Holy Week - the week before Easter) is a big deal around here! Most schools have the whole week off and professionals usually get at least Thursday and Friday off. The Catholic church practices many traditions throughout the week including pilgrimages, prayer and scripture reading gatherings, putting crosses with purple sashes on front porches, and even an occasional burning of dummies that portray Judas Iscariot the trader. It's quite an experience! Despite the fun and crazy traditions, Easter week is such an incredible time to look back and reflect upon the miracle of Jesus' resurrection! He is risen!!!

At the office here, we got Thursday and Friday off of work, so the interns and I decided to take advantage! Josh's girlfriend was in town for the week and really wanted to visit Tuis, the small town where we had language school. So we all decided to take the trip!

Unfortunately, the whole country pretty much shuts down at the end of the week, so finding bus transportation to the other side of the country was a bit of a challenge. There were no buses leaving our small city, but we discovered that there would be a few buses passing through from the next town on their way to San Jose. We decided to take advantage of this opportunity and planned to be waiting at the bus stop in town by 620am. We figured that the 6am bus wouldn't arrive to Atenas until about 640am... but due to the light traffic during the early holiday morning, the bus drove through at 625am... leaving us behind because I was in a taxi behind the bus and Brad had yet to arrive! It was a tragic event, but we kept our optimism as we hoped and prayed for another opportunity. Two other buses flew past us... as we were obviously not displaying the proper bus-seeking posture. But about 15 minutes later a nearly empty bus heading to San Jose had mercy on us!

Once in San Jose we immediately took a taxi across town to buy tickets for the bus to Turrialba. The station was packed, but we successfully bought tickets for the 9am bus and headed across the street to grab some breakfast! We arrived to Turrialba at 1040am and decided to hang out in the city for a little while and try our luck at catching the last bus out of town at 1pm. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much in the city, because almost everything was already closed down for the holiday! We did however find a little cafe to get a snack and took some silly pictures in the park! Around 1230 we got in line for the bus... and good thing too because there were so many people trying to get on the same bus, and if we missed the bus... we didn't really know what we would do! Anyways, we caught the bus and ended up cramming everyone into the bus! It was a good thing that we were toward the front of the line so that we got a seat because we had our large backpacks with us too!

It felt really good to be back in Tuis... yet a bit surreal at the same time! Steph and I stayed with Samia and Freddy (Steph's host family during language school) and Brad and Josh (& Jennie) stayed with their respective host families. I didn't stay with my previous host family because they had some family in town for the holiday and Steph and I thought it would be more fun to be together! Also, staying with Samia and Freddy is awesome because they live right by the soccer field and Samia is an awesome cook!

The weekend was really chill. We just hang out, ate lots of delicious food, playing soccer, walked around, visited friends, watched some movies, enjoyed life! On Friday night, the mission had a small church service with worship and communion which was awesome! Saturday morning Samia invited some guys over for breakfast and we ate like royalty and then we all went on a gorgeous hike!

But the highlight of the weekend was Sunday! For the Easter service, the mission held a baptism service in the park! They had planned on doing the baptisms in a pool at the park... but when they arrived on Sunday morning it was empty and there wasn't enough time to fill it! So instead, the guys made a path down to the river and created a little pit in the river in which to do the baptisms. The service was so gorgeous! All of the church members gathered around to witness several people publicly proclaim their faith in Christ! Everyone sang this beautiful hymn throughout the whole thing and some young girls dressed in white threw colorful flowers over each person as they were dunked into the river. So cool! It was especially cool because our own Brad (one of the interns here) got baptised too!

Unfortunately, right after the baptism service we had to hit the road and head back to Atenas. After 3 buses, one taxi, and about 4 hours later we were back! We had an incredible time and it was great to get away for a few days and visit friends!

Surfs Up!

2008-03-18T12:56:00.010-06:00

On Saturday, Steph and I caught the bus to Jaco beach. Steph is a huge fan of the beach... and has been obsessed with the ocean and surfing since her semester at University of Hawaii. So, in order to satisfy her thirst she decided to rent a surf board for a couple hours. She went out and played on the waves while I sat and read my book. But then... she really wanted to share her passion with me and convinced me to give it a try. Now I love sports and adventure and everything, but to be honest, the ocean freaks me out a little bit! I got a couple minutes of instruction on the sand and then we hit the water. Steph rode a couple waves to give me a little visual example and then it was my turn. Steph helped me get the board out to a good location and then when a good wave started to form she would tell me to hop on. Then I would do as we had practiced.... paddle and SNAP (stand up quickly... but a little 'legally blonde' reference for those of you who caught it). On my first attempt I was too far forward and definitly nose dived, causing me to shallow a huge gulp of sea water! Mmmmm... Despite the salty discouragement I decided to give it another try. After a couple tries I was able to stand up and ride the wave toward the shore! So cool! Unfortunately, the waves started gaining force and proved to be too violent for my beginner skills, so we returned the board and headed off to satisfy our hungry bellies. Thanks for the lesson Steph!

Orphan Love

2008-03-17T14:44:00.003-06:00

Last Thursday Steph and I had the opportunity to volunteer for the whole day at the local orphanage. The usual staff got the day off to have some personal time, so we stepped up to help carry the burden of their absence.

The orphanage has 2 different houses, one of mostly girls, and the other of mostly boys. Steph and I were split up and I got sent to work in the girls' house. There were about 15 kids in the house ranging in age from 1 month to about 12 years old, but the majority were between 2 and 5 years old. As soon as I walked into the house, I could feel the love! The women that I was helping fill in for were so grateful and showered me with hugs and kisses. Also, a young girl named Priscilla immediately attached herself to me and fought for my love and attention for the entire day.

The day was jam-packed with fun and excitement! The day began with a morning devotional which consisted of meeting in an outdoor pavilion and crying out to the Lord in prayer... every child had the opportunity to pray! Then we gathered up all of the excited kids and took them to the small pool on the campus. I didn't have a swimsuit, but that didn't stop the kids from trying their best to soak me from head to toe! I borrowed some shorts and a t-shirt from one of the staff so that I could jump in without reservation and pool it up with the little ones. What a blast!

After the pool we headed back to the house for lunch followed by nap time! It was pretty nice to get a little break from the crazy kids! During nap time I should have opted to nap myself, but instead I got to spend time with one of the adorable baby girls. I haven't spent much time around babies in my life, so they always kind of intimidate me... but I really enjoyed my time with this little one. I must of held her for over an hour... rocking her, humming to her, getting her to smile and giggle, and just starring at her and marveling at her beauty and innocence. What an incredible miracle from God!

It wasn't long until the rest of the kids woke up from their naps and the chaos continued! We mostly just ran around outside until the beloved staff women returned to resume their duties. At the end of the day I was completely exhausted!

Growing up I was never convinced that I ever wanted to have children of my own... mostly because I was afraid I would screw them up or they would hate me or because this world is too messed up and broken to bring innocent children into. But... during the last couple months I've spent a ton of time with young kids... and it's actually having the opposite effect that I expected! Now I am actually warming up to the idea of having children of my own someday!

Videos from Chirripo

2008-03-05T13:44:00.003-06:00

Here is a little video to supplement my blog about Chirripo. This was taken just as we were arriving at the village after a long day of hiking!

Language School

2008-03-04T21:27:00.008-06:00

The other interns and I just returned from two weeks at language school. We went to a small school in a really small town called Tuis, both of which were incredibly charming. Two young guys started the school about 5 years ago. The 2 guys, Hector and Daniel, met each other at a church in San Jose about 10 years ago. They played together in the worship band and discovered that they shared the same dream of using their talents to reach the nations. Anyways… to make a long story short, the guys have realized their dream and now direct the language school as well as a ministry to disabled indigenous people from the area. It’s incredible to see how the Lord has blessed the town and the world through their ministry!

I lived about a 20-minute walk outside of town with an older couple and their daughter. My host parents, Don Mecho and Dona Macha, were incredible and really made me feel like family. Dona Macha and I spent some good quality time together discussing life, showing each other pictures of our families, and habitually watching really cheesy Mexican soap operas! I really enjoyed my time with them... even though I always disappointed Macha when I couldn't finish the giant meals that she fed me. I think food is her love language!

We had Spanish classes for about 25 hours per week, and then we also had a couple cooking classes, and time to hang out with the indigenous residents. The four interns were split up into two different classes… Steph and Brad and then me and Josh. Josh and I had class in the tree house classroom with our professor Henry. We spent our time together discussing tough life topics, discussing the bible, learning crazy grammar rules, and reading some really great literature! I really enjoyed all of our class time... but I'm really frustrated at this point in my language learning journey! The learning curve has really flattened out and I feel like it takes so long to see any improvement! Oh well... I'll just keep plugging away!

On Friday, we broke early from classes to have a little graduation ceremony for the four of us. Each of us were presented a certificate by our respective professors which said some really sweet words about us. Then each of us was expected to demonstrate our newly refined language skills by giving a little speech! It was a little scary, but we all survived because everyone really felt like family!

To finish off the week, we headed to the nearest large town (Turrialba) to meet up with a rafting company. We spent all day on Saturday rafting down the Pacuare river! So fun... We drove about 45 minutes to the river drop off, rafted for about 2 hours (through a few class 4 rapids), stopped off on the side of the river and had a delicious freshly-prepared meal, rafted for another couple hours, swam through this beautiful peaceful cliff-wall section of river, and the hopped back in the van and headed back to the city! A wonderful way to cap off our time away at language school!

The next day we headed back 'home' via 3 different buses. It was really sad to leave because Tuis has really become a home to us! I think all of us will be heading back there soon to be with our new friends and family!

Trek to Chirripo

2008-03-03T19:13:00.004-06:00

At our language school, the same guys that run the school also head up a very cool ministry (Voz que Clama) to the indigenous population near Tuis. On the same site as the school building, the ministry owns a house in which 7 physically and/or mentally handicapped indigenous people live. Also, once a month, the ministry takes a trip to the near-by indigenous region of Chirripo. This region encompasses a large area and many small villages. Voz que Clama has been building a relationship with one particular village called Mandarin Quiche.

So... when we arrived at language school we learned about this awesome ministry and that they were taking a trip to the village during one of the weekends that we were in town. So we were given the option of partaking in this incredible experience. After praying about it with the team, adjusting our class schedule, and rescheduling our rafting trip, we decided to go for it! Unfortunately, we came very unprepared for such a venture and had to rely on our new local friends for some necessary items.

At 6am on Friday we met up at the school. There was a total of 26 people in the group... 2 ministry leaders, 5 random gringos, 18 men/women/youth from the mission church, and 1 Canadian film-maker. We all piled into an old-school SUV and a large truck for a 2.5 hour trip up a bumpy dirt road to the start of our trek at Alto Quetzal. Our journey had several purposes... including using a GPS unit to map the trail and a potential helicopter pad and bringing in wood in order to build a new house in the village. So, we bought several wooden boards and brought them along with us on our grooling hike. Each guy and each two girls were responsible for carrying one large board. The hike started out tough... 2 hours of very steep downhill, and then about 3 hours of hiking along the river, followed by an adventurous zip-line trip over the river, and about 30 more minutes of hiking to our final destination! The trek was challenging... especially with the heavy boards... but were all made it in one piece!

Once we arrived at the small village... we threw down our cargo, unpacked our sleeping bags, and busted out our lunch. After eating lunch and resting for a little while we took a 10 minute walk to the village in which we were planning to build the house. At this village we delivered the building supplies, meet a large group of gringos from California that were spending the week constructing a new church for the village, and then all met together for a short church service in the native tongue of Cabeica. After the service, the gringo group set up a small battery-powered DVD player and popped-in 'The 10 Commandments". The whole situation was somewhat humorous... especially with Moses' cheesy dubbed voice! After the movie... or just the short portion that we watched... we headed back to the other village to get some shut-eye. I ate some graham crackers for 'dinner', brushed my teeth, and slipped into my sleeping bag. Unfortunately, several factors (hard concrete floor, HOT temperature, and several incredibly talented snorers) lead to a long, sleepless night.

The next morning we woke up... or stopped attempting to sleep... and prepared a delicious breakfast of fried cheesy tortilla sticks and sugary coffee! Then we headed back to the other village to continue construction on the small house that the ministry had previously started. Since the team was so large... and the house was so small... instead of getting in the way of construction, the girls hung out with the local kids. We brought some crayons which we used to draw cute doodles on the old church benches... and then we washed everyone's hair with apple-scented shampoo and french-braided the girls' clean hair. It was a little difficult because there were A LOT of kids and a few of them definitely had little creatures living in their hair... but they were all SO beautiful and an absolute joy to be around!

About 11am we headed back to the sleeping village, ate lunch, and packed up our bags for the return trip. Around noon we hit the road. We headed back to toward the river... crossed one-by-one on the zip-line... and then continued the journey along the river. The return trip seemed much easier at first since we didn't have the awkward boards to carry... but then we hit the CRAZY ascent back to Alto Quetzal. I tried to keep my spirits up and stay motivated to the end... but the hike was intense. It seemed like the uphill trend would NEVER end! But little by little we got closer to our goal, reaching the top by about 5pm. Once everyone had arrived we piled back into the truck and began the long ride back toward Tuis. I really wanted to sleep... but unfortunately.... due to an old tail-bone injury I was unable to sit down during the bumpy trip... and sleeping while standing up... while having to maintain a firm grip turned out to be quite impossible!

We all arrived safely back to Tuis! Despite the difficult trek, everyone really seemed thankful for the opportunity to travel to an unknown land and love God's children. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to participate in such an awesome opportunity!

Off to Language School!

2008-02-15T14:51:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow, bright and early, the rest of the interns and I head off to language school. We will be studying at the Christian Immersion Spanish Academy in a small town called Tuis. Tuis is located on the east side of San Jose, outside of Turrialba. I will be living with a host family (the Vargas) - an older married couple and their adult daughter who has Down's sydrome. I will be there for 2 weeks! The program looks very interesting. In addition to living with a family and attending spanish class everyday, I will also get to participate in Cooking classes, volunteer with the indigenous population, and take a rafting trip!

Please pray for me, Brad, Josh, and Steph during our time at language school. That we would be intentional and determined throughout our learning experience, that we would avoid spending too much time with eachother, and that we would be blessed with a divine power to speak and comprehend spanish!

A Day at the Beach!

2008-02-14T11:01:00.003-06:00

Upon returning to Costa Rica, my team and I took the day off and headed to the nearest beach! Brad, Josh, Steph, and I caught the local bus out to Jaco Beach. The bus was packed so we were forced to stand and the drive took about two hours. But the landscape was beautiful and the drive was well worth it! We spent a few hours on the beach... soaking in the rays and enjoying the waves. Then we hit up a local taco bar for lunch. After lunch we paroozed the tourist shops and rented a boogie board for our last couple hours at the beach. We rode some waves, but then had to book it back to the bus station to catch the last bus back to town.

The day was great and the beach was gorgeous! But next time I think we'll all be a little more careful with our sunscreen application!

Enjoy the photos! Pura Vida...

Casa Bernabe

2008-02-12T11:40:00.001-06:00

Week 2 of project trips in Guatemala has come to an end. My Costa Rica team, several volunteers from the States, and I just completed a week long project trip at an orphanage in Guatemala City called Casa Bernabe. This mininstry has been around for several years and has a really cool organizational model for their orphanage. There are about 8 different houses (casas) on the campus into which the 100+ orphans are divided up by age and gender. Each house has a couple bedrooms with several bunkbeds, a kitchen, a living room, and a set of devoted house parents. The kids eat, sleep, and live with their respective families. The model shows a lot of promise... but is it of course not free of struggles.

All of us that came to work for eMi on this project got a small glimpse into what it means to be house parents at Casa Bernabe. On Monday night the orphanage sponsored a special speaker to encourage all of the adults on campus. In order for everyone to get the chance to enjoy the speaker, we were asked if we could watch over the kids in each of the houses. I was assigned to Casa Lamar which houses the older girls (ages 9 to 15). After the house mom left, we put on a movie and relaxed. When 7pm rolled around... it was 'bed-time' for the house. So, we turned off the movie and pointed the girls toward their beds. However, 'bed-time' seems to be more of a polite suggestion than a rule. It was constant noise and complaining and chaos until after 9pm. By about this time it seemed that house had finally hit the sack. I was able to do a few dishes and clean up just in time for the house mom to arrive. I was so glad that my time had come to head back to my child-free, careless life! The rest of the eMi stand-in parents had very similar experiences in their houses. All of us really gained an incredible respect for the work and energy that all of the house parents put in everyday!

Anyways... about the actual project. The assignment at hand was to design an addition to the school building on campus. The site engineer had the vision of building directly on top of the existing school. It seemed good enough in theory, but we were very adament about really testing if such a project was realistic. After determining that there really weren't many other possible locations, we decided to take on the challenge. In addition to the school expansion project, the ministry also requested that we survey actual locations of buildings on campus and the existing sanitary sewer system in order to make recommendations for system upgrades.

I worked with a young Civil Engineer named Emily from Illionis. Emily was a past intern at the Guatemala office and has been working in industry for about 3 years. We worked with a couple of the other interns in order to create an accurate map of the orphanage campus and the sewer system. Our work was very labor intensive since we only had an 'old-school' theodolite to complete our survey work. However, it was a great review for me and took me back to my sophmore surveying class. By the end of the week, we had completed all of the necessary site work and the architect and structural team had completed a good deal of the school design. The staff at Casa Bernabe seem very happy with the work to date and are eager to get started on the construction of the building.

The most enjoyable part of our time at Casa Bernabe was Friday night. On Friday night we had the opportunity to spend time at the older boys' house. We ordered several pizzas and enjoyed getting to know the boys over games of cards and a movie. They were quite enjoyable!

Although Casa Bernabe has many victories to celebrate, there are still daily struggles. On Friday night alone, 3 kids ran away from the orphanage (one with a laptop), and Steph's camera was stolen. There are a lot of broken kids in this place that need your prayers! Pray also for the ministry staff, the house parents, and the daily provision that the orphanage needs to survive!

Compelled

2008-02-05T21:46:00.000-06:00

"For Christ's LOVE compels us, because we are convinced that one died for ALL, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a NEW creation; the old has gone the new has come!

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

I struggle everyday to deny my worldly desires and embrace my new identity in Christ. However, I feel incredibly blessed that I have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ. I have done nothing to deserve such an offering... but God loved us so much that he called his only begotten son to die in our place... so that we might be holy in his sight!

Now that I have realized this blessing, I cannot go on living for myself. I am compelled to love others just as Christ has loved me! And the greatest form of love is sharing this news of reconciliation with those around me. Christ died so that we might know God. Be reconciled to God and be compelled by his incredible love!

Nebaj...

2008-02-03T22:04:00.001-06:00

My team and I just finished our first project trip in Guatemala. The project was in a small town called Nebaj in the highlands of north Guatemala in the Ixil region. It took about 8 hours to drive to Nebaj from the capital city. When we finally arrived in the town it was completely overcast and raining, which was a same because Nebaj lays in a beautiful, green, lush valley. The town itself was small but charming. The people mostly dressed in the traditional attire and many spoke the regional language of Ixil.

For the design project we partnered with an organization called the Agros foundation. Agros had already purchased a large plot of land (maybe 20 acres) and planned to construct several buildings that would eventually include offices, classrooms, hostels, an auditorium, a meeting center, several workshops, and greenhouses. Our job was to assess the master plan for the project that they already drafted, design water and electrical master plans for the site, and fully design the first workshop building which would be the carpentry workshop.

Our team was made up of Tom and John from the EMI staff, me and the other four interns, and about six design professionals from the States. Each volunteer from the States represented a certain specialty and was responsible for that aspect of the trip. I got paired up with a guy named Ben from Denver whose specialty was water. It was great to work along side him and learn a great deal about designing a water distribution system and sanitary sewer system for the site. Although he was by far the youngest of the volunteers, he proved to be quite knowledgeable and really fun to work with!

We ended up making some very large changes in the master plan as far as locations of buildings and overall layout. The Agros staff was hesitant at first but ended up really embracing the changes. The project trip was very successful and we made our final presentation to the Agros ministry on Friday morning. The staff was very happy with the progress that our team had made throughout the week and very thankful for out help. They feel like they can really get aggressive about fund raising now that they have a very detailed plan of action for the site.

I really enjoyed our time in Nebaj. It definitely brought back fond memories from my time in Bolivia. The people and the indigenous culture are very similar to Bolivia. We even found a pretty large population of shoe shiners in the main plaza!

We spent Friday afternoon walking through the town and doing some shopping at the local market. We also received a presentation from the women that work for Agros in the area of textiles. They go to various Agros villages and teach the local women how to weave and create beautiful items to sell to tourists and locals. Several of us bought some of their products and some of the coffee that is grown at Agros villages.

Headed to Guatemala

2008-01-25T09:12:00.000-06:00

Today my team and I fly out to Guatemala! We will be in Guatemala for two weeks and will complete two project trips. During the first week we will be in a village called Nebaj in the Ixil region of Guatemala. While in Nebaj we will partner with Agros foundation to design a training center where local rural people will be trained with various skills. Agros is a cool organization that partners with rural subsistence farmers. Check out their website at (www.agros.org)! Agros is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty for rural families in Central America and Mexico by enabling landless communities to achieve land ownership and economic stability. We will be meeting several volunteer design professionals from the States today in Guatemala City and then travel together for 7 hours to the village of Nebaj.
During the second week we will be in Guatemala City where we will partner with a local orphanage called Casa Bernabe. Here we will meet up with a different group of design professional volunteers. Our objective is to design a new structure that will be utilized as a primary school for the orphanage.
Both of these project trips are very exciting and will be a great opportunity to see God's hand at work around the world and provide a valuable service to these local ministries! Please keep us in your prayers! Pray for save travels, health, that we would have good relationships and be a blessing to the local ministries, and that we would complete an appropriate design in a timely manner. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Tico Rodeo!

2008-01-25T08:55:00.000-06:00

This week we got the opportunity to go to a Tico style Rodeo. The next town (Palmares) is currently having a big carnival type event with rides, food, fun, and bull riding! Tickets to get into the rodeo cost 4000 colones (about 8 dollars). You can purchase discount tickets for only 1500 colones but the catch is that you have to stand down in the bull ring... and take your chances with the wild bulls! Don't worry mom..... I am pretty cheap but I opted for the expensive seats! There were a surprisingly large number of crazy people though that decided to take their chances.... all men of course! Haha....
The bull riding was pretty impressive! There were a couple traditionalists but there were a couple riders that rode with no hands and backwards! My favorite part was the horses and riders that lassoed the bulls after the ride! So cool. The most entertaining.... and nerve-racking part was when they let a large water buffalo named 'Ricky Martin' run around the ring... chasing all of those men in the cheap seats! It was crazy! There were some seriously close calls but no one got seriously injured. However, toward the end of the night... one guy was running from one of the small bulls after its rider got thrown off.... he was running as fast as he could and managed to scale the fence before the bulls jagged horns connected with his bee-hind. BUT the animal's horns managed to catch the bottom of his pant leg as he scaled the fence and he was pulled down by the bull and dragged around about half of the ring until he got loose! It was scary to watch! But the guy got up... without any serious injuries! .... except to his ego and his pants that were completely ripped apart!
Wow... now that's a rodeo! Can't image anything like that happing in the States! I hope to get some pics up soon! Love you all!

Mi Familia Tica

2008-01-23T13:25:00.000-06:00

Here in Costa Rica I live with a host family. The family situation is very different than that which I expected... but it is great! I was told that I would be living with a single mom and a two-year-old. However, I in fact live with a mom and a dad with two kids and the sister of the wife. The mom and dad's names are Lucy and Walner. They have a 13 year old son named Christopher and a 2 year old son named Walner Jr. Lucy's sister's name is Flor.
Lucy and Walner own a used car sales business in San Jose (about 1 hour away from our town - Atenas). They work at the shop all day and then Lucy goes to class in San Jose in the evenings. They are gone every week day from about 7am to 10pm. Flor stays home with the kids all day and takes care of business around the house. It seems like a very good system... and everyone seems very happy.
I usually eat breakfast and dinner with my host family... but I usually eat alone in the mornings because everyone else has either already left for work or is still in bed. The food is very good! Breakfast typically consists of pinto (rice, black beans, and seasonings) and either some type of meat or an egg. I am enjoying the food and haven't found anything that I don't like, but I can see the beans and rice getting a little old.
I really enjoy the kids. Christopher is really nice and fun to hang out with. He is learning english and loves to ask me questions about life in America. I am also really enjoying spending time with the little one. He is so cute... and only screams when he is really tired. He loves to show me all of his toys and we have lots of fun playing with dinosaurs and cars.
After work I return to the house and hang out with Flor and the boys. We typically watch TV and play with Jr's toys. When mom and dad get home they eat dinner, watch TV, and we usually all go to bed around 11pm.
Living with a Tico family is good, especially to practice spanish. However, it is a little difficult since I am so shy. I want to do my part around the house but I don't know how to go about it. Flor is very gracious and always doing so much for me. She will never ask me to do any kind of chores, but I might just have to start doing some soon. I do think that she appreciated me playing with Jr even though I don't really do much to help take care of him.
Life is good. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I learn to love my family and as my team and I prepare to head to Guatemala in a couple days.

Getting Orientated!

2008-01-18T13:46:00.000-06:00

I am finishing up orientation week in Colorado Springs in preparation for my internship in Costa Rica. It has been an incredible week of fellowship and inspiration. It is so great to meet people from all over the world that share the same passion for serving the nations... with their design skills!

In small groups we are reading through the book of Joshua. It is an incredible book of encouragement as we prepare for the journey ahead.

"Be strong and courageous . Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

I am ready to enter the mission field with strength and courage, knowing that the Lord will always be at my side. He gives me authority and power to do His work. What an incredible God I serve.

Prayer Requests:

*Safe travels to Costa Rica (Saturday)
*Peace and Courage as I enter the mission field
*Discipline to be immersed in God's Word

*Meeting and getting to know my host family in Costa Rica

*Unity within eMi Costa Rica team

The eMi Costa Rica Interns: Josh, Ali, Steph, Brad

I graduated! Time to grow up? ...nah!

2008-01-09T23:37:00.000-06:00

On December 21st I officially graduated from the University of Colorado! I have my bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and passed my CRAZY 8-hr exam so I am now considered an 'Engineer in Training'. Let the training begin!

Thank you to all of you for your love and encouragement over the last few years! You really made a huge difference in my life and helped me to survive college!

Introducing.... COSTA RICA

2007-10-27T13:50:00.001-06:00

Costa Rica is located in Central America and is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country is about the size of West Virginia and is comprised of 9 provinces.

Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a long history of stable democracy. The current president is Oscar Arias who began his second term in 2006. The country has no military by constitutional law and has avoided much of the violence that plagues much of Latin America. Costa Rica is an active member of the United Nations.

Quick Facts:

Population: 4,133,884

Language: Spanish

Area: 2,725 sq miles

Capital: San Jose

Religion: 75% Roman Catholic (official state religion), 17% Protestant, 8% Other (Buddist, Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu)

President: Oscar Arias

Indepence: From Spain in 1821

Government: Constitutional Republic

Literacy Rate: 96%

Bound for Central America...

2007-10-13T17:16:00.001-06:00

Hello!
As you may or may not know, I am graduating from the University of Colorado in December with a degree in Civil Engineering. I am excited to inform you that I have accepted an intern position with Engineering Ministries International in Costa Rica!!! I will be in Costa Rica from January to July 2007. Please check back often for updates, prayer requests, funny stories, and pictures! Drop me a line whenever you have a chance... I would love to hear from you!
Cheers,
Ali