Tropicana Ward

We have been here only a week and a half and have fallen in love with the Tropicana Ward in Alajuela. They are one of the few wards in Costa Rica, most congregations are branches or groups. We have met so many wonderful people at church that have welcomed us and offered help wherever possible. Last night, Eduardo took Seth out to help him purchase a new vehicle. Eduardo has experience as a mechanic and knows the ins and outs of buying a vehicle here, which apparently is very complicated. It's required by law to have a lawyer help with the transaction. Seth was able to find a microbus for us that is decent, but not too nice. Perfect for us. 

Last night, Ethan and Sean met the Seminary teacher, a young mother who speaks only Spanish. She gave them the materials and we talked with the bishopric as they were there too. Many people speak varying levels of English, but most don't, so the conversation is usually in Spanish. The handful of interactions we've had with church members have been the best Spanish practice by far. They are very friendly, they really care about us and want to talk with us. They are willing to speak simply and slowly and they really want to build a friendship. 

The bishop pulled me aside (he speaks English) and asked us again what our plans are. I told him that we love the ward, but we found other areas we'd prefer to live, like Atenas. He asked me about previous callings we've had and told me that they are praying for a miracle that we will stay in this ward. They have two callings in the young women and young men that need filling ASAP and they want to put us in. I told him we'd be there 100% for 3 weeks, but no guarantees after that. I told him that we travel a lot and every ward we visit begs us to stay. Every ward needs us. That's one reason why we are here. I do find myself wishing we could find a situation here in the Tropicana Ward that we could be happy with so we could stay and help them a little longer. 

Last night I looked up language immersion classes nearby. I feel an urgency to get us all to fluency in Spanish. The Lord needs us as soon as we are ready and able to help. The faster we can learn, the more we can serve. 

Ethan:Week 1

Hola amigos,

So, we are finally in Costa Rica and are going to be for a while. It has been quite an adventure this past week from the people yelling in Spanish on street corners to looking at all the exotic fruit in the downtown market. Right now, I am going to tell you about getting here, my observation of the Costa Rican drivers, and the amazing food they have here! 

The first day involved long plane rides and finding our house in the crowded city. We got up at 5am, hopped on a plane and, BAM!, in about 6 hours we arrived in Costa Rica. We each brought a roll behind carry-on, a backpack, and one checked bag (1 for the whole family) and that was it. After renting some cars, and finding our house, we crashed, seeing as everyone was tired from the long day.

The driving down here is a little wild so I will say a few things on that. The folks down here only slow down a little bit for stop signs (Alto) and the only rule seems to be “when you can go, go”. Despite the lack of traffic rules, there is no road rage and the motorists are very friendly. The people will let you merge without a problem, and most people have their windows down so they can wave you on at an intersection or to pass. All the people that really want to get anywhere in a decent amount of time are on Motorcycles. Cyclists can pass between cars when there is traffic, which there almost always is. When you are in traffic on the highway you can always stop and buy a bag of plantain chips from the pedestrian venders and munch on those for a while. It’s always fun when you have to navigate around busses on a two-lane highway with a stick shift.

You can get food, and especially fruit, pretty cheap but it’s hard to tell with the monetary system they have here. The natives, Ticos, (they call the white people Gringos but I haven’t heard the people use that term yet) are pretty poor on average so use a system of money similar to the peso. They use Colónes, for which it is about 500 Colones for one American dollar, a loaf of bread only cost a buck and a half (760 Colones). The Colón is named after Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) who actually landed in Costa Rica on one of his several trips to the Americas. You can get six small Piῆas (pineapples) for about 1,000 Colones of you go to the market or a tienda (small store). By the way, the fruit here is amazing! We have piῆas, bananas and mangos nearly every day in a smoothie for breakfast. There are these little red spiky fruits called manon chinos which you break open and there is a small grape with a pit in it. They are a really good snack!

In the cities there are little restaurants called Sodas where you can get real Costa Rican food. We had some papusas and empanadas in the city that were muy bueno! I get the feeling like you can’t really eat a lot as there isn’t a lot of it the first place and beans can make you really really full. Our family is used to eating a lot so we are always ready to eat and have snacks, like right now (Mmmmmmm………..mangos……..). Anyway, the food is super fresh and juicy except the oranges (they are green and drier than I am used to).

It has been a good week but not nearly as bad as I imagined. Very few people speak English and if they do they are in the touristy places. Looks like I’m going to have to learn Spanish after all. We had two birthdays this week Isaac (now 9) on the 20th and Luke (now 6) on the 23^rd, it wasn’t much of a celebration but at least they got a cake! The Costa Rican slogan is the “Pura Vida” (The Pure Life) and people always say that to us as tourists. If we don’t get in a crash or get our wallets stolen I think we’ll survive!

Ciao!

Ethan

Firsts Week in CR

We have now been in Costa Rica for a little less than a week and are getting settled. One thing I learned from living at Pony Creek for two months this summer is that it does take time to get settled and I can't judge how I feel about a place for a few weeks, until we figure out some routines. Everything is new and it's hard to relax when we meet new challenges so often. 

When I woke up on the morning of our flight, all the words and looks everyone has been giving us came crashing down on me and suddenly I felt how crazy this all sounded. What ARE we going to do when we get there? Once we landed in San Jose, however, things came thick and fast and there has not been any time to question. All along, Seth and I have figured that, worse comes to worse, we just buy plane tickets and go home! One thing is for sure: time is on our side. We have no expectations or deadlines and we have the freedom to take as long as we need to solve problems. 

We originally thought we could get away with not having a car. People have said the bus systems are good and we are trying to do this as cheaply as possible. But when I mentioned this to Lyn, who runs our Airbnb, she flipped...and now I see why. We are living on a dirt road about half a mile from the bus station. I can just see us getting caught in a downpour walking home. If it were just the two of us, different story, but with a 4 year old who melts down because we no longer own a glue stick? Not good. 

We found that renting two compact cars is much cheaper than a larger vehicle, so guess who gets to learn to drive in CR? Me! Luckily my dad taught me to drive a stick, so we avoided that upcharge. Driving in a developing country is an adventure, but I'm glad I'm being forced to do it. It does cause me stress as I'm learning, but being too afraid to drive would be a long term problem I'm avoiding. Once I realized there's virtually no such thing as road rage and everyone cuts everyone off all the time, it's gotten a bit easier. The worst thing you can do is not go fast enough or wait too long at an intersection. But even then, no one seems to mind. Horns and flashers are used to announce your presence, and no one seems to care what anyone else does. They'll just go around you.  And when I'm unsure, someone will often waive me in or through an intersection. 

We got here on a Saturday afternoon, so we had just enough time to get our cars, check into our place and run to the local mercado for Sunday food.  We attended the Tropicana Ward on Sunday, just guessing at which ward we belonged too. Because the addresses are sketchy here, LDS tools didn't recognize ours. Luckily we got it right and hopefully they will transfer our records before we move on to our next place in a month. We told them we are temporary, but looking for a house. The bishop, who was out of town for the meeting, texted Seth that night and a couple of days later we got some suggestions from him on rental listings within the ward boundary. 

I made a few contacts before I got here, one was the Ayala family. They live a block away from the temple and their son had been a mission compaion to Jonathan Curzon in Nicaragua. I have been communicating with them for several months and we finally met on Sunday afternoon. They are from El Salvador, but have lived in CR for many, many years. Sister Ayala speaks very little English and it is great for my Spanish practice. I can understand most of what she says but it is still hard for me to respond. Her husband and children spoke English and we had this funny conversation switching back and forth between Spanish and English whenever we couldn't quite find the right words. 

That was a tiring day. Listening to and speaking Spanish all day was exhaustin. But at 5am I was at it again! The Ayala's invited me to a local wholesale market (open between 10pm and 7am) that sells fruits and vegetables to businesses. Jenna and I woke up at 4:30 to pick up Jorge and Dora. By the end of our trip our little car was overflowing. Everything is sold by the box or kilo. I ended up with 16 kilos (35 lbs) of potatoes because the price was right. 12 pinneapples, a box of mangoes, 2 boxes of bananans and various other things in smaller amounts. Prices are very good for fruits and vegetables, but not for meat, eggs and cheese. In order to get the most for our money, we change the way we eat. It is a relief to have enough food while we deal with other challenges. 

Isaac's birthday was on Tuesday, so we made a trip to Jaco Beach. Traffic was bad at a particular intersection, so we diverted through the small town of Atenas. It's mountainous and the roads are so steep that I was in first gear most of the way up and down. But oh how beautiful! I am surprised at how clean everything is. I've been to a few third world countries and Costa Rica has a similar feel (barbed wire topped fences, cinderblock buildings and potholes), but there isn't garbage everywhere and people take care of their property, even in the city. But these small towns were above and beyond picturesque! After making that drive, we're going to have to apologize to the Tropicana Ward. We really aren't city people, and there is so much country to see. 

Jaco Beach was another totally unique experience. You could tell it is a tourist destination. The shops and hotels were very nice and the prices reflected it. We loved it. I have a feeling we are going to fall in love with every place we visit.