Well I'll be derned...

When you read the title of this blog make sure you read it with a southern accent…its just more fun that way.
Anywho…as you may or may not know I have about 2 hours of bus time all by myself every day. Now you have two options on a bus by yourself you can A.) secure your bookbag around your arm, snuggle up to the window (or your neighbor I suppose…I always opt for the window), and take a nap. Or you can B.) stare out the window and contemplate everything and anything. Occasionally I choose option C which is form my blog in my head so I can write it later…problem is I always forget the really funny thing I was going to write before I get home.
And so today I shall be recounting things that--were I from the south--I might react to by saying “well I’ll be darned…don’t that just beat all.”
1. Sunday I watched the Superbowl in Spanish. I expected the English commercials to be dubbed over. Nope they were just totally replaced with Spanish commercials…which meant for the first and perhaps only time I watched the most watched sporting event in the USA with 70% of the commercials advertising upcoming soccer games. Loved it.
2. Also Sunday we sang the ever popular “hay vino celestial” song in church. The majority of words in the song are “hay vino celestial” which translates to there is heavenly wine. Super funny for a number of reasons…1 we would never sing that at good ol college church of the Nazarene and number 2 most evangelical Christians here are super anti any and all alcohol. Good times. I laugh through the whole song but that’s cool here they probably just think im drunk in the holy spirit.
3. This week I was given the privilege/ challenge of translating for a medical team that came to la carpio. Last time I got to do the eye doctor, it was easy and painless. Which meant that this time I was assigned to the dentist. There is nothing easy or painless about dentistry. And now I know exactly what the dentist is doing when he goes inside my mouth. Kind of wish I hadn’t seen the dentist tools that look suspiciously like they could also work to build a house. But other than watching lots of teeth being pulled, fillings being filled, and after having to get right in the face of a 88 year old man and yell the translations, I have decided one thing…I don’t want to be a dentist. Which is excellent news since I had always thought it would be super fun to spend my entire life looking in someone else’s nasty mouth (note sarcasm here) Really though it was a neat experience. The dentist and his wife were super nice and really appreciative of my presence (seeing as how they can’t communicate without me) I described this week as like watching a train wreck. You absolutely don’t want to witness it but at the same time it is so fascinating you can’t turn away. That’s how translating for a dentist is…although I definitely turned away several times.
4. I distinctly remember signing up for elementary education when I chose a college major for the fact that I rather dislike high schoolers. Too much attitude, not enough eagerness to learn. I also remember deciding not to get an endorsement in math, even though I like it, because I really didn’t see myself teaching it. Welp…God has a good sense of humor because now I am teaching 7th grade math to a bunch of high schoolers. I am dealing with attitudes I had wanted to avoid, teaching the subject that only math teachers enjoy, and to top it off I’m teaching it in Spanish.
5. I also remember not choosing to just flat out major in Spanish education when I started college because I knew I would never have the guts to study abroad for a semester. Ha. God changed that plan by junior year of college when I did study abroad, and now its just been blown out of the water since I have been here nearly 5 months and have another 3 to go.
6. Another fun Katie tidbit (that may very well only be interesting to me and my overly loving family) When I entered ONU in the fall of 2006 I had been to exactly 6 states (including Illinois where I have lived my whole life) I had never seen mountains, I didn’t have a passport, I had never even been to Michigan let alone seen the east coast. I had been away from home for exactly 1 week in my life. I lived in the same house my whole life. I went to college in the same town as that same house where I lived my whole life. I was a townie…to an extreme. It is now 2011 and it is shocking how much I have seen, done, and experienced in 5 short years.
2006…went to Colorado for soccer preseason…saw mountains, added 3 states to my list of states I have been to.
2007…went to Guatemala. Got a passport. Went on my first missions trip. Didn’t see my family for 2 weeks…longest time away on record. Went to florida for soccer…saw the east coast for the first time…added something like 5 states to my list.
2008…changed my Spanish minor to a major so I would have to study abroad. Worked at OnGoal soccer all summer, 3 weeks away from home two different times…new record. Added at least 3 states to my list.
2009…studied abroad. Added Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama to my passport stamp collection. 4 months away from home…new record.
2010…Graduated university. Went to Kenya. Had a layover in Holland. Two more stamps for the passport and two new continents.
September 2010…packed my life in a suitcase and duffle bag and moved to Costa Rica. Went to Nicaragua again to renew my visa. Two more passport stamps.
2011…still in CR. Went to Nicaragua again to renew my visa. More stamps. Currently 5 months away from home…new record.
Well I’ll be darned…if God just ain’t gone an turned my life right upside down! (ps the southern accent thing I think is brought on by the fact that the team I translated for is from Oklahoma…don’t hardly have accents but I like to pretend they do.)
And that’s my life in a nut shell. Lots of changes all of them for the better as far as I can tell…minus the whole spending increasingly more time away from home each year. What does the future hold? I have no idea. But I imagine in another 5 years if I look back on it I’ll probably be thinking to myself… “well I’ll be…if that just don’t beat all.”
Last thought…if you have never taken an hour bus ride by yourself you should do it…lots of time to think…in whatever accent you choose.
Hope your all surviving the snow storms. Its 80 and sunny here if you get the urge to come visit.
Pura vida
kt

Between a Piedra and a hard place

This Sunday started out like any other. There were fights and whining and tears and we worked to get 6 people through the shower, dressed, and breakfasted before church. (for the record I neither fought, whined, or cried. Actually I went about my business and then sat on my bed and read for a half hour) Anyway. Church was the same as always, worship was loud and boisterous with lots of flag waving. Then the pastor started to speak at which point I began to day dream. It’s a bad habit I know but this pastor speaks loudly, quickly, and uses a lot of slang without a lot of Bible verses to keep me from getting lost. But then the pastor had to leave early so he had arranged for 2 other pastors to speak after him (you need 3 pastors to fill a 2.5 hour church service) so those two came up and both spoke slower and with lots of Bible verses so I was able to follow a bit better which made me happy. After church we walked for about 30 minutes around La Sabana park to get to the bus stop (it would only take about 10 minutes if I was by myself but well there’s nothing quite like a leisurely tican stroll after church…even when everybody is complaining they are hungry. Anywho we got home and the boys plopped down in front of the tv. Mama China my host mom got to work in the kitchen and I went to my bedroom and read the book I had been reading before church. We ate lunch mostly peacefully but when Emanuel and Emily started fighting about who got to drink the juice at the bottom of the salad bowl I decided I just couldn’t take another 6 and 9 year old whining match and so I went to my room and closed the door. Deciding to be utterly selfish and spend the day on me time rather than watching TV or hanging out with the family. I started out my Me time by finishing the book I was reading “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls a fascinating memoir that I borrowed from my old study abroad professor. Then I decided it would be a delightful time to take a nap. Well I laid down to nap and aside from the blinding afternoon sun which was streaming in the window and onto my eyes, I just couldn’t get my brain to shut off. You see from today I am a meager 106 days away from being home and I don’t know what I’m doing when I get there. And no I don’t have a countdown going I needed to see how far over my visa I will be when I return to the states to make sure I won’t get in too much trouble if I get caught (every 90 days I have to leave the country)…in case you’re wondering I’ll only be 10 days over so I’m not too worried. So I figured what’s the next best thing to do by myself that isn’t reading (I’m saving my last book for my trip to Nicaragua Thursday) and isn’t sleeping which just isn’t going to happen today. Well about the only other entertainment source I have is my faithful laptop. And so I pulled it out and decided to jot down some of my bajillion thoughts so that they aren’t still bouncing around in my mind when I go to sleep tonight.

Well what came out was 3 single spaced pages of questions and thoughts and reflections and absolutely no answers. Part of the problem is that I’m not one of those people who has felt a call since they were 6 to be a missionary and thus I’m not positive if it is meant to be a long term thing for me. Another part of the problem is that I feel incredibly useful here. Sometimes to the point of being overwhelmed with responsibilities but still it’s great to feel needed. And every time I think about having to say goodbye to all the people of La Carpio and my host family I start hoping the 106 days will drag on forever. Then there is the whole teaching question. I am teaching right now and am being challenged as a teacher more than I expected to be here but do I want to continue teaching the way I am without boundaries and with my own agenda but also with limited resources or do I want to teach in a more traditional school setting. (one of millions of questions I don’t have concrete answers to). And then there is the ever popular question of Where in this world will I end up? And world literally means world in my case as I am always open to the idea of travel (almost always anyway).

And so as I sat there, pondering the future I don’t have any answers to. I thought of one word. Trust.

It all boils down to Trust. If I really and truly trust God with my life then I don’t need to have the answers. He will always take care of me.

And perhaps he isn’t calling me to anything greater than Trusting Him at the moment.

And thus my decision to not make any decisions. At least for now. I am going to pour myself into my time here in CR, savoring every minute, and I’m going to trust that God will let me know what my next move is in his own sweet time. And so alas my day planner my host family bought me for Christmas (they know me too well) shall remain empty beyond May 14^th (the day I get home) with a few minor exceptions like the ever important date of Becca’s high school graduation J

SO…to those of you who may be just as curious as I am about what the future holds for me. The answer is I have no idea but I know I don’t have to figure it out in the next 106 days. (also if you’re every chatting with me and I begin to fret about the future please remind me of my little blog here and how its not in my hands anyway.)

And so to all of you who have no idea what you’re doing with the rest of your life and to those of you who know exactly what you are doing for the rest of your life. Enjoy each day. Or as the soccer team would say Carpe Diem. And Trust that it’s all in God’s hands anyway.

Love you all!

God Bless.

KT.

Top 9 (10 is so over used) reasons I love San Jose, Costa Rica.
1. There is never a shortage of kahkie wearing tourists filling the streets for me to watch and secretly laugh at (not maliciously of course, just in a I´m enjoying the way you so very efficiently live up to every stereotype ever made about tourists)
2. Its the only place I have ever found photocopies for 10 colones a piece...i can get 50 copies for a dollar.
3. There are always people dressed up as Barney and Baby bop and today we got more creative and had a woody and buzz from toy story hanging out in the center of san jo.
4. As i write this I am listening to a free concert I happened upon, and i do enjoy free music.
5. There are strange people everywhere...which both makes me happy and which makes people watching so enjoyable. A quick example of a strange person would be the 50s something woman who is dancing around at this free concert i´m watching. She is not in anyway a professional, shes not with the band, other people are not dancing, but she is just going with the music. And the Best part? Its not the first time ive seen her. 2 years ago when i was here for my study abroad I went to a random free concert in a park and who was there dancing on stage? none other than barefoot, curly-died blond-haired lady. Gotta love it.
6. Even in this bustling city people are still Latin enough that a few hundred will stop and listen to a concert or enjoy a street performance.
7. Because without San Jose the introvert in me would go nuts. I need a bit of alone time to think only in English or to not think at all and where is the best place to be alone? Dead center of a bustling city. Every friday like clockwork you can find me somewhere near the heart of San Jose. Alone, surrounded by people, and loving life.
8. Pegeons. Everywhere. and people paying to feed and have their pictures with them.
9. People handing out flyers...in 2 days I have recieved 3 flyers to learn english...i think if i get 10 flyers before i leave in 4 months i will sign up for English classes and see what i can learn.

Anywho. life is going well here. current job description is librarian-individual english tutor-math teacher. which keeps me busy but i enjoy it all. slightly less than 4 months till i come home which is crazy. Hope all is well where ever you may be.

pura vida
kt

Campamento 2011

~Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Prior to campamento with the kids from La Carpio I was extremely nervous. I didn’t know who my campers were or even how many I would have. I hadn’t seen the program and didn’t know what to bring for what activities. I hadn’t seen the Bible studies and didn’t know how to prepare for camp. This may be totally normal for the Costa Ricans but for a gringa about to be in charge of kids who speak another language I was slightly freaking out. For a while we weren’t sure where the money was going to come from to pay for camp and a small part of me thought well that would solve my worries wouldn’t it…if we just canceled camp.

But praise to God that we didn’t. Camp was absolutely amazing. I had 6 campers between the age of 11 and 13. The girls were amazing and were excited to be at camp. There were problems of course but in general I couldn’t have asked for a better week. So here are a few highlights just to give you a glimpse of what we did…

1. averaged 4.75 hours of sleep a night

2. swam in a pool twice that was maybe 70 degrees

3. spent the evenings running through camp and walking in forests blindfolded or without light, and no one got hurt!

4. drank hot chocolate every evening and every morning…made me really happy.

5. bathed twice in 5 days…you would too if the water was 60 degrees and it was only 50 degrees outside in the morning. J

6. got to help translate for gringos that were at camp as well.

7. my campers joined with a group of boy campers to make a tribu (tribe) and our battle cry was Tome ChiChi!

8. I had three square meals a day of rice beans and meat of some sort and had dessert of pineapple after every breakfast and lunch.

9. Every morning the leaders had a meeting that lasted at least 2 hours and started at 5 am…good times

10. On the last day of camp my campers won a prize for always being on time to events…jaja perks of having a gringa for a counselor.

One of the best things that happened at camp was something that was a complete change of events from what had been scheduled. Originally we were going to sleep outside on the last night. Keep in mind we were in the mountains and it probably dropped to about 45 degrees in the night and most of the kids had one thin blanket. For a number of reasons…not just the cold…I was uncomfortable with the activity and had been worrying about it since I learned about it at the meeting in December. All of camp I was working with my campers and gaining their trust, telling them about Jesus, and things were going well. But in the back of my mind was this closing event that I was worrying about and stressing about a little. Then along came Thursday night the night we were to do the event I was preparing to go to a meeting and it began to rain. Not too hard but enough that you didn’t want to be outside. I began to think oh no there is no possible way they can make these kids sleep outside in the rain and cold. Then I began to pray that the rain would make the directors rethink the activity. I went to the meeting and we chatted as normal and then as the kids began to arrive at dinner they finally told us that they had canceled the event. For the rain, the lack of blankets, and because they felt like the event may have the reverse effect of what we were hoping for. I practically did a happy dance right there in the meeting. I was completely at peace from that point on. And the rain cleared up another event was planned and my campers told me the next day that that night was the most fun of camp. For me it was one of the most obvious times of the week that God had his hand in the camp. And it made me realize how pointless my worrying had been. If I had prayed about the event from the beginning and put it all in God’s hands the weeks leading up to camp would have been far more peaceful. It was one of those really cool reminders that when we really are trying to do God’s will He will take care of the details.

So over all camp was a huge success. I was able to ditch my introvert tendencies…because I was literally never alone. I was able to have energy even on few hours of sleep. Although I did sleep 12 hours last night and still feel as though I will probably need a nap in the afternoon today. Communication was almost never a problem and my campers taught me words in the Bible studies that I didn’t know. And the camp was absolutely beautiful. The week was a constant reminder of one of my favorite verses…My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness. When I could hardly hold my eyes open; when I answered questions in English without realizing it until the girls blank stares told me they didn’t understand; when I was told to make a cheer with my campers (rhymes in Spanish are not a strong point of mine…in fact I’m completely inept at them)…I would take a deep breath and remember that it was in God’s hands, that camp was not about me being the best counselor in the world it was about showing the kids the love of Jesus Christ. And as inadequate as I am to spread the love of Christ I knew it was out of my hands and that God’s power is perfect in my weakness.

I have 4.5 months left here in CR and I’m praying they go by slowly, that I able to absorb all that God has to teach me here, and that my weaknesses will be used to glorify God.

Campamento 2011: 4 days, 100 campers, cold showers, little sleep, and the abounding Love of God

Feliz año nuevo!

Hola todos,
Happy new year! These holidays have been completely different but completely wonderful as well. In case you didnt know my family came down and spent christmas with me here in CR. We spent half their time at the beach and I can officially say I have spent Christmas day playing in the ocean and watching an incredible sunset. We had a great time at the beach and then came back and explored San Jose a couple of days. Then yesterday night I celebrated New Years with my Tico family. We grilled a variety of meat...and then ate it. Quite yummy. Then with 5 minutes to spare we went outside (in shorts and a t'shirt I should add...something that would never happen on newyears in Chicago) and counted down the new years. our house is on the corner of two streets so we stood in the middle and watched fireworks being shot off from every direction. It was great, kids ran through the streets blowing whistles, noisy fireworks shot off about 100 meters away from us, and everyone who passed shouted feliz año. And to make things even better...I slept in till 11am today. Loved it.

So 2010 is gone. Goodness how time flys.
This year I...
Student taught 4th graders
Graduated from ONU
Went on vacation for 10 days to CR
Went on a two week mission trip to Kenya and had my passport stamped in both Kenya and Holland.
Did absolutely nothing the month of August
Spent 3 months in Costa Rica teaching english and math
Learned to surf...sort of...in Nicaragua
Spent Christmas at the beach with my family
And rang in the new years with my tico family.
Overall an awesome year...and a rather fulfilling one for my passport.
2011??
What will the new year hold??
Si Dios Quiere...Ill be in CR till May 14th having all sorts of adventures and beyond that I havent the slightest idea.
Hope you have all had a blessed year and that God will continue to challenge and bless you.
Happy New Year
God Bless
Pura vida
KT

the 12 days of Christmas...Costa rica style

This is all the confetti in the streets of San Jose...Basically the people used it as snow and had a massive, everyone is invited, snowball fight...it was awesome.

So it has been brought to my attention that I have been slacking in the communicating home department the last few weeks so here is a short recap of what ive been up to. And no these events have not actually taken place on the first 12 days of December but well I thought it would be fun to write in the style of the 12 days of Christmas. Also an added bonus for all you at home…if your super bored and no one is around you can sing todays blog!

On the first day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…Thanksgiving, a week late and without yummy bars but still delicious.

On the second day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a whiteboard filled with “once upon a time” stories made by two bored ESL teachers without any students

On the third day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a day at the pool getting sunburned and playing soccer.

On the fourth day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me… A meeting about campamento that made me both very excited and very nervous

On the fifth day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…ALL FIVE STUDENTS showed up to math!

On the sixth day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a going away ice cream from POPS for our departing Canadian…it was delicious.

On the seventh day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a sleepover with CFCI from El Salvador…complete with popcorn and a movie

On the eighth day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a very short count-down to when my family gets here!

On the ninth day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a day of babysitting the host siblings, did crafts, played outside, and ate popcorn…definitely a success.

On the tenth day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…the festival of lights, a parade and fireworks show which we started off with about a 30 minute walk down the side of the highway.

On the eleventh day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a Confetti snow ball fight in San Jose…everything was covered in confetti including me…it was awesome.

On the twelfth day of Christmas Costa Rica gave to me…a Gingerbread house making day…which is where I’m off to this afternoon.

So yeah as you can see I have been very busy with parties and end of the year festivities so sorry the communication has been lacking. Merry almost Christmas everyone! And Shoutout to Becca who turned 18 yesterday...Happy Birthday little sister!

Love you all!

KT

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So Thanksgiving is a mere 5 days away and I am going to miss it sorely. We are having a missionary party with all the fixings but its not till Dec. 2 so I have to wait an extra week to get my turkey coma. But since the tendency would be for me to lament missing such a delicious holiday…and the fact that even when we do have it there wont be yummy bars. I have decided to make a rather obnoxious but still incomplete list of things I am grateful for.
I am thankful for…
1. Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins
2. my family
3. my friends
4. Costa Rica
5. Diversity
6. Host families
7. Food
8. Shelter
9. sunshine
10. rain
11. snow
12. kids
13. the elderly
14. school
15. my education
16. books
17. bubbles
18. mountains
19. plains
20. beaches
21. oceans/rivers/lakes
22. clean drinking water
23. public transportation
24. different languages
25. ice cream
26. chocolate
27. peanut butter
28. any combination of the above mentioned 3
29. freedom
30. the choice to give up some freedom to experience new cultures
31. the internet
32. fotos
33. sunrises
34. sunsets
35. cultural blunders
36. language barriers…like the fact that twice I have used the word for dust in place of the word for turkey thus making me ask a lady at a café if I could have a dust sandwich 
37. the hustle and bustle of the city
38. the calmness of the country
39. alone time
40. time with friends
41. fruit
42. the texano sandwich I just ate which contained BBQ sauce the first time ive had it in 2 months
43. travel
44. jeans
45. avocado, jelly, and guacamole…3 things I swore I hated before I tried them about 2 years ago 
46. laughter
47. good health
48. allergy medicine
49. tissues
50. toilet paper
51. art
52. dance…watching it that is…like the break dancers I watched in San Jose…I felt like I was inside Step Up 2…ha ha
53. the Olympics
54. curling and golf…to remind me that some people have radically different likes than me
55. journals
56. blogs
57. oxygen
58. gallo pinto
59. youth groups
60. honesty
61. bookbags
62. fotocopy shops
63. churches
64. the Bible
65. telephones
66. bicycles
67. the ability to plug my ears if I don’t want to listen to people making out
68. doctors and nurses…even if I never go to them
69. soccer
70. the ONU soccer team…who I should mention have their first round of NAIA playoffs today!!
71. ONU in general
72. street performers in San Jose
73. natural abilities/gifts
74. being thrown into difficult situations
75. English
76. Christmas lights
77. Love
78. Forgiveness
79. Patient people
80. Listening ears
81. Corny Jokes
82. rainbows
83. flowers
84. wise counsel
85. airplanes
86. teachers
87. librarians
88. coaches
89. the poor…who so often have their priorities in the right order, we can learn a lot from them
90. second chances
91. Disney movies and great friends to watch them with…Wingapo!
92. Bourbonnais
93. Music
94. Eyes with which to people watch
95. tourists and their khaki safari outfits
96. animals
97. being a middle child
98. the unknown
99. curly afro headed children
100. the realization of how blessed I really am

So yeah if you read all those…Im impressed. And even as I write those about 100 more pop into my head.
So if your having a bad day or are feeling down right annoyed with the world I suggest making a similar list because when your thinking of all the good there is its really hard to stay ticked off.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I’m thankful for YOU!
KT