La-La-La-Lengua

When we were in Springfield for Pre-Field Orientation Alex and Maggie went through MK camp. One of their tasks was MK Eating Ministry. Basically they had to eat exotic foods with a smile on their face and without complaining. This week we had our own eating ministry. Fortunately, however, we only had each other to smile for. Sujan made us a dish with lengua, or cow tongue. Before it was cooked it looked nasty. It looked probably like you'd expect, a giant tongue rolled up. Gross!! But, she wanted to cook it for us because here in Costa Rica it is a great delicacy. So we thought, hey, everything is worth a try.

We didn't tell Alex and Maggie what we were having before we ate. Once cooked, the meat inside was extremely soft, but the outside was tough. I personally had a rough time eating it with a nice big smile! The inside didn't taste so bad, but thinking about it made it difficult to swallow. Corey enjoyed it and Alex and Maggie seemed to like it. Once they were finished I asked Alex and Maggie if they wanted to know what they had eaten. Alex said no. Maggie said yes. I told her it was cow tongue and she started yelling "Ew, gross! That's disgusting!"

We're glad we tried it, but unless we're visiting Tico friends who happen to serve it, we won't be indulging in lengua anytime soon! Here's a picture of it cooked...

~Tona

A Young Missionary In Training

We have always tried to incorporate Alex and Maggie in our ministry. We've never wanted them to feel that mom and dad are working, but that they learn they also have a ministry and that God wants to use them, too. In a few weeks Alex will take a huge step of boldness and take part in his first Latin America outreach. On March 10th Luis Palau (http://www.palau.org/lpea/festivals/) is coming to San Jose. Throughout the weekend the central market will be filled with activities and demonstrations to capture the attention of the locals. There is a huge emphasis on children's ministry during this time. Cincel was asked to form a team to help take part in this process. We were given a 15 minute window of ministry time.

As the plan is set now we will open with a fun song, do a skit and have a closing prayer. This is where Alex comes in. Before asking him, I volunteered Alex to be in the skit - with the understanding that he may not accept. But when I explained the skit to him and why we were doing it he was instantly eager to be part. I am sometimes guilty of expecting too little from my children. I thought he would make comments about not wanting to be in front of a crowd or be insecure about doing a skit that's all in Spanish, but he didn't even think twice about it. I was touched by his sense of servanthood. I'll try to explain the skit. It's a bit heavy.

In a nutshell the skit is a boy and his father in the car discussing his day. As the conversation moves to the topic of church and God the father expresses that he doesn't buy into all that, that's mom's thing. At some point in the conversation the boy tells his father he wants to be just like him. Suddenly they are in a car accident. The scene changes where they are now in heaven in front of an angel with the Book of Life. The angel explains that neither the father nor the boy can enter. Satan rejoices that he has won not just the father, but the son.

Like I said, this is a bit of a heavy skit, but I explained it to Alex and he understood the message and wants to share it with the people on the street. So please, be praying for him and all of the teams working during this weekend (March 10-12). Pray for San Jose and Costa Rica, that God will move mightily in this city and country.
~Tona

Ready to Drive!

Before I tell you about our day, there is another funny tidbit. The day after I posted about banana bread the gardner came to manicure the lawn and guess what... he cut down another huge bunch of bananas!!!

Anyway, today Corey and I experienced a new kind of adventure. We were fortunately blessed with the best experience of all our peers. We went to get our Costa Rican drivers licenses. Our first stop was to a "doctor"for an "exam" before we could apply. Another friend along with the director of the school came with us for this adventure. The doctor had all three of us in at the same time. His office reaked of smoke! He went down a list of questions: do we smoke, do we drink, do we take medications, etc. When it got to our height and weight he guesstimated. (He was very kind with the weight...lol). We took an eye exam of sorts where we had to identify objects from across the room and he had us do things like shake our wrists and lift a leg to show we could drive. It was the funniest doctor's exam I have ever experienced. At the end he stamped approval on our license applications and off we went to the "DMV".

We first had to go to an office to get our passports validated. They basically had this big paper notebook where by hand they wrote in everyone who presented a passport. Next it was on to a line where they entered your info into a computer. After that you get in line for the bank where you pay for your license. Next it was on to the line to wait for your picture and eventually your license. Corey and I got through this process just fine, but our friend got to the last station and found out the first computer station input her birthday wrong. You would think it would be a quck click on the computer, but instead she had to go back to station one. After waiting in line again they gave her a new paper that had to be signed by a supervisor, but when she went to the supervisor's office he had just left for an hour lunchbreak. Corey and I departed at this time and I'm not sure if she was able to get her license today. Anyway, it was quite an experience and now we are officially Costa Rican residents!
~Tona

Want Some Banana Bread?

Our overage of bananas has turned our kitchen into a bakery. We distributed a lot of the bananas, but we realize now we should have given out a whole lot more. I spent the past two days making banana bread! It's been fun, though. It's really amusing what gets everybody excited. I took the bread to school - we have a snack table that you can buy candy bars - and I put the bread out with a sign that said "free" and I never even had a chance to get a piece. (This was in a very large 10X15 pan or so). The natives were especially excited because usually when someone puts baked goods out they ask for a little bit back. So with my overage of bananas I was able to take another large tray of bread in for the students, a separate tray in for the professors and a bunch of mini-loaves for my classes! We still have a bunch of bread left - oh yeah, I forgot to add in that I had already delivered bread a couple times to our neighbors, too. So if you're in the mood for banana bread and can get here in the next day or two... come on down!

~Tona

Hanging Chads

It feels a bit like deja vu. In an incredibly familiar (to us) outcome, the presidential election is too close to call. There are two candidates within a .07 percent difference in votes. There is stress among the people whose motto is "no stress" "pura vida". Our teachers were all up most of the night watching and waiting for an outcome. This presidency has huge consequences as one candidate supports TLC, which is basically NAFTA, and another one doesn't. The country is divided on this issue. Here's an article better educated on the subject than I am...

Electoral officials sorted the last uncounted votes Monday in Costa Rica's surprisingly close presidential election between Nobel Peace laureate Oscar Arias and an economist critical of the country's free trade pact with the United States.

Arias, a former president who helped end the bloody conflicts that wracked Central America in the 1980s, had the narrowest of leads over Otton Solis of the Citizens' Action Party, an economist who contends the Central American Free Trade Agreement would hurt Costa Rican farmers and should be renegotiated.

With 85 percent of the votes counted from Sunday's election, Arias, of the center-right National Liberation Party, had 40.6 percent support compared with 40.2 percent for Solis.
Pre-election polls predicted that Solis would receive just over a quarter of the vote.
"The polls never told the truth," Solis told reporters. "We said it many times."
The winner of the presidential election needs at least 40 percent to win outright and avoid a runoff in April.

Twelve other candidates also were vying for the presidency in an election that officials said had a 64 percent turnout the lowest in Costa Rican history. The low turnout apparently stemmed from indifference following scandals involving three former presidents.

Arias supports trade agreement with the United States, arguing it would help revitalize the country's stagnant economy. But Solis argues that the pact, known as CAFTA, would hurt farmers if enacted.

The United States, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic already have ratified CAFTA. Costa Rica is the only country that has yet to ratify the agreement, although it has two years to join once the pact takes effect.

The agreement eliminates tariffs and opens up the region to U.S. goods and services. It also lowers obstacles to investment in the area and strengthens protections for intellectual property.
Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for working to end Central America's civil wars, was president in 1986-1990. He has vowed to improve the country's infrastructure especially the thousands of pothole-filled roads and invest more in education and housing.

This mountainous country has a thriving ecotourism industry and relatively high-paying jobs, but the poverty rate stands at 20 percent.

Solis, a 51-year-old economist, says the free-trade pact should be renegotiated because it would exacerbate poverty and hurt small-scale farmers. He also proposes subsidies for farmers and small businesses.

"What that trade pact does to our farmers is criminal," he said Sunday. "If I become president, I will change it in at least seven areas, otherwise there won't be a trade accord with the United States."

Solis lost the presidential election four years ago and served as minister of planning during Arias' first administration. He broke away from the National Liberation Party and in 2001 created Citizens' Action, which he says "puts people before foreign corporations."

Solis has the support of leftists, but he stops short of declaring an ideological position and instead says his party is an oppositional force to the two parties that have ruled Costa Rica for almost 50 years.

The country's current president is Abel Pacheco of the Christian Social Union party. Costa Rican law does not permit immediate re-election, but the Constitutional Court ruled in 2003 that former presidents could run again after leaving office for at least one four-year term.
Costa Ricans traditionally have treated presidential elections as a national holiday. But the mood among voters was noticeably down Sunday as evidenced by the low turnout.
"The people are tired of so many unfulfilled campaign promises," said Luis Carranza, 41, a photo shop employee. "I will vote because it's my responsibility, but I doubt anything will change."

Some More Pictures

Here's a couple more pictures...

Abra la boca! This is Corey and his phonetics teacher, Roberto. He is always telling the students to open their mouths when they speak!

This is at the Feria.

Election Day

It’s election day! Today is the big day where everyone goes to vote for a new President. There are 10 candidates and depending on who you talk to they will tell you that a great majority of them are corrupt, but everyone seems to have a favorite. We took a few pictures out and about of the tents that are set up all around to promote candidates. Everyone goes to the local school to vote and as we understand it is determine by your last name as to where exactly you go.

In the streets there are cars everywhere with flags of the candidate they are supporting and it seems to be necessary that you honk your horn without ceasing to show how much you support that person. Living next to the highway we have heard quite a bit of honking.

Another interesting tidbit, apparently it is illegal to sell alcohol two days before and one day after an election. So in the stores those aisles are completely blocked off. I suppose the people have enough passion and there are enough parties that the government feels it’s not necessary to encourage any more boisterous behaviors. It’s a very exciting time around here.
~Tona

Lunch With Friends

Saturday we went to Sujan’s house. Sujan is a Costa Rican friend. It was very interesting to see the differences between the way each of us lives. Her house is very small. It was cute, but very tiny even compared to our apartment. We met her husband, Jimmy, and her son, Alberto. She made us Chop Suey for lunch with white rice. When it was time to eat she seated Corey and I and the kids at the table and she and her family sat on the couch to eat. I offered for the kids to sit at the couch to eat, but she refused. She wanted us to enjoy eating at the table. The lunch was wonderful. Then she brought out dessert. She had made flan. It also was incredible. Sujan is a great cook. After lunch we sat and talked. Sujan’s son, Alberto, is 14 and took Alex into his room to play PlayStation. It seems everyone here owns a video game system of some sort. Alberto gave Maggie an Olive Oil doll and a Disney book in Spanish. He also showed us his coin collection and insisted he give us some of the coins that he had duplicates of. Sujan gave me a crystal figurine of dolphins. It was very humbling. This family that seems to have so little was giving us so much.

We had a nice time chatting with them. Sujan showed us pictures of their wedding. She also showed us pictures of twin babies she delivered prematurely that had passed away. We realized how much she had been through and yet she is so incredibly joyful.

Next thing we knew it was almost 3PM and Sujan was up and making empanadas to have with coffee at three. In her kitchen there isn’t an oven. There is a little tabletop range that she uses to cook everything. Again she astounded us with her amazing cooking. We watched The Little Mermaid in Spanish. And after the movie we thought we should go. One thing about Costa Rican culture is they have told us that you never go anywhere without staying a great deal of time. We had been there for about four hours and thought it was probably time to head home. They walked us to catch a taxi and we left, so much more aware of the differences between our cultures, but so impressed by how incredible the people here really are. We are blessed to know Sujan and her family.
~Tona

Field Trip

Once a trimester we are all blessed with a field trip, a time to get away with our teachers and spend time without the stress of language learning. This tri the trip was to Cafe Britt, a coffee plantation tour. Coffee is extremely important to Costa Rica. Every day at 3pm it is customary to have a coffee break and the coffee should never be consumed alone. It must always be served with at least crackers or bread.

The time at Cafe Britt was a lot of fun. They walked us through the whole process of how coffee is grown, harvested, fermented, dried, roasted, etc. Here are a few pics from our day out...

Our guides for the day. They are very funny actors who recount history of coffee.

The coffee mill where fermenting and drying takes place. This is also where they bag up the coffee for exporting.

This is the drying process.

Praise Report!

I'm so excited to be writing good news about Josi. She went to the doctor yesterday and they told her that the tumor is not cancerous! Praise the Lord! She has to go to a cancer specialist just to get confirmation on that, but we are claiming victory! The doctor said the kind of tumor it is does have a tendency to grow back, but pretty much never turns into cancer. They are hopeful that since they took out quite a bit of tissue around the tumor that she will be less likely to have a recurrance. Josi wanted me to be sure to pass on this praise report and thank everyone for praying.