Reductor de Velocidad

Whenever you take your course on survival driving in Costa Rica, one of the lessons you will learn during your first week is the meaning of this phrase, reductor de velocidad. For most of you this item will be better recognized by its English name: speed bump. Loosely translated, it means "velocity reducer", and they definitely do their job well.

Lots of countries utilize speed bumps, but here in Costa Rica they have some that resemble small mountains. The car God has blessed us with, a Toyota Corolla, is a great car, but it definitely lacks in the area of how high it sits off of the ground.

Because of this, we have to slow to a crawl while crossing the velocity reducers in order not to loudly scrape the frame of our car across the raised mound of concrete.

Sometimes the speed bumps are helpfully painted a bright yellow. Sometimes they are left as black as the road around them so you don't see them until it is too late.

Although I might complain about the speed bumps sometimes, I do realize and appreciate their function. Without them, there would be a lot more accidents or the potential for them.

These reductors de velocidad got me to thinking the other day.

God uses speed bumps in my life.

There are times when I get to moving along too quickly in my life and I need to slow down before having a crash of some sort. Some times God allows me to crash, but many times He puts a speed bump in my life in an attempt to slow me down for my own good.

There is a difference between a speed bump and a wall. If you hit a wall you will stop, but a speed bump is only designed to reduce your velocity.

Here are some examples of speed bumps that God has used to slow down my pace.

- Illnesses (my own or my children's)
- Long unavoidable lines
- Power outages
- Received phone calls
- Friends or neighbors dropping by

Slowing down at speed bumps is still optional isn't it? You can choose to hit them going full speed and get over them quickly. Now you will probably trash your car and leave your muffler behind you, but it can be done.

In the same way, I can choose to not yield to the speed bumps God puts in my life. I can plow right through them being frustrated and irritated that my "agenda" was disrupted, or I can take the God provided opportunity to slow down and catch my breath.

Has God ever put speed bumps in your life?

It is far to easy in today's world to develop a lead-foot lifestyle. We have a tendency to keep the petal to the metal all of the time. Praise God that He will intervene at times and give us the chance to regulate our speed back to something healthy.

What kind of speed bumps has God used to slow you down?

Lunch Sharer or Lunch Trader?

Back to school. Our 3 week break is over and it is time for us to begin
our 2nd trimester of Language School. The schedule is an hour longer
this trimester due to the large group of students that are beggining
their studies in December. Because of this longer schedule, our girls
are in class longer and therefore need to take their lunch each day,
whereas before we all got out at noon and ate lunch together at home.

Yesterday my almost 5 year old, Avigail, was telling Keeley and I how
she has been sharing her lunch with several of her friends. After doing
the fatherly thing and explaining to her that it was kind to share, but
she needed to make sure she personally ate enough of her lunch in order
to not be hungry too soon, I started to reflect on this desireable trait
my daugter was exibiting.

Thinking back to my elementary school days, I could clearly remember taking my lunch box to school (Scooby-Doo if you must know...) and eating lunch with my friends in the cafeteria (aka the gym). I recall having three distinct categories of items in my lunchbox most days.

First, there was the necessary, but mostly boring main item, usually a sandwich of some variety. Second, was the slightly more appealing side item, commonly potato chips. And then came the third, and most important item, desert. Desert came in many different delicious forms. Anything made by Hostess, Dolly Madison, or Little Debbie was always a big hit.

In the economy of lunch box items, category one items were nearly
worthless in terms of trade value. Category two items had a little
value, especially if you had the envogue flavor of chip. But category
three items were as good as gold.

As each pre-adolescent boy unlatched and opened his cartoon themed metal
lunch box, a quick scan of the contents was made and eyes become fixed
upon the prized pieces. The lunchroom floor is now open for trading.
In a mad flury of bids, rejections, counter-bds, and deals closing, the
trading process begins and ends. Usually everyone ended up happier at
the end of trading (unless you traded for an "unknown" and ended up not
liking it).

So what does this have to do with my daughter? As I already mentioned,
she is a lunch sharer. As is evident from my story, I am (or at least
was) a lunch trader.

My daughter simply shares her lunch with her friends without asking for
anything in return. She enjoys giving away that which is valuable to
her simply because it brings joy to others. As I reflected on my days
as a lunch trader, I realized that I only gave away that which was
valuable to me if I was going to receive in return something of equal or
greater value.

Have I carried that same "lunch trader" mentality into my life as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do I only share with others that which is valuable to me when I am going to receive something in return?

The answers to these questions has prompted me to get on my face before God and ask for his forgiveness.

I want to be a man who freely gives of all that God has entrusted to my care. God please make me a lunch sharer.

Are you a lunch sharer or a lunch trader?

I'm Dreaming of a Wet Christmas

It is 9:42 am, Christmas Day 2007, and I am sitting on our sofa in our house in San Jose, Costa Rica. There is Christmas music playing on the stereo. Our two girls are playing with the presents they opened EARLY this morning. Today is our first Christmas spent outside of the United States.

Although December is technically in the "Drier Season" here in Costa Rica, it is heavily raining right now. There have been very few rainy days in December thus far, mostly just some sprinkles here and there that didn't last very long.

Earlier this morning I was gazing out of our living room window at the plants in our small back yard, wondering if they had been getting enough water during these drier months. God decided to bring out his watering can and give them a drink. We have a small new gardenia plant in our backyard next to the large cactus tree. We are patiently waiting for the sweet white blooms to appear so we can enjoy the lovely fragrance. I was never a big fan of gardenia-scented items when we lived in Kansas City. Keeley used to make candles, and gardenia was a pretty big seller for her, but I never cared for it much. One day at our Language School here we were walking down the main sidewalk that leads to our class rooms when we were captured by the scent of something wonderful. Planted next to the sidewalk is a large gardenia plant with many flowers. It has become part of our morning routine to "stop and smell the flowers" on our way to our classes.

This Christmas is very different than what we are used to. But as I stop to reflect on where we are and what God is doing in our lives, there are so many sweet blossoms to smell and enjoy.

Thanks God for giving us your only Son. Thanks God for giving us so
much to be thankful for. Thanks God for giving us fragrant blessings to
stop and enjoy.

What fragrant blessings has God placed in your life today? Are you slowing down long enough to enjoy them deeply?

Merry Christmas!

Nicarauguan Adventure

When we came into Costa Rica, the immigration office issued us a Tourist Visa that is good for three months. In order to stay in the country longer than that, we have to either get a different type of Visa or leave the country for 72 hours and then come back in to renew the Tourist Visa for another three months.

We are in the process of getting all of our paperwork together to apply for a Student Visa which will be good for six months and can be renewed without leaving the country. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, so it is taking longer than expected.

So we needed to leave the country and then come back in.

Some friends of ours who graduated from the Language Institute this month were moving to a city in Northwestern Costa Rica called La Cruz. We offered to drive the 6 hour trip with them to help unload their moving truck. After looking at a map, I realized that La Cruz is very close to the Nicaraguan border, only about 40 minutes driving. It seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up, so we decided to make a trip accross the border after we finished helping our friends move.

Using the power of the internet, I was able to locate and secure some lodging for us on an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is an enormous lake at the Southern end of Nicaragua. It rivals the Great Lakes in size, we are talking really big. So this island is called Ometepe and consists of two volcanoes with some flat land around and in between. It is roughly the shape of a figure eight with a slight bend in the middle. I spoke to the man at the hotel who spoke English very well and made our reservations.

On Sunday morning, December 17th, our friend in La Cruz drove us to the border and dropped us off. We found ourselves in a sea of people that were crossing the border in one direction or the other. No signs directing us where to begin the process, no information booth to point us in the right direction. So after observing the flow of people for a little while, we got into the line that seemed to be head the direction we wanted to go. The Costa Rican police man at the head of the line examined our passports and informed us that we needed to get our Costa Rican exit stamp before he would let us through. He pointed to the building we needed to go to which was about 300 yards in the direction we had just come from.

The building that houses Costa Rican immigration looks like a bus station due to the number of busses that are parked there. Since the busses are crossing the border too, everyone on the busses must get off and go into the immigration office to get their exit stamp too. Needless to say, this makes the lines VERY long. Eventually we got our exit stamps and led our hot and tired daughters back to the line we waited in at the beginning.

This time the police man let us through and we entered into a kind of "limbo" zone. It was a wierd place that wasn't Costa Rica and wasn't Nicaragua, just this peice of land in between that was loaded with food vendors and people that wanted to "help" us pale skinned tourists. It is not a comfortable thing to stand out in these types of situations. We can be as culturally sensitive as possible, but there is no changing the fact that we are four gringos in a place with very few other gringos. That means we instantly became targets for anyone with something to sell. So in addition to watching our girls, watching our backpacks, protecting our pockets, and trying to figure out where to go next, we also had to fend of the multiple people offering their "services".

After two hours of waiting in long, hot lines, we made it through Nicarauguan immigration. We had secured a taxi already and he was ready for us as soon as we got our entry stamp. He drove us to Rivas, which is a city on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Here a large ferry boat took us over to the Isla de Ometepe.

We enjoyed the island. There was a nice beach at the hotel where we stayed, and the food was pretty good.

On Wednesday morning at 4:30 am it was time to begin our trip back accross the border and home to San Jose. We took the island taxi back to the port where the ferry would pick us up. Rode the ferry back accross the lake to Rivas. Took a taxi back to the border. Waited in more lines to get out of Nicaragua and back into Costa Rica. Got our entry stamps (and our renewed tourist visas) at the Costa Rican immigration office. Then finally took another taxi back to our friends house in La Cruz where we spent the night.

Wow was it good to be back in Costa Rica!! It is always more comfortable to be in the familiar, and for us Costa Rica has become the familiar.

God took great care of us the entire trip. We never felt in danger or lacked for anything.

This trip removed any hint of procrastination on my part to submit our paperwork to obtain a Student Visa. The next time we leave Costa Rica I want it to be because we want to, not because we have to.

God's Hand Upon Us

I am not much of a shopper. Surely this does not come as much of a surprise since I am a man, and most men are not shoppers by nature. So while I enjoy celebrating Christmas with family and friends, I do not enjoy the craziness this time of year brings to any store bearing the description of "retail".

Here in Costa Rica, I have not been able to escape this end-of-the-year phenomenon that causes me to be extremely fond of online shopping.

This past Saturday Keeley and I and some other friends of ours from the Language Institute traveled down town (by public bus) to the Avenida Central to do some Christmas shopping. This part of San Jose is an enjoyable place to visit. There is an approximately 10 block stretch of Central Avenue that has been converted to a walking mall, so you don't have to be distracted with being run over. (Pedestrians here have the right........the right to be run over). It was extra crowded with Christmas shoppers.

So we were picking up some gifts here and there, enjoying our time downtown, when we ran into some close friends of ours from our church. We stopped and talked for a little while and I introduced them to the other students that were with us. While we were talking, my Tico friend (who has a lot of street smarts) interrupts and says, "There are three guys standing behind you all that are waiting to rob you, I recognize one of them". He then tells us to all turn around and stare at them.

All eleven of us proceed to turn around and stare at these three men who were suspiciously standing behind us. They weren't going around us, and they weren't looking at a store, they were waiting for an opportunity. Needless to say, they were the ones that looked uncomfortable when we demonstrated clearly that we knew they were there and we knew what their intentions were. After staring at them for a long time (I'm sure it was every bit of 30 seconds...), my friend instructed us to keep walking down the avenue while he waited there to make sure they would not follow us.

Down the avenue we went, stopping to look behind us every so often. No one followed us, and we concluded our visit to downtown without incident.

Yesterday at church I was able to find out the rest of the story from my friend. He said that after we started walking again, the three men began to walk after us. He stood in their way and told them they would have to deal with him first. At that point they quickly left in another direction.

While reading this morning in the book of Ezra, I came upon this verse that reminded me clearly of how God's hand was upon us.

Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.
Ezra 8:31

Was it coincidence that we ran into our friends downtown at just that moment of time? Definitely it was not coincidence. It was the hand of our God upon us.

Could God have allowed us to have been robbed and then used that event in our life to draw us closer to Him? Yes, that could have happened too. But I was reminded of how closely God interacts with every detail of our life, big and small. What an awesome God we serve.

The hand of God is upon His children, most of the time we are not intentional enough about seeing it. How do you see the hand of God upon you?

Does a high dollar turkey taste better?

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We did.

This was our first American holiday not shared by those in our new home here in Costa Rica. We decided to celebrate with a traditional meal shared by 14 other people in our home.

Since you can hardly have a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal without a turkey, we searched for one of the fabulous flavorful fowls. There are several stores here that cater to the large gringo population in Costa Rica, and they stock frozen whole turkeys for this special day. For a price that is.

I must confess, it has been a while since I "personally" purchased a turkey from a grocery store in the states, so I can't tell you exactly what a turkey normally costs these days at a typical supermarket in Missouri. But I am quite confident they are much more afordable then the gobblers available here. 32 big ones. No, not 32 thousand. Well, in Colones (Costa Rican currency) it was 16,000, but in US dollars it ran us $32.00 for the medium sized bird.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I am glad there are turkeys available at all. It was a wonderful treat. Keeley cooked it up wonderfully, moist and juicy. Along with the other usual suspects you find accompanying the turkey, we enjoyed a great meal and great fellowship with some new friends from our Language School, and some new friends from our church here.

To top it all off, our cable company here provides NBC, ABC, and CBS. So we were able to enjoy the traditional American Football games too.

Culture or Bible

The Bible is the authority by which we should live our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

Culture is what largely determines how we behave as a people group.

But what happens when culture goes against Bible teaching?

Sure, the answer is an easy one. We need to obey the Word of God instead of conforming to culture. The reason I bring up this topic is that I have had to really pay attention to the difference between culture and Bible as I seek to adapt to the new culture I am in here in Costa Rica.

Because I was so familiar with "American Culture" (or at least the culture of Kansas City, MO), it was fairly easy to identify elements of that culture that did not line up with the Bible. But here in Costa Rica, I am learning new elements of culture all of the time. With each new part of the culture I am exposed to I must examine it in light of God's Word.

Most of the culture clearly falls on one side or the other, but there are a few things I have had to take a closer look at. I want to give one example, but please understand that I am not trying to complain about the culture, only to make my point.

Driving a car in San Jose, Costa Rica is an adventure. Part of the culture in regards to driving is that in general it is every driver for themselves. It is defensive driving to the extreme. You have to expect people to do the unexpected becuase they will. (Maybe the unexpected needs to become what I learn to expect?). Anyway, it is uncommon to let anyone into traffic ahead of you, even if they are just trying to get onto the road and not "cut" in line. So I was faced with a question. Surely courtesy, putting others before yourself, and kindness are biblical qualities. So these qualities should affect the way I drive here should they not?

Culture or Bible? In this particular case it seems to be one or the other. I want to choose Bible even if it means I make it to my destination 2 minutes later.

Most elements of a culture do not go against the principles of the Word of God. But for those things that do, I must be careful to not go with the flow.

Only dead fish swim with the current. :-)

Visit From a Friend

Two weekends ago we had the pleasure of enjoying a visit from our dear friend and pastor, Marco Castro. Marco pastors the Spanish Ministry at the Kansas City Baptist Temple in Kansas City, MO.

Marco was in San Jose to preach at a church for their 5th year anniversary.

We had a great time drinking some Costa Rican coffee and catching up on what is going on. It was fun to practice my Spanish with him and be able to speak much more than when we were in Kansas City. It was encouraging to talk more about our church's vision and how we will fit into that vision in the future. Lot's of exciting things on the horizon!

Marco was kind enough to bring us a bundle of things from the States that are difficult or expensive to get here. A bottle of Advil (there are lots of pain killers here, but not much ibuprofen), some quality umbrellas that have already gotten lots of use, a Franklin electronic translator, and a waterproof baseball hat for me.

The fellowship was great. Getting the items we needed was much appreciated. But even more than those things, having a touch from the familiar was a real blessing. Everything here is new. And although we are adjusting to the newness just fine, it sure was nice to visit face to face with a familiar friend.

The Pressure Cooker

Sounds of childhood. Most of us have memories of those don’t we? One of the sounds I remember was the electric mixer my Mom would used to make mashed potatoes. It was really loud and whenever she would use it there would lines of static that would appear across the television. My brother and I always got so bent out of shape when that happened.

Another sound I remember for distinctly is the sound of the pressure cooker. It was sort of a gentle hissing sound that would go on for hours and hours. Anyone else have that sound captured in your head?

Pressure cookers are really pretty amazing. Basically, by increasing the pressure inside the cooker, you are able to cook whatever is inside faster and more efficiently. You can take a really tough cut of meat, cook it in the pressure cooker, and it will come out tender.

Today I want us to look at the Nation of Israel and the pressure cooker they were in for 40 years as they wandered in the wilderness.

Now we all know the stories of what happened to Israel in the wilderness, good and bad. But let’s look at why God said he put Israel through the pressure cooker.

Turn with me to:
Deuteronomy 8:1-2
(1) All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
(2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

God tells us here what his purposes were for allowing Israel to wander for those 40 years:
1. To humble them
2. To prove them
3. To know what was in their heart
4. To know whether or not they would keep his commandments


I lined up a special treat for us today so we could learn more about what God was doing in the lives of the Israelites as they wandered.

Please join me in welcoming our first guest. A man named Eliezer who is wandering in the wilderness with the Nation of Israel.


1st Israelite man to interview – Eliezer

Ryan –
Hi Eliezer, thanks for taking time out of your journey to join us here today.

So now that you are half way through with wandering in the wilderness….

Eliezer –
What!! We are only half way through???

Ryan-
Oops, sorry, I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that….

So anyway, I wanted to see if you could tell us about how your journey to the Promised Land is going.


Eliezer –
· This has been a TERRIBLE experience

· The food is so different than what I am used to. We eat rice & beans….I mean manna & quail for EVERY meal

· Moses gives us homework EVERY night and even over the weekend.

· We’re supposed to follow the teacher….I mean the cloud and fire that is leading us where we are supposed to go. But I really doubt they are taking us on the best route.

· One time we came to a new place and we weren’t supposed to drink from the pool of water because it was bitter. Then Moses through a stick into the water and said it was OK to drink now. Come on!! A stick??

· Anyway, this journey has been just awful. Every time we turn around there is some need to be met or challenge to be overcome. Moses is always saying trust God, trust God, blah blah blah. I think this journey is going to kill me!

Ryan –
OK…
Well, thank you Eliezer for coming today to share your perspective. It has been very…enlightening…

Now let’s welcome our second special guest from the Nation of Israel, Caleb.


2nd Israelite man to interview – Caleb

Ryan –
Hello Caleb, thanks for taking time out of your journey to the Promised Land to join us here today.

So now that you are half way through with wandering in the wilderness….

Caleb –
Wooo hooo!! We are half way through already?? That is wonderful news. God has been so faithful to us.

Ryan –
Well fantastic, I am glad to hear that is encouraging news for you. So I brought you here today to see if you would share your perspective on how the journey is going.

Caleb –
Great, thanks for asking me to be here.
· This journey has been an AWESOME time to see the mighty hand of God at work in our lives.

· God has miraculously provided us with all of the food we need to eat each day. Not only that, but God has given us variety in both manna AND quail!

· Sometimes I don’t understand where or why God is leading us by the cloud and the pillar of fire, but I trust that where He leads me is always best. I know that He will use those in authority over me to guide me as well. God has given us great leaders in Moses and Joshua.

· And the things God has done for us!! Don’t get me started!!
- The parting of the Red Sea
- The fresh food every day
- Water to drink when we need it

I could go on and on.

Oh, there was this time that we were really thirsty and we found this pool of water. But the water in the pool was bitter and not safe to drink. God told Moses to throw a stick into the water and voila! The water was made good!!

· So I would have to say that this journey has been awesome so far. Every time we turn around there is some need to be met or challenge to be overcome. And every time, God shows Himself strong on our behalf. What a blessing and privilege to see the hand of God at work right before our very eyes.


Ryan –
Wow. Thanks Caleb for sharing your perspective. It certainly is exciting to hear about what God is doing in your life.


I. One of the major things that will determine “how” we go through the pressure cooker God has us in is Perspective

- Perspective is how you view something. It is the lenses through which you look at the circumstances of your life.

- We always joke about the glass being half full or half empty. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? I meet a lot of people that say, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist, I am a realist”. And that’s great, because God is a realist too, and we are supposed to be like Him right?

- The question becomes, are you letting the reality of God’s constant, never wavering, unfailing care for His children govern your perspective?

Do you know what happens to the cooker if too much pressure builds up inside? That’s right; you will have the Big Bang in your kitchen. Let me share with you one of the critical design elements of a pressure cooker.

On top of the lid is a little valve with a very important function. This little valve is designed in such a way to allow the right amount of pressure to build inside the cooker in order for effective cooking to take place, but it allows the pressure to escape when there is too much. This is what makes that lovely hissing noise I talked about.

Look with me in:
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
(1) Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
(2) And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
(3) And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
(4) And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
(5) But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
(6) Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
(7) Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
(8) Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
(9) Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
(10) Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
(11) Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
(12) Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

(13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.


II. The second thing that is critical to being in God’s pressure cooker is the relief valve of a right relationship with Him.

- God promises to never put more pressure than we can bear…..IF we use the way of escape.

- When we are walking with God in intimate fellowship, there is nothing He will allow in our lives that will cause us to blow up.

- Instead it will end up doing in our lives the very same things he intended for the Nation of Israel.

1. To humble us
2. To prove us
3. To know what is in our hearts
4. To know whether or not we will keep His commandments

The pressure cooker of Language School.

The pressure cooker of the mission field.


1. What is your perspective like today? Murmuring and complaining, or rejoicing at the hand of God in your life?

2. What is the condition of your pressure relief valve? Is your intimate relationship with God open and functioning?

First Semester Spanish Spanish Love Song

Waiter, there's a gecko in my shower...

Does anyone remember that little skit on Sesame Street? Where the muppet with the bald blue head orders some soup and then explains to the waiter (Grover) that there is a fly in his soup?

Anyway....

Tonight I heard some mild screaming coming from our front bathroom. Keeley was about to give our girls a shower (since there are no bathtubs here) and before they got in they noticed a little visitor was already in the shower.

There in the corner of our tile shower was a small gecko, about 3 inches long.

We were able to scoop him up into a little plastic aquarium we have. The girls have had a great time looking at him. Geckos are very common here, but this is the first one we have found in our house. They eat the bugs that we don't want, so he is a welcomed friend.

Dreaming in Spanish

Many people who are fluent in a second or third language have told me about a good indicator of language proficiency.  They say that you really have an excellent command of the language when you begin to dream in it.  Now, I also know some people who say they never remember their dreams, so for those folks this indicator won’t work.

 

Since we started language institute two weeks ago to learn Spanish, I feel like my head is full to the top with sustantivos (nouns), adjetivos (adjectives), articulos (articles), and verbos (verbs).  Our teachers give us homework assignments and many times I am working to complete them before I nod off for the night.

 

Several nights ago I sat up in bed and started to speak (this happens on a fairly regular basis and Keeley has had a variety of reactions ranging from amused to annoyed).  Usually whenever I sit up in bed it wakes Keeley up and she asks me what is wrong.  On this particular occasion my reply was something like this, “I can’t find el verbo” (which happens to be a fine example of Spanglish). 

 

Upon realizing that once again I was talking gibberish, Keeley sighed and went back to sleep.

 

Now for those of you that talk in your sleep or try to talk about your dreams first thing in the morning before you are “really” awake, you can relate to me when I say that at the time you are saying whatever you are saying, it makes complete and perfect sense.  Because of this I am always bewildered at why my wife is looking at me like I am crazy when I say these things.  Fortunately we are able to have a good laugh about it in the morning after she reminds me of my dream-induced statements of nonsense.

 

So although I can’t yet say that I am dreaming “in” Spanish, I can with full confidence say that I am dreaming “about” Spanish.

First Time on the Roads

Today I had the opportunity to experience another first. Driving in a Latin American country.

We went out to lunch with some Tico friends, and as we were about to leave for the restaurant my friend asked me to drive his car. I resisted, he insisted, so off we went.

Just about all of the cars here are stick shifts. Fortunately I have owned several in the past and can get in one and have it all come back to me (I learned to drive a stick by going around and around the Independence Center shopping mall).

Today is a national holiday here in Costa Rica, it is Independence Day. Because of this, traffic was lighter than usual, so it was probably a good day for my first outing behind the wheel. Unlike the States, most businesses were still open today even though it is a holiday. This made selecting a restaurant fairly easy. At the recommendation of our friends, we went to a seafood place called El Balcon del Marisco. Goooood stuff!! I had some ceviche that was out of this world.

After lunch we went shopping at a store called "Pequeño Mundo". They sell a little bit of everything at cheap prices. I bought a cool Costa Rica shirt for $2.00 US.

Upon leaving this store it started to rain. So it was time for another first, driving in Costa in the Costa Rican rain. And although we passed a bad accident, we made it home without being a part of one.

It was fun to drive again. It has been almost one month since I drove last in Kansas City. It seems strange to have gone that long without driving. We did find a car for sale that we are interested in, so maybe we will have some wheels of our own soon. Then it will be time to stay off the sidewalks. No, really. I'm serious. The sidewalks are just for walking here. :-)

Potty Mouth

In our language school we have three classes each day.

- Language - 1 hour

- Phonetics - 1 hour

- Grammar - 2 hours

In phonetics class we are focusing on learning to make the right sounds in order to correctly pronounce Spanish words.

One of the exercises that our teacher has us do is to recite a list of sounds that help us learn to put the sounds of different letters together. These are not real words mind you, just combinations of sounds based on the vowels.

Some of the sounds end up being pretty funny sounding. This past Thursday we were going through and reciting the sounds that go with the vowel "u". Upon reaching a certain part of the list of sounds, it was all I could do to contain myself.

Listening to a room of 5 grown men and a serious Tica Spanish teacher say "upu pu" (Sounds like "ooh poo poo") struck me as incredibly funny. Some other choice sounds were "upi pi" and "udu du".

Now I know what you are saying, how juvenile of me. And I have to say I agree, it is juvenile.

Maybe my 4 and 2 year old girls are rubbing off on me. Maybe I cracked under the pressure of learning. Maybe I never grew out of thinking that innocent bathroom language (or sounds) were funny.

Whatever the reason, I am going to have to exercise self-control in my phonics class in order to not disrupt our learning. :-)

Driver's License Adventure

We all have stories about going to the DMV, waiting in long lines, and then finding out you are missing one of the documents you need. Well, this past Wednesday, Keeley and I added an experience to our list of stories.

A Tico friend of ours (Costa Ricans refer to themselves as Ticos) offered to help us get our Costa Rican driver's licenses. There is a one month window of time after you arrive in the country when you can get a license without taking the test (in Spanish). So needless to say, we wanted to take advantage of this window and get it taken care of the "easy" way.

Copy of our Missouri driver's licenses, front and back.......check.
Copy of our entire passports, including the blank pages....check.
Money for the license fee ...................................check.

Everything we need to complete the process. Or so we thought.

So off to the license department we go with our Tico friend driving the four of us. Then it starts to rain as we are driving through downtown. No big deal, it rains all of the time here.

Then it starts to hail. That does NOT happen all of the time here. Most Ticos don't use ice in their drinks, much less have it falling from the sky.

After experiencing our first tropical hail storm, we made it to our destination. Inside our friend asked the nice man at the information booth where we needed to conduct our transaction. He directed us to a waiting area in front of some teller windows. After waiting for about ten minutes and moving from seat to seat (it was a sitting line, not a standing one..), our friend asks one of the tellers if we are in the right place. "No", was the answer, we needed to go to another building further back in the complex. So off we go, our girls in tow, to the building in the back.

The next building had an armed guard at the door that would check your documents to see if you had everything before he would allow you to enter. He checked our documents and directed us to a booth containing one of 5 clerks. The woman in our booth looked at our documents and asked, "Medico examin?". Ummm.....yeah......ummm.....didn't know about the medical examination. Our friend had called to see what we would need, and apparently this little piece of information had not been communicated.

OK, so now in order to make this whole adventure something other than an large investment of time with little to show for it, we needed to quickly get medical examinations and return to this building and get our licenses.

We all loaded into the car and tried to find somewhere close to get this medico examin that we needed. Our Tico friend knows someone just about everywhere we have gone with him, and this situation was no different. After consulting with one of his "friends", we drove around the corner to a couple of small buildings. The change in neighborhood "atmosphere" that occurred in just one block of driving was quite drastic. We went from a downtown business district not unlike many cities in the US, to a back alley location like you see in the movies and say, "Oh my, what are they doing in a place like that?". While Keeley waited in the car with our girls (doors locked), I went with my friend into a small building (around 10' x 15') to get my medico examin. Here is how it went:
- I handed my passport to a lady sitting at a small desk.
- She filled out a form with my information and handed it to a man at a second desk
- I paid her 12,000 Colones (around $24 US) for both Keeley and I

- The man at the second desk asked me if I had any diseases, how much did I weigh, and how tall was I.

- I signed the medico examin certificate.

- Done. I walked out with my official medico examin document.

(Keeley came in after I was done and had a very similar experience, the only difference being she had to read a line of letters on a wall mounted vision chart)

Now it was back to the other building. After showing the same guard our same documents PLUS the medico examins, we went into the booths again to present our documents. This time we had everything we needed and the process continued fine. We took some papers they gave us outside to a mobile bank (a large van with two teller windows in the side of it) and paid for our two licenses. Upon receiving our official receipts, we went back inside the building, presented our papers in the booths again. Next it was time to get our pictures taken, so across the room we went to wait in line for our pictures. We smiled for the camera, put our fingerprints into the system with an electronic scanner, and then sat to down to wait for our completed licenses to be ready. A few minutes later they called our names and it was official.

We have our Costa Rican drivers licenses!! Exhausted, but pleased, we returned home thanking God for allowing us to get this done in one day. Some hassles are universal.