Monday, January 31, 2011

Buried for two days beneath the rubble in Haiti

When you go to Haiti, you learn that everyone has a story to tell about January 12, 2010. Most Americans of a certain age remember where they were when Kennedy was shot - or when they first heard about the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Haitians remember how their life changed last January. While I was in Haiti, I had the opportunity to meet an amazing new World Vision staff member, Faradhia, who has a story that is nothing short of a miracle. Over the course of a few days, we worked with a CNN reporter and producer to help Faradhia tell her story again around the anniversary of the disaster. You can watch that clip below.


Her story was the kind of story that makes me love my job even more. Stories like this don't come along every day, but when I have the opportunity to really help someone by helping them tell their story during a difficult time, it feels like, in some small way, I am helping them. And for that, I am grateful.

After her story aired on CNN, I wrote her story for World Vision's blog, too. You can read it below.

Buried for two days beneath the rubble in Haiti
"Faradhia Moise walked into the Caribbean Market to pick up dinner for herself and her parents – they were going to have pizza that night – when the floor started to shake. “There was a really loud noise, and I thought the building was about to collapse,” she said, recalling that fateful day last January. She turned, ran, and then it was dark."

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Beautiful day

It's funny to think that it's January....and it's 75 degrees and sunny. (Apologies to all of our friends in New England!)  The school year is about to begin here (February 15), and it feels like summer vacation! 


One of my 2011 resolutions was to find a social service ministry to get involved with here in Costa Rica, and, this morning, I had the opportunity to spend time with a group of women at the "Rahab Foundation." It's a faith-based organization that helps at-risk youth and women who are involved (or were involved) in the sex industry. It provides them with vocational skills -- along with counseling and encouragement.  What a cool experience!

It was such a beautiful morning, that as I was walking home, I stopped for an ice cream cone and wandered through the parks near our apartment.  What a great way to start the weekend...


Ice cream and the park on a beautiful day! 



Thursday, January 27, 2011

Oh how He loves me

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?"  Psalm 42: 1 - 2


I felt like I got that much-needed drink of water today from our Living Water. A friend had invited me and my mom to join her women's Bible study group for breakfast.  We spent the hour talking, drinking coffee, and just spending time together. Man, how I've missed having girlfriends! It.was.wonderful.  Just what this girl needed!


The hardest part of our move here for me has been the isolation, the loneliness, the constant feeling of uncertainty that has accompanied me since we moved here.  I often feel in between two worlds, and I usually end up somewhere in the middle. I'm not a Tica, and my lack of total Spanish fluency makes that even more evident. But I also don't want to spend all of my time with "gringas" and ex-pats here. If I wanted to meet more Americans, we could have just stayed in Boston!


So every day brings these feelings anew, and every day, it's a battle to remind myself that, if the Lord wants to use me and use me in this culture and context, He WILL.  He will help me learn Spanish, He will introduce me to friends, He will comfort me when it gets lonely. Today was such a good reminder of that!



Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Gran Hotel Costa Rica and my breakthrough moment

Today was a bit of a breakthrough moment for me with my Spanish.  My parents have been working with the Salvation Army (Ejército de Salvaciónover the past couple of years to do some medical work for people living in under-served communities in Central America, and they wanted to meet with someone from the Salvation Army here in Costa Rica. Turns out they do A LOT more than just ringing the red bells at Christmastime!




However, because my parents speak almost no Spanish -- and the major at the Salvation Army spoke little English -- I volunteered my somewhat shaky services to try to translate! We ended up having a wonderful conversation with an amazing man who has given his life to help children and families living in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica through his work with the Salvation Army. And he shared with us that he was currently fighting leukemia, but he was confident that "In Dios, todo es posible." (In God, everything is possible.)  We were able to encourage each other through conversation and prayer, and he actually understood my Spanish! Great success. Jorge, we will continue to pray for you! (I loved the Salvation Army's motto too: "Con el corazón a Dios y la mano al hombre." With the heart of God and the hand of man.")

After that, we wandered over to the Gran Hotel Costa Rica, one of the oldest hotels in the country, for a cappuchino and some good ol' fashioned people watching.  Sigh. What a special day!

Gran Hotel Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica, January 25, 2011
Courtesy: Gran Hotel Costa Rica
Courtesy: Gran Hotel Costa Rica

Monday, January 24, 2011

Bits and bobs from Costa Rica

I've been kind of out of the habit of journaling about our life here in Costa Rica. In between Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, leaving for Haiti, coming back from Haiti, my parents arriving, and B leaving for three weeks of medical school interviews in the U.S., it's been a crazy month!


When I got back from Haiti, the four of us (Mom, Dad, B, me) took a four-day trip to see some of the sights in Costa Rica: Poas Volcano, Arenal Volcano, La Paz Waterfalls and many of the crazy, curvy, beautiful roads and tiny towns in Costa Rica.  


Courtesy: Destination360.com
Near Poas, we stayed at an awesome bed and breakfast, Poas Lodge, where I totally fell in love with the puppy there (Snookie - no relations to "Jersey Shore!"), the amazing view of the Central Valley, and the Chai tea lattes.  On the way up to our next stop, we swung by Sarchi, a historic artisan town best known for making Costa Rica's oxcarts since 1903.


Courtesy: Fodors.com
After Poas, we headed up north to Arenal Volcano and Chachagua Rainforest Lodge.  Each of us had a little cabin with a great front porch - and a hammock! Good for lots of naps (as long as the mosquitos weren't biting!) Sadly though, the most we could see of the volcano was the fog that was out that night.  We'll have to make a return trip soon! I've heard, if you catch it on the right night, it can look like this:


Courtesy: ArenalOnline.com
Everyone say "Oooooh! Ahhhhh!" The tour guide told us the best time to go would be March, April or September.  


We got back late last night, and we've been spending time tooling around San Jose (I'm off for two weeks trying to catch my breath from a crazy year of work. Yes, I said year of work. Phew!).  One of my favorite views today: this sweet old man feeding the pigeons in downtown San Jose.  Despite the fact that I think pigeons more closely resemble rats with wings, I still thought this man was sweet.






Will start editing through the pictures of our adventures in the next week. More to come!



Thursday, January 20, 2011

Back, back in Costa Rica

Ahhhh, home sweet home! Went to Haiti, came back from Haiti, traveled around Costa Rica with my parents and B (saw some volcanoes, a three-toed sloth, and lots of winding roads through the rain forest!).  Spending today getting caught up on life, but will post pictures and stories soon!


In the meantime, here's sometime to get us all daydreaming: the New York Times' "41 Places to Go in 2011."


Uruguay, Courtesy: New York Times/Horacio Paone

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Heading out

This blog will be pretty quiet while I'm in Haiti (I get back in the evening on January 14), but until then, I'll leave you with some new Spanish vocabulary I learned the other day while watching a movie on TV.


esposa = wife
esposas = handcuffs


(Ummm....I thought the subtitles were wrong until I double-checked in my Spanish-English dictionary!) 


¡Hasta luego!

Saturday, January 01, 2011

A picture says...

The New York Times has a great photo essay looking back over the events of the world in 2010....¡Feliz año nuevo!