Cori's Update: No More Teachers, No More Books...

It's summer vacation!!! Cailene and Cornelio wrapped up their school year on December 21st by hosting an end of the year party/presentation for the school. Of the 70 students who attend the school, approximately 25 came and participated. We baked yummy cinnamon rolls, cheese bread, and sugar cookies (very colorfully decorated by Meredith and Jesus, a niece and nephew) and had a great time. The kids had learned a couple Christmas songs in English, and sang them for their parents at the presentation, and got certificates for course completions as well. We weren't bummed by the low attendance...public schools finished up in early December, and lots of families have already started their vacation plans. Additionally, it is hard to get commitment from people for such events, and they almost never come on time. Example: one student arrived just as the entire program was finishing. She was very disappointed to not get to perform her song for her mother, since she had been practicing hard at home, so we set her up for a lil' mini performance on her own, which filled that gap at least a little bit. But all was well, and vacation is now in full swing.

Students receiving their course completion certificates.

Cailene, Bonnie, and I took a day and went to San Jose to go shopping with one of Cailene's classmates from the university, Amelia. We took the bus to avoid the cost of gas and parking issues, which should have taken about an hour or a lil' more than. Well, for those who don't know me, I get carsick. And here in Costa Rica, I'm getting more carsick than I pretty much ever have before. The roads are really twisty, it's usually hot, and drivers aren't exactly slow and steady. By the time we got halfway, I was like, "Um, I need to get off this bus..." So we took a break...for about 40 minutes. We watched 2 buses go by before I finally felt solid enough to get back on. The rest of the trip is luckily the straighter half, and I made a stronger point of being FRONT and CENTER where I can see the road and the airflow is good. Once we made it to San Jose, we had a great time shopping at a huge second-hand store and enjoyed lunch at Mercado Central, which is a big market with food and gifts and restaurants and basically everything you could imagine. It was a good day and I'm feeling better and better about getting around places on my own.

View down and into the property from the back door.

Construction got underway at Cailene and Cornelio's house shortly after my last update. In the last 2 weeks, the porch was taken apart and stacked beside the house, a backhoe came and dug out somewhere around 30 cubic meters of dirt, and some supplies have been delivered to start construction on the 2 walls that we are going to build. The original plan was to put a garage and an apartment for Bonnie in that space, but, in typical Costa Rican fashion, it's taking longer than expected, and plans for the apartment aren't set in stone. Space at the house here feels much smaller and more limited, especially with the dining table in the garage, right beside the weight set and the disassembled porch, but we're surviving. The dogs aren't thrilled with it either, since their space was cut in half, but Eros had no problem dashing THROUGH the house (they're not allowed inside) and LEAPING right out the back door into oblivion in pursuit of a dog they particularly hate. It's probably a 12-foot drop from the door down to the newly excavated dirt, but he hit the ground running without so much as a stumble or a yip and off he went. Much to our surprise, he didn't attack the hated dog, just sniffed it and then came running when Cailene called. What a good boy!

View from the bottom corner of the driveway to the back door.

Christmas was a fabulous day for us. We drove to Rio Laguna (the river), which is about an hour from here, and spent most of the day there. It is a beautiful spot, and the water runs nice and clear. There is a good sized (50x50ft) swimming hole that's probably 12-14ft deep, and it's clear and cool and has a lil' waterfall flowing into it, as well as a couple lil' hot-tub sized pools and small falls above it. We brought a big inner tube, and spent the day getting tan and playing in the water. Logan and Cornelio went on an iguana hunt, but their pursuit was futile and they came back empty-handed. Luckily, us girls packed a lunch as a backup plan. :-)

 <----
Cailene and Cornelio
managed to both stand up on the tube for a few precious seconds.

                        ---->
There were valiant
attempts made by others (my head, the
feet belong to Cailene and Bonnie).

This was Cornelio standing on the tube and diving/jumping off of it.

Bonnie is currently on a 3-day tour to Panama with her friend, Lidiette. American 'tourists' in Costa Rica don't need a visa, but you can only stay in the country for 90 days at a time, then you have to leave the country for 72 hours before you get another 90 days. Her time was about up, so she and Lidiette found a bus tour to a beach area in Panama just across the border. There's snorkeling and a nice hotel and other tourist activities, so I'm sure they're having a great time. Logan and I will be out of the country February 1st-6th, but we are going to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. More on that in Feb, of course. :-)

Things we're thankful for: Cailene finished her classes at the university, and is all set to graduate in February. It's been a long road for her, and she's pretty excited to not have to drive the 30 min to Puriscal two or three times a week anymore. The construction here has gone smoothly thus far, with all the resources needed being accessible and provided. The weather has also been great for the project. We are loving our lap swims at the pool in San Bosco. Great exercise and great fun. Colter (Logan's brother) arrives for a 2-week visit on January 1st, and then my parents arrive for their week in Costa Rica on January 25th.

We live way down in the valley behind us that's all misty.

Can't believe we've been here for just a few days shy of 2 months already! Only 4 months left! While I can easily communicate with people and get around on my own, the reality of only 4 more months makes me want to STUDY Spanish a little more so I can be more fluent before we leave. Logan's Spanish is, well, there...he's mastered the use of 'Que Mob!', which is the equivalent of "Hey dude!!!" :-) And lastly, we took a lil' jaunty ride to the wind turbines that we can see from our house. It's a nice drive up a very smooth, well-maintained (do you hear the sarcasm here???) dirt road, and there are fabulous views of both our side of the mountain, as well as the entire San Jose valley. Of course, as soon as we got there, the clouds rolled in and blocked the view, but it was still a fun, refreshing ride. The car only over-heated once, and we only got sprinkled on for a few minutes. And yes, it was chilly (hence, the blanket)!!!!
 

<----Aren't they so cute???

 

<----The 'Trusty Tracker' cooling down at the top of the mountains. We took the top off cuz' it was SUPER hot when we were getting ready to go. Then it got cloudy and chilly, but at least Cailene and I didn't hit our heads in the back going over bumps! Plus the extra airflow really helps the carsick issue!!!




That's about it. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas, and has a fabulous New Year's!!!

Cori's Update: Nature, Dairy Products, and Sweat

Do you like how two of us are updating the blog on the same day lately? No, we don't plan it that way, but yes, we know we're cool because of it. :-) December rolled in uneventfully. While our friends and family in WA are freezing with temperatures in the teens and single digits, summer is in full swing here, and we sweat profusely on a daily basis. It's beautiful. Only 2 more weeks of school before Cailene and Cornelio's 'summer' break starts (yes, they are counting down the days), so this past week Cailene started Christmas crafts with her students. This week they are continuing crafts, as well as learning a couple of Christmas songs to sing at the end of the year celebration.

We spent a morning last week at Nacientes Palmichal, a rural tourism 'hotel' about 20 minutes away. It is operated by Hernan and Florita, a wonderful couple from the church. They have lodging, meals, and several activities guests can participate in, from nature walks and butterfly gardens to tours of the coffee farms/processing plant and local artisan crafts. It is a beautiful location; a place where it's impossible to overlook the beauty of God's creation and His omniscient presence in the world. Check out their website: www.nacientespalmichal.com  Don't worry, it's in English.

Me, Bonnie, and Hernan on one of the trails.

Bonnie on our nature walk.

The river, which we drank out from. It was deliciously sweet and pure!

Cailene and I both ordered two 2.5-liter bottles of fresh, raw milk from a local farmer last week. She had been getting one bottle a week, but we decided to put our cheese-making skills to use (thank you, Dawn Courtney!), so we upped the order and off we went. Since Logan and I are snobby and enjoy real butter, I skimmed the cream off my milk and made butter in my blender. If you've never tried it (besides the elementary school 'shake the baby-food jar until your arm falls off' method), you really should. It works like this: place cream in blender, blend for several minutes until the butter fat separates (ie: nasty-looking yellow chunks clump together and float to the top when you stop the blender), scoop off the butter fat and reserve the liquid (this is the original buttermilk, by the way), press the butter w/a spatula until most of the liquid is removed, then place the butter into ice water, and continue to press liquid out of it (called 'washing' the butter). Drain the ice water, and repeat until the ice water stays clear (or as close to clear as you feel like getting it). Remove the butter and add 1/4 tsp of salt (word of caution, a lil' salt goes a llllloooonnnnnggggg way) and mash it in good. Voila. Butter.

The buttermilk (left on Cailene's counter to get nice and tangy for baking treats!) and the butter. Delicious!

We made two batches of mozzarella cheese as well, one for each of our households, and they came out fabulously. In Logan's words, "Ah, finally. Cheese that melts and tastes normal." :-) Poor guy. Did I mention he's planning to have Colter (his brother) bring some cheddar when he comes to visit in January??? True story. Anyway, the main byproduct of cheese is whey (think 'Little Miss Muffet'). From a gallon of milk, you get a small, softball-sized ball of cheese, and about 2 liters of whey. Since our consciences won't allow us to merely pour this down the drain, we googled 'uses for whey'. Aside from a good feed for animals or a way to lower the pH of your garden, you can use it basically like milk. Drink it straight, pour it on cereal, add it to smoothies, use it in baked goods...so we made potato soup. Lots of potato soup. It didn't thicken like milk does, but it had pretty good flavor. (Sidenote: pork chop in potato soup is good. It's not bacon, but it works. And when you ask for bacon at a country meat store, they show you literally a giant hunk of fat w/no meat...that's how we ended up w/pork chop). Also, whey tenderizes pork. It's often used as a marinade for pork, or even a liquid to cook pork in. Whey cool!!! (Logan's idea...he's punny). :-)

Cailene w/her cheese and me pouring the milk for mine.

Stretching the cheese. The whey is the liquid in the pot.

Cornelio's birthday was yesterday, and we started our celebration by running a 10k race in Puriscal (20-25 minutes away). I've run many a 10k in my day, and let me tell you, this was by far the HARDEST course I've ever run. It was 2k course that you lapped 5 times. Nice for spectators cuz' they get to see the runners a lot. Bad for runners like me because everyone gets to watch the progression from 'I feel great' to 'Holy cow, will this race ever end?' I don't run so much as I waddle, and on a course with lots of hills and at some 3600ft above sea level, I wanted to die. Oh, and it was probably 85 degrees out with decent humidity. Barf. But Cornelio did great, and his friend Pablo won his age group, so we had a good time. I got my finisher medal and my free (or not so free?) t-shirt, so I was happy.

The group from Tabarcia/Palmichal: me, Cornelio, Andres, Pablo, Oscar, Reyner

Seconds before the start. The guys are intense. Me? Not so much...

Cornelio and a few of his siblings took lunch to their dad's house one day, and we spent a few hours playing some cards, shooting a couple guns, and just hanging out. It was good family time, and we got to hear some stories about Cornelio's childhood. Ever seen bamboo plants? Yeah, they used to climb them and, according to Cornelio, launch themselves from 'limb to limb'. I don't quite believe that part, but Logan and Cornelio shimmied right on up and gave us a great demo of human monkeys. Apparently it's hard on the arms, since there's nowhere to brace your feet. Wish I was strong enough to climb bamboo!

Climbing up. Notice Cornelio in the background?

Swinging down out of the bamboo, and almost clunking me on the head w/the piece in his hands. Luckily, I slipped and fell at the exact right moment to avoid getting hit!

Probably 20-30ft up in the air!

Logan and Cornelio started deconstructing the porch today in preparation for 'home addition part 1'. Rather than put Bonnie's apartment over the garage, it's going to go below the porch, along with an additional parking/garage space. Thus the porch is getting taken apart, tons of dirt will be dug out, retaining walls will be built, etc, etc, etc. Hopefully it can be a timely process, and not drag on for months.

That's pretty much it. Cailene and I have conquered the butterfly stroke at the pool. It's not perfect yet, but we can pretty easily go an entire length of the pool, and we're looking and feeling smoother every day. So great to be swimming again regularly, especially in a beautiful outdoor pool (that happens to be right next to a large cow/horse pasture). And here's a picture of Cailene's banana tree. They should be ripe in a few weeks, and I find it interesting that the bananas grow with the bottom up. Who knew? Also, bananas in a clump are called a 'mano', or 'hand'. So you can buy a hand of bananas, which usually has at least 10 bananas on it. And the smaller the 'nana, the sweeter it is. Bananas 101. :-)

The red part is the flower, which will fall off. These will be 4-5" long when fully ripe.

That's all she wrote, folks! Nos vemos!!! (See you later!)

During this Thanksgiving season  we all have so much to be thankful for. I  want to praise God for His love, favor, protection and provision over each of our lives. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what God is doing in each of us and to take action by using our many gifts and talents for His glory. 
Thanksgiving blessings to you and your family.  \O/

Cori's Update - Giving Thanks

It's only been a week, but already so much to say. We celebrated Thanksgiving a day early, since Cailene and Cornelio both have to teach today. We celebrated with a friend, Lidith, who spent 11 years living in New Jersey and loves Thanksgiving. Total, there 8 of us: me, Logan, Cornelio, Cailene, Bonnie, Lidith, Pablo-a friend of Cornelio's from his running team, and Lidith's daughter, Kimberly, who came late after work but came to celebrate just the same. A couple of trips to stores like Price Smart (aka Costco) in San Jose allowed us to get a turkey and other non-Tico things like black olives, but alas, canned green beans and yams were not to be found, so we did without. Our meal was complete w/both pumpkin and apple pie, tho' the pumpkin may have been more akin to squash, since giant orange pumpkins don't exist here. All in all, it was a wonderful meal and a great time to consider all of God's blessings and provisions in our lives.

Speaking of blessings, have I mentioned how thankful I am for Logan? For a guy who never wanted to leave Stehekin, coming to Costa Rica for 6 months, where the climate, food, language, etc are completely different, is a really big deal. There aren't many men who would step so far out of their comfort zones simply because it's a dream their wives' have always had to live in another country and learn another language. He's pretty amazing. Secondly, the mere fact that we have the resources to do this is phenomenal. It's pretty hard to quit your jobs and leave your life behind for 6 months while you live off your savings account. But God is good, and we have absolutely everything we need, from the material things life requires to the money needed to pay our rent and power/water/etc bills. It's pretty freakin' awesome to choose to trust in God for those needs, and to see him fulfill dreams and take care of His children so capably.

I took a step out of my comfort zone a little bit last week and played guitar for worship at church. I've only been playing guitar for a year, and am almost entirely self taught, so there is a lot of learning yet to be done. Plus, I don't really like being 'on stage' in front of people. But I love playing w/a group, so when Cailene and Cornelio asked if I wanted to join them (Cailene on piano and Cornelio singing), I said, "Why not?" I definitely can't sing in Spanish and play at the same time yet, but it was really great to see how much people enjoyed the worship and how they were able to really praise and connect w/God. It's pretty powerful to create music that helps people experience and meet with God, and I'm secretly (or not so secretly?) hoping to have many more opportunities to play and worship.

Logan's almost finished w/a bookshelf for the school, and it looks amazing. The plan is to decorate it by having the students (there are 60+) each put a painted hand-print and sign their names on it. It will ultimately be both a functional shelf, but also a colorful reminder of all the kids whose lives have been changed by the school and it's founders.

A major blessing this week: Bonnie's ladies' group had 14 people! She shared the history behind Thanksgiving, and we each shared 3 things we are thankful for. The difficulty is getting people to be 'real' and go deeper than just being thankful for 'their family, friends, and living here.' But all these women really 'got it' and shared some personal and deep blessings in their lives. One of the biggest problems I see in 'the church' as a whole is a lack of real, intimate, personal relationships. Everyone is happy and smiley and being a Christian means your life is great...which it is, but that charming facade isn't reality. Being a Christian is about being real and doing life WITH those around us. And I really believe we can't 'do life' on the level that God wants unless we are willing to be vulnerable with each other. Why is it so hard to even share deep blessings in our lives? It should be easy to share the wonderful provisions of God and we should be shouting those things from the mountain tops!

There are always so many things to pray for, but this week especially we'd appreciate prayers for a few things: Cailene's cold that she caught in Honduras in July has resurfaced AGAIN, and while she's taking medication that is supposed to finally fix the problem, we believe God has the ultimate power to heal her body, so pray that her lungs would finally be clear and her cough/stuffy nose would disappear for good. We are hoping to have permits and plans back from the government very soon for a mother-in-law apartment over the garage for Bonnie. The plan is for Bonnie to provide the materials, and Logan will build the apartment while we're here, but we can't get started until we get those darn permits. Pray that everything goes through smoothly and that the project can get underway sooner rather than later. Lastly, I'm really hoping to spend some time volunteering at an orphanage while we are here, but am having a hard time finding something within a reasonable distance. Pray that God would provide the perfect opportunity for us to volunteer and share His wonderful word with those who have little else in life.

Blessings until next time! :-)

Cori's Update

Time for an update from Costa Rica. This is Cori, by the way. Logan and I arrived here on Monday, Nov 4th, starting a six-month adventure of life in Palmichal and Tabarcia. We left our jobs in the states, and are renting a small house here while we 'do life' alongside Cornelio and Cailene. While we don't have a particular agenda of things to accomplish, we trust God to use us to bless others here, as well as to stretch and grow our relationship with each other. Additionally, I'm hoping to blog here fairly frequently in order to share our experience and grow a greater circle of prayer and support for Cailene and Cornelio.

Logan and I only brought 3 bags with us...our life for 6 months. Needless to say, there was a lot of setup to be done, and several purchases to be made. There isn't exactly a surplus of gently used furniture in Costa Rica, so buying a refrigerator, a bed, and a small gas stove/oven put a decent dent in our budget right off the bat. Fortunately, Cailene procured a table and 4 chairs for us, as well as a set of bunk beds for our extra room (something to look forward to if you're coming to visit us!). Also, Bonnie had several dishes and kitchen utensils in storage here, so we are putting those to good use. Since our house had literally NOTHING in it when moved in, we purchased some wood and Logan built a perfect set of shelves for our kitchen, which has made things much more organized. Of course, wood, which we take for granted in the states, is much more expensive and hard to come by here as the trees, which are plentiful, grow really tall really quickly, but never develop much width.

We've jumped right into life here, attending church, sitting in on some of Cailene's classes, and joining the local volleyball games on Thursday evenings (and sometimes Mondays). There are two locations where Cornelio and Cailene teach: one in Tabarcia, with two classrooms, and a second location with a single classroom in Palmichal. Lessons are taught either as private/individual sessions or group sessions, depending on the student's/family's preference. Students range from 5 years old to adult, and cover the entire gamut of proficiency in English. The curriculum taught uses lots of games rather than rote memorization, which allows students to engage and play as they learn. While a little shy to see new faces, the kids we've met use their English to introduce themselves and 'meet us' properly. :-)

There are a few projects underway (or soon to be underway) for the school. Logan is building a set, or maybe two, of bookshelves for the school. Cailene has several books and games that she currently keeps in a corner or totes back and forth, so it will be nice to have storage space on site for those resources. Also, we are trying to think of ways to 'dress up' what are currently 'unexciting' white walls. All ideas welcome...we'd like to add color/educational visual materials to make the rooms more fun and inviting. Lastly, Cailene and I are hoping to organize all the different printed worksheets and games in binders based on age and proficiency level. It's a lot easier to simply grab the 'Age 5-8 English  Introduction' notebook for a class than to sift through a huge notebook for the few sheets that you need. When we're finished, hopefully they'll be able to spend significantly less time making copies and sorting papers!

Other activities we're enjoying: Cailene, Bonnie, and I are swimming at a pool in San Bosco, which is about 25 minutes away, three days a week. It's been AMAZING to get back in the pool, and is so much more fun to go with friends. Thanks to the intense sun, I'm developing a pretty nice tan (yay!), complete with swimsuit lines (not yay...). Bonnie leads a women's group that meets on Tuesday afternoons, which is a fun opportunity to get to know some great local ladies, as well as practice our Spanish. Cornelio is running a lot, and he and I are hoping to enter a 10K race in Puriscal in December. He's likely to be fairly competitive...I'll finish...let's leave it at that. :-)

Logan isn't hugely impressed with rice and beans, papaya, or plantains (all staples here...and all DELICIOUS!), and unflushable toilet paper reminds us how much we take for granted in the USA, but minor discomforts as such aside, we are having a great time. The area is beautiful, the weather is fabulous, and though it rained daily the first week or so we were here, the closer we get to December, the less it rains. Christmas decorations are everywhere: lights, trees (fake, of course), wreaths on doors, etc, but we are making preparations for Thanksgiving next week, which we will celebrate in traditional American style, along with Lydia (who lived in the states for 11 years) and her family. And pumpkin pie is on the menu. :-)

Did I mention the bugs? They're everywhere. The giant cockroaches and spiders disgust me, and the giant scorpion cruising across my floor was seriously not ok on any level. VERY glad Logan was there to kill it. Ick. Anyway, hoping to post some pictures before too long either here or on facebook, but in the meantime share ideas for school decorations and please be praying that Logan and I will serve the purpose God has for us here, as well as for the continued health and safety of all of us living here. Adios!