I don't have a lot of time to update you all at the moment, but I did want to take a second and ask for your prayers for a few things:
1. This last January, when I did my internship in Laos, I stayed with a Lao host family for two weeks. I just heard from my host sister that they found out her father (my host dad) has stomach cancer, and there is nothing the doctors can do. She is supposed to be moving to the U.S. in two weeks and doesn't know what to do now. PLEASE pray that my host sister will have wisdom, and that she and my host mother will know what to do to help my host dad. Also, please pray for a miracle, that the cancer would just disappear and that he would be healthy again. I would sooo appreciate your prayers for this most sweetest of families.
2. As always, please pray for the health of all of us at the CR campus. Thankfully, Costa Rica is a haven in Central America where you don't have to worry about eating street food or drinking the water - its all okay. (And you can usually even flush your toilet paper). However, I would still really appreciate your prayers asking for health for us and the students who will be coming this next year. Nothing can dampen an overseas experience like illness.
3. Please pray that the remodeling of the campus would be done well and quickly. All of the construction is behind schedule of course (this is Latin America:-), but so far behind schedule that we're worried that certain things won't be done in time for when the students come in the fall. The most important areas will be finished, but other areas we hoped would be done aren't looking promising at the moment. Pray that things will be done quickly and that we will know how to support and encourage the workers. (It is so hard to have to play the "we're paying for this so please hurry up because we're in charge" card. It is already so difficult to try to have normal relationships when there are such unequal power relationships, what with the gringos coming in with their money to build a big college campus and paying the latinos to construct/remodel it - its hard enough to try to have an equal playing field here.)
4. And finally, please pray that God would continue to help us make the relationships and connections we need to create a great experience for our students. It seems that almost every meeting we have is divinely ordained - everyone has a unique way they can help us, or has someone they can connect us with that will be positive for the campus experience. We're so thankful for the relationships we've been making so far!
Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers - I so appreciate them! Hope you're all enjoying your nice, hot, summer weather. When you are so hot you want to melt, think of us in the rainforest of Costa Rica trying to avoid the rain that pours buckets on us and that chills us every evening!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Mailing Address (and then some)
Hey again everyone!
So, the main reason for this post is to let you all know that I now have a mailing address, which means you can all send me lovely letters:-). I promise I will write back. Yay for snail mail! Here it is:
Emily Dufault
a/c Lindy Scott
Apartado Postal 108-3015
San Rafael de Heredia, Costa Rica 40501 CENTRAL AMERICA
As far as life around here goes, things are going to start picking up now that Lindy, the Director, has returned from a week in Spain speaking at a conference. We met with another prospective host family today, and it was once again very encouraging. The families we've met with have been wonderful so far - our students are going to be so blessed to know them and live with them! We're meeting with 4 more families in the next few days. This part of the process is so exciting, getting to meet so many new people and figure out where our students will be living!
We stopped by the campus again today, and it is super exciting to see how the remodeling is all coming along. Kristina and I spent a good amount of time in what will be our apartment, measuring and trying to figure out where all the furniture that we'll be ordering in the next week or so will go. Can't wait to actually live there! Our room has the most amazing view - it looks right out on a gorgeous lake, and we've already planned to plant a small garden between the lake and our window! But don't worry, we'll make sure the compost bins aren't too close to the window, just in case they ever smell a little:-)
After the difficulty of our first intense hike, Kristina and I have decided we need to get into some serious shape to handle all this hill-altitude-hiking. So, we've started jogging in the mornings with Lindy & Dinorah. Granted, we only started a few days ago, but this is a habit we are going to make sure sticks. Yes, you heard me correctly, I'm becoming a runner. I know, right? I mentioned this recently to my dearest past roommate, and she was like "who are you?". I've never been one who loves running (in fact I have oft made fun of runners, thinking they were crazy for putting themselves through such difficulty). Give me something to dribble or kick and I'm fine, but you can't convince me to just run for the sake of running. Well, now that has all changed. Its actually a little exciting.
Well, I didn't mean for this post to be so random or to focus so much on my inner struggle with becoming a runner, but I guess thats what happens when I blog without any real idea of what I want to say. Oh, and Beth, thanks for updating your blog:-)
So, the main reason for this post is to let you all know that I now have a mailing address, which means you can all send me lovely letters:-). I promise I will write back. Yay for snail mail! Here it is:
Emily Dufault
a/c Lindy Scott
Apartado Postal 108-3015
San Rafael de Heredia, Costa Rica 40501 CENTRAL AMERICA
As far as life around here goes, things are going to start picking up now that Lindy, the Director, has returned from a week in Spain speaking at a conference. We met with another prospective host family today, and it was once again very encouraging. The families we've met with have been wonderful so far - our students are going to be so blessed to know them and live with them! We're meeting with 4 more families in the next few days. This part of the process is so exciting, getting to meet so many new people and figure out where our students will be living!
We stopped by the campus again today, and it is super exciting to see how the remodeling is all coming along. Kristina and I spent a good amount of time in what will be our apartment, measuring and trying to figure out where all the furniture that we'll be ordering in the next week or so will go. Can't wait to actually live there! Our room has the most amazing view - it looks right out on a gorgeous lake, and we've already planned to plant a small garden between the lake and our window! But don't worry, we'll make sure the compost bins aren't too close to the window, just in case they ever smell a little:-)
After the difficulty of our first intense hike, Kristina and I have decided we need to get into some serious shape to handle all this hill-altitude-hiking. So, we've started jogging in the mornings with Lindy & Dinorah. Granted, we only started a few days ago, but this is a habit we are going to make sure sticks. Yes, you heard me correctly, I'm becoming a runner. I know, right? I mentioned this recently to my dearest past roommate, and she was like "who are you?". I've never been one who loves running (in fact I have oft made fun of runners, thinking they were crazy for putting themselves through such difficulty). Give me something to dribble or kick and I'm fine, but you can't convince me to just run for the sake of running. Well, now that has all changed. Its actually a little exciting.
Well, I didn't mean for this post to be so random or to focus so much on my inner struggle with becoming a runner, but I guess thats what happens when I blog without any real idea of what I want to say. Oh, and Beth, thanks for updating your blog:-)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
A Moment
Last night seemed somewhat surreal.
Kristina and I were doing yoga out on the back porch of our villa, looking over the beautiful, green, fog covered mountainside, when it started pouring rain. We finished our exercise and enjoyed a few minutes of silent reflection looking out on the rain. One of us mentioned that it looked and felt more like we were in the mountains of Tibet than in Costa Rica. Doing yoga on the hard wood deck, breathing in the rain, I did feel as if I could be in a monastery in the mountains of Asia.
It is difficult to truly describe it, but we experienced a moment of deep calm, peace, and connection with the world around us; a truly special moment.
Awhile later we joked about how the only thing missing from our Tibetan moment was a yogi to better instruct us in our yoga. And later that night we rounded off our peaceful evening with a bit of time in the hotel sauna:-).
Namaste.
Kristina and I were doing yoga out on the back porch of our villa, looking over the beautiful, green, fog covered mountainside, when it started pouring rain. We finished our exercise and enjoyed a few minutes of silent reflection looking out on the rain. One of us mentioned that it looked and felt more like we were in the mountains of Tibet than in Costa Rica. Doing yoga on the hard wood deck, breathing in the rain, I did feel as if I could be in a monastery in the mountains of Asia.
It is difficult to truly describe it, but we experienced a moment of deep calm, peace, and connection with the world around us; a truly special moment.
Awhile later we joked about how the only thing missing from our Tibetan moment was a yogi to better instruct us in our yoga. And later that night we rounded off our peaceful evening with a bit of time in the hotel sauna:-).
Namaste.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Another Blog
I just wanted to mention that my co-volunteer is also keeping a blog, at http://thebeankielbon.wordpress.com/, if anyone is interested in getting another perspective on our trip. Also, her most recent blog post saves me the time of typing up a funny situation we have been having with our little car, "El Loquito". Happy reading!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Aqui estamos!
Well, we made it!
Around 5am Tuesday morning, my co-volunteer Kristina and I arrived in San Jose, CR. Lindy, the campus director, picked us up and somehow fit us and our 7 suitcases and backpacks into the tiny little Chevy Spark that the university just purchased for the site.
Things are going well, but super busy. I feel constantly tired, but some of that is probably because we haven't gotten enough sleep since we've been here because we've been up early hiking and taking people places, etc. We went for a beautiful hike yesterday in the Braulio Carillo, a national reserve that is next to our campus, which is about 10,000ft up, and I am now a little sore. I didn't know if I was going to make it part of the time because the hike was so steep uphill combined with the elevation. I can walk forever, but not uphill. I'm from Moses Lake, we don't have hills! However, Kristina and I are both highly motivated and excited that we will be getting into better shape because we will be doing a lot of uphill walking around here.
Right now we are living in a little hotel cottage, because the campus isn't finished enough for us to move in yet. So Lindy, Dinorah, Kristina and I are living in a little cottage at the moment, which is just a few kilometers downhill from the actual campus. The campus itself is amazing! I am dying to be able to live there, so hopefully they'll finish remodeling our apartments soon. The building in going to be so beautiful, and the architecture is so unique. Also, the 27 acres of land surrounding it is amazing, and we are bordered by the Braulio Carillo, like I said. This campus is basically every CASPers dream, because there are so many possibilities and so much that can be done in this environment.
It is a lot colder than I thought it would be. We are in the rainy season/winter, but I am now wishing I had brought more pants and fewer skirts. Shocking, I know.
My spanish is okay at the moment. I can understand most things I hear and read, but my speaking is super lame right now compared to where it was a year ago when I was actually taking classes. I'm sure it'll come back soon enough.
The food has been good. I haven't had a lot of typical Costa Rican food because we're eating out or making food in our cabin, but it is still really good. Yesterday we finally got to eat a typical meal, and it was like coming home (reminiscent of my month in Honduras). And today we met with our first prospective host family and they served pupusas, which are my favorite!(a Salvadoran food which is basically a tortilla with beans and cheese inside them). Dinorah, one of the professors here, is Brazilian, and she immediately took us to an amazing Brazilian restaurant here called Bossa Nova. I am a fan.
Our good friends Michael & Andrea L. were here when we arrived, which was awesome. It was so great to get to be here with Michael and walk around the campus property with him and hear his goals and vision for the site. Also, Ryan Niemeyer came the first night we showed up, and hung out until this morning, so it was a blast for him, Kristina and I to hang out in Central America together again and reminisce about our trip here three years ago.
I mentioned earlier that today we met with our first prospective host family. All of the Whitworth students coming to study at this campus will be living with Costa Rican families in the area, in order to create a more holistic learning experience. The family we met with today was so wonderful: a mother and her 3oish year old daughter. They both work at the UNA (national university nearby) and are going to be very helpful in connecting us with possible internships for the students. And whoever gets to live with them will be so blessed by their new Costa Rican family! There was definitely a moment when we first began talking with them that we all felt that it was no accident we were connecting like this. God clearly orchestrated that meeting. It was so encouraging to talk with them and get all their ideas and see their excitement about working with us and out students. Also, it gave Kristina and I hope that we can make friends our ages (mas o menos) here as well. (We have been a little worried about how we would make friends outside of our students and the students at the universities nearby). Emelina (our first friend our ageish) is wonderful and gives us hope!
I am sure there is a lot that I'm forgetting, but I hope this gives you all a little taste of what life is like here. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate them!
Tenga un buen dia!
Around 5am Tuesday morning, my co-volunteer Kristina and I arrived in San Jose, CR. Lindy, the campus director, picked us up and somehow fit us and our 7 suitcases and backpacks into the tiny little Chevy Spark that the university just purchased for the site.
Things are going well, but super busy. I feel constantly tired, but some of that is probably because we haven't gotten enough sleep since we've been here because we've been up early hiking and taking people places, etc. We went for a beautiful hike yesterday in the Braulio Carillo, a national reserve that is next to our campus, which is about 10,000ft up, and I am now a little sore. I didn't know if I was going to make it part of the time because the hike was so steep uphill combined with the elevation. I can walk forever, but not uphill. I'm from Moses Lake, we don't have hills! However, Kristina and I are both highly motivated and excited that we will be getting into better shape because we will be doing a lot of uphill walking around here.
Right now we are living in a little hotel cottage, because the campus isn't finished enough for us to move in yet. So Lindy, Dinorah, Kristina and I are living in a little cottage at the moment, which is just a few kilometers downhill from the actual campus. The campus itself is amazing! I am dying to be able to live there, so hopefully they'll finish remodeling our apartments soon. The building in going to be so beautiful, and the architecture is so unique. Also, the 27 acres of land surrounding it is amazing, and we are bordered by the Braulio Carillo, like I said. This campus is basically every CASPers dream, because there are so many possibilities and so much that can be done in this environment.
It is a lot colder than I thought it would be. We are in the rainy season/winter, but I am now wishing I had brought more pants and fewer skirts. Shocking, I know.
My spanish is okay at the moment. I can understand most things I hear and read, but my speaking is super lame right now compared to where it was a year ago when I was actually taking classes. I'm sure it'll come back soon enough.
The food has been good. I haven't had a lot of typical Costa Rican food because we're eating out or making food in our cabin, but it is still really good. Yesterday we finally got to eat a typical meal, and it was like coming home (reminiscent of my month in Honduras). And today we met with our first prospective host family and they served pupusas, which are my favorite!(a Salvadoran food which is basically a tortilla with beans and cheese inside them). Dinorah, one of the professors here, is Brazilian, and she immediately took us to an amazing Brazilian restaurant here called Bossa Nova. I am a fan.
Our good friends Michael & Andrea L. were here when we arrived, which was awesome. It was so great to get to be here with Michael and walk around the campus property with him and hear his goals and vision for the site. Also, Ryan Niemeyer came the first night we showed up, and hung out until this morning, so it was a blast for him, Kristina and I to hang out in Central America together again and reminisce about our trip here three years ago.
I mentioned earlier that today we met with our first prospective host family. All of the Whitworth students coming to study at this campus will be living with Costa Rican families in the area, in order to create a more holistic learning experience. The family we met with today was so wonderful: a mother and her 3oish year old daughter. They both work at the UNA (national university nearby) and are going to be very helpful in connecting us with possible internships for the students. And whoever gets to live with them will be so blessed by their new Costa Rican family! There was definitely a moment when we first began talking with them that we all felt that it was no accident we were connecting like this. God clearly orchestrated that meeting. It was so encouraging to talk with them and get all their ideas and see their excitement about working with us and out students. Also, it gave Kristina and I hope that we can make friends our ages (mas o menos) here as well. (We have been a little worried about how we would make friends outside of our students and the students at the universities nearby). Emelina (our first friend our ageish) is wonderful and gives us hope!
I am sure there is a lot that I'm forgetting, but I hope this gives you all a little taste of what life is like here. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate them!
Tenga un buen dia!
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