Fire Down Below

I was at the program the other day with my girlfriend Amber and one of the program men noticed a house on fire. I yelled at some of the program men,"Lets Go!" We went down to help...for me mostly to see if anyone was trapped inside....but the community was trying to put the fire out with buckets of water and hoses. They also tried to get as much out of the house as they could. The house next to the one on fire quickly caught on fire and people were frantically breaking windows and trying to salvage as much as possible. It was a chaotic, sad, and emotional as people were running, yelling, crying, and helping one another. A few of the program men didn't listen to me the first couple of times when I tried to tell them to get out of the houses and away from danger. Eventually they listened when I got a little more stern. It was sad to see these families lose all there belongings. One of the program men told me that we had to keep helping because here it is not like the states where you get a lot of stuff back. It will take these people a long time to get stuff back. They don't have insurance like most of us do back in the US. I even understood why the guys weren't listening to me during the fires. I could see their compassion in action and it was cool to see everyone come together to help save what they could. I let them know that I wasn't going to allow them to risk their life for materially things. It was a learning experience and I am grateful that we were able to go and help. I am reading a lot about the Kingdom of God and I thought about the Kingdom after witnessing people come together amongst crisis and forget about themselves on behalf of others. I am 100% sure I saw the Kingdom of God yesterday. People were basically risking their lives to help these people salvage all they could. It was a memorable moment that I will never forget.

1 Month

I have been here in Costa Rica for a month now.  I would have to say that I am used to the daily routine, but not so much used to the pattern of life.  I am learning to enjoy relaxing.  I enjoyed relaxing back home, but there is much more here....at least it feels like it.  I feel like back home we are a slave to time and schedule.  Here there isn't much focus on keeping a schedule and it doesn't seem like there is much emphasis put on time.  At home it seems like there is not enough time in the day to do things.  Here sometimes it feels like there is too much time to do things.  It has been quite a big difference.  So when living back in the states I wonder where all the stress comes from of having to get things done and why we have to keep a strict schedule, because if you don't get a lot done and if you don't keep a rigid schedule you are looked upon as lazy and unorganized.  Yet you come to another country and do things the same way and it is looked upon as normal.  The same work ethic, drive, management of time, ect..ect.. doesn't work here or other places for that matter when you are immersed in another culture.  Everyone else around you is going at a similar pace and living life in a similar manner.  You just end up joining in.  Just like back at home.  In the USA it is balls to the wall work, work, work, to earn more money, money, money so I can get more bigger better stuff,stuff, stuff....at least that is how I perceive the american way of life.  I have only been here a month but I was here for a couple weeks last year and it is easy to see the emphasis  Costa Ricans put on spending time with family over working and trying to aquire possessions.  I would have to say that the people here are far happier people as a whole compared to the US.  Why?  I don't know exactly why.  But I would have to say they don't expect much, never had much, and they have learned to love life with whom they are surrounded by.  Although the pace of life is drastically different, I have also wondered if there is not the danger of just being lazy and complacent.  It is humid here and everyone around you is going at a certain pace....so how do you know if it is just plain laziness or if it is just the way things are?  Who is right and who is wrong I have wondered.  Maybe neither....maybe it is just the way it is? I definitely think Americans work way too much and don't spend enough time with family.  I have thought this before coming here. There is a lot going on in my head, so I will stop.:)  I am learning spanish daily and I am leaning on the hope given by others that I will start understanding more.  I hear it all the time and I don't understand most of it.  Some days my brain is absolutely overloaded with Spanish and I don't want to hear anymore.  It motivates me to want to learn, but it can be a bit discouraging not knowing much when everyone around you does.  A couple weeks ago I saw a black widow spider on the ground in the bathroom.  I was surprised and I yelled running out of the bathroom....I ended up killing it with roach killer.  I was going to just release it outside, but the dust pan idea I had didn't work.  It just crawled up it, so i figured I better kill it instead of allowing a potential threat back into the home.  I am excited to be here and I am thankful for all the support financially I have had and also the prayer and thoughts that are directed our way.  Peace

2 weeks In

I have enjoyed my stay here in Costa Rica thus far.  There have been some minor difficulties...mostly not sleeping well.  I wake up a ton during the night and rise about 5-5:30.  The sun comes up around that time so it doesn't feel too early.  I am fortunate to have been thrown right into the mix at the program and with the church on the beach.  I have done an intake interview and I also had the opportunity to teach/preach this past Sunday.  There are 7 men in the program thus far.  Two have left since I have been here.  It is definitely different than the program I went through and served at.  It has been refreshing to see a different approach and I have quickly learned that one way is not the best and there are multiple routes to what we call "success"(sobriety?).  They don't teach complete abstinence from alcohol here and it works.  The old AA-NA philosophy of never again is not so much followed here, only it is taught that if you have had trouble in the past and you cannot handle it then it is best that you never drink again.  It has been something I had to wrestle with quickly and wisely.  I understand the approach and I completely respect it.  I am learning quite a bit of Spanish being around it daily and studying from anywhere to a half an hour to an hour and a half a day.  There is one guy who speaks both Spanish and English so he translates for me.  A couple of the program men are very interested in learning English and I am very interested in learning Spanish so we are usually going back and forth learning new words and phrases.  I get to teach bible study on Monday's and Tuesday's and they also threw me into the preaching-teaching rotation.  Church is on the beach and some local surfers come and join us.  The church is very small right now, but it is pretty cool to worship God on the beach in public.  Locals watch curiously during the service.  Kim Stillwell is the man whom started the program down here.  He knows just about everyone.  He introduce me to the "drug kingpins" the other day.  You can go right up on the dyke and watch repeated deals of marijuana and crack cocaine go down.  The police station is right next door and I mean right next door. They also patrol it, but only harass users and kids.  It is pretty backwards, but it is what it is.  I killed a black widow spider the other day the size of my hand.  It was freaking big man and it has not helped me to sleep wondering if I am going to wake up to one of those on me.  The people here are very nice and welcoming.  It is very common for the majority of the people to say hello and if they don't you can and they will say it back....much different than the states.  Sometimes I say hello to people and they look at me like I have lost my mind.  America in my opinion has lost a lot of it's personable skills. Why???  Jared and Eileen the couple I am staying with are in Brazil right now which has left me home alone for about 8-9 days.  It has gotten a bit lonely at night but I pass the time reading, playing video games, studying spanish, and chatting online.  It is rainy season here, but the weather has been great.  I sweat all day and I quickly learned that I needed to up my water intake a ton.  It almost seems pointless to take a shower because I sweat more after I take a shower that I do the rest of the day.  Ok....that is my update.  Cool life down here and much opportunity for the present as well as the future.