Learning the Ropes

Highlights from the past 2 weeks:

1) Learned where to buy groceries, and it's not at the Costa Rican "Wal-Mart!" We found that everything is pretty expensive there!

2) Found a church near our house that we have really enjoyed attending. Last week we heard missionaries speak from Israel and participated in a Hebrew song and dance!

3) Callie, our dog, is adjusting well and loves playing with the kiddos.

4) We've learned that the bag of rice here with corn kernels isn't for humans to eat...it's for chickens:-)

5) Also, that "manana (tomorrow)" doesn't really mean tomorrow...it will just happen when it happens.

6) Never show up on time, b/c everyone will be late according to "Americans."

7) Someone told me yesterday that we are like "married singles." We take that as a compliment, b/c the singles have invited us to do the "single" activities. Oh, and we are considered to be a "young married couple'" even though we've been married for 6 1/2 years! :-)

8) We love our Tico family, they have made it a family project to help us learn the language!

9)Last but not least, don't try to return something, it takes FOREVER!

Church Service...Tico Way!

We went to our first church service with out Tico family yesterday. The people were very friendly and so many came to introduce themselves to us. Needless to say, service here is different than back home. Like how it lasted for 2 hours:-) But we really enjoyed every bit of it, and got most of what the service was about: prayer!

I couldn't help but think of my church back in Houston and how they were worshiping the same time we were. Oh how I loved the worship time at UBC and all the people there! Yet as the songs played, I began to feel right at home. It reminded me so much of the church I served at one summer in Del Rio. There really wasn't a time schedule. It was such a beautiful time to see people worship in different ways. As the cars buzzed by outside, I could feel God's presence, like it just swept in with the rush of the cool breeze. My heart was touched to see the love the people had for one another. How they didn't hold back their emotions, and how they worshiped an Almighty God! It brought tears to my eyes to know that I could still experience Him in worship despite that it is in a different culture, language, or country! Oh how the Lord goes beyond what we could have imagined and gives us more than we ever thought to ask! We praise Him for the place we have to live, the family who has taken us in, and for the people who are supporting us that makes it all possible! We love you!

Home Sweet Home!

Llegamos a Costa Rica! We made it to Costa Rica! First, thank you so much for your prayers, we were so encouraged to hear of all the people praying. We could not have asked for a "smoother" trip!

So far we have been able to go to a grocery store, where I (Amanda) held up the line, and the checker must have felt bad because he decided to give me the store discount instead of waiting for the manager to come:-) I was so thankful!

Today, we went to our first day of orientation at school. We both had to take written and oral exams and learned a lot about the culture! For instance, in Costa Rica you shouldn't walk around bare foot in the house!

The other 3 dogs are warming up to Callie gradually. She has learned how to bust open the door of her crate and climb in bed with us the last 2 nights at 1 a.m.! Last night, our Tican mother showed us where to pick limes from the tree outside and told us that we will have great big juicy mangoes in a few months to eat from the tree! How cool is that!?!? Afterwards, we played a little game of kickball in the street with the 3 kids that live here...and the dogs!

All is well, gracias a Dios! Attached is a video of our apartamento:-) (If you are a facebook friend, you may have already seen it).