As college students, we never thought we would be so excited to “sleep in” until 7:30 am… and yet that’s what we experienced as we had a later start to our first day without any clinics. After a delicious breakfast at the AMCA house, we went to a park called “Parque la Libertad” where we did multiple activities with each other and some locals. Many of us played disc golf around the park, while others joined in on a very challenging but fun Zumba class. During Zumba we saw God as we were able to talk with some of the locals and bond with them through our participation in the Zumba class. After both groups were done, we played a whiffle ball game, threw the football, and passed with the mini lacrosse sticks. We went back to the AMCA house for lunch (Reagan finally got his tacos that he had been talking about the whole trip), hung out for an hour, and then adventured to the Artisan Market. It was overwhelming, but ultimately an eye-opening experience that gave us a glimpse of Costa Rican culture (plus we all left with some goodies).
When Kim said we were going to a “supermarket” to get Costa Rican coffee, we all pictured a local grocery store—and then we pulled into a Wal-Mart. Jokes on us. Inside the Wal-Mart we got some tasty ice cream at a mini shop called Pops, and then we all dispersed to get our coffee and snacks. As we were waiting for everyone to check out, Madison keenly noted about Joaquin (Jack’s new name for those of you who don’t know), “I have never seen someone with their face engulfed so deep in a bag of coffee beans.” Let’s just say our bus smells really good now. After the supermarket, a.k.a. Wal-Mart, we had a Costa Rican dinner at a restaurant called “La Parodito de las Brujas” where we discovered which of us are the bravest as some ordered tongue and liver for their meal. Both Abby and I (Rachel) agree that the tongue is better than the liver. The liver tasted like a very dry and tough steak with a weird aftertaste, whereas the tongue tasted like it was straight out of a pot roast (also softer than we all anticipated). However, once we noticed the taste buds on the tongue, no one wanted to eat more of it.
We ended the evening with more team time of going through Philippians, as well as packing for our excursion up north for the next three days. Even though today was not focused on ministry, we all still saw God at different points throughout the day, such as playing whiffle ball and lacrosse with one of the locals named Stephanie. God was clearly shown through the smile that came from her experiencing these sports for the first time. Also God has really been helping us grow closer as a team, which was clearly shown through Jenna’s trust in Christian and Joaquin to cut her hair with an ordinary pair of scissors. We learned that they can’t cut in a straight line, but don’t worry Jenna, as Megan said “if you turn to your head to the right it doesn’t look as bad.” We eagerly look forward to what more He has for us up north. In conclusion, the next time you go to your local supermarket, a.k.a. Wal-Mart, we hope you’ll think of us and maybe even pretend like you’re in Costa Rica.
With love,
Rachel and Abby J
Come back tomorrow to hear about our day from Reagan, Christian, and Madison—an incredible trio.