Odd Things of the States

Well I've been in the States for almost 2 weeks now, man how time flies! My trip here to Missouri end up being quite painful. It's very possible that I dislocated or something like that to my lower rib as I walked onto the first plane in Costa Rica. I wanted to scream and cry the entire day any time I had to move, yawn, or cough. (Thankfully the back is better now.) I ended the day with getting three of my fingers slammed in the car door; they didn't even bruise! Thankfully, so far, that's been the worse of the pain on this trip.

The first week here I stayed hidden at Dallas and Heather's house as I experianced reverse culture shock. I got easily overwhelmed, things were just strange and hearing English all around me and trying to turn off my Spanish.

So what are the things I now see differently in the states?

• Wide open spaces and yards - the lack of walls and bars
• Road kill everywhere
• Learning to let my guard down - not having to assess if someone is a threat to me and not having to watch men over my shoulder when the walk pass - just in case they try to grab me
• Feeling like I'm trapped inside due to the lack of public transportation and a car - Man I miss public transportation or just being able to walk to do my errands
• The amount of choices we have for one type of product
• How we, Americans, live in such excess and believe we have to have it to have a quality life
• How wasteful we, Americans, are
• Mall walkers - I was completely taken back today when I saw some in the mall today. Really the concept is funny; drive to a mall and then walk around it for how many minutes or hours. (my apologies if you are a mall walker :) )

The things that I have missed that I don't get in Costa Rica

• Tooties rolls
• Chicken Crispers from Chili's
• Fountain Pepsi
• Nutter Butters
• Olive Garden
• The Nature Center
• Millie's Chocolate Heaven cake
• and of course my friends and LifePoint Church.

A Small Health Concern

I live in the Valley of San Jose, where 75% of Costa Rica's population lives. It sounds like it's a huge area, but in reality it's not all that huge, especially when the country is only about 500 miles in length and 200 miles in width. I'm surrounded by gorgeous mountains and am lucky to live just about 10 minutes from the base of the southern mountains of this valley.

However with any large city there are added health risks. Those risks are elevated when the area has little, to no, regulations on vehicles; multiple factories; and the burning of coffee fields. One of the risks are developing asthma.

Unfortunately, over the past several months I have begun noticing that it's harder to breath out, especially in the evenings when I start settling down. These times have increased and can occur from only sitting down reading a book to exercising. I have begun experiencing a heaviness in my lungs during these episodes.

Today has been the worse. We did a entire chapel of praise and worship and I was one of the leaders, and also had a solo, however I found it hard to even sing because of the breathing issues.

After school, I asked one of my doctor friends at school about it and he said it's very likely that it could be asthma. But there's no way to know for sure without getting a breathing test.

Please pray that this will not become serious. (I'm hoping that working up on the mountain 5 days a week will help decrease the symptoms, since the air is fresh up there.) Also pray that if I do need to seek medical attention that the Lord will provide the financial means and the right to doctor to go to. Thanks for your prayers.

Just A Few More Days

It's finally that time, though I truly can't wrap my mind around it yet and probably won't for some time to come, but I'll be back in the states in less than 3 days - Saturday! I'm excited about seeing everyone.

I ask for grace as I adjust to American culture and English. Forgive me ahead of time if I try to kiss you on your cheek when I greet you; throw my toliet paper in the trashcan; start speaking in Spanlish; or just plain weird at times. :)

I'd love to see you so email me at sunshineloveland@gmail.com if you'd like together. Can't wait to be in Missouri very soon!

I Passed!

It's official, I'm receiving a diploma from the Instituto de Lengua Espanola! With the favor of God, I was able to pass both of my tests!

A year ago my Spanish speaking ability was a Beginner Low; with much studying and the strength of God to go on I am now at an Advance Low. The teacher who gave me my oral exam said with a little more work on my grammar and completed sentences I will quickly and very soon become an Advance Medium! Praise God!

Then there is the big grammar test worth 300 points. I was told that many people do not pass this test (meaning you have to score a 70% or higher), but 75% of our class passed; which is the highest percentage ever! I didn't do as well as I would have liked but I did get a 78%. After talking to some people who are awesome in Spanish and they got low 80% I feel much better.

I'm just so thankful to God for His strength to survive and learn this language. I have really enjoyed learning Spanish with some amazing people. As classes end next week, I'm very sadden to say good-byes but I'm so excited to hear all about what God will be doing all around Latin America through friends that I have cherished so much. I just can't believe the time has come to graduate. Wow!