Dia De Independencia

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!! I was met with the sounds of greeting from all the staff as I walked into the SCORE Villa. Wow. I was home. Yeah... home, for nine months. First things first, we unloaded all the luggage from the truck that brought it over from the airport, and then ate. We had sandwiches prepared for us and then we got to settle in. Aaahhhh.. after living out of bins in my guest room at home and then a suitcase for a few days, I was so relieved to be able to settle into a room that would be mine for a significant amount of time. Especially because I had to maneuver weight around in my suitcases making my backpack incredibly stuffed!! I was glad to unload that heavy burden. So my room is super cool! Number one its room Lucas and with a brother like mine, it's pretty much already the best. Also we have two bunk-beds, a bathroom in our room, and TWO showers!! Yes, two. So with four girls and two showers we're gonna be ok. I love my roommates too. Maddison from Alabama, Holly from Georgia, and Tamara from Alabama. I'm so excited to get to know them better and enjoy living with them! We have all our decorations and pictures and stuff out and hanging, and our place looks so homey. The rest of the day was totally chill. We had dinner and relaxed. I played my guitar.. of course. But our bodies were two hours ahead of actual time, plus travel, so we were really tired anyway.

The next morning I got up at six and went running at six thirty. I know, I'm crazy like my parents. But I really want to get into the routine before classes start so that I'm in the groove and can adjust better when it does get busy around here. So I went around the city and then up to the gym around the track once. It felt really nice. Then I took a shower, did my devos in the perfect weather that we have down here (a common nickname for Costa Rica is the Garden of Eden because of the incredible weather, yeah, be jealous), and then went up for breakfast. After breakfast we met up and walked about a half hour into the main part of town for Independence Day. In Costa Rica their Independence Day is the same for all Central America. And one tradition is that they carry a torch, by way of runners in schools in relay fashion, from Nicaragua all the way down to Costa Rica. It's really neat. So they have big parades and such. The parade part was canceled this year, but there was still a high time and fancy to do. There was a big circle that everyone was decorating with chalk, there was a mariachi band, there were girls dancing with super big white dresses and colored sashes, there were stands of food,.. it was really neat to just see all the culture and soak it in. I got to talk to a couple ladies too.

After getting back from our outing, we had lunch, free time, testimonies, dinner, and more testimonies. It was really neat to hear the stories behind the people we'll be living with for nine months. It's a super fast way to get to know them. We'll be giving them the next two days also, until we get through everyone. I can't wait to hear how God has molded, grown, and led all these people here. It's so cool to see how his hand has been through everything in putting this team of students together. We're all hand-picked by a sovereign God, and we're here together to serve and learn and grow, and then go shake the world!! Thank you so much for all the prayers. They're much needed, but also are being answered. Praise the Lord for his marvelous work in Costa Rica!! I love and miss you all.