A few new pics

This is the front of our house. It has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It is a very nice house. On the roof thier is a bodega (shed/workshop) as well as a basketball hoop. I was able to see the stars last night very clearly for the first time since we left the clear dry air of southern Colorado. Awesome!

This is the front yard. The tree by Brooklyn is a poinseta. Yes, the same plant that you all buy around Christmas in little pots. Amazing what the rainforest environment and living 2 degrees south of the equator will do huh?

This is Brooklyn and her new best friends. These two dogs are named (from left to right) Sadie and Bedje (pronounced Becha). They are two of the neatest dogs I have EVER seen, and that they still like Brooklyn after all of her playing and pulling ect. is a testament to thier patience.

Thought you would all like to see a little bit of where we live. These pictures are just basic of around the house. I will be sure to be taking a lot of pictures so everyone can see what this part of the world is like, and the people that live here. The numerous ACTIVE volcanoes are awe-inspiring if you can get a picture of them. They are usually in the clouds since many of their tops are above 18,000 feet.

We're here????

We are safe and sound in Shell, Ecuador. "I don't believe it" doesn't even begin to describe how we feel right now. Our drive down from Quito was long...we were traveling with kids, you know! It took us 8 hours to get here, although the drive itself is just over 5 hours. We stopped in a town about two hours from Shell where there is a nice, new supermarket. It was important that we apply for our "Mega Maxi" shopping cards before we will be allowed to buy anything. We did do a little bit of shopping but didn't get much. I (Becca) will probably make a trip up there every month or every other month to get items that can't be found in Shell.

It was a beautiful drive. We've been down that road before on previous visits to Ecuador but we were amazed at how much the road has improved. Even compared to Costa Rica, we found this road very nice. There has been a lot of devolpment in Shell in recent years so it was hard to recognize the Ecuador that we had seen 6 years ago. But it did all seem vaguely familiar and I felt like I had finally arrived home after being away for a long time. Ecuador definately holds a very special place in our hearts, so returning to be real MAF missionaries here is something very special!

Our new "home" is very comfortable. We're house-sitting for another family and so we were welcomed into an already "homey" house complete with 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a car! Brooklyn is in heaven with the two dogs (Sadie and Betje) and the one cat that will let her touch it (Callie). She has been playing non-stop with the animals since we arrived. Sadie is a Cocker Spaniel and Betje is German Sheperd and they are both just as sweet as can be...i.e. extremely patient with Brooklyn pestering them even as they try to nap! Sean and I love the house and already we feel very at home here. We don't know how long we'll be here but it could be up to a whole year. The Rogers may have a very difficult time kicking us out of their house when they come back!!

It all comes down to this reality...we're here. And we're living here! It hasn't sunk in just yet and I don't think it will for a while. It is time for "real" life to begin again - time for Sean to go back to work on airplanes and flying while I stay home with Brooklyn and try to figure out how to be a "domestic engineer" all over again in a completely different culture, country, and lifestyle! After a very unique year in language school, the normal, every day tasks of work and life seem a bit daunting. We've been in a world of school and studying..... and not much else. But we are ready to begin this new life and to find some kind of stability for our family. We realize that will probably take some time, though - so continue to pray for us!

Ya hemos llegado (We have arrived)

Praise the Lord!!! I now write this from our MAF apartment in Quito, Ecuador. Everything went flawless with our travels and we had a great time. We were greated in Quito by rain (of course) and about 3 of our teammates here to get us setup for the night. We will be off to dinner soon at the homeof one of our fellow MAF'ers. It looks like it will be a big crew, as circumstances would have it there are a lot of our staff here this weekend in Quito. We will be sure to keep you all informed of what will be happening the next few days. It is sure to prove adventurous. We leave for our "permanent" home in the morning at around 9am. Continue to pray for us as well as the DiCrasto's that traveled with us from Costa Rica as we get settled into our new life. It was sure awesome to return and begin the see the awesome Andes Mountains and the little Ecuadorians. Our hearts our beyond excited and extremely content with where we are and what the Lord has us doing. Talk to you later...

Leaving on a Jet Plane...(Yeeee Haaaa!)

We just got finished eating what might be our last ever Costa Rican meal. It was what they call Gallo Pinto, basically rice and beans. Our ride from the hotel to the airport leaves in 45 minutes. We should be able to update everyone later today after we arrive in Quito, Ecuador, but we can't make any promises. For all we know it could be next week until we are able to update. Until then, join with us as we praise the Master for this exciting day, as well as praying for all this day holds and those that follow. We are scheduled to drive down to our new town of Shell, Ecuador tommorow. Lots of traveling and changes...again!

In Transition

We are sitting in our hotel room right now. This morning we finished some last minute packing and organizing before we had a quick breakfast with Isabel, our maid. She just returned yesterday from a trip to the United States to raise support for her missions in Mexico. Although it was sad to say good-bye, there was a great deal of joy and celebration because Isabel herself is soon to head off on a missionary journey in May. We enjoyed hearing her perspective on the US (it was her first trip) and it was such a joy to hear how God provided her support as well.

We got to the hotel at lunch time. After eating a quick lunch, we went swimming in the pool. We didn't spend much time there because it was TOO cold. Although it was very warm outside, the pool had not had time to get warm. Brooklyn played hard and was then ready to take a long nap (as were we). Really, the timing was perfect since it started raining very hard as soon as we came in. The electricity went off after a particularly fierce thunder boom....but we all slept peacefully anyway!

Tonight we are going out to dinner with our fellow MAFers. The Dicksons are here to stay in Costa Rica but the DiCrastos will be traveling with us tomorrow.

We leave the hotel tomorrow at around 7:30 in the morning. Our flight won't leave until 10:30 am. We'll arrive in Quito, Ecuador at 1:30 (CST). It seems so unreal that we're doing this but we sure are having fun! Thanks for your prayers. We will let you know as soon as we can that we have arrived safely in Ecuador.

P.S. I'm still deaf and pregnant! Somehow not being able to hear out of one ear makes me feel even more dumb and clumsy. Great. Just pray that somehow the change in altitude in the plane would pop that stupid wax plug out (without hurting me, of course) : ) I'm just nervous about arriving in Ecuador and struggling to understand their Spanish accents anyway, let alone if they speak into the wrong ear!

Packing...

• Well...It is done. I just got finished packing all of our stuff into 8 trunks ready for thier flight to Ecuador. We actually have a bit of room left so we are going to take some of our comrades some coffee, and also go buy some new umbrellas for us. I don't think I had owned 2 umbrellas in my whole life, and then we came here and we have had at least 6 just this year. We only have about 3/4 of one right now, in other words it has seen better days and is basically a piece of junk. The other 5 or so ran off in the back of taxi cabs. We are still in the dry season here in Costa Rica so it really hasn't rained since January. But there are only 2 seasons in Shell, Ecuador, wet and wetter. So we want to have a little protection with some new umbrellas when we get there.
• Yesterday at church was pretty awesome. The church knew it was the last Sunday for us as well as our fellow classmates. So they had a nice service and they had us all share a little bit, and then they all gathered around us and "commisioned" us, sending us to all the various parts of Latin America with prayer. It was pretty awesome, there was a sweet prescence of the Spirit there.
• After church we went to eat lunch with some friends which was a good time, although Becca just about got splatted as she crossed the street afterwards. We were going to hail a cab to get home, but the best spot was across the street, which meant we had to cross two lanes of traffic, some railroad tracks, and then two more lanes of traffic. We all made it across the first two lanes just fine. We all stood on the railroad tracks waiting for a time to cross the other 2 lanes and we all made it except for Becca and one of Brookln's stupid flip-flops which fell into the middle of the road (I had Brooklyn in my arms). I didn't even know that Brooklyn had lost her shoe, until our friends told me and just then I looked back onto the road to see it get run over twice. (That part was pretty funny really.) Also this whole time there is this really really loud horn sounding from somewhere. You must understand, loud horns and thier various rythms and chimes are very common so I didn't think anything of it. Also, every single railroad track that I have seen here has been out of use for many years. You now may know where I am heading with this. Becca is still out on her "island" made of the only working railroad in San Jose, that loud horn is the train coming, and she cannot cross into either the lanes behind her or in front of her because of vehicle traffic. Obviously she made it to the other side or else I wouldn't be writing this, but she did almost get hit by a bus trying to get Brooklyn's stupid flip-flop in the middle of the lane. Anyway, lesson to self, a horn that sounds like a train just might be. (That was the first train we had seen since we were in the States over a year ago. We had lost our fear of railroad tracks and trains thinking they didn't exsist here. DUH!)
• To continue this sad (or funny depending on your perspective) Becca story did you know she is going deaf? When we got our physicals for our visas about a month ago the doctor told Rebecca that she had a wax plug in her left ear. No big deal, just put this "potion X" in your ear and it will all disolve and drain out. Well, now her ear is more plugged than ever after putting in "the potion" and she ends up talking a little louder and tilting her head to hear you. It is kinda funny. She did tell me that is feels less plugged up and is clearing out today. Keep praying for my beautiful pregnant deaf wife. :)
• I also read somehthing neat on the internet the other day. I tested this in our Spanish classes last week and it worked there also. The toerhy syas taht we can bclliaasy udntsraed any wrod as lnog as the fsrit and lsat ltetres are in tiehr paelcs. Our minds automatically correct for what we see and they read it correctly. Isn't God's creation of the human body and mind amazing?! Of course if you are dislexic (sp?), this may be a problem.
• On a final point, Costa Rica had their "Super Bowl" of soccer this past Saturday between the two best national teams. I really wanted to go but I couldn't find anybody that wanted to go with me. Supposedly those type of games, they are called "Classicos," are very crazy. If you are able to go, watch, and return to your house without any infraction or seeing something crazy, then you consider it almost a miracle. There are fans that go just to fight. Whether their team wins or loses, they will fight before, during, and after the game. If the ref's make a bad call, it is common for people to throw bags of urine, bottles, toilet paper, whatever, on the rest of the crowd. All this crazyness exists and alcohol isn't even allowed in the stadiums, unlike almost every sporting event in the States. So needless to say I watched it from the comfort of my home, and it was still crazy, because all the surrounding community lit fireworks upon every goal, yelled in unison with refiree calls and goals, and generally they were just loud. It is pretty neat to see the PASSION for futbol (soccer) that the Latins have. I'm sure nothing will change in Ecuador. By the way dad, Sapprisa beat La Liga 2-1.

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sean!!!

Today is the big day. I am very thankful that Sean was born 26 years ago!! Seriously. I couldn't be more proud of my hubby. He's worked very hard to be where he is. He's so organized, so goal-oriented, so persevering. When I would have thrown in the towel and said "forget it" he kept plugging along. And here we are, 5 days away from beginning our ministry in Ecuador. He's had a difficult year - no flying and nothing but school - but he doesn't whine like I would (and do)! Instead he tackled this language learning stuff with his usual determination and is now a proficient Spanish speaker. Looking at where he started a year ago, I can tell you that of all the students that began in our trimester a year ago, Sean has improved the most drastically. It might have something to do with the fact that Sean is such a friendly, talkative guy. He never let a silly thing like language keep him from making friends and talking to people wherever he goes! Because he was willing to put himself out there to "practice" so much, he improved very quickly.

Not only is Sean a hard worker but he is, most importantly, a faitful servant of the King. He's always been my encourager in the faith. A wife really appreciates it when her husband wants to pray with her every morning. Sean takes his role as "priest" of this family very seriously and I appreciate that more than I can express with mere words. And knowing that he is seeking God, looking to Him for strength and answers to the issues of life makes me confident that the decision he makes are out of Godly wisdom. I know that not every woman is able to say that about her husband and I praise God that I can say it with complete confidence!

I'm proud of you, Sean. And I'm so blessed that God gave me such a wonderful man to live out the rest of my days with. Happy Birthday!

The Real Countdown Begins

So, we're down to just 5 more days in Costa Rica. This is one of those times in my life when I just have to keep telling myself that this is real. I feel like I'm just fooling myself or lying outright to anybody that I talk to about our departure from Costa Rica. Does Ecuador really exist anyway? Yeah, I know we get emails from there but it could all be a very cruel joke couldn't it?

We finished our last day of school yesterday. There are classes on Monday but we aren't required to go. In fact, our teachers sort of hinted that they don't want us to come to class that day! It's probably because they've been trying to figure out what to do with us for the past month anyway. Other classes are still finishing up the book but our class has been done with that for quite a while. Our poor teachers seem to feel kind of frustrated trying to keep us busy when there just isn't any more material to cover! Sure, we keep practicing speaking but these poor teachers have heard every boring detail of our lives more than once. They get a pretty glazed-over, far away look in their eyes every time we start to tell a story.

Our class had a party yesterday to say good-bye. We presented our two teachers with gift certificates to a nice department store here and a thank you card. They seemed very touched. It was weird to say good-bye, to realize that this stage of the game is really over. All that is left is the graduation on Tuesday.

We're trying to pack. We can't seem to get motivated just yet. It seems kind of early! Sean and I have never tackled anything big (such as packing) very early. When we moved here we were packing the night before we left. We seem to work best under pressure! Well, we do still need most of our things. I'm finishing up some laundry so we can start packing away some clothes. In a way, it still feels like a waste of time to pack...is isn't like we're really moving to Ecuador in 5 days anyway. Funny how you look forward to something for so long that when it really comes you can't believe it could possibly be real.

Keep praying for Brooklyn especially. She's a little out of sorts. Her life is not "normal" right now. We've told her several times about our new house in Ecuador and she's actually very excited about it. She tells us all the details about our new house when she gets talkative. But she doesn't really understand what a move like that means. She's going to miss going to kinder, playing with friends and teachers that shower her with love. All her toys are about to be packed away for a while, she's not going to like that. Mom and Dad are busy and don't like it when she grabs things that are put in a special pile. And when we get to Ecuador, she's going to have to stay home with boring old Mom all day! I may be looking forward to that, but I have a feeling Brooklyn will be a little disappointed with the way I organize her day in comparison to her teachers (who, by the way, are energetic and get paid to make her day fun)!

Countdown...

We only have 1 week left here in Costa Rica!!! We are beyond excited to make our next move to Ecuador. We have not been doing much of anything in school or afterwards, so we are really looking forward to having something to do (i.e. a job). Tommorow at the school we have a schoolwide garage sale in which we hope to sell most of everything we have adquired this year. It doesn't amount to much, and we won't walk off rich afterwards, but at least we will have that much less to pack. That is our plan this weekend, to pack our things. We do still have school Monday but we have already decided that we are not going. So that leaves tommorow as our last day of Spanish Language School! Today at school for Brooklyn they filled up a few of those portable swimming pools and let the kids at it. Supposedly Brooklyn was the first in and the last out. She loves to be in the water and "swim." Because of that we are all looking forward to staying our last night here in Costa Rica at a hotel which does have a pool, and having a time to "relax" before the big move.

Also, you may have noticed I put some links on the sidebar of our blog a few nights ago. Hopefully these will help if people have interest in what we do with MAF and the various ways to be part of it's ministry. Check them out!

Yo quiero Taco Bell...

• As we told you a few weeks ago, we took an exit exam. Today we recieved the results. I think we were both pleased with our results, although they still have to be taken with a grain of salt. The results we received are still someone's opinion, the test was not an objective one, it was very relative. That said, my "level" of Spanish is considered Advanced Low. Rebecca recieved an Advanced Medium. The only other levels higher than us are Advanced High, and then the Superior level, which practically nobody receives. What the Advanced level signifies is that you can converse about practically any subject in a manner that makes sense, as well as understand a complex speaker as well. While it is great to have reached the "Advanced" level, we both know we have tons of work to do, and there is always more to learn. In fact, when we arrive in Ecuador in about a week, we will be learning all over. How the Ecuadorians talk, what their accent sounds like, their sayings, ect. are all going to be part of our new learning process. That is fine, it is all part of the process.

• Tonite we also had a little party at the house of one of our classmates. Most of the people that started school with us a year ago were there, and it was neat to have one last shindig and pray for each other. Among our class, people will be serving in Mexico all the way down to Argentina. It was neat to see all the comraderie (sp?) and especially how the Lord uses all of us in our individual ways and ministries. But, the hard part of being a missionary has begun once again, and that is the good-bye part. But we all leave in the hope and promise that one day soon we will all be together gathered around the One who called us together in the first place.

Sacrilege or Sacrament?

Okay, so what did we do to celebrate Easter? We gave Brooklyn a small Easter basket complete with stuffed bunny and jelly beans sent from the United States. We went to church. We had an Easter Egg hunt. We ate at "Denny's".......

"Denny's" on Easter Sunday? I know, it sounds horrible but you have to understand. First of all, because it is kind of far away, we never go there. Second, it's as "American" as you can get - something we all crave being so far from home on this special holiday. Third, they give you free refills (completely unheard of in most restaurants in Costa Rica). Fourth, there is no way I'm cooking when we're in the process of sorting, pricing, and selling just about everything in our house. So, "Denny's" it was. It was a very good meal, by the way.

I'll admit that I would have rather been sitting around Mom's big dining room table eating ham, potato casserole, layered salad, deviled eggs and homemade rolls. Mom usually invited old family friends or neighbors over and we'd all spend hours talking around the table. It would be getting warmer outside, Dad would probably saddle up Camper and we'd take turns riding the horse around the lot. If we did an egg hung, Jake the dog would be right there with us nosing around the yard for one of those stinky hot pink eggs. We'd lay around on the nice, soft sofa. Maybe take a nap. Later we'd warm up the left-overs, make a small ham sandwich with a homemade roll and a small slice of ham.

Of course, Mom and Dad are actually in Kansas (I wouldn't mind being there visiting Grandma, either, by the way). Jake is now in doggy heaven. It's probably still too cold to ride a horse anyway. And I really never was a huge fan of ham either. And, Mom told me she got rid of that nice sofa I was thinking about taking a nap on.

I'm probably more sentimental about not being home for this day than I have been about any of the other holidays that we've spent away from "home." That is probably because this is our second Easter away from home (last year we were in California at MAF headquarters doing training - we ate at the "Macaroni Grill" last year)! Something about that makes it more real to me that we really have moved, that "home" is not Colorado anymore. We've been away from "home" for well over a year now - longer than we've lived outside of the San Luis Valley in our lives. "Home" is now wherever we are and it's our turn as parents to make family traditions that our children will someday remember. That is a fun aspect of where we are. To Brooklyn this is normal. She's going to remember some very extraordinary holidays in South America!

I don't want you to think that I'm sad or miserable! No, today was very fun and very special. We had a great time at church today. We worshipped in Spanish, we understood the pastor's message about the real importance of this day - the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and we have true victory! We can count on every promise in the Bible because He rose from the dead. We have hope! We're not slaves to sin, but we are free! We celebrated Resurrection Day in a language that is not our own but that is fast becoming a very dear part of who we are. We ate out with friends that we will have the joy of working with in Ecuador, people who truly have become our "family away from family." It is time for new traditions, new memories, new friends, and even a new language!

And it is almost time for yet another new home in a new country. We can't wait! Did you know we're down to 10 days before we leave for Ecuador? Our dream is very close to becoming a reality after more than 6 years of hard work. God is indeed very good!

4/15/2006

• We have sure been bored lately. With our time winding down (11days left in C.R.) we cannot go anywhere, cannot spend money, and are trying to use what we have in the kitchen so we don't buy food we won't use.
• We did go downtown today to buy some things. We realized it will probably be our last time to that part of San Jose and it didn't really break our hearts. As we ate our lunch (Quizno's, it was great!) and watched all the people, we were just assured again that cities are not our preference. The town of Shell where we are moving to in Ecuador is no more than 10,000 people, maybe less, and that suits us just fine.
• Brooklyn's vocab continues to expand, as does her ability to put together a complete sentance. With the abundance of dog log (puppy poo) eveywhere, sidewalks, parks, streets, ect, Brooklyn has added a new sentance. "Look Dada, puppy poopoo. Guacala"
• The word "Guacala" (think guacamole for pronunciation) for those of you wondering is Spanish. It basically translates as gross, yuck, and icky all in the same package. How is that for a deal?
• Tommorow we have an interesting Easter Lunch planned. Rather that spill all the news now, we will wait to see how it goes before we say to much. I will give you this hint..."Grand Slam."

When things go bump in the night...

To remind those of you who forgot, or those who don't know, this is "Semana Santa" here in Latin America, or Holy Week. Try to imagine Spring Break in Florida, except the whole country is on spring break, not just the crazy college kids. Therefore, this time of the year doesn't have a very "holy" reputation. We have heard from our friends that the roads aren't safe, there are always crazy people out, ect. Try to imagine Labor Day weekend in the States for about 10 straight days. That is probably a good comparison. OK now where am I going with all of this...? At about 2:30 this morning I was startled awake to the sound of a loud crash, and what sounded like our front gate clanging on its hinges. I quickly ran to the window to see what was happening and there was a car turning around in front of our house. Our gate seemed to be intact, and no one was breaking in, so I went back to bed, and fell asleep about 45 minutes later after the adrinaline wore off. When I woke up this morning sure enough that car had run into our gate and smashed it into a concrete supporting structure. Ultimately, it made more noise than damage, and after a little bending and pulling, our gate works and even looks fine. Later this morning I was telling our street guard Jose about the whole story, about how someone basically ran into our house, and he didn't even crack a smile. He said "oh yeah, the last time this happened was a lot worse. I had to got get a big metal bar to pry the gate back into place, and then I spent a while trying to straighten everything out." In other words, this is a common occurance, yet not frequent. You never know what a day will bring.

A Few Thoughts

• This has been bothering me. Where do we get seeds for seedless grapes? Or for any "seedless" fruit for that matter?
• I found all the ingredients to make a taco salad. This is a family thing, not really Mexican at all but such a mainstay during my childhood that I've really been missing it. I told my mom it was like the stars have aligned or something since I was able to find everything I needed. You have no idea how hard it is to find everything necessary at one time to make good, old-fashioned Clark Family Taco Salad. A big deal - I had been searching for something like two months for all the right stuff. It was was VERY good. Whew. I might survive this overseas living stuff!
• I think Sean and I might be losing our English skills. The other day Sean was about to tell someone that we were on the footstool of Ecuador. That would be doorstep. But together we make a very bad mix. Tonight's conversation... Sean, after I confessed that I might be kind of a dork:"Rebecca, I knew I married you on reason." Me, thinking I'm being smart but instead falling into the trap:"Thanks, Sean, I married you for your lingwish skills." You may not be laughing. That's okay, maybe you had to be here...
• We went to our househelper Isabel's house tonight. It was a special time. She cooked us a nice dinner. We had a great time using our Spanish for the first time this week! Two of her sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandbaby were there also. Brooklyn loved their little dog! It was neat to see her home, which was very cozy though simple. She built that house from the ground up, all by herself, while working and caring for her 5 children. She has some pretty awesome stories of how God provided every room, and every piece of furniture little by little over the years. God is indeed very good. We probably won't see her again before we leave. She'll be in the States for the next two weeks, raising support for her mission work in Mexico. We're going to miss her.

• Brooklyn is getting bored being home with Mommy and Daddy all day. We caught her playing in some paints we had thrown into our "sell or give away" pile.
• We found out today that we won't be moving into the house we thought we were in Ecuador. Instead, we're going to "house-sit" for another MAF family for a while. It will work out well for us - we'll have a car to use right away and more time to buy our own stuff without the pressure. The drawback, of course, is that it is temporary. But we see it as God just doing something bigger than we can see. He's never failed us before! And after seeing how he provided even the simplest things for Isabel, we can't doubt that He knows our needs and wants to take good care of His children. So, we're looking at possibly up to another year in a "temporary" situation. Guess when you look at it from Eternity's side, all our years here on Earth are temporary anyway.

They have arrived...

Praise the Lord!!! The highlight of our day was going to the Ecuadorian Embassy and finally receiving our missionary visas. It has been a long and drawn out battle, about 2 months, but we have them now. Also we have our shipment list aproved which will enable us to get the shipment out of customs in Ecuador tax free. And now, I just got done buying our airplane tickets to Quito for the 27th of April, just over two weeks away. The funnest part about the tickets is they are First Class. I upgraded because we get to take 3 bags instead of the allowable 2 in Economy Class. We are going to have to take a few extra things, and upgrading to 1rst Class enables us to take the extra luggage and save $20. Hows that for a bargain?! As we look over the whole visa process, the ups and downs, we realized that the folks at the embassy were really on our side the whole time. Many of our personel in Latin America are new to their posts, and because of this we were given wrong information or documents that ultimatly delayed the process. Thankfully, the folks at the Embassy were patient with us and continued to tell us what we needed and how to go about getting it. In the end, it is only important that we have them before we have to leave for Ecuador, which 2 hours or 2 weeks, it is the same difference.

We have been enjoying a fairly busy and productive week "off" from school. We are starting the packing process and are also busy with dinners and meetings and things. This is good, as the alternative boredom is enough to kill a man.

I have also been logging some serious hours on the ol' Microsoft Flight Simulator lately. This has helped dust a few of the cobwebs off, although there "ain't nothing like the real thing baby..."

Its getting close...

Yeserday at school we had our "exit exams." They are similar to a final exam, except they are not counted as part of your final grade. They are used to determine your current speaking level in Spanish. We will let you know what ours turn out to be. Really, it is still very subjective. We could have had a bad or a good day, the teacher performing the oral test with us could have thought we did better or worse than we really did. So luckily it doesn't really matter, although we may be able to use our year of Spanish here to add to a degree as a minor with some schools, and that is where this official test comes to play.

We are now just under 3 weeks out from leaving for Ecuador. We are stinking EXCITED!!! Now that the visa process seems to be under control, we have really felt released to start thinking that all these years of work are really going to put us in Ecuador doing exactly what we have trained and prepared for. This coming week is vacation for us, so we are going to pack and get our things in order. Pray that Becca and I get along good as we pack. We joke with each other about packing, but for those of you who have packed anything (who hasn't?) then you know it can be stressfull.

On a lighter note...We locked ourselves out of our house today, well kind of. You see, we had our keys with us, but there was also the other set of keys in the other side of the lock, which prevented us from turning the deadbolt from the outside. The locks here are a bit different than in the states, and our front door is the ONLY way to get in and out of our house, so we couldn't just go "around to the back." What I ended up doing was removing 2 small panes of glass from our louvers, cutting the screen (never know when you'll need your Leatherman), and using a long piece of metal to kind of jingle the keys on the inside loose. Thanks to Jose our street gaurd for his help and the metal "thingy" he supplied. All in all, it took us about 5-10 minutes to get into our house and we can now chalk up another "don't do that again stupid."

Good News

The visa process is looking good! Sean just went to the embassy today to take yet another document in. It was the one apparently that they've been looking for all this time. They gave us and the other MAF family here going to Ecuador an appointment for 2:30 pm on Tuesday to go in and get our visas. Although we still don't have the visas in hand it is pretty certain that we will have them on Tuesday of next week. Thank You, Lord! But keep praying...we're a little nervous about any little snag coming up until we actually have the visas in our hands!

Tomorrow is our big oral exam. It doesn't affect our grades but will tell us where we are as far as our Spanish speaking abilities. We're not particularly nervous about it - but, of course, would love to come out with high scores. Ultimately how well we do isn't what is important. We were told when we first arrived by our Regional Director that we would leave here with the basic tools to use in really learning the language over the next 5 years. So we're at least on our way!

Also, tomorrow is a big celebration for Dia de Juan Santamaria. The actual holiday is on April 11 but since we won't be in class that day, they want to have a celebration at the school tomorrow. Juan Santamaria is one of the very few Costa Rican heroes. He was a 15 year old boy that burned down a house where a bunch of misguided Americans were holed up. The "misguided" Americans were "Filabusters" - mercenaries from the South of the United States looking for more slaves. (No, the US government did not send them here, they were acting on their own.) This all happened in the 1850's, I believe. Although poor Juan died in his effort and the Filabusters escaped, he is revered as a national hero. Eventually the Filabusters were either killed or chased off and the people of Costa Rica and Nicaragua were not enslaved. Costa Rica does not have much of a military background (they don't even have a military now) and they have very few wars in their past so this is a big deal to folks down here. So, tomorrow we celebrate! It should be fun - a big assembly and then a drama acted out by some of the students and teachers.

The Truth about Pregnancy

Sean's aunt forwarded this to us and it's just too good (and too true) not to share it with everyone! This one really hits home for me...and I suspect for my sister, as well, who is 7 months pregnant.

Pregnancy Q & A & more!

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's
borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor,
but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife
is in labor?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and
act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

Most Wanted List...

Have you seen these women? If so please contact your local authorities. They are a mother and daughter team. Please heed CAUTION if seen. They have been known to be armed and very dangerous.

The mothers name is Vicki. She has been known to say "dangit" and other very vulgar words.

The daughters name is Becca. She is the Brains of the pair, and is known for vomiting in public to take advantage of her victims.

They are both easily recognizable by a very distinct laugh, which tends to sound the same when they are together. They both have a tendancy to begin patting you on the shoulder or back to express thier love, when in fact it is part of thier scam. Please be carefull with these two. Although they don't look very intimidating, they use this to their advantage and have affected many people with their sincere looks. Thanks for your cooperation with this matter.

-Office of the Concerned Citizen Watchers-

Como ha sido todo? (How have things been?)

Whew, what a crazy past few days! Backing up a few days, Saturday after Becca returned from puking all over down town San Jose, I went to our pastor's house to have worship practice. The worship team realized that I sing and play guitar and they wanted me to help if I wanted. So I did go and it was a good eye opener once again of how little Spanish we know. Being out of the classroom setting, hearing a very comforable and relaxed type of vocab at our pastors house, I found myself concentrating real hard to mantain involvement. This isn't to say that I was lost, I wasn't, it was just the real world. I didn't have teachers speaking every word real clear and deliberately. But it was a good time.

Later that night I was slated to have a "guys night out" at the school to watch the Final Four basketball games, but CBS happened to be cut off that day. Go figure! (We ended up having our guys night out last night, Monday, and watched the championship game.)

So Sunday rolled along and I helped with worship at church, and then we actually left a bit early, so that we could make it to another pre-planned engagement. We have an Austrailian friend at school and I guess they are really into Formula 1 car racing in Australia. This race just happened to be in Melborne, Australia and having never sat and watched 5 minutes of a Formula 1 race, I found it really fun. They last only a little over an hour long (not like NASCAR) and there are lots of good crashes!!! It was a good time. It was interesting all the sub-cultures we had at that get together. We had the Aussie and his family, a British family, and us. How different could a bunch of English speakers be...it was interesting, but a blast.

These past two days have been turning out like the last few weeks. Go to school and be bored, come home and see what's new in the VISA process today, and then try to fix or get whatever is needed. It has really been wearing on us, but I think we are getting close. (I've been saying that for a while...) Continue to pray with us that we would not only get our VISA for Ecuador, but get them this week. You see, next week is holy week. In Latin America, everything shuts down for about 10 days. No one works, everyone plays, ect, ect, ect. So if our VISA's don't get done this week, we have to wait until two weeks from now, which will be about 1 week away from our departure date to Ecuador. That's kinda cutting it close, BUT..., God has called us to this work. He will provide what we need to do it, He ALWAYS has!

Tommoro we have our Conversation class finals. I am doing my theme on the first time I took Becca flying. For those of you who know the story, you know it is pretty funny, and a testament to the Lord's ongoing protection.

Today I had to run and pay the electricity bill, and buy a few groceries. I took Brooklyn along for the fun of it. It ended up being a good time. She likes going and having the little responsibilities that I give her. She got to push the grocery cart today (a minature one of course) and that just makes her day. She really feels like a big girl. When we were at the checkout counter, the man in front of us asked us if we were Canadian. Of course I said no. We are usually taken as Germans, for being so big and blonde I guess. One thing is for sure, We are not going to be learning German, or any other language soon. Spanish is hard enough!!!

Echaques

I had one of my famous "Becca experiences" today. I suppose I'd better share it. Maybe it will be like therapy. Maybe not.

I went shopping today with three other ladies from school. There is this great used American clothes store and I'm in the market for some maternity clothes now. So, we all happily went. After about an hour and a half of scouring two floors of randomly organized clothes, I had basically found all I was going to find. I managed to find two tops, both very nice. The other ladies were still busily looking through the clothes upstairs and I realized they weren't near done - their options weren't quite so limited as mine and they were making some great finds. Normally I would have been right in there with them but it was getting hot and I was starting to feel naseous...again. I nervously drank my soda and tried to eat some Mentos to calm my stomach but it didn't appear to be working.

Finally I went and paid for my two shirts. As I stood in line, I could feel sweat breaking out on my face and I knew I was going to have either get out of that store or find a bathroom soon. Finally I made it to the front of the line and paid. I ran upstairs to tell the other gals that I had to go. We agreed to meet at a restaurant just a few blocks away and I ran off doing my best to tell my stomach to CALM DOWN.

As I hurriedly walked the two blocks to the restaurant I was feeling worse and worse. Please, Lord, help me! If I could just make it to the restaurant's nice bathroom.... But it wasn't meant to be. Before I knew what was happening I was throwing up in the gutter. I was a mess and everyone was staring at the wild-haired gringa puking in the street. I had nothing with me to wipe my face with so I just kept walking, trying to be inconspicous (ha!) as I took about five more steps and threw up again, this time in front of a cute little bakery. Thankfully, a lady from the bakery hurried to my help and led me through the bakery (yum, sanitary -a puke covered gringa walking through their nice kitchen). Anyway, I was able to clean myself up. And I felt just fine after the fact. I went back out and explained to the kind lady that I was pregnant and still having morning sickness - it is called "echaques" here in Costa Rica. She didn't seem to want to get too close to me but she did understand. I may have still smelled.

I wasn't like this with Brooklyn. I'm 3 months along now and hoping that soon my stomach will calm down. I'm not a normally weak-stomached person and so I continue to be shocked just about every time I throw up, which is often. And I'm starting to get pretty mad at the situation! Especially after my lovely experience today. All I know is that this kid better be worth it! :) I know, as soon as I see that sweet, pinched little face I'll forget all of this...that is exactly why I am writing this down - so I don't start to think I want to do it again!