The Rest of the Story...

For a few blogs now I have been putting off describing our current situation as a mission organization here in Ecuador. The reason being is that it tends to be complex and changing all the time. So here goes...

We charge for all of our flights. Some people may not be aware of this, but it is true. Although we do charge it is very minimal and highly subsidized. In other words, usually a "customer" just pays a rate that covers fuel and maintenance so we can keep our planes flying. We do not charge to pay for our pilots, and all the other overhead that it takes to operate as MAF. That is what we have our supporters for. And still, there are other flights that are completely free for the "customer" because the government of Ecuador is paying for the flight, for example in the case of emergency flights. Long story short, because we receive payment for our services, that puts us in the commercial category of things here in Ecuador. It is very much the same in the USA. The current law says that every commercial aviation operator in Ecuador must use Ecuadorian nationals. Because we technically fall under the commercial status (i.e. airline) and we don't have any Ecuadorian pilots right now we have had trouble obtaining our operators permit and flying everybody and everything that we have in the past. Because of this, our rates have gone up, and our flying hours down. It is really tough for some of our "customers" that have used our service heavily in the past, but now they either cannot afford it, or they do not qualify for the type of cargo we can haul, that being only missionaries and medivacs. This was also spurned on by other local operators in Shell that always see our planes flying, people always hanging at our gates (customers), and a fleet of very nice and well maintained aircraft and they have used this to say that "the immigrants are taking work from us," when in fact we aren't flying anything that they would, it just appears that way. So these operators have filed complaints against us with the government to do anything to shut us down.

We do employ many Ecuadorians in our hangar for many things. In fact, they do just about everything except fly and manage the program. Even though all of us including myself are mechanics as well, we have 4 certified Ecuadorian mechanics. We also have a variety of office staff, radio personel, ect. So it is not that we do not have Ecuadorians on our staff. In fact, we have even trained Ecuadorians as pilots in the past as well, but the track record is not so good. One was killed in an acident, another left us for the airlines after serving a while, and most recently another just didn't have the skills and aptitude to cut it.

The government has given us an ultimatum that we need to integrate Ecuadorian pilots soon. Next week, in fact, we have a potential prospect coming down to us from Quito to be evaluated. Even if he shows us what we like the work has only just begun. Our MAF USA rules state that all pilots must speak English for obvious reasons. So that would mean that this pilot and subsequent others may have to go to language school like we just did, but in this case it would be English. The other factor, and this seems to be the biggie, is that they would need to build a support team like we have to help them while they are missionaries. This is tough because the mindsets of most churches worldwide do not have the giving and sending mentality that we as Americans have. This is sad, and it is mostly our fault as North American missionaries. We have done great evangelizing the world, but when we leave, it is as though we pulled the life support and usually what existed with American money ceases when the "valve is closed." This isn't because of a lack of national money in whatever country, it is a lack of training and teaching.

There are many examples of other MAF affiliates that started with Americans and are now solely run by nationals. This is great and a fine aspiration for any program, but it is not easy. Some examples of nationally run programs now include Guatemala, Suriname, Mexico, Brazil, and a handfull of others around the world.

Now where I come into play...One MAF family here in Ecuador lives in Quito, and the rest of us here in Shell. The reason someone lives in Quito at this point is mostly logistical. So, the guy that lives there is trying to help me get my appointments for my written flight exams and such. When he showed up the other day at the DAC (F.A.A. equivilant) to ask for my appointment, they acted just as predicted. The wondered why after all the madates they have given us recently for integrating Ecuadorians as pilots, MAF is now sending another North American for licensing. So, that said I do not have my appointments yet, although I do think I will get them, it just may take some time.

In the grand scheme of things, the program that MAF USA has here in Ecuador may look a lot different. It might be totally Ecuadorian controlled and staffed in several years. This is a good thing, although for those of us involved in the "hand over of power" how to go about doing that is often an undefined process.

On the other hand with presidential elections this October, everything could change and we could be allowed to operate as we did in the past and even more so. When you live in the third world, you never know what is going to happen and when. As Americans, we have every base covered, or at least we think we do. We buy insurance for every little thing trying to prevent catastrophy or at least pay for it when it happens. We assume because so and so did somthing a certain way yesterday or 50 years ago, it will still apply. This is called precedence, and it is what most of our laws are based on.

What most of the world operates on is Napoleanic Law, which basically says it doesn't matter what was done in the past, the law is made and created to serve a situation for either a certain person or situation right now. Tommorow it could all change.

So, all that said, pray not only for my licensing process, but also for MAF Ecuador in general, that we would know how to do what is expected of us from all those involved, and still keep the Main Thing the Main Thing -Jesus.

You call that a hearse?

This is a picture of the casket (and body) that I described yesterday that didn't make it to the jungle. Well, today was the day, and first thing this morning off she went. We carry some pretty wierd things sometimes. I was told that when we carry bodies, they are usually wrapped in plastic or a sheet. Not many people can afford a casket.

Today was pretty much the same for me at the hangar. Just kept plodding along trying to study. It is hard to do because of all the "stuff" in trying to even get me an appointment to take my tests. Our goal is next Thursday and Friday to be in Quito, but nothing is in stone yet. I have to get my appointment approved by the Civil Aviation Director, and that may take a while, exp. since I am not Ecuadorian. More on that in a latter blog.

We did feed one of the Boa's today. It was pretty impressive. We had caught a rat in the upstairs of our hangar and let him have it. It had been about a month and a half almost exactly since he ate last. That rat was killed and eaten in no time. The event seems to be kind of a tradition in the hangar as all of the staff gather around to watch nature at work.

When we woke up this morning the sky was pretty clear and we were able to see about 3 of the nearest active volcanoes. All are capped with snow, and they are frankly an awe-inspiring site. I took some pictures but I will wait to take some more since it was still pretty dark. It is a display of contrasts to me to be in the jungle and then see a lot of snow capped peak off in the distance. I guess there is winter on the equator, you just have to be in the right place.

A few more pics...

This is one of 5 bridges in Shell. This foot bridge is a shortcut on the way to work and leads through HCJB World Radio's "compound." It is very fun to walk across and over the middle of the river you are at leasts 100 feet over the water. You really feel like you are in the jungle when you walk over it because the foilage is so thick.
This is just a moth I found in the road on my walk home from the hangar. I put it on the poinseta tree in our front yard for a backdrop. It was pretty big. There will be more insect pictures for sure coming to this blog!

This is Brooklyn reading to her new best friends. How can you resist 6 puppy dog eyes telling you they want to stay inside and play.

Today was a busy time in the hangar. Did we mention that it rains in the jungle? The past two days we haven't been able to fly, so today everyone was really busy. In fact we were so busy a family had to call an ambulance to come and pick up thier dead person that was in a casket awaiting delivery to the jungle for burial. They don't imbalm their dead here, so usually the next day after a death the funeral happens or it is an ugly site, probably smelly too. I reckon the ambulance showed up to put the dead person on ice or something for the night until the flight can be made tommorow. I was busy studying all afternoon. I did also help unload one of the planes as it arrived for the night. It was carrying the pilot and his passenger, a local dentist, and all of his tools. There wasn't an extra inch in that airplane. There were 2 propane bottles, a makeshift aircompressor (dentist remember), several large storage containers, and a few other things. That little Cessna was packed.

Tommorow I will be back at the hangar to continue studying and getting the feel of how things happen in the hangar. It has sure been refreshing, although I am still ground sick and cannot wait to start flying again. That will happen after I get my Ecuadorian License hopefully next week. So it shouldn't be to long until I smell that rare air again. Ahhh!

By the way, Jarod Altic, when are you bringing a work team down from your church?

A day in the life...

When we were raising our support, people always asked me what I'd be doing while Sean was away flying. Well, I just experienced my first real missionary wife day and I can finally answer that question. One thing is for sure - I'm exhausted. I may have had a bit of culture shock today, although I told Sean I think it was more of reality shock! I hadn't had to worry about our meals since we got here (or shopping) because fellow MAFers have been having us over for dinner. I didn't have to do much cooking or extra work in Costa Rica for the entire past year. But today... (warning this is a long one)

The day started out at 5:30 a.m. We like to get up early, have a little quiet time and pray together before Brooklyn wakes up. By quarter to seven, I was fixing us some breakfast (I promised Sean I'd start doing that for him in Ecuador and here we finally are so...) We ate together as a family and then Brooklyn and I gave Sean a ride in to the hangar so he could pray with the guys and study for his upcoming licensing exams. Brooklyn and I came back home and I quickly cleaned up around the house and got us ready for the day.

At 9:30 I headed back out with Brooklyn in the truck to pick up another MAF gal so she could show me around Puyo which is about 7 or 8 miles away. Puyo is the "big city" compared to Shell. We stopped at the bank to get cash and then headed to a little grocery store that has good prices and more things available. HA! I must admit that the little rusty, handmade grocery cart had me worried before I even completely entered the store which had a whole 4 aisles. Brooklyn was also way out of hand. At one point she hit me with a toy airplane and now my knuckle is actually bruised. We're going through a bit of a re-adjustment on the boundaries...but that is another story.

I found a good majority of what I needed but we're not talking about much here - I still have more stops to make before I have my short list taken care of. Anyway, after shopping we hurried back home and put away the groceries before running back to the hangar to get Sean. We came back home and ate lunch together before I had to take Sean back in - need I say that I can't wait for our shipment to come in so that he can ride his bike to work?! Brooklyn was falling asleep on me by the time we got home. I laid her down for her nap and then found myself cleaning up more dishes and starting some bread dough in the bread machine (praise the Lord for a bread machine!). I spent some time catching up on paperwork and writing/making some thank you cards. I made that dough into some Focaccia bread and cleaned up again around the house before I grabbed Brooklyn out of her bed, threw her in the truck and headed over to the produce market (the truck came in today). I spent some time at the market and got just about everything I needed there. Things were very dirty but fresh and you can't beat the price. I caught Brooklyn eating some dirty strawberries...so far she's not sick! After handing over my $5 for carrots, sweet peppers, garlic, tomatoes, lettuce, pineapple, strawberries, apples, and maracuya (passion fruit that makes a great juice) I ran off to the hangar yet again to pick Sean up.

We gave another pilot a lift home and I headed straight to the kitchen when we got home to start dinner. Much to my dismay I discovered that the chicken breasts I had bought weren't quite what I'm used to. They basically chopped off the front halves of a couple of chickens and froze it. I had to skin and de-bone the chicken myself (not that hard but I wasn't in the mood). At the same time I was trying to toast some bread for dry bread crumbs and soak the lettuce in a special disinfectant, boil some water for noodles, and keep a very grumpy Brooklyn from eating all the margarine. But the Focaccia bread was already done and it served well as an appetizer while I tried to get myself oriented in somebody else's kitchen! Only a two hours, a few minor spills, several exclamations of "where is the..." or "I thought I saw...", one pulled thumb muscle, and about 500 dishes later... WAH-LAH! Dinner! Baked parmesan chicken, noodles, tomato sauce, salad and bread. Our first meal made by me in Shell, Ecuador. Whew!

The work didn't end there. Then it was time to finish cleaning and disinfecting all the other produce I bought, cut up the fruit for a fruit salad, clean the kitchen up, and give Brooklyn a shower and get her to bed. I still have a pile of dishes waiting for me but I wanted to sit down for a minute! It may sound like Sean didn't help me but he actually helped clean up the kitchen plus did about a million other little jobs that needed to get done this evening.

I can't believe how my day filled up so much with the making of one simple meal. Granted, I did pick a more labor intensive meal - although, I don't know what options I had, it seems to be you either make a meal from scratch, you eat out, or you starve! I did buy the wrong kind of chicken breast - the skinless, boneless kind is available here usually and that would have helped me get things done quicker. It was market day, so I had that added bit of work with the produce. I don't know the kitchen yet so I took lots of extra steps. And, basically, I'm a complete novice at this cooking from scratch thing. I know it will get better with practice - fortunately, I have the rest of our missionary career to figure it out. But now I udnerstand why the missionary friend I visited here in Ecuador years ago used to start dinner at 3:00 p.m.! Grandma, I know you always did this and more. I always knew you were a hard worker but now I have a new, profound respect for what you did all those years on the farm!

Tomorrow, the butcher!

Hangar Life

This is the front of our hangar as it opens to the runway. Currently our fleet consists of 5 Cessna 206 aircraft. By the end of this month we will have reduced our fleet in Ecuador down to 4 planes. We will actually have only 3 during part of the month, as one of our airplanes is being flown to Kansas, USA to be exchanged for a different one. The other airplane will soon be on its way to Lesotho, Africa to be part of the program there.

This is the side view of our Hangar. You can see a few of the various offices and the stairs that lead to some storage. Also our gas pump where we fuel all of our planes.

Ron Grant, our fix anything/do it all guy, with one of our two red tailed boa contrictors. We have these two snakes in the hangar in plane view in a large viewing container. We feed them every 6 weeks or so. The meal usually consists of a chicken or a rat. This one is the biggest of the two and at least 5 years old and probably around 5-6 feet long. Come and see us and we will be sure to let you hold it. :)

Today I went to the hangar to begin to see what takes place. I am not expected to be at "work" yet but we are basically settled into our house and I wanted something to do. We always begin work and our day with prayer in the hangar. That is always a special time to gather all of our staff and our national workers and unite briefly each day to reflect on what we are there for. We did recieve the "battle plan" from my boss as to when I need to be at work and the things I need to get before I can fly. It looks like next week we are going to Quito and I will take all my written flight exams for my re-licensing of my commercial and instrument pilot licenses. Yes, they will all be in Spanish. There are 9 total tests. Pray for me as I study this week and presumably this weekend as well. Begin to pray with us as well that when DAC (Ecuador's FAA) sees me that they are understanding as to why I am there asking for a license and not a national Ecuadorian. Some day in a latter blog I will go into a little more detail about our current situation with the government and our ability to fly in Ecuador. It continues to get very complicated. We also had our last "free" dinner tonite. Fellow MAF families have been having us over to their homes since we arrived here to eat dinner and get to know us. Tommorow we will have to take another step into the real world and make dinner for ourselves.

Our first Sunday

This is a picture of a mango tree at our hotel in Costa Rica. The mangos were really in season when we left, and they are so beautiful to see.

Close up of the mango fruit on the tree.

We got up this morning and finally cooked a meal for ourselves. We have been eating at peoples homes, or out a a box (i.e. Cereal) so it was nice to get going on the right foot under our own power. We did attend church this morning and had a good time. There are many churches to choose from so we will probably "church hop" for a few weeks and decicate it all to prayer to see where the Lord would have us attend. I played basketball this afternoon with some fellow MAF'ers and thier kids. It was a good time but I havn't sweat that much for a long time. Rather than eating out tonite at someone's home, our food was brought to us, although is was already prepared. Tommorow we have a big meeting in the afternoon with all our MAF staff. It is our annual meeting to evaluate what we do and how to go about doing it. It will be nice to learn such things ourselves, as we aren't aware of the things making our ministry here easy or hard. It was great to walk through town this afternoon and realize where we are. Shell is very rustic, yet we don't lack anything. It has the feel of being at the end of the Earth, but you know it really isn't. It is very surreal to see the 21rst Century still clashing with the past. It is actually really liberating to see how people can actually live without cell phones, fast food, 1 hour photo, and every other "convinience" that we strive for. I wouldn't lie and try to say the life in Shell is for everybody because it is not. But for the way the Lord has crafted Rebecca and I, we are finding ourselves very much at home, even after a few days.

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!

Women Preachers...

This past Tuesday I heard one of the best preachers I have heard in a while. The preacher was really sharing from the heart and you could tell the audience was really captivated by what was said and wanted to continue to hear more. The words seemed to flow so smoothly, and the thoughts were deep, yet said in such a way that the common man could easily understand them, and also put the ideas into practice. The words were said in love, yet they were laden with a touch of conviction, but only in service to Jesus from a right heart.

This "preacher" I encountered was in my own home. The preacher just so happens to be my awesome wife Rebecca. I happened to come home during her Maid's Bible Study last Tuesday and was really blown away by what I saw my wife of almost 6 years doing. Not that I ever doubted her teaching abilities, I had just never seen them in action. Not only was I viewing her heart and teaching for the first time, but it was also in Spanish!!! She did so awesome. She filled the heart of her husband with tons of pride, knowing that my wife can spiritually hold her own, not only in English (the mother tounge) but in our new adopted language of Spanish. It is awesome to be able to see ministry take place first hand, and it is even sweeter when it is coming from a family member, in this case my wife. If make me wonder about some of the sermons recorded in the Bible, and how they may have been in Greek, Hebrew, and even Latin all in the same day by the same person. Learning this language has at many times been hard, but to see the fruit two days ago was worth all the pain and studying and embarrasment ect. I was and still am so proud of my "little preacher wife" and cannot wait to see how God is going to use her and her new language in Ecuador as well.

Saying Good-bye

It has already begun. Yesterday was my last Bible Study with the maids. We had a party here at our house. There were 16 of us ladies packed into our little living room...and Sean. I shared a short devotion and a friend came and led us in some worship time. We ate lots of food - all "american" style food that they don't normally eat! It was a special time, though a little bittersweet for me. I am glad to be done with the work that was involved in the Bible Study because my mind is hardly functioning on anything except moving to Ecuador lately. But I will miss each of these special ladies and the time we had sharing together. It went so quickly that I hardly feel that it really happened. But I'll treasure the memories that I have.

It is hard to believe that one month from yesterday will be our graduation. Is it really possible that we've been here for almost a year already?! It was a very fast year. We are done with our Grammar books and our Conversation teacher told us today that we've already breezed through all that she had planned for our class this trimester. There are still things to learn - the nit-picky stuff that many students never learn and we'd be just as happy to go without! It is hard to keep going to school when your teachers admit they've done all they can with you! Oh well, we really only have 2 weeks of school left after this week. We'll go to school all next week but the following week will be "vacation" for Holy Week which is a big deal down here. After Holy Week we'll go to school one more week and a Monday and graduate on Tuesday, April 25. That's it. Doesn't seem real.

Prioridades...

Yesterday my girls went to a birthday party for one of Brooklyn's classmates at Burger King. It sounds like they had a good time, and of course the kids always enjoy things like that, and the energy burn is great, it always makes for good sleep. Last night we went to Outback Steakhouse with another family from school and had a great meal. I guess from reading these last two sentences you wouldn't even know we were in Costa Rica. Yes, Burger King, McDonalds, and the like have covered the Globe. Outback Steakhouse is in the nicest part of San Jose (of course) which means about a 30 minute drive for us. When we got to the restaurant, there were a few other students from our school there. You never know who you will see. It ended up being a good time, not to mention great food.

As we gear up to make our move to wherever, we are trying to really soak up what San Jose has to offer. We don't really know what is offered on "the other side," meaning something as simple as milk in a jug may not exsist, or fresh produce, or my brand of deodorant, ect. Yes, of course these things for the most part are trivial, but you just never know what you truely have until you don't have it, be it a material possesion or something more significant like a relationship.

Beaurocracia (Red tape)

Things are still in limbo with our visa process. We have done everything possible from our end here in San Jose, and our legal representative (lawyer) in Quito, Ecuador is helping us now from that end to get our visas. We should know something more at the beginning of next week. So please continue to pray with us that this will all get worked out.

Nothing other great and interesting to report. We have less than five weeks left here, and it continues to fly by. We finished our grammar book yesterday in class, so now we are going to be learning things that most students won't get to which will probably amount to busy work, trying to keep us occupied for the last few weeks of school.

Of the 6 people in our classgroup, at least one of us has been gone everyday for over the past month. We are not the only ones trying to get visas, buy plane tickets, and really do whatever comes logistically in order to go to our respective countries. One family in our class is going to Mexico, another Panama, ourselves to Ecuador, and another family is staying here in Costa Rica (They were going to go to Venezuela but are unable to now because of the ban on American Missionaries because of certain statements made by a certain televangelist/christian news guy). So among all of us, there are many things to be done, and many different processes to figure out as well.

What a week...

For those of you, including ourselves, who thought our visa process was basically ended and done...well think again. It seems everyday this week we have found out something, or maybe couldn't find out something, regarding our visa process. Yes, the Ecuadorian Consulate accepted our application last week, but we don't have the actual documents in hand yet. That said, we have been asked to bring in more paperwork this week that is unsubstanciated (SP?) and basically stupid, if I may say so myself. In other words, could you all continue to pray for us in this process. Also, the certification of our shipment from Colorado to Ecuador has proved to be nothing short of a challenge as well. It seems for every person we talk to, we get at least that many answers on what we need to do, and when we talk to them the following day, it has changed again. Anyway, this has really worn us out this week, on top of trying to finish school and do well and continue to apply ourselves. We really feel like the enemy is attacking us and trying to discourage us and ultimately damper what we are going to be doing in the jungle. From putting various news items together from around South American jungles, the enemy definetly does not want to give that ground up. There is a LOT of opposition in its various forms throughout all of South America right now for work in the jungle. If something so simple as a visa can be delayed or even denied, that prevents change and life from being brought to the far reaches of the earth. Continue to pray for this as well, that the strongholds will be brought down by the power of Jesus!!!

Cheap Entertainment

Last night we bought Brooklyn some flip-flops. She had been wearing our flip-flops around the house and obviously really wanted a pair of her very own. So we got her a pair for a few bucks last night when we went grocery shopping. She hasn't taken them off since. The kid is thrilled and very proud of her new shoes. When we went in to her room to check on her last night before heading to bed ourselves, we found that she had gotten out of bed, found her new flip-flops and put them on before crawling back into bed and falling asleep! Then this morning she came traipsing into our bedroom with her little flip-flops a-flippin' and a-floppin'. What was really funny was that she had already removed her pajama bottoms and her nightime diaper so she was naked from the waist down wearing her new shoes with a big smile. Who needs pants when you've got some cool new shoes to show off?! Sean and I got a big laugh out of that. Who knew some cheap little flip-flops would provide so much entertainment for all of us?!

Check this out!

Every week we receive an in house e-zine from MAF basically telling what is happening around the world with our personel and any other newsy bits. This week had a cool article, here it is...

"Ever see a plane on standard floats at an airport and wonder how it got there? Or, even better, how it's going to leave? Well, it takes a combination of common sense and air show bravado but, as the video shows, getting a water-equipped Beaver back to work in the spring is a fact of life for bush pilots. Hill Aviation, of Prince George, British Columbia, shot the sequence of the Beaver heading back to its natural habitat. When lakes start to freeze over in the winter, many operators want their planes hangared for the duration of winter -- for maintenance and to keep them out of the weather. The alternative to disassembling the planes and trucking them to their winter home is a visually compelling but relatively common practice. (See NewsWire for the video.) Before the ice seals the lake or river in late fall, the plane is flown out and then landed, on the floats, on the grass median at the chosen airport. As dangerous as it sounds, it's most often accomplished without incident. Then, in spring, the plane is hoisted onto a dolly and pulled down the runway by a truck. At takeoff speed, the pilot lifts off the dolly and heads for the water. A Hill Aviation spokesman said the company has received calls from all over the world since the video [available for download if you have an Internet connection http://www.avweb.com/newspics/seaplanetrucklaunch.wmv ] hit the Internet."

I was able to download and view this video even with my dinky-dail-up, so for those of you with good dial-up or high speed internet, view it, it is AWESOME!

Flying is wonderfull!!!

(Update: Despite the awesome aircraft in this video, the DeHaviland Beaver, I guess only a Ford Truck was worthy enough to get er' airborn again. Ford Tough! Viva la Raza!)

Visa update...

We went to the Ecuadorian Embassy this morning. Actually, we took Brooklyn to school first, picked up our passports with current Costa Rican visas (Praise the Lord!) and then we spent the next hour or so on 3 differnet buses to get to the Embassy for Ecuador. We finally made it and got in line, which thankfully was short, and shortly thereafter we were talking to the "middle man" for the consulate. We had all of our paperwork in order, and it looks like our actual visas will be ready to pick up sometime next week. There was a very funny moment during our meeting, or maybe a tense moment, depending on your perspective. One of the items on the general visa application asks for the "estado civil," or married status. Rebecca with her much nicer handwriting filled in the applications and put "cansado" in the blank. What she should have put was "casado." The first answer meant "tired," "casado" means married. So the "middle man" had a very good laugh at us while we wondered if our appointment was over because of it. He asked us if we were tired because we are married, and we said "sometimes." Anyway, after the dust settled we left with some good handshakes and smiles. We did not get our shipment list approved yet, although it looks very promising as there are a few more things we need to do first. So thank you all for your prayers for this logistical stuff, it surely made a difference.

The visa process continues...

Be in prayer with us again tomorrow and Friday. Tomorrow we should get our Costa Rica visa renewal. Pray that this not only happens, but that we also get our passports back in hand. The reason being we are going to the Ecuadorian Consulate Friday morning to turn in the application for thier visa. If we don't get our passports back, there is no point in even going to the Ecuadorian Consulate. Join with us that our Spanish will be smooth and gracefull, that we will be able to communicate everything that we need, and that ultimately the Lord will be glorified. That is the whole point right? I am finding lately how much I put my own glorification, or that of goals or plans before those of the Lord. God cares about these logistical processes, and we just want to be in tune with the manner in which He wants us to do them.

Tomorrow in class we all have to teach each other something, something in which we can also do and participate in. I am going to take our laptop and my flight simulator game in order to teach the class how to "fly." It should be interesting and definetly worthwhile to learn and integrate this type of vocabulary. If things don't change in the next few months, I might go into anaphelactic (sp?) shock or something. You see, I am extremely groundsick, and I am in need of a birds eye view and the ability to breath some thinner air. Over this past year I have logged some serious time flying the computer, to which I am very gratefull to have, it is much better than nothing.

We should get our fill of the aviation/airport scene when we move to Shell. We just found out that our house location has been changed, and it will put us about 100 yards from the runway and the hangar. Our house is actually the upstairs of the original Nate Saint hangar, for those of you who know his story. We continue to get excited about our move to Ecuador, although it is also getting real thinking of leaving some great friends that we have made here, classmates and Costa Rican's alike. Something else to pray about. Doesn't the Apostle Paul tell us something about praying in all occasions and doing so without ceasing. Here we go...

There Is a Baby in There!

As Sean mentioned in a previous blog, we went in for an ultrasound yesterday. The baby is tiny - just 2.7 cm long - but all is normal and healthy. Honestly, it was nice to have some real confirmation (and proof) that I've been sick for a reason! And it made things more real. We're incredibly excited now. Before it didn't quite feel real but now there is no doubt that there really is a baby in there! We're excited to be parents again and to enjoy those very special moments between now and, well, forever! Brooklyn was actually there at the appointment with us but didn't understand what was going on. The only real participation she took in the event was to tell Daddy she had to go to the bathroom so that he missed the cool 4D image of the baby and hearing the heartbeat. Oh well. We'd like to do another ultrasound later on (perhaps in Ecuador). I'd really like to find out what we are having but Sean still likes the "thrill" of not knowing until the birth. I just want to know how to plan (yes, I'm a control freak)...who do you think will win? Some people take bets on whether they'll have a boy or a girl. I'm thinking we could take bets on whether Sean wins and we wait to find out or I win and we find out the moment we can. Hmmm. Could be interesting! We both agree that we would be just as excited for a boy or another girl. As long as it's healthy...(sorry for the boring, predictible cliche - I always hated it when people said that but, well, it's the truth!)

Around the dinner table

Last night we had a good ol' American dinner of fried chicken, mashed taters and gravy, and corn on the cob. Of course Rebecca cooked it and it was awesome. But the funnest thing was watching Brooklyn eat the meal. Now you must understand, the girl loves butter. If we don't keep a close eye on her when the butter tub is out, she has been known to take a scoop with her hand and put er' right on in. So when she saw the butter all over the very good corn on the cob, she was in heaven. She kept on raising the cob up the the sky, and bringing it down with an uuggghhhhmmm sound, and then chomping down. She liked it so much she ate 2 whole cobs, with plenty of butter of course.

Now what happened at the table after all the food was eaten was even better, well at least for me. Some would take offense to this, so there is your disclaimer. Like all kids, Brooklyn has been learning some interesting things with her other classmates at the school. So after she ate all her food, she proceeded to show us how she learned , pardon the frank word Vicki, to make farting sounds with her arm. She would just lay on her arm as though she was going to sleep, and then let er' rip. It had Becca and me in stitches. Of course we taught her that there is a time and a place for that kind of behaviour, but it is so funny sometimes to see what they are learning. One of the best things about it all was to see us all laughing and having a grand ol' time as a family around the dinner table. Sure, some of the behaviour might have been objectionable, but seeing Brooklyn taking an interest in making her parents laugh, and being comfortable doing so was a neat development. As she gets older it is sure neat to see her personality develop and be able to just stand back and laugh as well as stand in awe of God's little gift to us.

We are "skipping" school today. We are having culture day which consists of various workshops abut the Costa Rican and Latino cultures. It is good stuff, there's no question, but after being through it twice there wasn't much new to see. So instead we have already been to the medical clinic to get some general lab work done for Becca and the pregnancy. Latter this morning we are off to a hospital to have our first ultrasound. On the way home we are going to get some passport pictures taken for our Ecuadorian visas, and then we are going to buy a certain feather for a certain fella. Our remaining days continue to fill up and be busy with logistics. This is a good thing.

Speaking about the visa thing. Our Costa Rican visa should be issued next Thursday. As far as the Ecuadorian visas go, we shouldn't have any problems. The Baptist couple that we have been talking about got their Ecuadorian visas yesterday, so that sets the precedent for us to get ours. We are planning on turning everything in next Friday, a week from today. Thanks for praying with us about this stuff, it is what gets things done!!!

The "Corn Goblin"

Guess what I did?

Can you guess what I did today? I scrubbed our toilets, cleaned the bathrooms, did some laundry, and even mopped. Do you know how long it has been since I've done that kind of work? Over 10 months. This sounds a little weird but I enjoyed it. Our househelper, Isabel, is in Mexico and I've had a little more housework to do. I didn't realize how good old-fashioned work can really make a person feel. We love Isabel - she really is a big help. I miss doing some housework but I know Isabel needs the work and the money more than we do. Plus, it has been such a special opportunity to get to know her. And it has led to minsitry with not only our own maid but also a group of ten other maids. I miss the satisfaction I get from housework (sounds ridiculous, I know) but I wouldn't miss the opportunity to know, love, and work with such an amazing group of women.

We've discovered that the work we do here is a different kind - mostly mental. Sean and I both are the type that need to do some kind of physical work in order to feel that we've actually accomplished anything. That is one thing that has been particularly hard for us here - neither one of us do a lot of physical work and although we are working very hard mentally we still somehow feel like we're not doing much. I don't understand the phsycology behind it but, if anything has discouraged us this year, it has been a feeling of "worthlessness" that really has no basis.

Whenever we doubt that we've done much this year, God is faithful to show us what we have accomplished. For instance, today we went to eat hamburgers at a little place that a man runs out of the side of his house. It isn't far from our house but we hadn't tried it yet. As we sat there we talked with the man (in Spanish, of course). Later it occurred to both of us that 10 months ago there was no way we would have been able to have the conversation that we had. We might have caught a word here or there but as we sat talking to this man neither one of us was even flinching. We understood everything that man said and were able to respond to what he said in complete senteces that even sounded intelligent...and we didn't think about it. Sure, we still have so much to learn. But we've come a long way. Thank you Lord for that little encouaragement!

What have we been up to...

This week is already beginning to fly by. We have been busy with school and other things as well. Yesterday after school I went with a friend and we "climbed the cross." Supposedly about 15 years ago there was a massacre of many women and children by a random crazy guy in the mountains near San Jose. So to "commemorate" the event, San Jose erected a set of 3 crosses on this mountain that overlook the city. It is about an hour's hike to the top from the starting point, and the views are impressive of the valley in which we live the whole way up. Becca and I did this same hike back in December, and yesterday was just as fun.

Today after school Becca had her maids bible study. She "contracted" out her work, so to speak, today. The theme for the past 2 weeks has been worship, and today they actually did that. A classmate of ours, who is also from Colorado, prepared the lesson and led worship with the piano.

While Becca was doing that I was at home with Brooklyn trying to gather info on the process to get our household shipment from Colorado to Ecuador. After a lot of phone calls, a lot of phone calls, I think I know enough now to battle the enemy. It is just like G.I. Joe used to say, " knowing is half the battle." So next time when we go to the Ecuadorian Embassy we will be armed to petition for our missionary visa as well as the documents that allow our shipment to ship.

Be in prayer this Thursday. Currently our Costa Rican visas are expired. In order to recount the whole story as to why, I would be here all night. So rather than bore us all with the detail, this Thursday the Costa Rican visas should be renewed. Join us in pray that they will be renewed without any hitches. The enemy can sure use simple things like paperwork to discourage his opposition and try and send us home. But we don't go down that easy! By the way, only 7 weeks from today and we graduate from language school!!!
























This is the first of the 3 crosses.



























Cross #2 a little bit higher.

























The highest cross. We can actually see this cross from our house which is about 20 miles away as the crow flies.

For all you whiners out there, here you go...

Brooklyn and her favorite thing, a puppy.

























Some of the local produce. That carrot is longer than her little arm. And that is they way most of them are. Suprisingly they are very sweet and tasty.

Just another boring Saturday...

Today we had a lot on our plate to try and get done. Becca began the day by making some great French Toast. It had been a while, and sometimes you don't realize how "homey" a particular food may be when you haven't had it for a while. The Costa Rican's don't even know what French Toast is.
Afterward, Brooklyn and I went to the farmer's market. We showed up a bit late, and found that some of the things we normally like to buy were gone already, like strawberries.
The main task to try and accomplish today was working on some of the logistics for our shipment that is in Colorado and needs to be sent to Ecuador. Becca did most of the work, which entailed putting all of our items in a special little form that itemizes EVERYTHING, while I began a little bit of the translating. We have to have our list in English and Spanish of course. It is wierd to read what we packed over a year ago, and to a lot of it say, "why." But for the most part we are really looking forward to being able to use some of those things and make a cosy home in Ecuador. We were realizing the other night, that after almost a year of "camping," it can start to get old, and nothing really seems "homey." Not to mention we are just getting flat out anxious to make our move to Ecuador. You can also be in prayer for our shipment process. Should be pretty straight forward, but there are a lot of logistics and translating involved.
By the way, the Baptist couple that went to get their Ecuadorian visas had success yesterday. The consulate decided to process thier application, which should make it easier for us. Praise the Lord!
While Becca was working away at the computer today, our neighbor was doing some car repair in the street. This is nothing uncommon nomatter where you live, but he was fixing his horn. You can imagine how well that was going. Always something new here in Latin America.
We just watched the movie "Chicken Little" with Brooklyn. It was pretty good. It has been fun to have all 3 of us sit on the couch lately and watch a whole movie. These beginning "family nights" are pretty fun, especially when Brooklyn cuddles with papa for the whole thing, after eating all of the popcorn of course.
Tommoro we are off to church in the morning and then back to the grind with our shipment stuff. Hope to get it done tommoro. Becca and I have a good chunk of homework for tommoro also. This past week I did a report on Che Guavara (Motorcycle Diaries) and Monday I have to present Hugo Chavez, the current Venezuelan president. I have to present him as thought I were really him, and afterwards allow my classmates to drill me on why I belive one thing or another ect. Should be interesting. One of our classmates was going to go to Venezuela after language school, but he and his family are now going to stay and pastor a church here, because Chavez isn't letting American missionaries into the country. For those that dont know, he is very controvercial and basically communist. MAF just got done pulling out of the Venelzuelan jungle, and the country altogether because of a mandate ordered by him. Of course many MAF'ers are displaced now at HQ and praying what to do next or where to go. He had accused us of hauling illegal contraband out of the jungle (gold, silver, drugs, ect.) and helping the CIA in infiltrating the jungle and the Venezuelan outskirts in order to overthrow his government. Of course this was all published and broadcast over the government controlled media.
The media is just a bittersweet thing, huh? Give them freedom of press, and they screw things up and make the truth whatever they need it to be to make a dollar or promote an agenda. Tell them what they can say, when they can say it, and how, and it is just as bad.
Anyway, all that said, we have a lot to do as the days begin drawing to an end for us here in Costa Rica. It is good that way, so we stay busy and allow the days to go by faster.

Did you know?

Did you know that we only have 8 more weeks in Costa Rica? Woo-hoo! But lots of work to do.

Did you know that we are still working on gathering all the necessary information to obtain our visas for Ecuador? Keep praying for that process. Another couple with a different mission that is going to Ecuador from here was denied their visa last week.

Did you know that we didn't have school today (Friday)? It's a mid-term "evaluation" day. Which means we had an hour-long (optional) grammar exam but no classes.

Did you know our due date is Friday the 13th (October)? Doesn't matter - the bad luck day in Latin America is Tuesday the 13th, so we're safe.

Did you know that Brooklyn likes to pick out her clothes....and that she really has good taste? And she's very picky about wearing what she wants to wear. Is this a bad sign?

Did you know that our househelper, Isabel, is in Mexico? She's there for conferences/training for her future missionary work there and will be gone until March 19.

Did you know that we can now hold real conversations in Spanish? There is nothing quite so thrilling as holding a meaningful conversation in another language with someone that a year ago we would never have been able to communicate with.

Did you know that God is good...all the time? That about sums it up.

Growing

I'm sitting here listening to Brooklyn sing one of her songs. I can't understand many of the words but the tunes are similar to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm." She has a little stick that she's using to bang things around the house as she sings. She's got a pretty good beat going. We are constantly amazed at how much she is growing up and becoming a regular little girl. The other day she grabbed a book of hers and called me in to our bedroom where we have a lamp set up on the headboard for reading. She wanted to just "chill out" with Mommy and read our books side by side. We did that for about an hour and she'd occasionaly reach over and give me a loving pat on the shoulder to mention something interesting she had found in her book. I found myself watching her more than reading my own book! Yesterday I marveled as I watched her play. She's got "imaginary friends" now. She'll just talk away at the "friend" sitting in the swing and then she'll give that swing a good push and say "Weeeee!" Yes, she needs a sibling! We're working on that one. (Speaking of that - everything is going well so far with the pregnancy.)