RICEandBEANS

Well friends, I am currently watching the Superbowl in Spanish.Vaya PACK Vaya! My brother has a big screen TV...PURA VIDA :)

After church today mi familia and I went over to my other sister and brother-in-law's house for lunch because I hadn't met them yet. It was a good time with a lot of good food!

Yesterday I went to youth group again with my sister Laura. It was a very powerful service and the leaders prayed individually for us. Yesterday, two people also asked me if I was a missionary within the first 30 seconds of meeting them. After that my mom basically preached to me saying that people can see when someone has a heart to serve the Lord when they are following God's will, it was pretty encouraging.

On Friday we had presentations on indigenous people in Costa Rica and made models of the first man and woman. I kind of made a fool of myself by dancing like an idiot for the presentation, but my group did win a prize for our model. I think it was because we "blew life" into them with some dust, just like God did in the beginning. I think our teachers liked our "Creativity" :) My group also had to give a presentation on Thursday about turism which made me want to travel around the country more. We'll see if I get the opportunity!

We went to the U.S Embassy on Wednesday to learn about their perspective and influence on economics in Costa Rica. It was a little disappointing. In class, we have been learning about the CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) and how it has increased the gap between the rich and the poor in Central American countries. We tried asking the economic representative questions about that but he had a hard time answering them and really could only speak to how CAFTA has been a good thing for the U.S. I'm very blessed to have been born in the States, but it's really hard hearing about how some small, poor countries have been taken advantage of by some large rich countries.

Last weekend we took an educational weekend trip to Limon on the Carribean coast. Before we left we had a guest speaker, Epsy Campbell,a potential future candidate for Presidenta of C.R. to tell us about Limon and issues like poverty that the province struggles with. We visited coffee, pineapple, and banana plantations where we learned about harsh conditions for workers. We also went to an indigenous reservation and learned how the government has ignored their needs but also taken advantage of their land. We did have the privilege of having dinner with live Calypso music.We ate the famous RICEandBEANS made with cocoa nut and danced to the song too :) It was a ton of fun dancing! While in Limon, we also interviewed several people for our paper on poverty. Many people think the problem of poverty is due to lack of education and government assistance. We also got to go to an English church service. There is a lot of Jamaican influence in Limon because many came to work on plantations when they first started.

I started walking with my classmates to and from classes which ends up being about 8 miles a day. It's been very good for my health overall and I'm getting to know people better, but it's doing a number on my feet. Blisters, blisters, blisters; however my ankle has pretty much healed except for a bruise that's still kind of tender.

In a couple weeks my brother, Grant, is going on a mission trip to Ecuador, my parents are coming here to Costa Rica, and I'm going to Nicaragua. I will only get to see my parents for one day, because that's just how it worked out. It is kind of cool to think that my family will be in 4 different countries in the same week! I'll try to write before then because I won't have internet in Nicaragua.

Your PRAYERS are VERY much appreciated! Please let me know if there is any way I can be praying for you!

Con Mucho Amor,
Michelle