¡Pura Vida!

I have recently gotten back from vacation and had a great, relaxing time. It was nice to get away and just have some time to do nothing. I went with Leigh (my roommate) and another volunteer Lindsey. I didn't just go on vacation for the sake of going on vacation though, I had to go and renew my visa. So I took advantage of that excuse and we went to Costa Rica to the beaches of Manuel Antonio.

We left on January 5th and had to be out of the country the 8th. Unfortunately when we went to buy our bus tickets they were booked full until the 8th. So we ended having to pay a few in order to leave Nicaragua. It all worked out fine though. We stayed in Teguc for a few nights in the hotel and went to the mall everyday.

So we left out on the 8th got the Nicaragua that night and stayed at the bus hotel. We left out the next morning to head to Costa Rica, the Nicaraguan/Costa Rican border took forever but we finally made it through and reached San Jose about 9 that night. Lindsey had been in Costa Rica to language school before and so we stayed with her host family that she had lived with. They were an amazing and very hospitable crew. The next day we looked around San Jose and went to the markets, we also bought our bus ticket to go theManuel Antonio the next day.

Walking around in San Jose

So on the 11th we got on a bus to head to Manuel Antonio and it took about

3 1/2 hours to get there. Well worth the trip, it was one of the most beautiful beaches I have been too. For the next 6 days we ate, went to the beach, ate some more and then usually went to our room to watch TV and go to sleep. One of those days we went to Manuel Antonio's National Park. They had a wonderful beach there also. In the National Park we saw sloths and had quite a few monkeys hanging out where we were sitting. I brought out a bag of chips and immediately had to put it away because the monkeys started running towards me. Also Leigh had to chase one of the monkeys away from some people stuff that they had left sitting on the beach.

Sloth Monkeys Iguana

We headed back to San Jose to stay another night and then Leigh and I got on the bus on the 17th to be back in Honduras on the 18th. We stayed at a hotel that night and then caught the Emmanuel bus at the airport that was picking up a group to come in. It was a very successful trip of renewing visas and mind. Also just having a few weeks away. Pura Vida.

Holiday Update

I know it's been a while since I have posted, but it has been very busy around here. Well Christmas has come and gone and everyone here has survived. It was a great day for the kids. They got to leave the houses a little bit later which meant sleeping in a little for everyone. That is already a great present around here. All of the kitchens had fried chicken, rice, and vegetables for lunch with coke. It was very good fried chicken. At 12 everyone but the toddlers went to the church to open presents. This year we had over 3000 presents for our almost 600 kids. Every child had at least 2 presents. The presents were handed out by volunteers. The volunteers would pick up the presents (that had already been previously sorted) and take them to David. David would call out the name and the child would raise there hands. It only took about 2 hours this year. That is a few hours shorter than last year and we had a 100 more kids this year. After all the presents were handed out David counted to three and all of the kids opened their presents. It was a fun site and I did get a video and lots of photos that I would love to post for everyone. However my memory card for my camera is M.I.A. I have looked for it but can't seem to locate it. As soon as I post that I will be able post everything.

For those that help to contribute to the presents for my house it was and is greatly appreciated. Everything that was sent was a blessing. From the shampoo to the towels (those are very nice to have) to the new pajamas. All of my girls love their rain jackets. My big girls in the house plan on writing thank you notes and when I find my memory card I will hopefully make a small video of my special needs girls saying thank you. You have no idea what a blessing your gifts have been and will continue to be.

Thank you to the peacemakers for the quilt that was made for me. I LOVE IT!!!! Also to the others that sent my gifts thank you so much!!!

I will be leaving this Thursday for Costa Rica to renew my visa. I am very excited about this and it will be a very nice and much needed break just to get away for a bit. We will be gone a total of two weeks. I am leaving with Leigh and another volunteer Lindsey who really knows Costa Rica very well. It should be a fun trip and doing a lot of nothing on the beach will be nice.

I think that is about all of the updating but I would like to ask for prayer for safe travels. Also please pray for me whenever I get back I will be working on what I will be doing for the special needs class and trying to figure out with all of the new kids who I will be working with. This will be a challenge so please start praying now.