Fun times at the festivals

Hola todos!

So much has happened in the last two days, I hardly know where to begin! So, I'll go in chronological order.

Saturday Morning- Ecumenical Ecological festival:
This festival was held at the head quarters of the Costa Rican Lutheran Church, and included music and theatrical performances. There was also a tour of the garden that uses everything and wastes nothing. Aside from a lot of ecologically minded music, there was a presentation by a few Malekus about their culture and how they view the world. There was also a theatrical performance in which we were "spect-actors" instead of "spectators". It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.

Saturday afternoon and evening- coloring and the local fair:
Saturday afternoon was spent coloring with my little brother

our beautiful artwork 

Santiago and me with the dragons I drew

Saturday evening we went to the local fair celebrating Santa Rosa's patron saint's day. There was lots of food to see and one ride that I know I will never set foot on called "kamikaze" that goes in a full circle so that one is upside down for a significant period of time.

Sunday morning: church
This morning I went with my host mom and Santiago to their church. It is an evangelical church and a complete 180 degrees from the typical Lutheran services that I attend. I was most surprised by the lack of any group prayer or bible reading, the reading of the day was simply announced. Also, it was difficult because everyone was singing, but I didn't know the lyrics, so I clapped along. I was also called out and introduced to the entire congregation by the pastor at some point, and I had to stand awkwardly.

Sunday night:
Tonight I went to a festival with "payasos" (clowns), but they aren't like any clown I've ever seen. They are super tall and have giant paper machet (or something similar) heads. Mami says that the dancing "payasos" is a tradition designed to let people know that there is a festival/fair going on.

After the festival, I spent time with my family. We ate popcorn, sang (lyric videos on youtube enabled me to participate), and played a pattern game, I lost. The game added a new element each round, the elements of the game were: "hi-five", pull hair, tug an ear, smack the forhead, pinch a cheek, and squeeze the nose. I lost when I forgot to pinch Kendall's cheek. The night was full of laughter and bonding, and I'm so glad I didn't go to sleep when I thought I would.

There might be a video if I can get it off of my phone.

Hasta luego,

Caylyn

First post from Costa Rica

Hola Todos!

I made it safely to Costa Rica and am mostly settled into my new home in Santa Rosa, a town in between Heredia and San Jose. I have already learned a lot and I can't wait to get my classes started. I will be taking a history class with Heidi for the first part of the semester and a literature class during the second half of the semester. I'll also be taking two theology classes (history of the church, and hermeneutics) for the entire semester. My host family is wonderful, and my mom is a really good cook. I also have a little brother named Santiago, he is 5 years old and has a lot of  energy. My host dad works at the national bank, and my other two siblings are Kendall (18) and Ashley (15). The house is super close to the train tracks, but luckily I am a deep sleeper and I don't hear the trains until I am awake. My room is pretty small, but is is wonderful, the walls are a bright green and I have a bunk bed. At night it gets chilly and I ended up needing my sweatshirt last night.
Today I had a short class meeting with Heidi and registered for my classes at the UBL (Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana). I am so excited for this adventure, and am so thankful for all of the opportunities that it will bring.

Hasta luego,
Caylyn

3 DAYS until departure!

Hello everyone!

I just got home from an amazing week at Valpo for peer ministry training and had so much fun! Over the past week, I have gotten to know most of my fellow peer ministers and I have to say, we are a pretty great team :) This week I learned how to look at a painting everyday for 20 ish minutes and still find something new and intruiging. I also learned how to cut a peach with only my right hand (no, I did not hurt anyone) during dinner with liabilities (only using one hand and not being able to talk, being able to talk but not use either hand, ect.) I also got to get to know my awesome roommate for next semester, Anneliese.

Today will be full of luandry and finding 'lost' articles of clothing to be packed away, as well as cleaning my room and packing my books (and everything else). I am starting to get really excited for this adventure and can't wait for Thursday morning. I will be flying out of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport at 6:15 am, so I'll have a very early morning on Thursday, but it is definitely worth it!

Hasta Luego!
Caylyn