7 days left in Heaven

So we have one more week in Heaven. I will miss it greatly. What do I love about Costa Rica? Well beside the beauty that you can find nowhere else, the clean clear beaches, and the incredibly friendly Ticos, Costa Rica is a place of simplicity and Peace. People live off what they have in general you don’t see lots of big fancy houses and people buying every new electronic gadget that comes out. People buy what they need and enjoy family, friends and the beauty around them. In Costa Rica it appears that family is the number one priority. Children are valued; education for all children is highly valued. Something that I learned this trip I didn’t know before, but talking to people I learned, is that the home for a family is literally their sanctuary. Although often a tico will give you the shirt of their back but it will often takes years if ever before they invite you in their house, as it is a sanctuary reserved only for their family (including extended family).

Food – It has become a little more commercialized over the years, but still the staple of the Costa Rican diet is raw foods, not processed. Typically Rice and beans is served with every meal. There are many fresh fruits and vegetables and here if you see fruits on the trees you are welcome to pick them. There is fish and chicken readily available, red meat is not eaten as much. It used to be that there were very few processed foods, but now they are getting more and more, they will cost you though. I find myself here cooking more from scratch and it really not taking much longer than premade stuff. Oh and tasting so Yummy. Another interesting side note, while here I went to 3 different potlucks and the food that people made was very international. (Of course the people were also from the US, Guatemala and Canada. We ate Indian, Indonesian, German, and Thai. I think people really try out their culinary skills here.

Simpleness - Part of the simplexes is that we as a family are living out of 11/3 suitcases and a backpack as well as what the condo owner has supplied in the condo and living in an 80 meter unit which is about 800 sq feet. (Why did the USA not really teach us metrics? Doesn’t pretty much the rest of the world use it?) This makes cleaning a snap and it doesn’t take all day to clean your house. Also life just feels a lot less cluttered. Here when you don’t need things any longer people pass them on to others. Also Costa Rica is a very “Green” country before they have destroyed their natural resources. Recycling is very big here. I have learned that some families even go to the dump and sort through and bring stuff to the recycling centers. Also another thing we choose to do here is walk everywhere (unless some kind soul offers us a ride ☺ (thanks Devan). This is so good for us. It does limit where we go but hey we have a beach a ½ mile away and a town with a grocery store 2 miles away. What more do we need? We do occasionally take a taxi at very reasonable prices. $4 for the 2-mile ride after shopping. City busses are incredibly cheap. 50 cents or less to go many miles, just not to our town. We also don’t have a phone here. Honestly I liked last time when we didn’t have a computer either because I’m a little addicted to my computer and I liked having to walk to town to use a computer.


So with the simpleness, the beauty, and the healthy food, it brings me to a place where I can get focused of what is important and what God’s plans are for my family and me. I find myself reading the Bible more often, Praying and praising God for the beauty around me. Then this trip I found something amazing a wonderful church full of English speaking and slowly moving towards bilingual people who love God. These people are here in Costa Rica for the same reason I love it. They are reaching out to the communities all around them to show God’s love. I had the opportunity to stay one Sunday for their yearly meeting and I was amazed that 90% of the income they bring in from tithes and offerings go right back out to the communities. They have a program in which they teach women skills to support their families. They go to incredibly poor area and provide food and hope to families. Guess what they are not doing this to build their church as they must refer families to other churches because theirs is an English speaking church. They are building God’s church. Come and be refreshed in Costa Rica live the Pura Vida life. Please leave all your American (USA) worries and ways in The U.S.