So our dreaded last day has arrived, and on a clear sunny one no less.  We finished our last work on the house, though it’s far from done, and Gianna and I were able to get our picture taken with our supervisor Jose. He didn’t smile.

     Standing at the bottom of the hill waiting for the bus, we gave our tearful goodbyes to our beloved children as they left to spend the weekend at home. I always thought I didn’t like kids, but as it turns out, it’s just American kids. I’ll always remember these little guys and I’ll be waiting impatiantly for next March to roll around so I can come back and see how they’ve grown in appearance and in their love for God. Going home is hard, but my love for the families and this place will always remain the same, even thousands of miles away.

     This lifechanging trip was made possible by the generous donations and prayers of you all who are supporting us as friends, family, etc. I can’t express how much I’ve loved being here and serving this amazing community, but know your help has made these children and volunteers immensely joyful and even closer to God through this experience.

Baby Cows

View from the Baseball Field

 

Sunset before Dinner

     We were relieved to have the morning off today and get to see some of the farm just uphill from our house. Chicken Farmer Steve Means was kind enough to give us a tour of the milking area, cow fields and calf stalls. Turns out the little guys will suck your hands if you hold them close enough, weird and adorable. After the farm, we took the bus into poor areas where the children come form and learned more about what it is they’ve been through. W also toured the day care centers where the children go who still live at home with working parents. The employees and volunteers all work so hard to keep them safe and educated and continue to do a great job at it.

     After some more work and another baseball game, we all helped decorate the cafeteria for the big pizza party later. Sitting with our children and eating Costa Rican pizza was fun, but the games after were even better. We got to see some intense action during the Spanish relative of Simon Says and a relay race. The best was definitely musical chairs, being quite the contact sport, during which I was able to shove my competition to the ground with my ten little ninos cheering me on the whole game. Once the night was over, Gianna and I stood outside the exit and handed out stuffed animals and the favor bags the children at our church put together, and they were all incredibly grateful and thankful for their new toys. Back at our houses we handed out the pictures we took a few nights before and said good night.

    It’s sad to know our time here is ending soon, but we are so thankful for spending time with every one of these children and their hardworking house mothers. Pray that we’ll be able to say goodbye with dignity!

Night Rainbow

Birthday Banners made by the Mothers

     Team Two’s Wednesday began slowly, as the third work day does, and we continued our mudding, ceiling installing, and construction tomfoolery. After work was over some of us participated in the ninos’ baseball game. Despite the harsh winds and drizzling, we had a ton of fun being a part of their teams. I was lucky enough to dive under John Nardi and make it safe all the way to third base, quite a pro.

     After dinner we celebrated Gianna’s 16th birthday with some awesome cake and amazingly sewn banners made by the house mothers. Later, everyone ran outside and was shocked and inrigued by the display of a rainbow across the black night sky. We all took photo after photo of this phenomenon before is disappeared into the dark from whence it came. This has been a fantastic week, we praise God for miracles such as this!

School at Recess

My Spider Friend

Double Rainbow

 

We started our morning with some french toast and devotions, which is an excellent combination, and then began our jobs for the day. Some of us were far less competent than others at construction tasks, but things worked out surprisingl well as a team. Apparently one of our Spanish speakers was even able to make our stone-faced supervisor, Jose, smile. We broke work for our well-deserved lunch, then resumed our progress into the afternoon. We were looking forward to spectating some of the children’s sports, but unfortunaltely the intermittent downpours and gale force winds cancelled that. Still, we were able to play games with them for a while out on the lawn until dinner.

Mudders at Work

 

Ready to Go!

 

Futbol with the Ninos

 

We took the bus into the city for more great food and some grocery shopping, where we bought like three dozen bags of coffee. Apparently it is very good here. Once the food was put away back at the house some of us went down to play with the ninos. After losing several games of freeze tag and futbol, I asked them what the name of their dog is, to which they said “Pecas! Es embarazado!” Which means ‘Speckles, she is pregnant!’. Later that night I had to explain to some of the adults who know much more spanish than I do that her name is not Embarazado, nor is she embarassed.

Between dinner and walks and games we were able to enjoy a lovely sunset and a mistlike rain to cool the hot day. It’s gorgeous here and the weather is awesome, can’t wait to spend the week here!

Pecas

Here we are, Team Two, settled in and already loving Roblealto! After a couple long and interesting plane rides, we arrived in beautiful (and much warmer than California) Costa Rica. We met up with Team One at A La Carsona Del Cerdo Restaurant for some fantastic Latin food, and spoke with them about their week before they headed off to the airport. On our way up the mountain, we stopped and toured the adolescent home for the teenage graduates from Roblealto. After we unloaded and found our rooms, we spent some time learning about the home and its history then headed back to our house to nap or otherwise better occupy our time until dinner.

Once awake from a pleasant doze and standing outside enjoying the beautiful view from the porch, the children started coming up and taking us to their houses. My guide, ten years old and his hand at the small of my back, was very suave in introducing himself and his amigos to me. I had an amazing time meeting the children and their house mother, who can miraculously look after all 10+ of them simultaneously. As it turns out, the ninos are not only kind and adorable; some are talented artists and singers and one even five years old and already a Michael Jackson impersonator.

Thank you for your prayer and support in helping us all get here. We are greatly looking forward to our time working here and can’t wait to get to know these people and this community during the next week!

(I understand this is a day late, but once we began our grand quest to find the interenet, it was already past 10:00 pm and the others were less than enthusiastic to test how good this laptop is at deflecting bullets.)

Everyone is pushing through pain and exhaustion to work hard for our Lord.  The wind has been howling like CRAZY, sounds like the house will blow over, but praise God, it hasn’t.  We had another screw burn (if you can believe it) because someone (Rich S.) did not read my blog!!  And, Kathleen would like all to know that it was NOT her finger in the Monday blog.  She has not sustained any injuries.  The team at the site continued to tape and mud the sheet rock, and virtually everyone was up on ladders or scaffolding.  Lisa, Lois, and Lynn worked on the project for the Mamis, preparing for Thursday.  They have worked tirelessly as well; the project requires a lot of work to prepare, considering we only have 2 hours with the Mamis.  That is just one more reason what Lisa does it so important. These Mamis would never have the time to do all she does on their own.

I’ve had a cold the past few days that started with me losing my voice – as the team’s only translator, I was pretty nervous about losing the ability to speak, but thankfully it has come back, however low and gritty.  Ha ha.  Now, I don’t want to imply that I am the cause but we’ve had two other sickies – both Ricardos – and some with tummy trouble.  Our nurse Susan is taking very good care of us, but your prayers would be appreciated.

The food has been good, and I haven’t heard any complaints about the rice and beans yet. Personally, I could eat Costa Rican all year long.  Last night we did not eat in the family homes, but we had dinner made for us. Because the salad often doesn’t come with dressing here, some of us were trying to figure out if we could put something together.  All we had was mayo, ketchup, salt, oil, butter, cinnamon – you get the idea, nothing that sounded very good.  If we could just find an acid source (similar to vinegar), we would be golden.  That’s where Patrick stepped in and suggested we use pineapple.  And so we did – blended pineapple and mayo together, and believe it or not – it was delicious!!! We put it on our salad and on the fish and generally felt pretty proud of ourselves.  (Note to Team 2)

Though we missed seeing the kids, it was actually a nice treat as we got to relax and eat as a family, fitting all 18 of us around the table, and then because it wasn’t too late, we had another raucous game of chicken foot, followed by reading for some, cribbage for others.  The girls were up howling over silly girl things like unclaimed underwear.  It has been powerful to bond with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and I for one am thrilled to go home with new friends.

God has been working in our hearts, changing our spirits, for some in very drastic ways.  It is a gift to find healing in the presence of people who will care for and celebrate with you.  I love it when God blasts our cynicism and opens us up to new experiences and new people, blowing us away with the way it impacts our life or by how much we enjoy and benefit by them. It is proof to me that we are not always the best judge of what will ultimately be best for ourselves.  We cannot see beyond the scope of our understanding, but He can, which is why we must always rely on Him – His provision in His timing.

Continued prayer for our health and safety and that we would continue to grow closer to Him, drawing every last drop of His beauty and grace out of our time here and giving the best of ourselves with every last bit of energy and love and light that we have to share with the children and servants of Roblealto.

In the name of our Holy Lord, Team 1

break time! coffee and sweet bread on mud canisters. ahhh, this is the life. =)

up high and down low - looking for dropped screws, like gold

Pastor Lois giving us our daily bread

 
This morning, a few of us had the opportunity to meet with all the “mami”s and work on a craft designed by Lisa, based on a need they had expressed – birthday banners.  For 12-16 birthdays per year, the Mamis have to make an individual birthday sign.  The materials are expensive and their time priceless, so we worked with them to create one banner with rings on the bottom to hang name signs.  We used markers and alcohol to create interesting dye patterns and colors which will eventually serve as the candle flame.  The ladies had a blast – a social time to be together and play as well as learn a new craft.  As team members occasionally returned to the house, it was sweet to see how the Mamis have already adopted even us.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship in which I, Alicia, was blessed by the opportunity to see all these amazing women in one room, to get to know them as women and not just Mamis, and to express my admiration for all that they do. These are truly superwomen.

Crafting Mamis

Mami Marielos loves Jodi =)

On the job site, most people were mudding – quite fitting because it was raining – but we discovered that we needed more ladders and mud trays.  These Ticos make due with what we would call very substandard equipment, and our foremen (thank you very much) will not allow us to use their rickety, broken-runged ladders. The hope for Wednesday is to get some taller/more stable ladders to “float” (ie – spread a mud-like substance) over the sheet rock on these 15 foot walls.  Meanwhile, Ticos are busy in the rest of the house laying floors and other things.  They work much faster than us. 

Rainy construction site

"Mudding", "Floating", whatever it is, it's pretty messy and really fun!

The aches and pains are increasing but thankfully Tuesday was an injury-free day!
We returned to our houses for dinner, which we all enjoy immensely, and for some it was picture night.  Each year we take pictures of each child with the volunteers to give them on the last day as a memory of our time together.  I brought to my house pictures from the last year.  Every child, even those not in the pictures, was mesmerized and begged to have their picture taken.  Imagine that a single picture of you would mean so much…it’s hard to do considering most of us have 1000s of pictures on our computers.  Another boy called me to follow him down the hall and went to get something from his room – it was his pillow case that we had brought the year before.  He showed it proudly and said that he never took it off.  This pillowcase is something – I can say with great confidence – no boy in America would like, much less treasure.  It cannot be sufficiently expressed, how thankful they are – for every gift, every meal, every hug they receive.

The pictures laid out across the table by Mami for all to enjoy

Speaking of the children, some of us were privy to distressing information about what two of them had suffered. I cannot begin to tell you of the horror, and I wouldn’t want to – not only to protect you from heartbreak and revolt but also to preserve a portion of their dignity.  I mention this just to impress upon you the power of this place, the healing, redeeming love of God, and the suffering that exists not only here but in our cities as well.  PRAY FOR THE CHILDREN and praise God that Roblealto exists.

Thanks for reading.  Hasta mañana. – Team 1

“Oh, I got drilled earlier today.” Note to self – do not put your thumb near someone else’s drill site.

“It wasn’t in my line of sight.  Oh, I didn’t have my glasses.” Note to self – wear my glasses.

“Get Alicia!” Note to self – don’t start a conversation without an interpreter.

“Are you laughing at me?”  “No, I’m laughing with you. If you’re not laughing, it’s not my problem.”  Note to self – when using full body weight to drill through a tough stud, prepare to be watched.

The Drill Pose

“Oh shoot, I lost my thingy!” Note to self – don’t lose the thingy.

Other notes to self:

When walking a narrow ledge, carry the heavy bucket of water on the inside.

Don’t get stuck translating an argument between contractors.

Don’t stand under someone shaving sheet rock.

Don’t press a hot screw.

Screw burn

and lastly,  It’s NOT frosting!

Oops, what do you mean it's not frosting?

Mmmm, where's the cake?

***********

Monday was a great day!  As with any new project, the start was somewhat slow as we all settled into our various positions while figuring out how to stay out of the Ticos’ way. Everyone, especially Ricky D., Doug, and Patrick (our construction leads), practiced his/her flexibility when the rooms we were supposed to work on were having the floors layered with cement, and when the Tico foreman had a problem with the joint tape we brought to use.  Alicia had the opportunity to translate that lively discussion between two practiced and stubborn contractors.  Some of us learned corner bracketing and sharpened our drilling skills (with only a few slight mishaps/misdrills if you will).  Others were taping joints and “mudding” walls.

At the end of the work day, people realized they were blessed with  more muscles than they knew, long hair was matted with cement-like dust and humidity, and all were eager to meet with their assigned families.

This first night each house had an interpreter, to make introductions and facilitate getting to know each other. This was an enormous blessing for us to be able to really engage with the children and parents.  We had a series of questions for the children to answer, and those answers touched our hearts. Questions of deepest wishes and greatest happinesses were met with answers of family healing, moments of love and care, daily meals, great interest in and gratitude for the volunteers who come, prayers for OUR families, etc.

As many of us learned last year, these children and so well-loved and well-taught, and the response of their hearts, souls, and minds is astounding and moving.  In answer to “What makes you happy?” one girl said “When Mami hugs me.” A boy answered the question “What do you appreciate about your (house) mami?” with “how she cares for us, protects us, and sets a good example.”  Let’s ALL strive to do that in the lives of those around us, to do what we can to fill the bellies of children, and to embrace as many people as we can because to some, it means the world.

Señor, por favor, abra nuestras corazones y ojos para ver el pobre y para amar Su mundo. Ayudenos a vivir como Su hijo, a proteger Sus hijos. Y proteja nosotros en el reste de esta semana.  Gracias por esta oportunidad. En el nombre de Jesus, Amen.