A few recent events, in no particular order

1.
Where? Arenal volcano, La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Who? The twins, Allie and I, and Ashley and Katy, Allie's friends from CA.

What? Hiking halfway up a volcano through the jungle, in the rain, in the dark...and watching lava roll down the sides. Driving to natural hot springs, and having our guide tell us to "take off our clothes" at the side of the river, and then hiking along it in our bathing suits, ducking under barbed wire (apparently we only paid for the ghetto tour that evening) and swimming under the stars in a natural jacuzzi. Riding horses the next morning to a waterfall, and swimming in the pool at the bottom. Amazing.

2.
Where? The fruit market, Romoset, Costa Rica

Who? Pamela, Ashley, Katy, Allie and I.

What? Trying and buying all kinds of amazing fruits. It was a delicious, and beautiful adventure.

3.
Where? Irazú volcano, Tierra Blanca, Costa Rica

Who? Allie, Ashley and I. And the kind couple who drove us from Tierra Blanca up the Volcano for only 15 dollars.

What? We headed out on an adventure on our own, and caught a bus to Cartago, and then found another bus to Tierra Blanca, and then hitched a ride with aforementioned couple. This is the third volcano we have visited. No lava, or even smoke this time. But we felt like we were on the moon. Hence, the alien shots. It was really cool. Literally. I think it was the first time I've been cold since I've been here! Like, ear-hurting cold!

4.
Where? The employment center, San José, Costa Rica and Los Yoses chaple

Who? Franklin, Allie and I, and Elder Hills and Elder Milhoun

What? Being present at the missionary lessons of Franklin Campos. He is incredible. He's like a sponge. I was walking home from Church with him last Sunday, and he turned to me and said (in English, and pointing to his Book of Mormon) "This is exactly what I've been looking for!" Franklin was baptized Saturday, July 28. He has great faith, and I am so excited for him to continue to progress in the Church! When the Elders taught him about the Word of Wisdom, he said, that coffee was the only thing he ever used. The Elders were getting ready to talk with him more about it, when he said "...but, I saw online that you don't drink coffee, so two days ago, I told my sister that I'm not going to drink coffee anymore." He was way ahead of all of us.

5.
Where? The "Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica"

Who? Allie and I. And a few hundred other people.

What? Falstaff, Giusepi Verdi's opera. We were running late, from a meeting with Franklin and the elders. There was TONS of traffic, and the taxi wasn't getting anywhere. So we got out and ran through downtown Costa Rica. In heels. I feel lucky that my ankles are in tact. But the opera was beautiful, if a little artsy, even for me. We even ran into some friends there!!
6.
Where? The employment center, San José, Costa Rica.

Who? Allie and I. And TONS of participants.

What? We have taught as many workshops in the last two weeks as we taught during the rest of our time here. Or at least close. One of our favorites was one that we taught in English to a group that is about to graduate from an intensive English program, and is preparing to go out into the job market. They were a ton of fun.

A Wild Week

We have been so busy working and having a great time that I haven't stopped to tell you how much we're working and having a great time! July 5th we went on a business trip to the Caribbean coast. Too bad all business trips can't be like that. We got there and rushed to the local chapel to teach the first part of the workshop. We had a great turnout and we really enjoyed teaching. The majority of the participants are PEF candidates who haven't had the chance to take the workshop yet, which is a required part of the application process, so it was really rewarding to be there. There are no stakes in Limón, the province where we were teaching, so we were in a district of the church there. The next day, we didn't have the second part of the workshop until 6pm, so we headed to the beach with Rodrigo and his family. The beach was called Manzanillo, and it was absolutely gorgeous! I thought I had already seen beautiful, but...wow! We saw more wildlife, and I chased down some really cool crabs with my camera.
That evening we finished teaching the workshop with fantastic results! The people were wonderful, and humble, and gave really powerful interviews. I loved it!
We got back and the next week started working like crazy! On Tuesday we taught a workshop in the office and were filmed by Jan VanOrman, who works for the International Vice President of BYU, and his crew, the producer of a film they are making about the ERS program, and the director of the Kennedy Center. We taught another workshop in the evening especially for PEF candidates, and were filmed again. Wednesday it was a repeat, but teaching the second part of the workshop. We were exhausted by the time we finished at 9pm Wednesday. We didn't get much of a chance to rest though, because at 6:30 the next morning, our managers and Brother VanOrman and the crew picked us up to go on a "trip" to the coast. We drove, and drove, and drove, and then ended up at Los Sueños, an amazing resort owned by Marriott hotels, where we set up the cameras outside the spa (we were sorely tempted to ditch the interviewing and get a facial and a massage) and then Allie and I were interviewed about the experience we're having here. I guess they were impressed, because when we were done, Jan VanOrman (probably in his 60's, white hair and all) said "You two kick butt, man!" We thought that was great.
The next day, Rodrigo picked us up at 6am, and we headed back to the coast to teach another PEF workshop in Puntarenas. So to all of you who think we're not working here, let this be a lesson to you. It was a great workshop, and we fell in love with the people there. Again, they live in a district, and don't have a lot of contact with other members of the Church, and it was so fun to get to know them.
We got back to San José around 7pm, and the Roldan's picked us up to go see...Harry Potter! Despite not being an official Harry Potter fan, I must admit that I really liked it. And it kept me awake. Which says a lot, considering my state at that moment.
Sunday was great. Franklin, a young man we taught in the workshop came to church with us. He had so many questions and was really open to learning about the gospel. We had a great experience there with him, and he came over for lunch afterwards so we could continue to answer his questions. It was amazing. He is so excited to learn more. He has been reading the Book of Mormon since, and told me that he knows that it is true and that this is the true Church. We are meeting with him and the missionaries this evening. He is an amazing person, and has so much light! His family is already telling him not to investigate the Church or read the Book of Mormon, but he feels that it is the right thing to do, and says that he will do it anyway. Wow. We love missionary work! As a bonus, he applied the principles he learned in the workshop and already negotiated a better schedule and a higher salary. We are proud of him!
On Monday Allie's friend Ashley flew in and Tuesday Katy, another friend arrived. We have been balancing having fun with them with our work schedule, but tomorrow we are taking off to Arenal, the most famous volcano in Costa Rica. The twins are coming with us, and we're excited! Natural hot springs...lava flowing from the volcano at night...waterfalls...cloud forests with hanging bridges...Costa Rica's largest lake...as long as you promise not to get too jealous, I'll let you know all about it.

The 4th, Tico Style...

Happy 4th of July! So, today's the 5th, but I just thought I'd send my festive spirit out there anyway. Yesterday was a great day. I think a classic movie, and one of my favorites, says it best...

-"Christmas tree through window....how am I going to file that on my insurance claim?? They're still pissed about the fire we had when Joe Jr. barbecued in the stairwell!"

-"Hmm...missed that one..."

-"Too bad...Great sausage!"

So, it wasn't the stairwell, it was the fire escape, and it wasn't actually sausage...it was hot dogs. But we managed to have a relatively authentic 4th of July celebration right here in San José, centro (think, no front yard, no back yard...just a curb that is usually occupied by a few homeless friends picking through the trash). It was pretty much amazing. We invited a bunch of friends over, made baked beans and corn on the cob, and...loved every minute of it! We even added s'mores to the menu to make it really authentic, and our friends loved them! We were a little nervous that we would get kicked out of the building, but the only person who discovered our indoor bbq was our Spanish neighbor Pepe, who just gave us some grilling advice and asked if we wanted some "drinks". And he didn't mean soda. It took awhile to convince him that we really don't drink alcohol, but in the end, we got away with the whole thing without a hitch!

We played some crazy games, and Allie entertained with the guitar (which we borrowed from Pepe. It can come in handy to have overly-generous Spanish neighbors around.) and I think the party was a hit!

Today we are headed off on another "business trip" to Limón, on the Carribbean coast. We'll be teaching the workshop out there, and the trip is doubling as a vacation, so we plan to hit the beach as much as possible. Should be a good time, and definitely interesting with Rodrigo at the wheel. Carribbean climate report coming right up!

Life in Paradise

I promise that we are working down here! I really do! It's just that...why not take advantage of the time you're not working to have fun? Especially when you happen to be working in a place like Costa Rica. This week was amazing. We taught a workshop that really challenged us- we spent a lot of time one on one with participants to help them understand the principles of the workshop, and it really paid off. At the end of the workshop, we asked people what they enjoyed most about the experience (it is a 10 hour workshop that we teach over two days), and the overwhelming response was that they had learned things about themselves that they didn't know before, and had realized that they posessed many qualities that they had never noticed or valued. It is so rewarding to work with people! The next day Allie and I were in the offie, and Jenny, one of the participants, came in and asked to talk with us. She expressed her gratitude again, and told us she had wanted to get us something, and then presented us with leather coin purses. It was so sweet, and we could tell that she had really been touched by the principles we taught as she thanked us over and over again with tear-filled eyes. "For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward" (D&C 58:28).

Another rewarding part of this week was working with the Young Men in our ward to help them prepare their skit for camp. I guess word got out that I study theatre, and the Bishop and Young Men's president asked me to help. It turned out to be so fun! They are a great group of kids! We got together for a preliminary rehearsal, and then a few days later, the YM president and one of the young men (Guillermo) met me in the office and we worked together to come up with a script. They are presenting the story of the conversion of Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah. A couple days after that, we got together for another rehearsal. They are doing such a great job! One of the deacons is named Alex, and we assigned him the part of Ammon. When I told him a little more about the story of Ammon, he was really excited, and today I told him to read Alma 17, the story of Ammon and Lamoni's flocks. He seemed pretty excited about that. Nothing like a little arm-cutting to get a kid reading the Book of Mormon.

On Thursday, Allie's parents came down to San José from a resort they had been staying at in Guanacaste. We showed them around the city a bit on Thursday and then they took us to dinner with Edwin and his wife Flor, and Rodrigo and his wife Paola. Friday morning we got up early to meet our river guide Luis, and took a long drive to the Pacuare river to go white-water rafting. On the way there we stopped in a town called Turrialba for breakfast, and were completely charmed. The trip was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life! The Pacuare is in the top 5 best rivers in the world for white water rafting, and we went on up to level 4 rapids. The rapids were amazing! A little scary and a lot of fun! I felt really safe when we found out that Luis, our guide, is on the national rafting team. He is my age, but is so experienced. Allie's mom, Jerie, was thrown from the raft twice, but was amazingly resiliant, and bounced right back. The best part of the trip was the scenery...we rafted through a rain forest, and there was this gorgeous mist in the tree tops and toucans flying overhead. There were waterfalls around every corner, and we rafted right under one of them. At one point, we floated through a narrow canyon with jungle trees towering over us and spilling their vines over the river. We got out of the raft, and just floated on our backs. It was truly incredible. It was breathtaking and highly recommended to all. At the end of the run, we got out and were fed a delicious lunch, and said goodbye to our safety kayaker, Fabian (who did all kinds of flips and tricks in his kayak all the way down the river), and got back in the van with Luis for a long drive back to San José.
Luckily, Allie and I are full of energy, and as soon as we got home, we speedily got ready for the Institute dance, and only made our friends Ezra, Jonathan, and Luis Carlos wait a few minutes outside our apartment when they came to pick us up. The dance was a blast, and we loved seeing lots of our friends there and making more of them at the same time. Luis Carlos doesn't consider himself much of a dancer, so Ezra and I thought it would be funny to sign him and Allie up for the dance competition. This is a pic of Ezra and I right before we started plotting...The clown who was announcing everything called their names over the speaker, and Allie promptly hid in the bathroom. Luis Carlos, who hadn't danced all night remained in his seat. The clown was fairly persistant though, and kept calling for them. Eventually Ezra turned to me and said "Should we go?" Hmm...I can hold my own with salsa and merengue, but they were playing seven different types of dances, and there were only about 6 couples entered in the contest. I shruged my shoulders and said, "Okay..." I guess I deserved it, for signing Allie up. Ezra and I didn't know half the dances, but we kept smiling, and it was actually really fun. Or maybe just funny. Needless to say, we didn't win. But we had a good time losing.
We also had a blast dancing with some of our girl friends. Here Nathalie and Tatiana are attempting to teach us to samba. :)

Saturday we had planned to go to Poás, a nearby volcano, with Allie's parents, and we decided to invite the Roldan family, from our ward. Sharon and Pamela are the sweetest girls ever, and Ezra and Jonathan (the twins, and the same friends from the dance) are fantastic. The whole family speaks English and the twins both served missions in the U.S. Anyway, when they showed up, the whole family had come! Their parents decided to join them, which was great, and Luis Carlos forgave me for signing him up for the dance contest enough to come too. We rented a car, and followed them to the volcano. The drive there was absolutely beautiful. The countryside here is as beautiful as the beaches! It was a cloudy day, but we caught a glimpse of the crater and had fun looking out over the edge. We hiked to another crater, that is no longer active, and is now a beautiful lake. On the way back to the car, we decided to take another look at the main crater, and were glad! The clouds had moved to the side, and we got a great view! The leaves and ferns here are amazing too, and we had a great time checking them out on our way down from the volcano. I decided this one can be my new umbrella, since I have successfully lost both of mine.

From there we went to lunch at a local restaurant and had a great time talking and getting to know each other. Allie's parents and the Roldan's parents really hit it off, and everyone had a lot of fun. We weren't done having fun yet, though. We kept driving, and went to La Paz, a gorgeous waterfall. We took lots of pictures, and I think we would have jumped into the pool to go swimming if we had had our suits. We enjoyed some crazy tropical fruits, and then started the drive back home. I switched places with Pamela and rode with the Roldan family in their van. It was a great ride home, and I love their family! They are so fun, and such great people.

Gone Fishin'!

Allie and I don't fish. We eat fish (for me this is a relatively recent development), but we don't catch them. We don't like killing things (with the exception of fruit flies and mosquitoes), and quite frankly, we think fish are kind of cute. But at Colinas de Poás, a nature reserve in the mountains, there is a fishing pond, and the young adults we are with decide they are going fishing. So we go along. I feel safe, because the fishing poles are bamboo shoots, and the line is tied onto the end, with a simple hook tied onto the other end. I'm no fisher-woman, but I have seen fishing poles in the U.S. and they are pretty fancy. One time in Alaska, my brother and dad spent hundreds of dollars on fishing gear, and didn't catch a thing. So I'm pretty sure I can sit here with my line in the water and not have to worry about actually catching or killing a fish. We're not even using worms! Just some kind of fish bate that looks like miniature dog food. I throw my line in, and we start snapping pictures. I'm smiling at the story I can tell... "Yeah, we didn't catch anything..." when suddenly I feel a tugging on my line. "¡Tira, tira!" Jordan yells. So I pull. I'm not reeling anything in- there's no reel, so I just yank up on the bamboo shoot and pull the line out of the water. To my utter amazement, there is a fish, flopping around on my line. He's definitely still alive. For some reason, I thought the hook would just kill him, but I guess that doesn't really make sense, now that I think about it. I'm enough of a girl, and at enough of a loss of what to do now, that I decide to follow my instincts, and I scream. Fabián laughs, but Jordan comes to my rescue. He wrestles the slippery, flopping fish off the line, and pulls back on the head to kill it. This makes my stomach churn a little, but at least now he's out of his misery, right?

Allie is watching the whole ordeal, and decides she's seen enough. No fishing for her. But something in me wants some company (misery loves company, right?...okay, maybe it's not that bad...) so I convince her that she at least needs to put her line in the water so we can take a picture and have proof that we went fishing. At long last, she complies. And as we snap a few shots, there is a tug on her line. "I knew it!", she exclaims. She pulls, and we all gasp at the huge fish she has caught. Her face is priceless. That's probably what everyone was thinking about me a few moments ago. We go through a similar process and with two fish in our bucket, we've had enough. We settle down to watch the others, and are pleased to note that Kimberly is not a whole lot more comfortable with the whole thing than we were. We snap a few shots with her face scrunched up and tongue sticking out as she pulls in a few fish. This helps us feel not quite as silly, but at the same time, most everyone around seems to be doing alright. We have someone else clean our fish, and put them on ice so we can take them home and...cook them...(I can handle fillets no problem, but cooking a whole fish?...this will be interesting).

Now, maybe this whole thing is just proof that Allie and I really are girly girls, despite the fact that we fancy ourselves out-doorsey. But it really has me thinking. I remember the lettering on a package of chicken breasts I was preparing back home that said "grown in California". I'm not a farmer, but I do know that you don't grow chickens. Somehow, though, it sounded better than raised- it helped me feel farther away from the fact that the chicken I was getting ready to cook had once been a living, breathing, clucking thing. It almost made the meat seem like a vegetable. In Costa Rica things from the meat markets with whole chickens and the fish with their heads still on, to, most recently, our fishing experience, it is clear that people here aren't so afraid to get close to the source of their food. This is probably really healthy. Pretending that meat is a plant can't be good for you. I've stumbled upon a stark cultural contrast. Back home we go to great lengths to separate ourselves from the process of raising, slaughtering, and butchering meat. Here it is still a part of life, and people don't seem to spend much time worrying about its unpleasantness. Jordan wasn't afraid to touch the fish (or kill the fish, for that matter)- it was just part of the process. I will admit that it freaked me out a bit to get close to that process, but I feel like it is something so normal that so many people do, and that my own culture has blinded me to. Maybe I'm learning more about myself than anything else, but I guess that's a big reason we seek to understand others. I got a lot more than I expected out of a little fishing trip. I wonder what I'll learn from cooking them...

We have fleas! (And it was worth it)

We spent 4 days at the beach. It was pretty much amazing. My friend Doug served in Costa Rica a few years ago and he was back for a visit with his roommate Aaron and Aaron's sister Heidi. We also hung out with Francella, one of his friends from here. The six of us pretty much clicked from day one, which was a good thing, because we spent many hours in the mini-van we rented in very close quarters. Monday we planned to take off early, but, as vacations usually go, didn't get on the road until about 1pm after many adventures with car rental companies and internet hotel booking services. We drove through some gorgeous places and crossed a bridge to the Nicoya peninsula, and headed down to Samara, a beach town on the south-west corner of the peninsula. Francella's aunt has a house there that they don't live in any more that is literally a block from the beach, and it was great! We arrived, basically dumped our stuff, and headed for the beach. By that time, though, it was getting dark (it gets dark at 6:00 here, every night), so we went for a little moon-light walk on the beach, and then headed to a little restaurant to eat. The coolest thing about Samara was its authenticity. It is not very touristy, and the beach is fairly empty. It was beautiful, though, and we felt like we had the place to ourselves. Some highlights were the wild horses on the beach, swinging from vines, and the many batidos that we drank at the restaurant that faces the beach. Mmmm... We spent all of Tuesday playing in the water, putting on sunscreen, walking down the beach, putting on sunscreen, taking a boat ride, putting on sunscreen, exploring a deserted island with huge lizards and thousands of crabs, putting on sunscreen, snorkeling, putting on sunscreen...it was beautiful. Francella had brought her grill, so we made a visit to the little store, and then to the carniceria, and then packed up the van to head to another beach nearby. We set up, and had a beach barbecue that was amazing! We had to wash our produce in the ocean, but don't worry- we cooked most of it. We even introduced Francella to make-shift s'mores, and we sang hymns under the stars. And got bit by beach fleas. But most of it was as wonderful as it sounds. Wednesday morning I woke up early (not so much because I'm a morning person...more because my feet were really itchy) and decided to go to the beach for some scripture reading. It was so peaceful...me and the waves, and the occasional group of school children walking to school. Across the beach. I don't know how that sounds to you, but to me it sounds a lot better than uphill both ways. When I got back we packed up and cleaned up, and headed north to Tamarindo, where we had reserved rooms at the Diria Resort. It was a little pricey, but it was beautiful! Pool, beach front, air conditioning, free welcome cocktails (we got virgin piña coladas), as many clean towels as you can use. It was fantastic. We played in the water (pool-ocean-pool-ocean), walked around the funky beach town (this place was a lot more touristy), and read poetry from the lawn chairs. That night we basked in an incredible sunset, and Allie and I headed out for one last dip in the salt water, which was orange and purple under the sky. We decided we were already paying the resort enough for our rooms, so we skipped the restaurant and headed into town for some dinner at what a kind dread-locked young man told us was one of the only inexpensive restaurants in town. He was right, but it was still great food, and even better batidos. After dinner and a little more exploring, the boys decided to turn in for the night. We (the girls) decided we wanted some ice cream, and that began our adventure on the town. We went to TCBY, which turned out to be closed, but which, under our feminine influence, opened again to serve us some ice cream. As we walked down the main street in town, we were approached several times and informed of various ladies nights going on, to which we responded that we didn't drink. This was generally followed by strange looks, and turned out to be a pretty effective way to keep strange men from continuing their conversations with us. We decided to go to a place where they had a live salsa band to try out our dancing skills, and we were successful! The band was amazing, and the place was packed with about half tourists, half locals. We all got a little dancing in and had a great time before heading back to our hotel/resort. Allie and I thought we would top it all off with one final swim in the pool, and approached the pool, only to find that it had closed at 10:00, and it was quarter after 11:00. Fortunately, our feminine charms worked again, and we were given permission to swim "as long as we weren't too loud". We complied with the quiet requirement until we got the crazy idea to climb the rock wall that rose out of one end of the pool to another pool/fountain (that was purely decorative). One triple-dog-dare later, Allie was climbing the rocks and relaxing into the fountain with the clever plan to reply "Oh, you can't swim in here? I'm so sorry!" to the inevitable rebuke from the guards. Unfortunately, the water splashing into the fountain from the concrete fishies mouths was making such a racket that they didn't even notice Allie sink into the fountain, stretching out and sighing, "ahhhh...". She sat there for a few minutes while I laughed so hard I nearly woke up the entire resort, and then we headed back to our room. (Here she is with the fountain the next morning.) That night I think I slept better than I have the entire time I've been in Costa Rica, but unfortunately my slumber was interrupted at about 6am when Doug banged on the door and asked why I was still asleep. Hmm...I didn't think that was a very hard question to answer, but I humored them, and got dressed. We ate as much as we possibly could at breakfast (it was included in the price of room, and we had to get our money's worth) and then packed the van and headed back to good old San José.

It feels good to be home. Doug and Co. flew back to the U.S. this morning, and we only felt a slight twinge of jealousy (or maybe that was just the itchy-ness of all those flea bites). We realized there are a few things we miss. But mostly, we are just grateful to be here, and excited for more adventures to come, with or without the fleas.