long week....

So this has been somewhat of a long week. Nathan was pretty sick for the first time in about 4 years. He ended up missing several days of school. Thankfully he is beginning to feel better today. Our Tica Mami has taken very good care of him (she has made lots of very good chicken soup). So needless to say, we have struggled a bit more this week with school and sickness.

Nathan and I think that we have found a church here. We have been going there for the last month, and have been really encouraged by the people. It is pretty small, only about 40 people. Today, our whole team (10 adults, 11 children) went to the church. We made up about half of the congregation and were definitely the only North American English speakers there. The people of the church served us so well. They took such good care of all the children in children's church. They were definitely not prepared for that many kids! We are excited about the possibility of getting involved there.

Nathan and I are now beginning speak only Spanish to one another during the day. My Spanish is ok enough that I can at least use the verbs and nouns that I know to get my point across to him. I will say that is is sure exhausting to speak Spanish all the time!

Raining season has officially begun, as if we need more rain in Costa Rica. It now pours down rain from morning until night. Definitely makes walking everywhere a little difficult. We probably walk about 2-3 miles/day back and forth to school. It is great exercise!

Here are a few more pictures of our independence day celebration last week:

Lydia and Hannah are two of the children on our team. We were at the Independence Day celebration at our school.

 All the kids in the elementary schools make lanterns (as you can seen they are pretty elaborate). They then march around the school in the evening with their lantern. It was pretty fun. 

Happy Costa Rican Independence Day!

So today was a school holiday, because it is Independence Day in Costa Rica, which meant lots of parades and drums! It basically left more time for us to study. We did go to the big grocery store (like Sams) today to get a few items. As we were walking home (about 3/4 mile) with our large package of toilet paper and grocery bags, and did I mention umbrellas because it was pouring down rain, I began to think of interesting and fun things that I love about Costa Rica. Here are a few that came to mind:

- It is really fun to take taxis. They are really convenient and we don't have to pay for gas
- There are little grocery stores everywhere, so whenever I have a craving for a snack/treat it is easy to find
- Manzanilla tea from a small coffee shop near our house. It is fantastic
- Best black beans and refried beans that you will ever eat
- A widow maker, which is a small electrical head that heats our shower water. It is a very handy little gadget, and works very well most of the time. Probably will work well in Peru
- I get to spend a lot of time with Nathan, we are having a lot of fun going to school together.

Here are a few pictures from the festival at our school:

Some of the teachers and students doing a traditional Costa Rican dance. I don't think there is any chance that I will be joining the Costa Rican dance team :=)

The teacher on the far right is my grammar teacher. Her name is Graciella. She is really wonderful. 

Every day in Costa Rica....

Never leave home without our umbrella!

IT RAINS!

  I don't think there has been one day since we have been here that it does not rain really hard. We have learned that when the morning is really bright and sunny, then the afternoon rain will be very hard and long. Such is life in Costa Rica.

This week continues with lots of new Spanish and that means LOTS of homework. Nathan has given 20 minute presentations in Spanish everyday this week. After watching him, I am not sure I ever want to be at his level in Spanish. Es muy dificil. I did begin my tutoring this afternoon and am really going to enjoy my teacher. I think that time is going to be really helpful.

One thing I have found that I love about Costa Ricans is that every time they see you, you are greeted with a kiss on the cheek. I will never get tired of how loving the people are here.

Thank you for your prayers for my mom. She went home from the hospital on Sunday and seems to be recovering well. The surgery was a successful as we could have hoped. The Lord is indeed faithful.

My Costa Rican Mami. She is so precious

First week of kindergarten

   So we have finished our first two days of language school. I have really enjoyed my classes. I am taking three classes; grammar, language (speaking) and phonics. All of my teachers are wonderful and seem to really care about helping us succeed. One sweet blessing is that one of our teammates, Rachel is in all my classes. It has been so fun to learn and study with her. It has also been great time for us to continue getting to know each other better.

   Nathan has also enjoyed his classes, although they are definitely a bit harder than mine. Yesterday, his grammar teacher threw a verb at him and wanted him to conjugate it in all 14 tenses! Needless to say, he did a lot of studying last night, and has much more to do today. We are both praying that we would not become discouraged by our lack of knowledge, but just take each day poco a poco (little by little).

   Another prayer concern for us is that my mom is having surgery tomorrow morning. We anticipate her being in the hospital 5-7 days. Please pray for her safety, recovery and also for my dad as he will be taking care of her. My brother and I will be staying put in California and Costa Rica, unless otherwise needed in Georgia. Thank you in advance for your prayers. We are so thankful that we have a faithful God who hears our prayers.

    On a final note, some people have asked about sending letters and packages directly to Costa Rica. I know that on a previous post I said to send letters to my parents in GA, but if you would like to send it directly to us, we would really love it. We have a mailbox here and everything! Some people have asked about receiving packages, and we can do that here in Costa Rica. If you send a package, the best way is a flat rate box (only shoebox size) through the postal service (that way it will not be tampered with).

   Here is the address:
      Nathan & Kristen Henson
      Instituto de Lengua Espanola
      Apartado 100-2350
      San Jose, Costa Rica
      America Central

Que tenga buen dia!