Despedidas.....

   The goodbyes have been hard, but very sweet. We are now graduates of the Instituto de Lengua Española, as we graduated on Wednesday morning. The graduation was a great time to be reminded of all that the Lord has done here in Costa Rica in our lives to prepare us for the life that lies ahead in Peru. Over the last few days, as I have said a lot of good-byes, I have thought a lot about how our Costa Rican  friends and family have said a lot of good-byes to students like us in their lives. I know this is hard for them and they do not have to let people get close to them, but they allowed us the opportunity to be a part of their lives. They have opened their hearts to us even though they knew that we were only going to be in Costa Rica a short time. When I think of them I am reminded of what Peter says in 1 Peter 4:8 "and above all keep loving one another deeply." This is what our Costa Rican friends and family have done for us.

Doing the graduation walk

Nathan and I at graduation

The whole graduating class this trimester

My wonderful teacher and most amazing friend, Jonesí. I am going to greatly miss her!

Sweet Mami at our graduation

Nathan with both of his incredible teachers, Ana and Jonesí

     This week is a really neat week here in Costa Rica. It is called "Semana Santa" or "Holy Week". Since the majority of this country is catholic, there are many events and church services throughout the week in celebration of Easter. The week began Sunday with a large parade for the whole area in which we live for Palm Sunday. Everyone was given a palm branch and there was a parade with people acting out what it would have been like for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. There have also been services in all the churches every day. For example, last night there were services that depicted Jesus washing the disciples' feet. Today there are also many parades in honor of Good Friday. On Wednesday night, we were at some friend's house, and many people were walking through the streets of the neighborhood to every house singing and praying. This was called "la via cruz" or the "way of the cross." This has been very common in all of the neighborhoods this week.

   Another interesting thing about this week is the food. During this week many people do not eat beef, only seafood, because many years ago beef was very expensive, so people chose to abstain from eating it as a sacrifice of sorts. So today, even though seafood and fish is now more expensive than beef, most people only eat fish as a tradition. We have enjoyed learning about the culture and participating in it this week with our family.

    Tomorrow we will be leaving early in the morning for Texas. We are so excited to see many friends. Thank you again for your support throughout these last months of our lives here in Costa Rica. We feel truly blessed!

Here are pictures from our week: 

Good-bye day with my sweet friends Jonesí and Ericka! I am so thankful for their friendships

Good-bye dinner with a wonderful family that we have grown to love

Our good friend and housemate Kelly. Going to miss her lots

The team with our Tico family

Last time together before Peru. See you guys soon!

Home stretch for language school

   So here we are with about 6 days left in our language school career! This year has certainly flown by very quickly. We are in the process of doing a few final things and getting ready to pack and say our good-byes in the next week. Last Friday Nathan and I both took a final, exit exam at the school. There was an oral and a written part. I was definitely nervous and am not sure how well I was able to speak despite my nervousness. I guess we will see when we find out our scores.

  We will be leaving Costa Rica on April 23 and headed to Texas for a few weeks so that we can visit with friends and also so that Nathan can teach at Scott & White. Nathan has been given a very kind opportunity to lecture to the residents from his residency program about International Ophthalmology. We are thrilled about this opportunity because it means we will be able to see friends and colleagues once again.

  The last few weeks we have been spending a good bit of time with our Costa Rican family as well as some of our friends. Last week we had the opportunity go dancing with some Costa Rican friends. It was amazing to watch them dance. Nathan and I were the only gringos in the place, so I am sure it was very comical watching us try to learn the steps.We learned that from a very young age they all learn to dance (like salsa, meringue). Dancing is part of their culture and life as there is dancing at family gatherings, birthday parties & weddings. They all know the steps to any rhythm. Although some people are better dancers than others, everyone at least knows how. I love learning more about their culture and the things that are important to them.

  This weekend was one of our last weekends to spend some time with a few of the families on our team. They will all be staying here in language school until August, so we will again be separated for a few months. We will be working hard in Peru to try to find them housing and hopefully figure out the "wrong way" to do things, so that they don't make the same mistakes. We have been grateful for our time in Costa Rica with them.

   Thanks for your prayers and kind emails while Nathan was away taking his ophthalmology boards. Thankfully he returned safely back to San José last week.