Back from Laziness and the Beach

It appears I have not had a post in quite sometime now. As the old adage goes, better late than never. May has gone by, and we are currently in June. I have three weeks left in Costa Rica and two weeks left at my work site. It feels that this year has passed by rapidly; but at sometimes like it felt that the departure date could not come soon enough, usually on days of complete rain.
Nothing too worthy of note has occurred in the past month; basically keeping the mission in motion and trying to live in the present; which proves to be difficult at times. I have started a book recommended by Mike Joyce and gifted to me by Santa Claus. It is called "Think and Grow Rich" and it is an awesome book written by Napoleon Hill about the keys and traits necessary to carry out in life to accumulate riches, both monetary and other. Organized planning, decision, faith, persistence and desire are a few to name.
In more recent news, I headed to the pacific coast with Mike this weekend, possibly being the last time I will be at the beaches of Costa Rica for a long time. It was excellent laughs as per usual coupled with a little sunburn, but that's normal with two pale complexions and a bottle of 6 SPF. It felt a little bittersweet, because we have built a pretty solid friendship over this past year, and when I head out in three weeks, I am not only saying to Costa Rica, coworkers and community members, but also a good friend. Luckily, he will be returning to the US at some point to start up his family with his newly acquired fiance, which makes keeping in contact easier.
With that said, I look forward to seeing all who are reading this blog in a few short weeks!

"Retreating" to the Volcano and Beach

Hace tiempo...it's been a while. Many things have occurred in the past month; retreat, holy week and an excellent family visit. These are the three big ticket items I will expound upon.
Primarily, the retreat led by fray Jorge which occurred about 2 weeks prior to Easter; which was fitting for its Lenten theme. It was at a quaint house located in a bit of mountainous terrain; perfect for reflecting. The retreat started with Fray Jorge's thematic saying..."Camino de conversion, Camino de confianza." A path of conversion, a path of trust. Over the weekend, I read, journaled and thought about the "path" I am walking in trying to emulate Christ and trusting that I am being lead by sown the right way. The "camino" could also be referenced as the 40 days of Lent as the path to the suffering, death and resurrection. It was excellent to gather insight and thoughts to fuel the journey...keeping the mission in motion.
Holy Week was low key; no work because Costa Rica nearly shuts down during this week, especially on Good Friday. So Wednesday during Holy Week, I took a bus to Puriscal up in the mountains to visit with Fr. Michael from the states who was visiting and assisting with the masses, confessions and professions during Holy Week down here. It was great to see him and talk about anything over a nice authentic "casasdo" (rice, beans, meat plate) typical in Costa Rica.
Good Friday, my parents and aunt and uncle arrived to start which would prove to be one of the most enjoyable weeks in my life. For the weekend, we went to Arenal Volcano and were pleasantly surprised with how close and beautiful the active volcano was. The 2 and a half hour drive through the hills of Costa Rica was an excellent way to get reacquainted and enjoy some laughs. We mainly laid poolside with a clear shot of the volcano in plain view. Although, Saturday we were courageous and headed off to a canopy tour...Mom, Dad, Marty, Helen and myself flew through the sky at decent speeds, great heights and long distances; all on a single harness and cable strung between two trees...(ALFA ALFA Freddie)
We spent Easter in La Fortuna, a small city in San Carlos and enjoyed a mass in spanish. From Monday until Friday we set up shop in Guanacaste at Flamingo Beach at a completely tropic resort. It was a week of waking up when we pleased, worrying only about what SPF to use and where to dine. It was excellent to see my family, but I found as they left, I felt down; but the sweet week outweighed the bitter good-bye.

It's About That Time...

Hello Neighbor! I apologize for the delay of blogging; my Lenten compromise is to journal daily, which has drastically cut down on the blogging. I, however, need to maintain both. There has not been a great deal to report on. Some topics to discuss are a surprise visitor to our deaf school and St. Paddy's Day weekend.
Primarily, the surprise visitor to our school. On this past Monday, 35 or so students from Galludet University located in Washington D.C. came to our school and "signed" a wonderful assembly. Galludet is an all deaf university in the USA. It was awesome to see the interaction between Costa Rican signers and ASL(American Sign Language) signers. They are not the same language, so communication was slow and usually assisted by 3 or 4 interpreters that traveled with the Galludet contingent. I was hard pressed to believe that there was a great distinction between CR sign language and ASL; but I learned quickly by experience that there is. This was a bit disheartening because when i return to the US, I will need to learn another sign language, but this feeling of let down was lifted when the one of the interpreters told me that learning one sign language makes learning the second that much easier; not to mention that ASL has books, DVDs, courses and opportunities galore to put yourself in a great spot to learn ASL; I look forward to that challenge.
The main reason for their visit was to donate "TTY" telephones to the school to distribute to the students. What is a TTY? From our friends at Wikipedia, it is as follows:
"The typical TTY is a device about the size of a small laptop computer with a QWERTY keyboard and small screen that uses LEDs or an LCD screen to display typed text electronically. In addition, TTYs commonly have a small spool of paper on which text is also printed — old versions of the device had only a printer and no screen. The text is transmitted live, via a telephone line, to a compatible device, i.e. one that uses a similar communication protocol. In certain countries there are systems in place so that a deaf person can communicate with a hearing person on an ordinary voice phone using a human relay operator. "
It basically relays messages from a deaf typist to an operator who relays the message to the hearing receiver.
In other more simple news, St. Patty's Day in Costa Rica is near nonexistent. I did not let that stop the festivities. On Saturday, Erin and I enjoyed a viewing of "The Departed" and I enjoyed some whiskey; solid and simple evening. Then on the "official" day, I made homemade Irish Soda Bread in the trusty cast-iron skillet. The community and I shared some soda bread and conversation after a nice dinner on March 17th...topped off with some green milk!

For 20 Million Rupees and a "Special Party"

New developments? Not too many (That was my monologue.) Not too much has occured since my return from Nicaragua. I am back on site and and enjoying the regiment and balance of work, gym, prayer and leisure. I felt a little off kilter for a while when the ministry site was on summer vacation; but school is back in session and the year has begun full swing.
With that said, the parties with work companions has picked back up, for better or for worse...On Thursday, after work, Yerilyn (pronounced "jerilynn") called to invite me to a party at her house on Friday after work. I graciously accepted the invitation. On Friday I asked more details such as where are we going, when are we leaving and should I bring anything. The party, I was told was for Sylvia (who happens to be pregnant) so I asked if I should pick a small gift in her honor..."if you'd like." So picked up a bib and hopped on the bus with some co-workers. We arrived, and it was chock-full of coworkers of the school...all of whom were women. Yes. I arrived to a baby shower disguised as a "fiesta." The first hour or so made me feel like a pork chop in a synogogue. But as the time passed, it proved to be somewhat comical and cultural. At all baby showers or "un te" as they call here, the first gift selected by the closed-eye soon-to-be-mother indicates the person who will have a baby next...without fail my gift was selected which proved for a laugh and some discussion.
I redeemed myself on Saturday evening by catching a viewing of "Slumdog Millionaire" before The Oscars. I enjoyed the movie; but perhaps more, I enjoyed the half caramel corn/ half salt popcorn in my lap. It was solid; but I am a Ben Button fan and I wanted that to win. Please, feel free to comment. I hope you who are reading this are all well!

Rica to Nica

This past weekend, Mike Joyce and I set off to Granada, Nicaragua. Every 90 days in country, one must leave for 72 hours, so that was the main purpose of the trip. I had never been to Nicaragua before, but luckily Mike had and therefore knew the bus line to take and a solid, clean and central hostel. We departed Friday morning at 6:00am hoping to arrive at the border a little before noon, then pass through swiftly and arrive in Granada at 2:00pm; we hoped...Unfortunately, efficiency at central American borders is not a priority. I understand that border passing needs to be done with efficiency and security perhaps in exchange for speed; however this border lacked all three. It was a good lesson in patience and to enjoy some solid "man talk" with Mike. It was interesting to see the contrast in poverty between Nicaragua and Costa Rica; but then again I suppose we live in the US with the same situation with Mexico...perhaps more contrast.
When we arrived, we checked into the hostel; dorm rooms being half the price of private rooms, so without hesitation dorm rooms were opted. The hostel called "oasis" was well operated and central to the "colonial" town of Granada. It was a relaxing weekend; eating, conversing, walking and people watching. I imagine that when Marty, Mike Sweeney and my Dad head to NYC, it is a similar outing except in English and perhaps a little better food in Little Italy. On the last night, I enjoyed a hand rolled Nicaraguan cigar...hard to get a fresh one of those in NYC. Today was the first day back on site at the deaf school, so it feels good to get back to a regimen and see all the familiar faces, now bronzed from recent "paseos" to the beach during vacation. Until next time...

Friar That on for Size

The weekend was a relaxing one, filled with much movie watching, mostly which took place in the house but we, as a community did go to the movies together. We saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which is an awesome flick; highly recommended. Brad Pitt kills it...solid style, good acting and a hint of life lessons.
On Sunday we went to the Friary at Alajuela to support two Friars who were professing vows. I have never been to a ceremony like this, so it was neat to see a "marriage ceremony to God." What made it so special was that there was a conference for the western hemisphere of Friars, which represented all of Latin America, Canada, US, and the UK. The ceremony was very long, but it was a most energetic mass due to the fact that there were 60 Franciscans from all over the world singing their hearts out. The man in the picture above is exactly that..."the man." His name is Fr. Marco Tasca, and he is the General of the Franciscan order based out of Rome. It was historical to speak with the, for all intensive purposes, the "pope" of the Order of Friars Minor, Conventual.

Clinic not Clinique

I have discovered Prilosec OTC after 7 years of chronic heartburn; the only regret I have is that I did not discover it sooner. (Side note)
Today was a good day. For this week I am at Erin's site which is a clinic for terminally ill children. I find it to be one of the most uncomfortable things I have done in my life second to trying to fit into the harness for the canopy tour seen below. On a serious note, it is a breath taking site coupled with some pain and much needed compassion for the patients and there families. I now have a deepened appreciation for parents with special needs children. Many of the patients are non verbal often with a "button" in their stomachs for feeding. Imagine never tasting the glory that is a Netty's famous chili dog or a mother's homecooked dinner. It is a bit overwhelming to see the condition some of these kids are in with hydrocephalus or cerebral palsy; but it is balanced with the hopeful and strong wills of their guardians. It makes one appreciative of small things like tasting food, walking, having relationships/responsibility and having a "normal" life.
In other news, Liz had asked us to prep some answers for prayer tonight to her questions what does the gospel mean to you and how does it play out in your life via FrancisCorps's motto, "Preach the gospel, if necessary, use words." I'm off to discuss.