Making it to Costa Rica!!

Did you know that no matter how many miles you are traveling in Central America, if you are doing it on a bus it takes at least 12 hours.  I mean I am not lying to you about this.  Yesterday we left San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua at 8am in a taxi.  We went to Rivas and got dropped off on a corner to catch a bus.  Waited there until 9:15am.  Got on a bus and we were supposed to be on this bus for six hours.  That would put us in Costa Rica's capital by 4 at the latest.  But we are in Central America right! So at about 2:30pm we hear a small BOOM.  Oh yea...you know it, hombre strait up hit the back of the bus!! So we sit there and I am actually just hanging out with a little girl named Kali doing paint on the computer.  She only spoke Spanish so it was quite the experience. You think talking to a toddler in English is a lot to take on! Try it in Spanish.  None the less we don't get to Costa Rica until 5:30pm. We have to get our bags get into a taxi and make it to the Coke bus station by 6pm. We have a two and a half hour bus ride to Manuel Antonio.  We pulled up as a man shakes his head no and says the two words he knows in English Seven Thirty, as we watched the bus pull away.  So we waited, another two hours and got on the bus at 7:33pm.  Onto to Manuel Antonio, aka taking on the Daytona 500 via city bus.  Oh boy-Costa Rica bus drivers are crazy, even when its raining cats and dogs.

So we make it to Quepos and we have to get in a taxi and go 6 KM to get to our Hostel.  What do you know, we are staying at a place called sol y mar.  That would be great if like 18 places didnt have similar names!!!!  So our taxi driver takes us way past it and calls like 18 people and it raining like crazy.  It is 10:30 at night, he tries to drop us off at the wrong place twice.

Finally figure it out, this place has a sign that is pretty much the same as have your address behind the gated community that no one can get into.  BUT!!! We found it! We walked in the poring rain for what seemed like 30 minutes to find a place for dinner! (We hadn't gotten around to that yet.)  We go up to a tapas bar and take off our soaking wet clothes and shoes only for them to tell us as we are sitting down that they are no longer serving food.  We suit back up and head back into the storm! Walking again...find the one dragon shirt club pumping with three people on the dance floor.  We got green crazy lights, fog machine I mean people this place had the works!

So we finally sit down, thank goodness it was a tasty dinner! We enjoyed two beers over the thumping of Lady Gaga and Black eyed peas club re mixes and then head on our way.

Arrive at our hostel Sol Y Mar hostel, praying for nice comfy bed.  We get out of our wet clothes again and crawl in the bed and what do you know...we hear the crinkling of a like wet the bed protector under our sheets! I would believe that my friends is the CHERRY ON TOP!

It was our last day of long travels for the duration of our trip! What a memorable way to end it!!! We are excited to be in Costa Rica.  What we have seen so far is fantastic, today we are off on a animal hunt.  Sloths, Monkeys and iguana!!1

So Hot!

Okay, for some reason I can’t get this out of cap locks so just bare with me.  I am telling you right now LAst night was the hottest night i have ever experienced in my life.  It was at least 85 degrees in our room with bassically no circulation.  We tried everything. cold showers, no covers, open window, fan, but i ended up sleeping with a wet sarong laying on top of me.  People this was my only option! This is madness. 

As our adventure is coming to a close we have been doing a lot of thanking of each other.  (Aaron and I that is.)  It seems like both of us have gained so much from this experience and lately we have just been thankful of one another’s compromise and willingness to fulfill the other wants.  What a beautiful time at the beginning of our marriage to really put ourselves in a situation where depending on one another is our only option.  We just sat last night as we watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and thanked one another for this experience.  The more I think about it the more thankful I become.  Aaron took the biggest risk ever and just walked away from stability which is so big for him.  I am traveling through Central America, trusting that he will lead me safely through this time.  Through those two things alone our definition of trust has been redefined.  Our trip is over in a week and we will continue to discover ways this experience has molded and shaped our marriage, our confidence…our lives.  Although we are sad to see this time coming to an end we are so excited about the next challenge of our lives.  For real!!  

Oh man, I get to see my cousin Philip Friday.  It might not seem crazy but this is my cousin that lives in California that we have not seen in what feels like forever.  So the fact that we are 'running into' each other in Central America seems a little crazy.  We are excited to spend the day with him on Friday.  This totally makes me think of how much I have been reminded on this trip of how much I love my people.  I have made it a huge priority to keep in touch with people.  I have actually talked more to people since I have been gone than I talked to when I was home.  I was talking with Aaron about this has been a huge lesson learned.  I got back to thinking about how 'busy' I thought I was.  Like "hold on i am watching this TV show, can I call you later." But lets just get real, what are we really gaining from this TV show vs. a conversation with a friend.  Lesson Learned! 

Not to much on my mind today to blog about, My brain is like mushy scrambled eggs that got burnt last night in my heat stroke. 

Bug in my Suitcase.

Our time in Granada, Nicaragua is coming to an end.  High lights from this trip.  A lot of quality time spent between Aaron and I.  It was a great opportunity to unwind and really enjoy each other’s company and the area surrounding us.  We didn’t do too much during our time here.  A carriage ride through the city.  A quick trip to the lake (bug infestation L) A few great meals dining out, a few gross meals dining in.  Nicaragua=limited grocery supply.  We had a choice between the street market and a tiny ‘super’ market type of market. When we walked by a women sharpening a knife on the sidewalk curb, we decided against eating or consuming street food.  When we later saw a homeless person (obviously in major life challenge mode) with her pants down sitting on the sidewalk curb urinating into the street, we decided no one should EVER eat anything prepared, sold or given to them on the street. Not a high light of our trip to Granada, but surely memorable.  We stopped into a chocolate museum and ran into the most beautiful pool.  The sign read ‘$10 at Spa =Free pool access.  So we were in…Of course Aaron reads the sign and the best bang for your buck is to get a 90 minutes massage.  After all it was only like $30.  We entered the door to the massage room not knowing what we were in for.  I was being massaged by a man who picked up my head as if it were a rough batch of pizza dough, and he took no mercy.  Aaron walked out of his room and said three things, felt good, more painful than good, more awkward than painful.  “I think she ripped out 50% of my leg hair”.  No bueno.   

Proud and ashamed moment: I saw a roach like creature crawling through my suitcase. Said to myself “I’ll just wear what I have on.” Closed it up and walked away.  Adaptation to current life situation.  Bugs are everywhere. 

A quote I came across and wanted to share.

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.   –Woodrow Wilson

I really appreciated this quote and wanted to share it with you, consider it encouragement to take your gifts and give them to the world! 

AFADD!

So I am sitting in a hotel room in Tegucigalpa.  We have had such a successful day of travel.  I am starting to think it is to good to be true.  We are in a room that has clean sheets, hot showers, AC and TV.  (Cant forget WIFI!!)

None the less, we are beginning the end of our trip in Central America.  Yesterday it really hit me that we were leaving.  We were all sitting in church, (me, Harry, Aaron and 11 young boys) I was sitting down listening to the message about David and Goliath. The pastor asked the congregation to stand and I found myself bound to my seat with Marba sleeping on my lap.  When I looked over my left shoulder I felt Richie's hand come into mine.  I was brought to tears thinking of this chunk of my life that was coming to an end.  I was sitting there consumed with sadness that these children will no longer be in my everyday life and with joy that I am now walking through life with 35 new friends.  Pastor Paul talked about the Giants we live with, the Giants that plague our minds and our hearts.  I couldn't help but think of this Giant risk we took and the immense pay out I got from it.  What a great giant to face.  I cant help but look forward and see the GIANT challenge ahead of walking back into the states with a continual refreshed attitude.  Aaron and I have talked so many nights about this giant and our faith in our strength to conquer another giant along side of one another.

We are off to Nicaragua tomorrow and will be in Granada for a few days and off to San Juan del Sur where I might have the pleasure of running into a cousin of mine. Fancy that!

May 15th, 2011--"AFADD!"  Aaron and I started our first official tradition. "Annual Feed A Dog Day" Our love for animals has been illuminated this trip and we went yesterday to serve the street dogs a bite for supper! We found ourselves in a few awkward situations, with a few scared pups, and A LOT of weird looks but about 15 dogs got fed a good healthy dinner: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Next year on May 15th I am sure we will have another successful AFADD!

Tick in my Eyebrow, Good Freakin' Morning!

“O Say can you see, America…the land of the free!”  I woke up today thinking that I would look in the mirror and get the sleepy out of my eyes BUT  found a tick in my eyebrow.  Good Freakin morning! I started getting on that wagon boy! Man, I can’t wait to get back to America…I can’t wait until I don’t have to sweat myself to sleep, where I don’t live with little lizards in my house, where I don’t have to take cold showers, where I don’t have dirty feet all the time. 

But then I remembered my day on Wednesday.  I was sitting on the front of a big speed boat with a hand full of new friends writing in my journal.  I remember writing, “this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  BE PRESENT IN THIS MOMENT!” I have used and WILL use that moment as a constant reminder of the importance of being present.  I began to start thinking “o say can you see, Honduras …the land of  WOW DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN!”  A place where chickens are treated more like dogs than dogs are treated like dogs.  Honduras….a place where people drink Fresca in place of every other beverage.  A place where little boys walk around with their heads pointed straight up, hunting for green iguana.  A place where we have met such welcoming friends, where I can make flour tortillas from scratch and feel legit. Where I wake up and see the sun coming up over turquoise blue water.  Where I felt home for a split second when I felt so far from what I know.

The present, this I believe will be one of our biggest challenges when we return home.  I am excited to have such great experiences to hold me accountable.  To know that for three months of my life I lived in what was happening right now, at this very moment.  I have learned that sometimes living in the moment is very difficult.  Yesterday I said goodbye to a group of about 35 street boys from French Harbor.  By far the most challenging group of children I have ever worked with.  This group of boys taught me so much about meeting people where they are.  Showing up and saying, “I want to know you and love you right exactly where you are.” It is difficult for me, I am so conditioned to believe that we must always be pushing a child forward.  Making him think only of what will happen in his future and the morals and knowledge he will take with him there.  These children taught me that they must live in the moment to survive; thinking of the future is a foreign concept. My time with them was spent giving them a small piece of myself.  Giving them a small piece of my time and my love. 

As I said goodbye to them yesterday and they asked “When are you coming back?” we responded honestly with a “maybe never”.  Living in that moment was hard.  Yesterday when I walked them to the end of the gravel road with young boys  Pablo, Steven (Gringo), Harry the small, Alehandro, Willy and Jorvick hanging on my back sides and neck and they hugged me I thought living right here in this moment is hard but its real.  When Pablo looked up at me with the biggest smile and said give me the biggest hug because it will be the last hug I give you for the rest of my life. It was hard living in that moment but it was real and it was good.  I will miss these boys, and I am thankful for all the things they taught me.  The loyalty, the kindness, the way to earn ones respect, the way to meet people where they are, the way to love them when I didn’t understand how.  I am thankful in this moment!  

I am not all that good at Honesty...Just think I should be better!

Honesty…honestly it has been forever since I blogged right! I mean I only like to blog if I have something to say and lately all that has been on my mind is getting home.  Well that is total garbage because I am in Paradise and had a peace about me yesterday that said to me “you’re in paradise…live it up!!” So just that my friends, is what I will do.  For our last week in Roatan, Honduras we will live big and create even more lasting memories than we have already.

Over the last few weeks I have had honesty on my mind.  Last night it all came to a head and Honesty is my number one mystery right now.  Why have we created this harshness, and rigid black and white idea of honesty and telling the truth?  We even fault people for being brutally honest.  We tell the truth everyday and it is no big deal.  Someone asks you what you had for breakfast, you tell them the truth.  Someone asks you what your plans are for the weekend, you tell them the truth.  The second that it becomes personal, or filled with emotion or ‘real’ stuff…honesty becomes insulting. 

Since I have been here in Roatan I have been surrounded by people who willingly receive and give brutal honesty.  Let me tell you, it has been great.  I have had conversations with such depth because my honesty has been welcomed instead of criticized. Please tell me, Why is it that we run from honesty.  In America we find ways to be proactive to plan for the future.  We make to do list so we have everything laid out in front of us that we have to get done.  We have financial planners so we can have the facts about how much money we have and how much money we need.  When it comes to honesty we are anti-proactive.  We would rather suffer through the unreal only to be awakened by our true reality later.

I understand why we do this, to spare the reaction and feelings of those around us and ourselves. We have all been conditioned to believe only what we place importance on.  I had a friend once who was in a bad situation with a guy…He was treating her badly and I knew.  I felt that weight so heavy on my heart so I told her.  I told her and she lost her mind, she was in such turmoil that she couldn’t physically contain herself.  I saw honesty in a raw form that day, where it caused a physical reaction inside of her.  Honesty is painful.  I have seen folks that invest their whole life in serving others by only giving to them.  These people were confronted about their methodology and became defensive. Honesty is offensive.  I know of situations at work when I was doing poorly and no one held me accountable until one day someone did.  I was ashamed, Honesty is shameful.  I know in my relationship when I have kept something in my heart that was meant for my husband to hear, I felt guilty until I was honest.  Honesty is freeing.  I have a friend who is my friend because I am honest with her.  Our relationship is based upon our honesty with one another.  Honesty is real. 

With all the interaction I have had with honesty, I have learned there is so much gray.  Honesty is not black and white.  We must be sensitive to one another, we must have compassion in our delivery, we must seek the real truth, but we must be honest.   We must find appreciation in people’s ability to be honest.  In the world we are living now honesty is something that sits dormant in the back of our minds.  We are always looking for the easy way.  Using text messages vs. a phone call. (I love text messages) Using phone calls instead of a quick visit. Using a quick visit vs. a friendly conversation. Fixing dinner and watching our show (Two birds one stone) instead of sitting down and eating with our family. (I love Glee!!!)  We are all about making things easy.  When do we find ourselves living the hard way? When will we discover real honest relationships?  Honesty is hard, it is not easy.  It puts us all in a funky situation but it is real and it is valuable.  It will be hard to hear it in the moment but it is to be treasured and appreciated in reality.   

Man, that’s intense! I know I am not all that good at honesty…just think I should be better! Lesson Learned!   

Mr. Sticky Fingers- You got me good!

So I haven’t blogged in a while, our trip to Guatemala was quite interesting.  We enjoyed getting to know some great people, learned some valuable travel lessons like…don’t ride on a ‘chicken’ bus, van boat or bicycle.  Nothing good comes from it, ever! Don’t listen to Lonely Planet, they will tell you that it’s alright to ride them. 

Oh yea, I also forgot to mention before that on our trip we got a few items stolen.  My glasses (to see with), my camera charger (really guy), a beach towel, my hairbrush and a dirty wash cloth.  Whoever it was that decided it was a good idea to steal my things is doo doo! Ugh! We are working hard to get my glasses and my camera charger taken care of but it has been quite the marathon.  Mr. Sticky Fingers…If you are out thereàThanks a lot, you sure got me good!

Okay, now that that’s out of the way! Aaron and I have been exposed to a totally new Roatan this week.  On Monday night we went to a Rotary Club ‘social’ at a brand new local sports bar.  This bar/ restaurant is crazy cool.  It is a circular structure with 360 degrees of TV’s on the walls. At this social we were surrounded by the wealthiest people on the island; locals, North Americans, Canadians.  It felt so different from the rest of our experience here thus far.  The next day we went to volunteer with a friend in the information booth at the new cruise ship dock.  Wow people, this is like Myrtle Beach dropped off in Roatan within high gates and separated from the rest of the island by almost a mile long driveway.   We walked through this port and saw more familiar stores in a 50 yard shopping center than we have seen in all the miles on the island.  I have been thinking so much about this week and the different side of the island that we have seen.  We have limited our exposure so much to only one group of people.  

It was so important for us to be a part of that life that we lost the concept that the world is not flat its round.  We are all so interconnected and we all depend so much on each other.  Our interaction may be small, our conversation may be nonexistent, our neighborly love may only be something we say and not something we live but we are still connected.  What one part of the cycle does, directly and indefinitely affects the rest of the moving parts of the cycle.  Okay so herein lies the problemo (you like that Spanish)…No matter what you or I deem is the ‘right’ way to support one another, or the ‘moral’ way to do things it is our reality that everything we do affects someone else.  No matter what lifestyle they walk within.  Instead of focusing on where we fit in the world and what group we belong to, we need to remember we are part of one big whole, a whole that moves and breaths as one community. 

And that’s my good word! We miss you family!!