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Sickness, missionary ingenuity and why tubs are scarce in Costa Rica

June 1, 2006 in CostaRica, Culture, Day2Day, Prayer by Dave | 3 comments

Well you can’t tell from the picture, but this week found Jonathan sick for the third time in 2 weeks. This time with a fever. We are now in the start of the rainy season here, and like what happens in the States during the onset of winter, it seems like people come down with sicknesses during this time of year in Costa Rica.

With the kids in the Kinder program here at CINCEL it has been quite a ride. The ladies are doing there best to keep up, but sickness has taken hold of many as the children pass germs more readily because of the need to stay indoors. Today, the day Jonathan went back, three were sent home with fevers or symptoms of infection. So pray, please, for the kidos. When they’re down it really adds to the pressure of learning and adapting to the language/culture.

Now of course with sickness comes the great variety of home remedies, and Costa Ricans have an abundance. (One that was prescribe for the stomach flu that hit last week was a rice/cinnamon drink.) Now one home remedy that most believe in is the use of a tepid bath to bring down a high temperature. The only problem is that, here, bathtubs are almost as scarce as dish washers!

So what is one to do with a sick child, and no tub in which to give a bath. Well, if you are a missionary, you improvise! We hauled 11 action packers full of clothes and household stuff to Costa Rica. Their size and shape made them perfect for the taking on the plane with us, but the one-piece plastic construction also makes for a great substitute for a tub for a toddler with a temperature among other things. (Fellow missionary Kevin Stewart used one of his for a bassinet for his newborn.) So, the night before last, Jonathan got one of only a handful of baths in Costa Rica. Only this time his plastic tub also doubles as a suitcase.

That brings me to the last part of the post. Why are bath tubs so scarce here in Costa Rica? Well, the first answer that I received to that question was that it was because they were so expensive. However, is it because they are scarce that they are expensive, or is it because they are expensive that they are scarce? (If that confused you email me and I’ll explain that subtlety.) So in probing deeper, Kelly found that the Costa Ricans believe in taking cold showers. They feel that the cold shower helps their skin to stay younger, and helps their breathing as well. (One teacher explained that deep breath that one takes in when entering the cold stream is good for the lungs.) In fact, missionary Jon Dalahger when hosting a building team had to have electric shower heads installed in homes where the construction workers would be housed because none of the homes in that area had hot water tanks. So, according to one theory, since tubs are usually for taking baths in hot water, the fact that Ticos shower in cold water made the tub unnecessary.

So, if you are planning trip to Costa Rica, don’t assume your hotel will have a tub, or hot water for that matter, and if you are traveling with the kids, you may be surprised at how versatile your luggage can be.

Update: 6/7/2006 Jim Cottril has included this post in his compilation of missionaries blogging about culture on Missionary Blog Watch Check out his comments and the other posts that he has included.

The tongue…

May 24, 2006 in Day2Day, Language, Progress by Dave | 1 comment

A thing for talking. A thing for taming. A thing for tasting?

It’s funny how things seem to tie together in one’s life, but I recently came upon an interesting convergence of sorts. I was planning for my first Spanish Bible Study, and I was reading in James 3:1-12 where James talks about the tongue as an uncontrollable fire that can burn up our very lives. As I wondering how we could control such a savage beast, Myra, one of our Costa Rican friends, was introducing us to a new dish, tongue! Aha! I said to myself, pull it out and serve it for dinner! Of course, the idea quickly left the table of viable options.

However, As cataloged in one of our classmate’s blog, the tongue of a cow (pictured in Kelly’s hand) is indeed an edible, and actually quite tasty item. It is slow cooked overnight and then simmered in tomato sauce. (Myra used Prego.) The outer covering is removed during the process produce a very soft, pleasant meat.

Of course it may come to mind that what you are tasting may have at one time been able to taste you, but really, how many of us really know what goes into some of the things that we eat…like hot dogs? I highly recommend cow tongue, but if you buy it for the family, be sure to buy a big one, or get two because they shrink when you cook them.

But back to the convergence, the taming of the tongue is a daily process, is it not? We have now been in this stage of language-learning for about 8 months, and one of the more difficult things I have dealt with has been the phonetics involved in producing what I want to say. In Spanish a word with the same letters and different accent can have a completely different meaning. Also, words like “aeropuerto”, or “inmediatamente” were just a challenge for this Gringo to master. At times I’ve wanted to ask where I could buy a Spanish tongue so that I could trade it out with my American one before heading into class, but I have realized that there is no shortcut to pronunciation. It takes time and patience in order to speak correctly a foreign language.

So it is with God’s process in taming the words that we say, be it in out native language or a foreign one. We must admit that we need His intervention to pull out some of our cynicism, sarcasm, and complaining. It is a decision to allow Him to do his work, but it is also a process that takes time and a continual dependence upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I have more to say on this in my Bible Study (in Spanish).

So there you have it: The tongue: a thing for talking (in languages foreign or domestic), for taming (through time and the work of the Spirit), and, as long as it is tongue of cow, a thing for tasting!

It Lives!

May 16, 2006 in Day2Day, Misc by Dave | 1 comment

You may have remembered my casualties post, in which I had written about my Pocket PC that met its demise when I fell on it during a practice for the Luis Palau outreach earlier this Spring. Well, it lives again!

Proving that God indeed cares for the details in life, I had thought about purchasing a new screen for the PC after the fall, but the price, nearly $150, the hassle that is involved in shipping anything overseas, and the fact that Kelly philanthropically donated hers to me made me put off the purchase. I put the unit aside and put it out of my mind. On the desk it sat, unusable until our children decided it was time again to explore.

Rebekah, Joseph, and Jonathan are adventurous types. They would rather be anywhere but in their own home. So when Uncle Garritt and Aunt Tara* arrived home, they decided that they need to go upstairs to “see” their apartment, even though they had seen it many times before. The permission granted by the Kenyons allowed the kids to hang out in a different place for awhile, but it also gave the adults a chance to talk.

Garritt likes technology and gadgets abound in his apartment. Blessed with new iPods before coming to the field, he “just happened” to have a Dell Axim x30 that he wasn’t using, not the same exact unit as the one I broke but with the exact same screen. I told him of my situation, and he offered it to us free of charge. So after about 30 minutes of wrestling with both units, I was able to swap the screen of the lesser, functioning model for the screen of my non-functioning unit, and, as the picture shows, the old friend is resurrected!

That a replacement part for my specific Pocket PC could be hand delivered free of charge to Zapote, San José, Costa Rica to our apartment complex is absolutely a miracle. Situations like this remind me that God is truly in control of the big picture and the details as well.

*In A/G Missionary Culture, adults in the missionary family are called Uncles and Aunts by the missionary kids.

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Happy Monday!

May 1, 2006 in Coffee, CostaRica, Culture, Day2Day by Dave | 5 comments

There is a saying in Costa Rica that reads, “Lunes ni las gallinas ponen”, which means On Mondays, not even the hens are laying. We certainly can relate to Mondays in that way. With all of the activities and projects, it sometimes seems like we need another weekend in order to rest from our weekend. For this reason, it is important to start off with a good breakfast to get our energy going, and on days like today, Costa Rica’s national holiday of Labor Day, we have the time to prepare it.

For starters:
Of course, no breakfast is complete without a good cup of coffee, but how to prepare it? Prepare it Costa Rican style, café chorreado. First, you need a chorreador, the coffe maker pictured in this post, which essentially is a cloth bag suspended by one of a various arry of wooden frames. I picked up what I thought was a fairly attractive one for about $12. The coffee, ground fairly fine, is placed in the wet bag at the desired strength. (I prefer 2 tbls. per 6 oz. of water.) Then, water, just off of the boil, is poured over the grounds slowly, so as to create a stream, or “chorro” from the bag into the cup. The result is a fine brew that allows the natural oils of the coffee to pass through to the cup. And although many Ticos have switched to the “coffee maker” because of convenience, the choreador is still the most repected way to make coffee.

The main course:
OK, the coffee is taken care of, but what to eat? Gallo Pinto of course! The traditional breakfast food of Costa Rica, Gallo Pinto consists of beans, (normally black) and rice to which is added cilantro, bell peppers, onions, and the top secret ingredient, Salsa Lizano. A truly Tico flavoring that gives gallo pinto it’s charateristic taste. Added to this is usually eggs, the tomato for color, and in this picture, some Mexican chorizo or spicy sausage. We added it to give the meal some Mexican zing. (We are missionaries to Mexico.)

So there you have it, a good Monday morning pic me up. Sorry that this came on Tuesday for those of you who are subscribing via email.

All good things…

April 23, 2006 in Day2Day, Language, Missions, Progress, Thanks by Dave | Permalink

They say, all good things in life must come to and end, and life in language school is no different. There were a several things that came to an end in the past week that we’d like to fill you in on.

First of all, the trimester of school finished this Friday when we said goodbye to 13 graduates and 1 instructor. Fellow Mexico Missionaries David and Carolyn Huneycutt, Ryan and Christie Thomas and Terisa and Fredy Vasquez were among those who said goodbye to Costa Rica to head to their appointed destinations in order to begin their ministries. We wish them well. Also leaving the school was 13 year veteran grammar teacher, Iris Chavarria (pictured in this post from last year). She was our teacher for our two trimesters, and we owe all of our knowledge of the functioning of irregular verbs and the uses of the subjunctive to her. Gracias por todo Iris, será extrañada.

Second, the end of the trimester also means that we received our evaluations from our Oral Proficiency exams that I mentioned in this previous post. Both Kelly and I finished well, scoring above normal for our group. Not that language school is a competition, but the ability to advance more quickly here will mean that we will have an easier time adapting to the language in Mexico when we arrive. We want to take a moment to say thank you to our teachers (pictured above),thanks to you for your prayers on our behalf. Without those, we are certain that we would not have made it this far.

Finally, yesterday meant the end of my 31st year, and what a year it was! We finished our itineration by speaking in over 55 services, travelling by car to each one, participated in the first ever commissioning of new candidate missionaries at the 51st General Council in Denver, CO, moved twice, arrived in Costa Rica in August, and survived a couple interesting trimesters which saw us through sicknesses, and accidents, but also has brought us closer to ministry in Mexico. Through it all, we have to marvel at the faithfulness of God and His people as we have received the help of so many that they would prove too numerous to mention. My 31st year is over, and, if it served as any indication, 32 should prove to be wonderful!

Wrapping this post up, we realize that good things do come to an end, but as we finish one thing, we find that God continues to offer us new beginnings, which bring rewarding challenges and opportunities to view his faithfulness.

Easter Expectations

April 15, 2006 in Day2Day, Devotional by Dave | Permalink

In the photo to the left, you see our children, Rebekah, Joseph, and Jonathan smiling. They are smiling, because they believe that the cookies in front of them are going to be eaten in a few minutes after they are placed into the oven. But, you see, these are special cookies, Resurrection Cookies.

This year, Kelly felt it important that we do something more tangible to celebrate Easter with the kids, so using a recipe from the ladies of Calvary Christian A/G in Springfield, MO we introduced Resurrection Cookies to them. These cookies are made in such a way as to give children visual, hands on representations of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. Reading Bible verses to accompany each step in the process, we made cookies, but we also reflected on the reasons why Jesus had to die, and the manner in which he suffered for us. Crushing almonds signified the beating that Jesus took on the cross. Vinegar represented the gall that Jesus was offered, and so on until the process was completed.

In all I think the part most significant in the process was the sadness of closing the cookies in the oven for the night and going to bed. As we taped the oven shut, sealing the “tomb”, the children complained. They wanted to have a taste of the cookies before bed, but we wouldn’t relent. Besides there being raw eggs in the mixture, we felt that it was important for our children to experience in a small way, the disappointment that the disciples felt as the tomb of Jesus was sealed shut, as all of their hopes and expectations of something great were dashed. Our three saw their treats being taken away from them, the disciples, their very lives.

The joy and the excitement of Easter morning couldn’t have been more real then as the seal of death was broken and the tomb was empty. Jesus was alive and hope was reborn. Our children weren’t expecting to go to bed in disappointment, but they will wake up tomorrow to perhaps an unexpected sweetness. In the same way, Jesus didn’t fulfill the earthly expectations of his band of followers, but the new life that his disciples tasted on that Sunday morning could not have been more sweet.

The wonderful thing is that all of us get to share in the benefits of the finished work of the death and resurrection of Christ, and the flavor that forgiveness can bring to life cannot be compared!

Taken

March 28, 2006 in Day2Day, Devotional, Missions by Dave | 2 comments

Kelly and I were on our way out last Thursday for a rare afternoon date, when we were greeted by a well dressed man, named Ronald, who claimed to be looking for fellow students, David and Carolyn Huneycutt. Thinking him to be a pastor or friend of David and Carol, we proceeded to listen to his story:

He was a new Christian, with a sick wife, children to care for, and a job to go to, but with no one to leave his children. His mother-in-law could care for them, but insisted that he bring the children to her. However, he didn’t have the money to pay for the bus fare. He had sought help from the church, but he told us that he had been turned away because he didn’t have an appointment.

Thinking it terrible that this man would have to deal with this problem by himself, we wanted to help as best as we could, since of course he was some acquaintence of a fellow student, so I asked him how much the bus fare was. He told me for the trip there and back I would cost somewhere around $8. Feeling that we couldn’t watch his children for him, I asked Kelly for the money thinking that it was the least that we could do. She gave it to me, but was a bit suspicious of the whole situation. I handed it over and prayed for the man, knowing that time was becoming scarce and believing that we would be providing a tangible proof of the love of God.

We went away happy to have helped Ronald, but questioning our action. Was it the right thing to do? I had satisfied myself with the fact that Jesus himself had gotten involved with physical needs of the people. But we found out the next day that Kelly was right to have been suspicious. In all of our mailboxes was a description and picture of Ronald. You can see the notice by clicking on the picture to the left or clicking here. The suposedly “new Christian” in reality had been hitting the missionary language schools (CINCEL and ILE), preying on students goodwill and desire help out a brother in need. The man probably had robbed several of hundreds of dollars of money with his story, as several fellow students had explained to me that they too had believed his story.

I sat through that moning worship service in disgust. Thinking, “How could a man do such a thing?”, but later disgusted with myself thinking, “How is it that I believed him? Aren’t Christians supposed to be more discerning?” I thought of ways that I could proctect myself in the future, like vowing to never give money to a stranger again, and that might be the course to take, but something inside me hesitates. Shouldn’t we be willing to be vulnerable to those in need?

I think my conclusion, is that giving money, without also being willing to be involved in a relationship with the individual is always a bad policy. If we had offered to watch the man’s four children, we would have had to possibly rearrange our schedule, but we would have called his bluff. Still, if the man had a real need, we would have been able to meet it in a more practical and caring way, and perhaps even seen another family being drawn closer to our Savior.

This interaction has left me with much to think about, and the realization that I have much to learn about being a missionary here in Latin America. I’m thankful that God gives on the job training.

Que Vergüenza

March 16, 2006 in Day2Day, Language by Dave | 1 comment

Vergüenza is the Spanish word for embarrassment, and a classmate and I had a somewhat embarrassing run-in with the law today. As I had mentioned in my post on tarea, one of assignments in CINCEL is to talk with the people that we meet in San José. Ron Marcotte, missionary to Ecuador, and I were doing just that, interviewing passers-by in a shopping center, when we were approached by a security guard. After asking us what we were doing, he told us that we would have to follow him to the administration office where we would have to petition for approval for our interviews.

Upon arrival at the office, we were summarily questioned, in Spanish of course, about our activities, and our notes and responses were scrutinized. Finally, we were given permission, only if we would present identification and letters of reference from CINCEL stating who were were and what we were doing. Needless to say, we are crossing that mall off of our list of places to go to chat.

Of course, there was an upside. We did manage to talk to 7 people before we were “taken into custody,” and we did realize that we had the ability to survive in particularly stressful situations in a foreign language. So thank you to those of you who have had faith in us. That faith is paying off. Also, thank you to CINCEL for preparing us to face the situations that may come our way. Of course, come to think of it, we wouldn’t have been in that situation if CINCEL hadn’t put us up to it…

So what do you think? Are you ready for language school? Leave us a comment.

Casualties

March 11, 2006 in Day2Day, Ministry by Dave | 2 comments

Irony of ironies! I had just read Amy Maxwell’s sad post on the loss of her Palm when I left for our Luis Palau drama team practice, as always with my Pocket PC in the left pocket of my cargo pants. In the drama, we needed to simulate a car crash. Of course, when there is a car crash, usually the occupants (especially if they are not wearing their seatbelts) don’t stay in a proper seated position. In this case, as we were standing, we needed to fall towards the audience, which was to my left. I performed a classic fall, rounding my body to absorb the impact in non-critical places. It was one for the movies. However, my Pocket PC just happened to be in one of those “non-critical” areas. I felt the impact when I fell, but since I had the PC in it’s case, I thought nothing of it, but when I powered it on again, “Alas! No screen, only lines!”

Fevershly, I pulled the PC out of the case, reseting the system thinking that I might just be a glitch. No luck. Perhaps a wire that needs reseated, I thought. But after two hours of talking with tech support, pulling out and reseating wires, I found that my efforts were of no avail. My electronic friend, my Bible, my itineration manager, my newspaper, and my Spanish translator were gone in the fraction of a second.

Fortunately for me, my wife, Kelly, who just so happens to be the most wonderful person in my life has let me use hers in the time being. Thank you honey! Of course, it was also a comfort to know that it died in the line of duty.

So long faithful worker. You will be missed!

Things are different here…

February 23, 2006 in CostaRica, Culture, Day2Day by Dave | Permalink

I was working in the kitchen by the window that overlooks the cul-de-sac between CINCEL and our house, when I saw an ambulance arrive. Concerned that there might be some kind of injury in our park or some kind of emergency, I watched as it came to a stop outside our gate. However, imagine my surprise, when the door opened to reveal teenagers passing out phonebooks.

Yes, things are different here in San Jose than in the U.S. Some other differences include:

  • You have to ask for the bill here in any restaurant. If you don’t, you could be waiting for it the entire night.
  • It is extremely impolite to throw anything. If you need to pass something to someone, you need to hand it to them or have another person pass that object.
  • There are no area codes in Costa Rica. All phone calls to every part of the country are local calls.

I’ll add more to this list as differences come to mind.

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