The basics

Many of you have been asking what I have been have been doing and what my daily life here in Costa Rica has been like. Yes, it is true that God has been doing some amazing things in my heart and teaching me so much more about what he is like and I will definitely tell you about those things too, but I thought I would start of this blog with…
“THE BASICS”:
I have been here for 16 days! I already feel at home here in San Francisco, Costa Rica. The DTS has become my family. I take that back… the entire YWAM base has become my family. I’m starting to get to get into the rhythm of my daily life. Having cold showers every other afternoon; I’m not so afraid of them anymore. Doing the time-consuming labor of hand washing my laundry (I don’t believe in paying to use a washer and dryer), and learning to be OK with some memories being left of my white shirts. Sharing a room with five other girls (It’s not so bad… It’s a big room). Though I love all the girls in the DTS, I have a special sisterly bond with my roomy-girls (Brianna, Suzanne, Amanda, Leigh, and Patricia). Our room is extra-special because it even has a “closet” to keep our cloths in (ha ha!). There are three YWAM houses that are not too far from each other in the neighborhood: House 1(Base) where the meals are shared and some of the girls live; House 2 where the classroom is, apartments of 5 families, and 1 girls room(my room); and House 3(boy’s house). My room had the option to move into the base house, but we all agreed that we wanted to stay in house 2. We had all sorts of “reasons” for this decision, but I think that the real reason is just that we already feel so at home where we are. I like sharing the little “apartment complex” with the YWAM families and watching/playing with the kids in the yard. I like jumping (or laying) on our trampoline and the feeling of being outside in the open air right when I walk out of my room. The weather here is like a dream. There are some days that are really hot or really cool, but most days follow the general pattern of being very warm and sunny in the morning, a little cooler yet still sunny in the afternoon, then a little more cool and shady in the evening.
My week basically looks like this:
Breakfast 6:30-7:00 (I make it to this a generous 50% of the time).
Quiet time 7:00-8:00
Either group worship or intersession from 8:00-9:00.
Class 9:00-12:30
Lunch 12:30-1:00
Lunch Cleanup (This is my work duty. I share it with my awesome friends Mark and Jake) from 1-2.
2:00- 4:00 on Mondays is class. Tuesdays is small group (I love my small group! My leader is Arianna and the other girls are Brianna, Lisa, and Shari.). Wednesday is local outreach; we have done this once so far and we dug a ditch for a church that that does children’s outreach that is in and horribly rough, poor, dangerous neighborhood. It was awesome to be able to help out there and I hope we will be able to go back there soon. Thursday is prep. for the outreach phase. Friday is free.
From 4:00-6:00 is most people’s work duties, but since I do mine at lunchtime, I get this time free! I will either hangout with my other meal-crew friends, take a nap, take a shower, do laundry, or read.
6:00 is dinner. I like rice and beans more and more each day!
Monday and Tuesday evenings are free! We like to spend this time to all hangout and have fun together. Some favorite activities are dance parties (I have so much fun and maybe I will eventually learn how to really dance the Latin way ;)), going to the pool hall (like the dancing, the idea is that I get better each time), or crowding around someone’s laptop to watch a movie. Wednesday evening is Family Night, which basically means everyone on the base hangs out/worships/fellowships. Thursday evening is class. Friday night is Fun Night at the Freemans! This is when all the DTS students go to Scott and Leslie’s (best DTS directors ever!) house and drink all their coffee, eat all their snacks, and play games. The games we play vary from “Mafia” to “Pop the balloon tied to your neighbor’s and safe your own at the same time”, but my favorite game is “Freeze dance”.
As for weekends, only a few people have work duty (we rotate), so I get most of them free. So far I have spent this time to have extra-long quiet times and to get out with some friends. Last weekend we had a fun trip to the mall and this weekend we went and checked out downtown San Jose and the zoo! We also like to take trips to the supermarket to get needed items, go to the yummy bakery, play at the park, and to other favorite activities (see previous list). I have a favorite café that I like to go to for tasty food and milkshakes call Fresa’s. Let’s not forget… making time to fill out my weekly journal that has to be turned in on Mondays. Last week my roomy-girls and I had our own little church service in our room on Sunday. I was a great time of sharing what God has been teaching each of us. I hope that remains as a tradition. My favorite thing about weekends is that I get to relax after the busy and emotionally exhausting week. Last night was especially restful for me as I chose to stay in with Arianna and Jesse, watch a movie, and drink French-roast coffee while the crowd went to the pool hall.
Ahhh… how God has been blessing me in so many ways! It’s not just in spiritual ways and in my relationship with him (though he has been blessing me in abundance in those ways and it has been amazing!), but he has been blessing me in my relationships with others and in the little joys of life. Not to say that I haven’t had hardships, but they have certainly been drowned with joy! Praise God!