7:30 AM
I wake up to a new day – sun streaming into our hotel room. Out on the balcony the air is already hot and humid – just what you would expect in a tropical climate! Time to go get some breakfast and hang out on the beach and around the pools until we need to check out at 2 PM.
MORNING
I spent a good extended time at breakfast with Steve Tanner and Ken Bylsma, just getting to know each other more. Following that, we wandered to the beach and in between dips in the ocean, pool and the sun, I talked more with Bob Boerman, Mike Rytanek, Pat Italia, Stewart Nelson and Mark Dodgson. I love the unhurried time to just talk and get to know others on the team in a deeper way.
Stewart came up with this photo of a lizard living on the grounds of the hotel!
12:00 NOON
I am at the center bar/restaurant area where the WiFi is, to update the Calvary site and my blog. I also download all of Eddie’s photos from his camera for him.
2:00 PM
Checkout time from the Fiesta Resort hotel. We pile back in the tourismo bus and head back toward San Isidro. On the way, we stopped at a town called Sarchi to do some shopping. I bought a mini-coffee bag.
Then we stopped at another town to eat at a Tico-Pollo (Costa Rican Chicken) fast food place – which was pretty good.
On our way to San Isidro, we got to talking about ice cream, and we asked the driver if he had time to stop one more place. He did, so we then stopped at a place in Heredia called “Pops Ice Cream.” After some confusion in ordering because we did not have a native Spanish speaker among us, we decided to put the order on Eddie’s credit card because they would not accept American dollars – go figure! I ordered a chocolate milkshake which was only okay. To be up to par, it needed more ice cream, a little more chocolate sauce (Hershey’s brand would be best) and some malt added. I think there is a great business opportunity for such an American ice cream parlor here in CR!
8:30 PM
We arrived safely back at the campus in San Isidro. It felt a bit like coming “home” even though tomorrow we start the process of going all the way home. Costa Rica and the experience here has been great, but I am looking forward to getting back home to my family.
ONE THING I LEARNED
One spiritual lesson I learned on this trip was from my friend Pat Italia, while on the Tourismo bus somewhere between Pantarenas and San Isidro. I learned God’s first name!
Forrest Gump died and went to heaven. St. Peter met him at the Pearly Gate, and said, “I’m sorry Forrest, but there has been a change in plans. You have to answer three questions correctly before you can enter Heaven.”
Forrest was at first disappointed, but made the best of it by saying, “OK, what are the questions?” St.Peter replied, “The first question is, how many days in the week start with the letter ‘T’? The next question is how many seconds are in a year, and the third is what is God’s first name?”
Forrest scratched his head and said, “Can I think about these and get back to you tomorrow? “Sure” answered St. Peter.
The next day Forrest came back to the Pearly Gate and St. Peter met him there. “Do you know the answers?” he asked. “Yes, I do,: said Forrest. “Well then, how many days on the week start with the letter ‘T’?” Forrest answered, “Today and Tomorrow!” St. Peter smiled and replied, “Well, that wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but you are correct and I’ll have to give it to you!” Then he said, “How many seconds are there in a year?” Forrest answered, “That was easy. There are 12: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd…” St. Peter chuckled louder this time, and said, “Well Forrest, that also was not the answer I expected, but you are correct again. I’ll have to give that one to you also.” “How about the last question? Do you know God’s first name?”
To that Forrest replied, “That was the easiest one! His first name is ‘Andy’! St. Peter frowned and said, “Forrest, where on earth did you come up with that answer?” Forrest replied, “Well, a song my Momma always sang and taught to me goes, ‘Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me…”
TRANSLATIONS
Language funnies we experienced in Costa Rica:
• While shopping for souvenirs in a gift shop… “You break it, You pay it”
• When offered a free sample of food we said, “No, Thank You,” to which the reply was, “You’re Welcome!”
• While shopping for souvenirs, Steve captured this sign…