Last day in Costa Rica....

Hola amigos!
This is my last update to you from Costa Rica. This whole semester has gone by pretty fast actually. I am in disbelief that we are leaving for Guatemala tomorrow.

Anyway since the last letter a few things have happened. Easter Sunday was very relaxing. We had Chinese take out for lunch/dinner and we rented a movie. So this was an interesting experience out of my normal North American Easter day. What I missed most was saying "Happy Easter" to people.

The weather has become so different. I love that it rains in the late afternoon. I have had language class everyday and we had our final exam and I a 94%. The test was on using the subjunctive and I am just so proud of myself. My Profesora was very proud too. We also did more group presentations and my group focused on the power language has to oppress and liberate people. We each had different roles and I played a prostitute who had to sleep with men to fed my family. I bought some clothes at a thrift store and really got into my part. When I came home with my clothes I asked my Tica mom to help me cut the skirt and shirt. And my Tico dad looked at me funny and I said "sorry this is my new profession." He said, "well that's great. you will be able to pay for university." I was surprised to hear this joke come out of him. But this just shows, I think, how closed me and this family have gotten. I will miss them so much.

After our presentations, the students in my concentration had to go back to the language institute for an Oral Proficiency Exam. This is like official business. We get a certificate with what level our Spanish is at and we can show it to employers. I am very excited about this because I think I did well.

We had Guatemala Orientation and I will be working for an organization that works to bring nutrition back to poor infants and children. I will be staying in Guatemala City with 4 other students painting and doing manual labor for this non-profit.

Last night was my "despeida" fiesta. We had Henry and Laura (friends from church) come over and we had toastadas and flan de coco! I was in heaven, no rice!! My Tico dad sad really nice things to me about how I will always be a part of the family, that they will miss me and never forget me. I started to cry and could only mutter a "mil gracias por todo."

Thanks for clicking on us during our semester!

Clara Scholl
Biola University

Viaje a Panama!

Wow! It has been an amazing 2 weeks out of Costa Rica! First we ended core seminar portion of the semester. Now we are moving into our concentrations. I got to spend time in Panama and with the indigenous of Kuna Yala. The attached photo is of the group of us and our Kuna friends wearing traditional molas. See if you can find me! The second is of my Kuna mother and my house. We spent a day and a half in Panama City seeing the old part and ruins of a cathedral. We stayed in a Hotel during this time. Panama is known as the Miami of Latin America, so if you can imagine there is a lot of life and culture there. Although there a lot of North American influences, Panama City is fun. What I really noticed was the public buses. There were all the same bus but they had art wort all over with music and flashing lights on the inside. The best word I could use is "pimped" out! We never got to ride these buses because we had our own driver for our time there.

The night before we left for our homestays in the San Blas, we had a wonderful Chinese dinner. I had chicken curry chow mein. I loved it so much! To get to Panama from San Jose you have to take an 18 hour bus ride. We left San Jose at 1pm and arrived at our hotel at 5:30 am the next day. It was brutal to say the least. Ok so now lets move on the the stay with the Kunas. Nuedi! is what you will say to greet your new Kuna friends. Many of the people spoke Spanish as a second language. So we had something in common from the start...Spanish is our second language! In my family only the father and some of the sisters spoke Spanish. My mother only spoke Kuna. To get to this island we had to take a poodle jumper plane and fortunately they had recently built an airport so we got to land on the island. Then took a canoe ride to our part of the island where the water is turquoise and the palm tress are heavy with coconuts. Food on the island consisted of plantain soup, avocados, hot dogs, bread, fresh fish, a wonderful hot chocolate drink, lobster and more plantains! One day for lunch the whole group was invited over for food at one lady's house. She made us this five start lobster and crab soup. It was hearty enough to be a winter soup but we had in the middle of humid 90 degree weather! For flavor there was shredded coconut in it. I loved it so much! I did not get sick at all while I was there, I am so thankful.

During our stay we played with kids, took a canoe ride to a river and saw the cemetery for the Kuna people. We went to the local congress and saw two being reprimanded for steal someone's coconuts. Every where in Panama they use dollars but on the island the use coconuts also. One coconut equals 10 cents. It was neat to see people buy things with coconuts. You would think that being surrounded by water there would be beaches but here there is only one area of white sand, which is not even very big. I was so happy to go swimming that day. The water was turquoise and so refreshing. For church on Sunday they had a different style to their service. In the morning was Sunday school for all the kids. All of us students visiting where the leaders for the service. We organized games and songs and even a little skit. Then at night was the regular service. It was in both Kuna and Spanish. Sunday was our last night and when the pastor started to share his thanks for us being there he started to cry and he said that the community will never forget us. This brought all of us to tears too.

We left the island on Monday and it was very hard to leave my family there. We had created a great connection even though I could not speak their own language. My family gave me a beautiful mola in a frame. I will never forget my life with the Kunas.

Once back in Panama at the same hotel we did a lice treatment wash and sent out again to tour the city. What a quick transition from island to city. So crazy! We were all craving something cold after the hot island so we found this wonderful French ice cream shop. They had amazing flavors such as earl gray, pineapple, basil, honey and many more. I got the lavender flavor and it tasted just like a field of French lavender. I also had a taste of the basil ice cream and it was wonderful too. For dinner that night we went to a an Italian place. Me and my friends shared our meals. We had a pesto and spinach fest, yummmmy!!! The next day we visited the canal at the Miraflores locks. We saw 3 huge boats passing through the canal and walked through the museum. I liked being the canal. There is so much history there. My father in Kuna Yala even worked on the canal. After we went to this huge mall called Albrook and had a typical Panamanian lunch (not much to write home about). Then we went to a market full of indigenous stuff. I bought some molas and things. Then we went to dinner at an Indian place and I had coconut shrimp curry. I went through so many food cultural experiences. That night we got back on the bus to San Jose for another 18 hours of my life sitting on the bus. This time it was worse. I am so glad to be back with my Costa Rica family.

I only have 3 weeks left in San Jose then 2 weeks in Guatemala, then one week in Miami and home eon April 27th. Start the countdown! lol Alright folks thanks so much for reading this far down! I am really excited to share more with you all when I am home!!

Love always,

Clara Marina
Biola University

no more core seminar!

Today was our last day of core seminar! We had group presentations about various topics. I think the most funniest was the group who talked about US/Latin America relations. One funny line was when the person who played the US said the the person who played Cuba "don't give her food for the next 40 years!" This made everyone laugh but the sad thing is that it is a reality for those living in Cuba.

Tomorrow we have concentracion orientation then we are off for spring break! Some students are heading to Monteverde, others to Manuel Antonio and others are just kicking it in San Jose. Also tomorrow is Rachel's birthday. She is the first student to have their birthday here in our group. Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

The above picture is of St. Francis. This was one of the murals in the catholic Church we visited in NIcaragua. I really like what this mural represented and the way it was painted.

Well hope you all have a great weekend!


Claire Scholl
Biola University

!Ola Verde!

Wapi group after the paint job

Nicaragua

So we are back in the city of San Jose after a mentally intense trip to Nicaragua. After a long bus ride we arrived in Managua where we spent a few days taking a closer look at the history of the country and the physical affects wars and earthquakes left in the capital city. We talked with a number of inspirational people who encouraged us to really get to know the people of Nicaragua.

The Next 7 days were spent with families dispersed throughout the country. I happened to stay in Wapy, a rural city about six hours away from Managua. The lifestyle in Wapy was definitely a different reality for us North Americans. Many of us being the first Americans in the communities, we were stared at... a lot. However, we had great conversations with the families and community memebers about life, Biblical principles, politics, and cultures.

We all participated in some sort of community service project. In Wapy the five of us painted a church classroom for children. We also attended church often and as students from Christian universities, we were even asked to give a sermon.

The experience was wonderful learning how others live and we were welcomed with open arms. We were all impacted by how close we grew to our families in such a short time. This is probably because relationships are so important to the people of Nicaragua.

To complete our stay, we spent a day in Granada and a few hours in the market of Mesaya. Our last evening we ate at a wonderful organic restaurant called Ola Verde. This was perfect example of how an educated woman from the United States came to live in Nicaragua and invest in the people. She uses her knowledge of nutrition to inform the public about healthy eating habits and even teaches cooking lessons.

Our trip left us all asking some significant questions. Some samples...What is poverty? What do we deserve? How can we effectively use the knowledge we have acquired in the trip?

We will be posting pictures soon!!

Katie Cooper
Olivet Nazarene University
LASP Spring 2007