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As of today, I have been here for two full weeks. Time is flying by. My days are full, and they go fast. 

We spent the past weekend at the beach!

The beach was incredible. I had so much fun learning how to surf. We were in the middle of the jungle and got to see monkeys, sloths, lizards, and iguanas. I felt like I was in an episode of Wild Kratts (haha the siblings know). We did karaoke at our hotel, and that was a blast. Hilarious. It didn’t rain the whole weekend until we got in the car to head back to campus. A rainy season miracle!! 

On Monday morning we started Spanish classes. It began with oral interviews with the Spanish teachers to get placement in classes. There is a wide variety of levels in this group of students. I was placed in a Bible class that is in all Spanish. So far, it has been difficult yet rewarding. This class lasts three hours every day. It is a long time to pay attention for while listening to another language. But, I am learning so much! My Spanish is improving, and it is super cool that I get to learn about Jesus in another language. 

This week we started to visit the ministries that we will eventually choose to serve at every week. On Tuesday we visited a day care. I got to learn about their program and how we would be helping there. Then, we spent an hour meeting kids and hanging out with them. On Thursday we visited a senior care center. Again, I learned about the program and spent an hour playing games and talking with the people that live there. We get to visit the next two ministries in the upcoming week. I’m excited to serve and share the light of Jesus in these really dark places. It is another opportunity to grow my Spanish speaking abilities. It was a challenge trying to speak with all of the people that I met. 

We also have continued in both Worldview class and Spiritual Disciplines class. They are both super interesting. We have covered things like the redemption and restoration of the Kingdom of God, silence and solitude, and bible reading and memorization. I often feel like my brain is going to explode because I have been learning so much. 

In between classes and ministry visits we have spent time going on caminatas, having worship nights, learning Australian games, and jumping in our pond. Today we rode the public bus into the city of San José. I loved getting to see the city, look at markets, eat at a Costa Rican restaurant, and get coffee from a cute shop. The people here make everything we do so much fun. Tomorrow I am headed to a hiking spot to see what is supposed to be the best waterfall in Costa Rica. 

Portantorchas has welcomed me with open arms. I arrived safely on August 12th, and I began the Porta life right away. 

I met my sweet roommate. Her name is also Grace! She’s from Texas, and she loves the Lord. She inspires me to get out of bed and run, she is adventurous, and is overall the best roommate I could ask for. We share a bunk room. I sleep on the top, and she sleeps on the bottom. We have our own bathroom, closet, and dresser. We decorated a little bit to make it feel like us and to make it feel a little bit like home. 

I met the incredible Portantorchas staff! They are all on weapons for the Kingdom of God. They all live on campus and have made so many sacrifices to love and serve us. The truly do life with us. They play soccer with us, pray with us, cook for us, and welcome us into their homes. I know Jesus’ character better after knowing them! Many of the staff members only speak Spanish, and they are full of grace with my thousands of mistakes. They are simply excited that I try to speak with them! 

I met 30 other students. There are 25 girls and 6 guys here total. Students have come from the States, Canada, Germany, Spain, Albania, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. It is incredible. International friendships are a beautiful gift. We spend every meal time together. We play games together. We worship together. We serve one another. We go on “caminatas” together. Caminata is a word that you will likely hear me use a lot. It means a walk in Spanish, and at Portantorchas, we set time aside for a walk with just one other person. The idea is to be able to focus on getting to know one person for an hour or so. 

Costa Rica is beautiful. I have hardly explored any of this country, but I am in awe of its beauty. On campus we have so many plants, trees, and flowers. We even grow lemons, limes, and coffee beans! 

I have enjoyed all of the food here. Although, because we are a place with people from all over, they like to cater to that. So most of the food we have had is not exactly Costa Rican. Some food highlights were gallo pinto (rice and beans for breakfast-this is the Costa Rican way), and chalupas (Mexican origin). 

Classes have been awesome. I have already learned a lot, and I have only started ‘Worldviews’ and ‘Spiritual Disciplines.’ Spanish classes begin next week. That is the moment everyone has been waiting for. I have been impressed with my Spanish, and it has been easier for me to communicate with people than I thought. Even at places like the local farmers market or grocery store. 

One morning this week I was working out in the gym around 6am. A girl in the gym with me got a call from an airport employee because her luggage had been lost and he was going to deliver it to her. He started the phone call by asking if she spoke Spanish. She doesn’t, so she handed the phone to me to speak with him. He told me that he needed the address. I gave it to him, but he was still confused. Eventually, he said he was coming. We then found out we could send our direct location to him. He hung up the phone, and we continued working out. She gets a call from him again later and he tells me that he had arrived. We start walking towards the entrance but we soon realize we have no way to open the gate, so we try to go to the other entrance. This doesn’t make sense because we cannot see out of this gate, and we still do not have a way to open the door. We begin frantically running around campus to try to find a staff member that is awake and can give us a key. Of course, the one staff member my friend finds also only speaks Spanish. When they were walking to find me again she tried to explain her situation to the staff. But, she didn’t fully understand the English and she led us to the wrong spot. I corrected her with the best Spanish I could. She then was able to open the door for us. We walked to the door but his car was not there yet. We looked at his location and realized he was one streed over. I did my best to ask him to move over to our street. He said he was coming, so we waited. Finally, he shows up. He gives her the suitcase, but this is not over yet. There is another student here that also needed his suitcase out of this man’s truck. There was a lot of miscommunication, and I couldn’t understand that he needed him to be there to sign. Again, really testing my Spanish. I have to run to get a guy from the gym to grab the guy that needed to sign for his suitcase. Eventually, it was all good. There isn’t really a moral to that story but my parents told me it would be a good one to tell on my blog. So, here it is. 

This week I have played soccer in the rain and jumped in the lake after, gone to the super market and farmer’s market, walked to get ice cream, played ping pong, shared my testimony, and I have spent a lot of time just growing in my surrender to the Lord. This place is incredible.