Culture shock.

I've been in the United States since Tuesday. It's been really hard to adjust so far. I'm having what is called "culture shock." Here is a list of a few things that have been making me trip out.
11. Cold weather-- very very cold weather
10. I can use my cell phone again-- and text.
9. How awesome Starbucks is.
8. When placing an order at a restaurant or coffee shop.... what language do I order in?
7. Multicolored Autumn leaves.
6. Country Music--yuck.
5. Hunting season is coming?
4. Liquid laundry detergent
3. Cable television.
2. Pumping gas at the station.
1. Remind me again where I'm supposed to put the toilet paper? 

Slideshow.

Part of my "homework" for my debrief time in Mexico was to make a slideshow of my time spent in Costa Rica. Enjoy!

Leaving.

I haven't updated my blog in quite sometime. I haven't felt like writing much lately. You see, I leave Costa Rica on Saturday and I'm not sure if I can think of much more than that. And I'd rather not think about it. But the approach of my departure is immanent and I regret to say that I started packing tonight. The only consolation I can find at the moment in jamming out to The Beatles on Youtube. Although I feel incapable of expressing my feelings-- the "bitter-sweetness" of leaving (oh how I hate that cliche)-- I will tell you the "plan" so you know what to expect and when. I will refer to it as "the plan" because I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept it. Saturday morning I leave Costa Rica-- the place that's been my home for the last several months. I will have to leave Jaco in the middle of the night Saturday in order to make it to San Jose for my 6:55 am flight. I will be traveling with Lisa who has been my side kick and friend since January. We arrive in San Diego, CA at 8:32 pm. We will be picked up and then drive across the border into Mexico. Did I mention I hate traveling? I will be spending ten days in Mexico visiting my friends, debriefing my time in Costa Rica with my school, picking up my things that I left there, and saying goodbye. On September 20th, I fly from San Diego to Detroit, Michigan. A few days later I plan on returning to my home town Petoskey. And that my friends is the plan for my departure from Costa Rica and my return to the Great Lake State. This is going to be a super hard time for me and please continue to pray for me. See you all soon.

Wash your mouth out with soap.

Every afternoon when I work at the ramp, a child always comes to me telling me all about a crisis that they are in. "He's not sharing." "He hit me." "He called me a ........"
When it comes to the "not sharing" crisis, I usually start by asking, "Did you ask him for it?" A lot of the times the crisis is resolved by just reminding the kids to ask each other to share and say "Por favor."
"He hit me," can usually be resolved by reassuring the kids that it was probably and accident or telling the offender that fighting and hitting is not allowed. At the ramp we have fun and play... we don't fight.
"He called me a....." is usually where I run into problems. Part of the problem is that I have only learned so many curse words in Spanish. They don't teach you those words in high school. Sometimes the problem is that I don't actually know when a child is using a "bad word." I can usually pick up on a verbal fight when I hear the phrase, "Your grandma!" Insulting someone's grandma is a pretty big offense. I have found that solving this crisis is a little more difficult for me. I often don't actually hear the insult and have to go of the word off the offended. And what do you say to that anyway? It stumps me a lot of the time. It's not like I can just haul them into the bathroom and wash their mouth out with soap. I hardly think that would solve the problem. I tell them that here, at the ramp, we don't talk like that. So I tell them that saying bad words is sin and that this place is a place where we glorify the name of the Lord. We glorify Him with our actions and words. If they can't do that, they cannot play at the ramp. 
A few weeks ago, a little boy says, "LIZZZZZZZZZZ! That girl gave me the finger!!!" I did not actually see this happen so I told him to calm down and remember that he was responsible for himself and his actions and to pay her no mind. I told him that he is not to give her the finger back because that's sin. He turned to me and asked, "So you never say bad words?" I told him that I honestly try not to. But in all honesty this morning I hit my elbow really hard and I said a bad word. I don't normally curse. Like I said, I honestly try not to. But it makes me think, I tell kids almost everyday to glorify the Lord in all their actions. But I think what it really comes down to in the end is this: Do I glorify the Lord in everything that I do? 

The Finger.

Today Yalixa, one of the little girls at the kindergarten I work at, did something kind of funny. She said, "Excuse me teacher. This weekend I hit one of my friends." The teacher responded with a look of disappointment and told her that we don't hit other people. Yalixa said, "But teacher she gave me the finger." The teacher said, "Oh that's just terrible! You should have told her mother instead of hitting her." Yalixa said, "Her mother doesn't care." Her teacher replied, "Well then you just tell her you don't play with mean children." At this point classmate Britanie decided to chime in. She put her hand like this

motioning to the pinky and index finger and asked, "Which finger did she give you?" Yalixa responded and said, "No, no. It was THIS one....." and showed poor little Britanie which one it was.......

Monopoly.

I took a video of this little boy and I playing Monopoly. I think it pretty much sums up my relationship with him. And it made me realize just how often I say the word 'verdad.' Oops. Guess I need to expand my vocabulary. :)

Ps. If you would like to receive a newsletter to read about what else I'm doing (other than playing Monopoly) please send your email adress to lizm_10@hotmail.com. God bless :)

My life goal...