Thoughts on being white.

A funny thing happened today.
My name is Liz Moss. I am very short. I have dark hair, dark eyes, and darker skin (but only if you leave me out in the sun too long.) I love Mexico. It's my favorite place in the entire world. I was born in Italy, grew up in Petoskey, but I am Mexican at heart. The greatest compliment I receive is when people ask if I'm Latina. Which, to my delight, happens fairly often. Unfortunately, I have to respond, "No," with a big fat pouty frown. I have a wonderful friend. Her name is Alisha. We met in DTS and she is one of my closest friends. She is of German decent. She has blue eyes. She is pretty gosh darn gorgeous, but if you would tell her that directly, she might get a little flushed. Alisha minored in Spanish. If you were to ask me, her heart is probably Mexican too. She speaks Spanish super well.... I have a hard time keeping up with her. But a funny thing happens when we get together in Mexico. If we are with Spanish speakers, they will turn and talk to someone with dark hair and dark eyes regardless of their actual ability to speak Spanish. As you can probably imagine... this is very frustrating. Imagine being written off as not being able to speak Spanish because you have blue eyes when in fact you do speak it and much better than the Americans with brown eyes. Hm..... funny the assumptions we make. Even unconsciencely. So anyway, this morning I was helping out with a GREAT BIG birthday party for the kids of Metro Ministries. I was assisting with cutting the cake for the almost one hundred kids who had come to the party. I was cutting the cake in a home of a neighbor who lives just across the street from where we put on the program. An assistant of Metro Ministries came to help cut the cake as well. She is from Canada and has light skin and freckles. I had just met her that morning on the drive to Santa Ana where the party was to be held. She had spent a good chunk of time in Latin America and therefore spoke Spanish very well. The neighbor lady said (in Spanish), "I think we should check and see if all of the children have had a piece of cake." And the Canadian (who shall remain unamed) replied, "Let me go find out." Now, as you may be able to gather... I understood all of this. And the preceeding conversation... and everything else that had been said. However, the ministry helper turned to me and said, "I'm going to see if all the children have cake." It had been her presumption that because I am from the United States I needed translation. Which would be a valid assumption.... if I fit my stereotype and did not speak any Spanish. And so, in order to be kind and keep me in "the loop" she translated for me. I found this experience interesting. It makes you wonder how often we make false assumptions without any idea of the better. "Don't judge a book my it's cover." I'm sure you've heard the expression. I was never too fond of it. But I am finding it out to be oh so true.... In what circumstances do we make these false assumptions? Is it limited to something as simplistic as the example I gave above? I think not. Do we do it daily? Do we do it with children? Do we sometimes look at a child and judge them. "They are misbehaving. They must need a spanking. That child needs discipline. That is a bad child." Do you ever think this? What if that kid just needs to be loved. What if they just need to know that somebody cares. That you care. That God cares. Maybe we don't just apply this to the screaming kid in the super market. Maybe we judge adults in the same manner. Maybe it's even as innocent as assuming the white girl from Michigan doesn't speak Spanish. It's just a thought. Are we all guilty of this? Perhaps not. But it's a challenge. And so I challenge not to judge a book by it's cover. The content inside may just surprise you.

Comparing San Jose, Mexico City, and Petoskey, Michigan

When I graduated from my Discipleship Training School, I was trying to come up with a few ways to save up money for my Children at Risk School. I was talking with my good friend Alisha from Washington State and asking her for suggestions. "What about taking the bus instead of driving and paying for gas?" Um.... what bus? It then occurred to me that Petoskey is a little bit.... well.... little and there is a lot of variety to be had in the world. And so in this post I intend to explore the difference between Petoskey, Michigan and some of the larger cities in the world that I have visited. Last summer I spent about two weeks in Mexico City during my Discipleship Training School outreach. For the next two weeks I will be in San Jose for my Children At Risk outreach. And Petoskey, Michigan is, of course, my hometown. Let's compare the three shall we?

• When one hears, "Mexico City," they immediately know that I am reffering to the capital of Mexico and the third largest city in the world. When one hears, "San Jose," they will probably guess that it is somewhere in Central America. If they are educated in geography, they may know that San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica. When one hears, "Petoskey, Michigan," the appropriate response is, "Where??"
• The population of Mexico City is about 27 million people. San Jose has about 4 million people. In Petoskey, Michigan we have about 6 thousand people on a good day.
• In Petoskey we say, "Huh?" or "Eh?" In Mexico they say, "?Mande?" In San Jose they say, "?Que?"
• The currency in Mexico is the peso (about 12 to a dollar.) In San Jose we pay with colones (about 500 to a dollar.) In Petoskey, Michigan we have the American dollar with the occasional Canadian penny.
• In Petoskey, you better pray you have a car. In Mexico City, the best way to get around is the subway. In San Jose, buses are the best way to get from point A to point B.
• San Jose has a YWAM base. Mexico City and Petoskey do not.
• In San Jose the taxis are red. In Mexico City the taxis are Volkswagen bugs painted red and gold. In Petoskey, you can call ahead and ask for a taxi only on a few holidays, like New Years (if you're planning on being really hammered.) It's an Astro-van.
•  In Petoskey, our staple foods are fudge and Roast and Toast coffee. In Mexico, they eat tacos. In San Jose, every meal has rice and beans.
• In Petoskey we say, "Cool," or, "That's swell." In Mexico they say, "Chido," "Que Padre," or, "Orale." In San Jose they say, "Chevere," and, "Tuanis."
• There is no Lake in Mexico City or San Jose. In Petoskey, we are blessed to live right on Lake Michigan.
• Spell check knows San Jose and Mexico City. Every time I type Petoskey, a squiggly red line shows up.
• In Petoskey, we have 7-11, in Mexico we go to the OXXO, and in Costa Rica they have AM/PM.
• The weirdest thing about Costa Rica is instead of pointing, they "kiss" in the direction that they are speaking. Rather than pointing a finger they pucker their lips in a general direction.

And there you have it. A basic comparison of three of the greatest cities in the world. (or at least in my opinion.)

On Cultural Norms and Differences.

A short story about acclimating to Costa Rican culture.

The other afternoon I was hanging out in my apartment when I heard, “Leez! Leez!” Lo and behold it was my good friend Warner walking up the stairs and calling my name. (Here my name is Lees, Leez, or Lis. Very rarely is it ever pronounced Liz.) Warner is a Costa Rican who speaks very good English and he was also my staff for the Children at Risk School. So up the stairs comes Warner with a large loaf of bread. I look at him puzzled. “Leez, I brought us bread,” he said as if he lived in my apartment and was coming home from doing the shopping. Confused, and wondering when Warner moved into my apartment, I looked at him and then looked back at the bread. “You brought me bread?” I asked. “Yes, I brought us bread. Because, you know, that’s what we do here in Costa Rica. We eat bread and drink coffee in the afternoons,” he said quite casually. “Oh, that’s brilliant! I love drinking coffee anytime of the day.” And with that, Warner handed me the bread and walked away, headed toward the half pipe. Now I was confused. He brought bread and walked away. Did he want any? Did he want to eat it later? Was it just for my roommates and me? I decided not to think much of it and went back to whatever nonsense I had been up to before. A few minutes later my roommate Robbie walked in and inquired about the bread. I told her what had occurred and asked her what she thought we were supposed to do with it. “I think he’s skating and I’m not sure what the bread is for. Does he want coffee? Are we supposed to make it for him and bring it to him?” I asked her. “I’m not sure,” she said, “Let me go ask him.” A few minutes later she returned and told me that yes indeed, Warner wanted coffee and was expecting it. So Robbie and I made a pot of coffee and informed our Costa Rican friend that the coffee was hot and ready. He joined us in our apartment with a few other friends and we drank coffee and ate bread and jam with cream cheese. I found out later (from a German friend) that in Costa Rica, if you want to have a cup of joe with your friends, you bring them bread. That way you’re not just waltzing into their house uninvited. By bringing bread you are saying, “Hey let’s hang out and have some coffee. And I brought bread so I’m not just mooching off of you and drinking your coffee.” So here in Costa Rica we provide the coffee if you provide the bread. Sounds pretty good right about now doesn't it? 

*Expect more stories like this one in the near future.*

When In Jaco...

A little guide on what to expect when living in Costa Rica.

In Jaco we:
·         Sweat… constantly. Twenty-four hours a day. No doubt about it.
·         Wear bug spray, not perfume.
·         Fall asleep to the sound of iguanas playing on our roof.
·         Ride our bikes everywhere,
·         Drink smoothies for lunch.
·         Say ciao as often as adios.
·         Mangos are our favorite snack. (They are free.)
·         Swim in the ocean. As often as possible.
·         “Shuffle” our feet when swimming to avoid stepping on the sting rays. Yikes.
·         Do NOT flush the toilet paper.
·         Wear flip flops and sunscreen.
·       *Serve Jesus*

Lamentations 2:19 

"Rise during the night and cry out.

      Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord.
   Lift up your hands to him in prayer,
      pleading for your children,
   for in every street
      they are faint with hunger."

The Scoop.

Well, I've been in Jaco, Costa Rica just over a week! Crazy how this place will be my home for the next six months! Perhaps you're wondering what I've been up to so far and what I will be doing with my time here. So, here goes. For the next two weeks I am participating in a workshop called Celebrating Children with The Women and Children's Advocacy Centre. In the mornings I sit in on the classes (which are basically a little recap of what I've been learning the last three months) and in the afternoons I learn how to give the seminar. In theory, after these two weeks I'll be able to teach the seminar on how to work with kids. Yikes. Kind of intimidating when you have experts with degrees and years of experience in the same classroom. So what else is up here? My apartment is right above a hostel called Christian Surfers. On the Christian Surfers' property is a skate ramp and some rails. Five days a week we open up the property for kids to come and skate for a few hours and just hang out. We've met a few of the kids but unfortunately none of us skate! But I believe in this ministery because it gives the kids a safe place to hang out and build healthy relationships. Also, last Saturday Lisa, Robbie, and I went to Kid's Club at The River. The River is a Nicaraguan squatter camp. Basically what that means is that all of the people living in this little community are impoverished refugees from Nicaragua. In the River there are no fathers. Almost all of the men in this community have abandoned their families. In order to cope with the loneliness, most of the women have turned to alcohol, drugs, or complete indifference to their children. Kids growing up in The River are children at risk. There's so much need there. I hope that in these next six months there will be a major change in the lives of the residents in The River. Human Trafficking and child prostitution are also rampant in Jaco. I would love to see how I can help put an end to this injustice in Jaco. I'm not sure what my part will be in hindering prostituion but I'm excited to help out however I can. Unfortunately, I am not Liam Neeson and I will not be opperating like he did in the movie Taken. Guess I'll have to rely on God rather than my ninja powers. I think God is better anyway. In a week or so I'll be headed to San Jose, the capital city. I'll be taking a few Spanish lessons and checking out a kids' ministry. Hopefully with the Spanish classes, I can learn how to speak like a Costa Rican! The Spanish here is so different from the Spanish in Mexico. Sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out. I think it would keep my head cooler too! Also I'll be helping out with Metro Kids Ministry. See how it works and what I can apply when working with the kids in Jaco. So that's the scoop! Now you know almost everything I know. If you're interested in helping out I need HEAPS of PRAYER. I am sick.... again. This is the FOURTH time in FOUR months I've been sick. It's the pits. I'm having a hard time pooring myself out with I'm sick. Also I'm still short on finances. I'll be here for six months... right now I have enough money to pay for two or three months of my expenses. I appreciate everyone's support! Thank you all for blessing me and for all of the prayer!! I hope you all are as joyful and blessed as I am. :)

Lisa and Liz share a bike in dowtown Jaco.

I finally bought a bike this weekend! Thank you to all my supporters! 

This is a little video I made of what it was like when my friend Lisa and I had to share a bike!

A special thank you.