Gone and back again

I am back in Costa Rica. I was in the states, mostly California, for about 3 weeks. It was a whole lot of craziness. It was amazing being able to be home and spend time with family (especially my little niece who was 2 months old at the time) all together and individually, as well as visit with friends. I was really blessed just to be able to rest and relax and go on bike rides with my mom or a friend, have lunch or coffee with my dad, hang out with each of my brothers and sister-in-law and niece and even just sit and be with or around people that I don't get to see very often. It really was a blessing. It was also a very good time of refreshment to prepare me for the craziness that would pick right back up upon coming back to Costa Rica. I've been back a week now and it feels like a month has gone by. Our first ever semester students from Fresno Pacific University arrived last week, so we took a few days to orientate them and get them situated. I think it's going to be a great 4 months for them here. Other than that, I've been getting things in order in the house, with the car and to start everything up again in Las Fuentes next week. Some things have gone smoother than others, but just to give you some idea of what a day could and actually did look like: Today I woke up early but also very excited because our widow-maker (electrical shower head water heater- yes, it's probably as dangerous as it sounds) was going to be replaced by one that works, thus giving us warm showers for the first time since I got back (there were quite a few previous attempts at fixing it). This was done by our very kind retired electrician neighbor, Don Rodrigo. He came over, installed the new shower head, no complications, no one got electricuted- it was a complete success! So, I started off my day with a much appreciated warm shower! Then, I had planned to meet with Jehudi, who works with me in Las Fuentes, in the SI office to go over some stuff. As I went to leave, I could not help but be aware of the flat tire......so, I hurried to catch the bus, as I was already running good and late. I finally got there and we got a little flyer made to put up in the Fuent- it turned out super cute, I'm not gonna lie. So, after that, Jehudi said that he needed to go by the hardware store to get some stuff and he would help me find a car jack, if I wanted (because we have a car jack, but it doesn't really work with our car. i'm sure you're asking why, right? yeah- i don't know). So, we headed out. We arrived to the hardware store only to discover that they were out of any car jacks that were not ginormous and expensive, and so I would have to wait on that (Jeff offered to come later to help me change the tire with some of his tools =). So, then, I headed over to the grocery store because I had to pay an electricity bill and that's how you do it here. So, I waited in the line and when it came my turn, the lady informed me that that system was currently down and so I could not pay that bill at that time. So, I then just walked home to work on something that maybe wouldn't be so affected by outward circumstances and then feel like an unavoidable failure. And that probably actually sounds more negative than I feel. But I feel like this is kind of more what the reality of living here in Costa Rica feels like sometimes. And I felt somewhat frustrated, of course, but I don't know if it was just having a different mindset being back in Costa Rica or if it was just THAT good to start off the day with a warm shower, but I feel like God's just really helped me to have peace with all these little things and not worry about what seem like failed attempts adding more things/stress to my to do list. And if I do start to feel stressed I might just have to decompress in what sometimes feels like the, oh so spiritual act of taking a very appreciated warm shower. =)

Summer teams in the city

We recently finished our summer season, full of teams from all over the states and Canada. It was a great time of being able to share with others and receive help in our ministry sites. I had an intern, Mark, from Fresno, California, who was a great help to me throughout the entire summer. He brought a lot of energy and encouragement and was always willing to lend a hand. He really was a huge blessing in what can be a kind of hectic time for us. In the first 6 weeks of the summer, we had a group of 4 students from Trinity Western University in Canada, one of which, Joti, was placed at my site. She was also a huge encouragement to me and the kids we work with. In addition to everything else this summer, I had the joy of spending one night a week with all the interns, encouraging them and giving them a safe place where they didn't have to worry about being "on" or in charge of something, or even having to figure out how to express themselves in spanish. I really enjoyed being able to provide this time and place for them, as I know the experience of having to be abroad and being in charge of things and having plenty of responsibilities. Overall, the summer was great! It wasn't without a few glitches here and there, but the kids involved in our programs and those that came from the states seemed to do really well and enjoy their time together! Here are just a few pictures from these last few months:






Joti, Mark and I






A rainy day soccer game with the kiddos.





Best buds: Kevin and Axel





Aerobicizing, of course!





Valeria, Joti and others in the background at the church

The infamous box

In Las Fuentes, we have been incredibly blessed in our partnership with the church there. It's been over 2 years that I've been working out of the church rent free. They've been very gracious in allowing us to use their space and various resources there. It's been a huge blessing. There are still some drawbacks in not having a place of our own, however we are taking steps towards growing and bettering what we do have available to us. For example, for the last 2 years or so in Las Fuentes, because we don't have a space that is just for us, we have kept all of our materials and supplies locked in a 2'x3' plastic box that we would have to carry up and down stairs from where we would store it to where we would have our program with the kids. It was pretty hefty and jam-packed with lots of great things. But it was also not the easiest to manage with having to move it all the time and having little hands rummaging through it, making it seemingly impossible to keep it in some kind of order or system. So, with the amazing servant's hearts of Jeremy and those working with him at the woodshop, we put in a request for some kind of cabinet that we could lock and keep up in a more permanent spot in one of the rooms where we work with kids in the church. In not much time at all, the cabinet was finished and moved into it's place in Las Fuentes! And we are so very grateful for not having to lug that large box up and down the stairs and having a more organized and larger place to keep all of our supplies! Below are some pictures of the day that we got the cabinet and transferred everything from the box to the oh-so-spacious cabinet.




This is a picture of everything we took out of the box and various other places to put inside the cabinet.




You can see the infamous old box in the background, being cleaned out.




Nicole and Mark helped out with the transfer and the Jeffs, on the right, helped move the cabinet and put it in it's place.




SO neat and organized!!!!




Functional and beautiful!




I love it!

A whole lot 'a talking going on

One week ago, I returned from a trip to the states---California, being the specific one I visited, actually. Ya see, what actually happened is that every year, my home church in Hanford has a Mission Fair. And each year they have a guest speaker. This year they asked Dave Hansen (the president of Students International) and I to be the speakers- a tag team type of effort. So, after some anxious weeks of prayers and nervous planning, I flew back to CA for the event. On Saturday, there was an international dinner, including a salsa (the food kind) contest! Following the dinner, there was a time when people could go around and here different people from different organizations speaking about their ministries. There were four sessions, so that people could here each of the speakers. In this time, Dave and I gave a little introduction to Students International- what it is- what we do. And then I spoke a little more specifically just about what all is going on with SI Costa Rica. It was good to be able to share that much with people in my home church that have supported me and seen this facet of God's plan begin to develop in my life. It was also very encouraging to see so many familiar faces. Which was also SUPER helpful Sunday morning, two services, when I saw the hundreds of chairs (I'm really bad at estimating, it could have been less...like 12...well, no, not really. I'm pretty positive it was more than 12) beginning to be filled with bodies- living ones, with ears, ready to listen.....to me =/ But I gave it all to God. Dave spoke some, gave kind of an introduction, I, then, gave kind of my personal story and testimony in missions and then Dave closed it out. It seemed to go pretty smoothly and well. It was also amazing to be able to have all of my family there, parents, brothers and sister-in-law, everyone!

Afterwards, I got to spend some quality time with my family all together, which I LOVED, of course. Throughout the following week, I also got to meet with people who are either coming to Costa Rica this next year or are interested in doing so. My mom and I even made a trip down to L.A. to get some paper work for my religious visa application for Costa Rica. It was a really good trip- pretty full, of all good things, but also a good time of being able to see and share with my church family, as well as my family-family and some friends. =)

Mission Fair

Announcement! Exciting/a little nerve-wracking:



My home church, First Baptist Church of Hanford, is having their annual MIssion Fair April 9-10. They have asked Dave Hansen (the president of Students International) and I to be the speakers. So, I will be in the Central California area at that time and while I do not revel in the idea of speaking in front of large groups, I would love to see you then and have your support for this event. Even if you're not able to attend, please keep me in your prayers, as I'm pretty nervous about it. I'm sure it'll be great and I have confidence that God will give me the words that He has for everyone to hear. Thank you for your prayers =)

Teams and the Fuent

In Las Fuentes, we've begun to put into practice some of the new ideas for this year. One of these ideas for the boys and girls club was to assign a theme or a value to each month. Each week of that month, we set aside some time to talk about different aspects of that value and do some kind of activity with it. Some examples of these themes are, Goals, Self-worth and Respect. It's something the kids are still getting the hang of, but there have been some good discussions that have come of it and it's been helpful to refer back to for the children in other situations.

In hopes of creating a more community centerish type of environment (but without the whole actual physical building part), I've been brainstorming and creating a list of special activities to take place on Friday afternoons. Some compiling of resources, supplies and able-bodied help are still needed for many of the activities, but so far, we have also been able to host two movie afternoons. For these events, we were able to borrow a projector to have more of the big screen kind of feel. We were given permission to use the community building (where we also do aerobics), which also provided chairs and we brought snacks to make the whole movie watching experience complete. We chose movies appropriate for the ages of those that came, between 4 and 13. Although, some had made suggestions of movies ahead of time that would not have been appropriate, we stuck with movies like, Monsters Vs. Aliens (the Pixar one) and Yogi Bear. They all loved it, even the too cool for school ones- I saw them laughing. This is just a small thing that I'm sure a lot of them maybe haven't able to experience before. And starting out with this kind of activity, rather than something more complicated or involving, I feel like they'd be more likely to get involved when we plan for things that require some more involvement, such as tournaments or special projects. So far it seems to be going pretty well. Each time we've had about 20 kids show up and they behaved excellently both times, also showing me that I can attempt something a little more challenging with them. Especially when teams are here to help direct such activities.


Speaking of teams, we've had our first two student teams of the year. The first group was made up of a team from Jupiter Christian High School in Florida and an Intervarsity group from James Madison University in Virginia. The second group contained a women's soccer team from Crown College in Minnesota and a team from Taylor University in Indiana. Both of these groups were excellent and gave us a great jumping off point for the year and the teams to come. They were very willing to jump in, flexible with everything and very encouraging with their interest and care for the work being done here.


Here are a few pictures from one of the movie days with the kiddos:


















Our movie clan, making our best monster and alien faces! Krysta and Tracey Dixon (neither of which are pictured here) came to help out on separate occasions. Erin Janzen, who is pictured here, also came to help out.

Women's Trip!

Back in February, we had a group of about 25 women from California, Texas, Guatemala and Austria, one of which was my mom, that all met down here in Costa Rica for an SI women's trip! It was great to be able to spend time with so many women that I'd known from California and Guatemala and to get to know the others. It was also amazing to be able to share in it all with my mom. She'd come to visit before, but never in the context of an actual outreach, so I think it was good for her, along with the others I'd known as well, to see what all goes on in my site and how teams fit into that. We had a good and very encouraging week with this team. It was not without it's challenges, though. In working with kids of the age that I do, pre-teen or early teens, there presents quite a few challenges with disciplinary issues. This women's team got to see some of these challenges first hand, but were very supportive and encouraging in how it was handled. It's always exciting having new people work and experience our lives here, but there's something special about sharing it with those who are close to you or have known you beforehand.

Below are some pictures from this outreach:





Janice Hansen (who lead the women's trip), me and my mom.



Tracey, with Lynnea, leading the way on our excursion to La Paz Waterfall Gardens





Women at the waterfall.

Holidays----way back when----

The following series of blogs are an attempt at an update on my life since December or so, of last year.

Holidays:

As a kind of end of the year activity, we took about 25 kids from Las Fuentes to a park in Desamparados and had a kind of field day with different team games and activities, as well as a hot dog featuring lunch. It was a crazy kind of day, which the kids seemed to enjoy. It was the first time we'd taken a group from Las Fuentes to any kind of outside place and for the most part it was good. But we also learned some different ways or kinds of things we may do for the next time. =)

After these activities, I was blessed to be able to go home, to California, for the holidays, but not without stopping by Louisiana to visit my dear friend, Dominique, first. Both Louisiana and California provided great opportunities to rest in the company of family and friends. And even more than that, I was able to speak to a Sunday School class from my home church that supports me. They also put together a large supply of donations that they sent down for our ministry here in Costa Rica. It really is a blessing to have such a great team of support back at home.

Upon coming back to Costa Rica, the kids I work with, the aerobics ladies and those I visit seemed anxious to get back started with the program, which was encouraging, especially when leaving home/California is not always the easiest thing. This year also started with some new ideas to begin implementing in the work being done in Las Fuentes, such as monthly themes of values in the boys/girls club time, more community center type of activities and sharing articles and healthy recipes with the aerobics ladies. Some of which are more easily begun than others. Please keep in prayer the implementing of these new projects and discernment and wisdom in the process.

Below are just a few pictures of my time in the states:



Dominique and I----SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!



Noelle and David (the marrieds), me and my Mom and Dad!



Jonathan and his beard and Munroe.



Isaac and Munroe---we kinda love dogs!

A Wedding, a Birthday and Fun-loving Delights!

In mid-September I was very blessed to be able to spend a few weeks in California. In this time I was able to be a part of my older brother, David's wedding, my Mom's birthday, my friend, Heather's baby shower and lots of quality time with family and friends. I hadn't been back to California since January- a good 8 months! Not quite my favorite amount of time.
It was especially great to be able to be a part of David and Noelle's wedding, as a bridesmaid. It was a beautiful ceremony and an amazing celebration at the reception. And now, I'm very happy to have a sister in the family!
Also, when home, I got to share in the celebration of my mom's birthday, September 24th. We surprised her with going to see Bye-Bye Birdie at Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater in Fresno---my two younger brothers, Jonathan and Isaac even came along (I didn't give them any details about that night for as long as possible so they wouldn't try to get out of it- they were good sports, though ; ) David and Noelle couldn't make it because of some honeymoon thing =) It was a lot of fun!
While at home I was also able to attend my friend, Heather Roeber's baby shower for her soon-to-be-born little girl, Elise, who I'm very excited to meet at Christmas!
In addition to all that, I also had a few opportunities to talk to people and groups about what all it is that I'm doing down here in Costa Rica. I got to speak to a women's group at my church and they offered a lot of encouragement. My friend, Rebekah Milhon and I were asked to speak to our church's high school Sunday school class on the topic of missions. We each talked about our experiences and encouraged the students to get involved where they're at. They actually seemed to listen pretty well and asked some good questions. I seem to be continually reminded, in those types of situations, of my love for youth and their involvement in such things beyond themselves and their own little bubbles.
Being a quality time person, I was incredibly blessed to be able to spend the face to face time that I did with people I love. In some ways, it seemed like it was way too short of a time to get in all the quality face time that I'd have liked to. But also, upon returning to Costa Rica, I felt that I'd been gone for way longer than I actually was. It's weird- all those feelings and trying to juggle them, but I'm feeling a little more balanced now and allowing myself to rest in the arms of Him who has it all under control in His timing and His balance.

Because I feel that my words don't do my experience justice, here are some pictures for you to enjoy of my time in CA:




David and Noelle at their rehearsal dinner.



Richard and Granny (my Mom's Mom) at the rehearsal dinner.



My Mom and Dad. At the rehearsal dinner. Still.



The bride and her maids---some of us look like we're sleep standing.



David and Noelle's pups- Grace and Charlie.



Noelle and her dad making their way down the aisle.



Noelle and David during the ceremony.



Noelle, her parents and her sister, Monique. David (with the help of some friends, my Dad and brothers) made that white arch behind them for Noelle.



My brothers and some of my Mom's side of the family, left to right- Aunt Kathy, Jonathan, Granny, Richard, Aunt Cary, Isaac and myself.



Siblings! Jonathan, myself, David and Isaac.



The wedding party.



David and Noelle Pritchard's first dance at their splenderific reception---that's the dessert spread on the right!



My parents at Roger Rocka's for my Mom's birthday celebration extravaganza!



Me, Isaac and Jonathan watching Bye Bye Birdie. They were clearly thrilled........that there was food there.



My super duper friend, Aiyla and myself.



My splendiferous friend, Courtney and I at her sister, Heather's baby shower.



Heather at the shower for her baby, Elise.



Me and my greatastic friend, Rebekah!

Thanks for watching. =)

Lice, Tires, and Sinuses, oh my!

I don't even know how long it's been since I've written, so I'll start from now and work kind of backwards. =) So these last few weeks have been a little crazy. We had our last team for the summer leave. It was a packed summer, full of eager students ready to help with all the varying activities. The same weekend that the last team left, I had to flee the country with the Janzens to renew our visas in Panama. Hopefully, soon we'll be able to get special visas that will keep us from having to leave the country every three months. After our weekend in Panama, I returned back to Las Fuentes. Upon my return there, kids came running up to me, "Cailah, when's (insert name of anyone that came to Las Fuentes this last summer) coming back?" They continue to ask about them, although my answer has yet to change, "I'm sure they would love to be here, but they had to go back home." And they continue to ask.....

Not too long after being back, I started to notice a crazy itching on my head. Come to find out, I'd gotten lice. It wasn't super surprising, considering some of the cases we've seen in Las Fuentes. Between numerous shampoos, olive oil treatments, comb-throughs and nit-picking (literally), my head seems to be lice free! After the whole lice ordeal, then came the issues with the tires. Three flat tires in three days. The first one, I don't know what it was caused by. But we got the the spare tire put on and before I got a chance to take it in, I drove it up to Las Fuentes. Kids started coming and some of them came in saying, "Cailah, there's air coming out of the tire in your car." And I was like, ummm, no, that's a spare. So, I went and checked it out and sure enough, before long, another tire was flat. I think this one may have been due to really bad roads because of some construction. So, I ended up having to call a tow truck, seeing as how the spare tire was already being used. So, they took me into a shop and we got the tires patched up, aligned and rotated, all for relatively cheap. Great! Not two days later, I was in Las Fuentes again, walking to aerobics, when I noticed another tire (not any of the ones that had had problems before) looked a little flat. By the time I got done with aerobics, it was significantly flatter. So some of the guys from the church helped me change the tire to the spare and once again I headed back to the shop to get the tire repaired. This time it was a nail. Needless to say, I think I'm getting the whole how to deal with a flat tire bit down pretty good. The next morning, I woke up feeling kind of sinus-y. This began a five, or so, day stretch of dealing with sinus pains, feelings of my head swimming and just being out of it in general. But it's mostly cleared up now, so thank you, Lord, for no sinus infection and for a pretty quick recovery. So, things have been a little crazy over the last month or so, but there's also a lot of good crazy to tell!

We now have some new staff members to add to SI Costa Rica and our first Tico staff, to boot! Luis Diego, Cindy and their daughter Hannuka have jumped on board with us! Cindy will be starting a micro finance site with Maria (who is from Nicaragua and was an intern this last summer and has yet to be officially on staff, but is well on her way). They'll be working in each of the communities where we currently are, Los Guido, La Capri and Las Fuentes. They'll be working with women involved in small businesses in each of the communities, helping to tie the ministry focus places together, as well. Diego will be starting up a kind of sports/recreation site, that will also spend some time at each of the working ministry locations. In Las Fuentes, we're going to team up to present a more thorough and unified front in the sports department, as well as, providing a boy/girl scouts kind of alternative, incorporating Christian values in the teachings. I'm really excited for this new program in Las Fuentes. The times I've mentioned it to the kids there, they freaked out with excitement, so I'm pretty sure it'll do well. Well, we at least know that if it's of God, it'll prosper in how He'd have it do so.


So many new and exciting things going on here. With those things come challenges. One of those that hasn't seemed to give me much of a break, especially looking at last month, is that of finances. I am in dire need of more support. Would you PLEASE pray and consider how God would have you respond to such a need. I know that kind of giving may not be for everyone, but that doesn't mean that you have no part to play. Thank you for your continued prayers and support! God Bless! =)

Teamerizing!

Things have been busy as of late, real busy. Our summer has gotten off to a great start. After the Grove City College team, from Pennsylvania, we had a two week slot with no teams. It was a good time to really get involved with our summer interns and prepare together for the teams to come. After those 2 vacant weeks, we had a team come from The Well Church, in Fresno. I had a great group of ladies who were really fun to have at the site and to see them using specific gifts and talents they had with the kids and older ladies we visited. They even survived the infamous aerobics class! After a jam-packed 2 weeks, the Well team headed back to CA a week ago. And last Monday, our next group arrived: highschoolers and young adults from Savior's Church in Visalia and Heritage Church in Bakersfield. With one week down in their two weeks here, they've done great! My group at the Social Services site in Las Fuentes has been really good about diving in (sometimes literally) with the kids. Yesterday, for example, we had aerobics in the morning, in which their enthusiasm has lead me to have more difficult workouts, as I find my self laughing. at them. a lot. it's pretty great! After aerobics, we planned some activities for the following week (as the kiddos at our site have their 15 days of vacation from school). Then, as we were finishing lunch, it began to rain a little bit. The students got super excited to play in the rain with the kiddos---good thing! So, we headed back to the church and rounded up a bunch of kids, in a pied piper kind of fashion (which i love, by the way). We divided into teams when we arrived to the play (the big field area where we play with the kids). Not long after we arrived, it started raining pretty good. Soon, the field was transformed into a giant slippery sliding mud bath! The kids of the Fuent made it their personal goal to take each of us down in the ginormous puddle that we basically had to tread water and swim to get out of. The team fully embraced every part of this, not holding back at all and I know that the kids of Las Fuented LOVED it! It was also pretty hilarious to see everyone running around completely drenched in the muddy mess: the little kiddos and team members alike with mud beards, mustaches and uni-brows. It was beautiful! I truly believe that investing quality time in these kids in Las Fuentes is key. And being willing to be ridiculous and maybe look foolish for them and with them speaks volumes into their lives, in showing them that they are loved and have worth. I don't know all of the stories of the home lives of these kids, but I do know that something draws them to our activities and they keep coming back and wanting more. Sooooo, I don't know all the details of hows or whys, but I do know that we will continue to be obedient to what God's called us to do in Las Fuentes, as nebulous as it may seem to me or others at times. =)

Just a few pictures of the Fuent with the Well team:



Sam and Courtney with some kiddos at the Play Azul




Annalee (who's been the amazing intern at my site) with Raul playing a more difficult version of jenga?



Sam turning the jump rope for Angie and Tatiana



Megan and Tatiana <3

Dive bomb vs. Diving in

These last few weeks have been a little busier than most. We had our first set of interns arrive for the summer: Ally, Katie and Annalee. And they are pretty much amazing! We also just had our first team for the summer. It was a group from Grove City College in Pennsylvania and one individual from North Dakota. It was a great team- very genuine and excited to really dig in. We had about 5 ladies that came with Annalee and myself to what's been deemed the social services site in Las Fuentes. It was really encouraging to have more people around to give more individualized attention to a greater amount of kids. During these two weeks with this team, I also felt a lot of confirmation for how much I really do like SI and how they go about things. One of the times that this was especially confirmed was when another team from the states (not SI affiliated), came into Las Fuentes to give a soccer clinic/camp for a few hours one afternoon. And this is not to say that short term missions doesn't have its place, because it has definitely had a significant role in my life and plays a large part in SI. However, I've grown to appreciate even more the way SI does things because of the short term teams they bring to work alongside those who have an established place in such communities. With this team that came to do the soccer camp, we SI-ers were there, as well, so that we could help out if needed. During the camp, one of the kids thats been part of some of our programming before, Julio, fell and hurt his arm. In this case, I was happy to have had a previous relationship with this kid, because the people running the soccer camp didn't really know what to do in this situation, especially since Julio was so upset and afraid to tell his parents. So, the other SI ladies and I were able to walk him to his house and explain all of what had happened to his parents. Upon getting there, Julio just burst into tears and I explained to his mom and aunts what had happened. They told me that the problem was that they didn't have any insurance, but his mom was going to make some calls to figure some stuff out. The next day, we saw Julio. He had a cast on his arm and a smile on his face. Everything with the doctor had worked out fine. I, and the other ladies, were happy to be able to follow through in this situation and prove to Julio and his family that we really to want to be a diving in presence in their lives, rather than a dive bomb type of "relationship." I think what makes SI legitimate is the fact that we do have the in-country staff that are working in the communities day-in and day-out, so that when short term teams come through SI, they have that built-in trust because they come in and are associated with the already present relationship in that community. And this is what I love. =)

Below are some pictures from this last group and all of our various activities:




Erika, Olga and Hannah working on bracelets that materials had been donated for.



Post-aerobicizing!



At the Play with the kiddos! Flipping a coin to see who's up to bat first.



It can prove to be a very stretching experience, as Annalee is demonstrating so well!



Angie and Ariel survived the famous "tower hike!"

Overdue. Waaaaay overdue. Revoke my library card, that's how overdue this blog post is.

I'm pretty sure I'd said before that I would try to do better at writing more regularly. In this I have failed. But I am writing now. =)
And the subject of this writing is a team! Yep! We had our first team of the year back in early March. It was a team comprised of a group from the Intervarsity chapter at James Madison University in Virginia, a group from Jupiter Christian High school in Jupiter, Florida and one individual. It was quite a mix, but a good one at that! I had a group of 5 amazing girls at my site (2 from Jupiter and 3 from JMU). They all did amazingly at jumping in with all the various activities we did: they not only braved my aerobics class, but were a fun and encouraging addition, in helping to count down and providing more "models/examples" for the others to follow. They quickly befriended kids and took initiative in helping them with homework or activities. They enthusiastically helped pick up a bunch of nasty trash in a field where we play sports with the kids and then proceeded to put forth their best efforts in a soccer game against kids probably half most of our ages and twice as good---with a few exceptions to some star athletes* They helped herd kids as we hiked up a mountain to the kids' favorite cell tower destination. And they didn't even complain. Not when we had to take just about every form of transportation, sometimes resulting in a 1 1/2-2 hour bus ride, because our car was in the shop (such is life here). They didn't complain when they got pretty lobster fried after playing in the blazing sun with the kids or when the families we visited went on long speaking bouts without pausing for a chance to translate. Basically, they were amazing and an incredible support and encouragement to me. They just did really well over all =)


So, also, just to give you a little update on Las Fuentes, things have been going pretty well. Kids aren't super consistent in coming to tutoring/after school activities, but there have been quite a variety of kids that have come. Having teams come seems to help the kids become more aware of the continual activities we provide there on a weekly basis, though.
There is a core group of women that have been faithful participants in the aerobics class, which is exciting! With the exception of one class, in which we had around 25 participants, these 4 or so women have been super enthusiastic in their attendance. We are currently working on perfecting our grapevine, while raising the arms up and down and throwing a knee lift in there. Along with some other pretty amazing moves and resistance band exercises. They seem to love it. =)

Below are some pictures from when the team was here. please enjoy:


This is the field, or the "Play Azul" where we picked up trash and then played sports and provide some outdoor fun time with the kids.



The girls from Jupiter and JMU with the kids on our hike up to the cell tower.



Me with the amazing girls of the social services site.
l-r: Laura, Lacy, myself, Renee, Francesca and Amber