Sat.Feb.28th

Pics: Taking a break at the market.
Me and Chastity feeding the Titi monkey's (notice the baby on it's mother's back, click to see full size).

The last day of February. Wow time is flying with only 18 days left. This morning Chastity is still sick, and the rest of us head to the service group. There were only need greaters out in service this morning with a total of 7. Myself, Megan and Amanda go on some of our return visits. First we call on Scott, a man that Amanda talked to a few weeks ago. After ringing his doorbell, I notice up in the tree above us is a sloth, slowly climbing up the tree. After briefly talking to Scott(he had some guests and could talk) we get out our cameras and take more pictures. We can't seem to get enough of these interesting animals. Next, Megan was able to contact the lady she initially called on with Laurie that I wrote about in earlier in the blog. Megan was able to have a nice conversation with her, no Bible study yet, but we'll see. Next we head to my call, Luis, the young man who agreed to a study. I finally find him at home and this time he has the day off. He invites Amanda and I to sit out on his little front porch in the breeze and discuss the Bible. First we learn a little bit about his background. He grew up in Alajuela outside of San Jose and he remembers as a young child going to the Kingdom Hall occasionally with his next door neighbor. As he tells us a little bit about himself, we quickly realize that even at a young age (I think he's in his middle 20's) he has a real love for the Bible, a genuine interest in helping others, hates all the immoral and unjust things going on in the world, and seems to be a very meek and humble person. He prays every night to God. He had a lot of people abandon him, including many in his family. He explained that his landlord, a man from Lousiana who lost his house in Katrina, has done alot for him and that he's kind of a father figure to him. I read to him the scriptures at Ps. 145:16 and at 1 Pet. 5:7 to show him the kind of father Jehovah is. He agreed and said that God is the best father and friend you could have. After chatting for awhile and getting to know one another a little better we open with prayer and then cover the first part of the Bible Teach book. He LOVES it and wants to know more....."Tell me, what happens to us when we die?". I didn't want to deluge him with too much information so I told him I would read him one scripture, Eccl. 9:5, and that he could read ahead the 2 chapters in the book dealing with death on his own if he wanted. We close with prayer and afterwards agree to meet again next Tuesday and discuss chapter one. I can't wait to go back!

We get home, change, and head to the beach. Though still feeling rotten, Chastity decided to go also. She figured maybe the salty water would act like a neti pot (for those of you who are wondering what this is....well, look it up) and help her feel better. The waves were absolutely massive today, the biggest I've seen yet. Too big for an amatuer surfer like myself, I decided to stick to bodysurfing with the girls. Some of the Titi monkeys (they are the smaller ones that make a sound like a bird chirping) came down to the beach and everyone was feeding them. The mothers had their little baby's on their backs as they jumped from branch to branch. What a great day!

Friday, Feb.27th

Pics: Megan enjoying her concrete block chair while Santiago saves his hearing from the roar of a passing truck.

Santiago and Naomi ready to share some good news with the public.

Well its Friday, our long day in service to Jaco. And I (Chastity) am stuck at home sick. Being sick here is not the same as being sick in Vermont. In Vermont you stay at home in front of the TV and laugh at all your friends who are outside in the freezing cold out in service. I get so excited when I am sick in Vermont. “Yippie, I’m sick…a day off”. Here it is very different. You see your friends leave the house not jealous of you at all. On their way to Jaco where the surf is high and the shopping is grand. And there are tons of gringos to preach to. Hmmmmm…..so sad. So today in order to make this a good day…I am laying in the sun finishing my Watchtower and Awakes. My plan is to be darker than Mandy by the time she comes home today. Maybe I will even do my nails. Oh what a day.

Now it's Lance, and yes we are headed to Jaco, the 3 of us along with Naomi and Santiago will be setting up the literature table at the bus stop in downtown Jaco. We take turns, some sit at the table and talk to those who walk by and show interest, while a couple others walk around and do street work. We placed mostly Spanish literature, but I did have the privilege to talk to one man who stopped and took a handbill on the meeting times. He is originally from Costa Rica but has traveled all over the world. He speaks English very fluently and just before we boards the bus tells me that he very well may come to the meeting on Sunday. We get home late at around 4:30 and after changing and picking up Chastity we head to the market to buy our weekly fruits and veggies. Santiago rides up on his bike and informs us he's almost finished moving into his new place, "I only have a few more bike trips to make back to my other apartment and I'll be done." I take the girls home and go help Santiago finish moving with the car. Takes us 10 minutes, now that's living simple!

Thurs.Feb.26th

Pics: A spot by the road just before Jaco that I made the girls pose in front of.

Santiago with another one of his hidden talents - he can draw.

Today we worked near Playa Hermosa (Hermosa Beach), a really popular surfing village just south of Jaco. It was the four of us and the Ladds, Billy and his wife (I forget her name) they are from New Jersey and are serving here for a month. The territory here is mainly gringos who live in very nice houses up in the mountains. We didn't have any extraordinary experiences today, but we were to find quick alot of people. All of them as usual were very nice and hospitable. One our way home today we were almost to Quepos when I notice flying overhead two birds. Upon closer examination, I notice that they are pink flamingos! I yelled at the girls to get their camera and try to get a good photo of them in flight. Another one of the many beautiful creations of Jehovah. After service we had our family study (tonight we looked and read articles on serving where the need is greater), then Megan, Amanda and myself went over to Jaime and Anna's for cards and ice cream. Santiago was our dj during cards, playing music off youtube to keep us entertained, then a little later he draws Fred Flinstone and gives us a Spanish lesson! Chastity stayed home with another bad cold, something about this warm weather, it must be attacking our immune systems!

Wed. Feb.25th

Pics: Bryn starting the morning off right with some coffee and baked goods from our favorite local bakery.

The blue and gold macaw the girls got to see out in service.

Service this morning for me was working with Bryn at his house on the territories. He had a GPS unit that he's been using to try and map out the territories. As of now, some of the territories are very hard to understand, basically they are badly computer drawn lines with a few landmarks on them and dots to represent where the gringos live. They are still using the hand drawn ones from when we were here in 2008. Anyhow, by the end of the morning we had a really nice, easy to understand map of downtown Quepos. From there they will continue to branch out, using the same method. The girls worked with Bryn's wife, Nancy. The had the privilege of seeing a blue and gold macaw while they were working some territory north of town. It was one of the householders pets.

Tues.Feb.24th

Pic: A beach that went forever were we found some beautiful shells.

We had our meeting at 4 instead of 7 tonight, since the Spanish congregation is having their circuit overseer visit. At the meeting is Margo, the young girl I told you about earlier from New Jersey. Apparently her father, stepmother and sister continued on in their vacation. They had planned a week here in Costa Rica and then they were travelling to Nicaragua, but Margo asked if she could stay behind so as to continue to her Bible study! So, who knows, maybe she'll be our sister one day soon. After the meeting me, Amanda, and Megan (Chastity was determined to stay home and go to bed early) went to LaCubanita for dinner and cards.......that's right, cards right at the restaurant....hey, they are really laid back here.

More pictures posted

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Mon.Feb.23rd

Pics: Our wonderful host, Ms. Owens with the girls.

No, we are not visiting a prison, it's the parking lot of a grocery store. This is how many of the stores in and around the cities look like - razor wire and a guard tower with usually 1 or 2 guards walking the property with a shotgun in his hand. Did I mention that theft was a problem in Costa Rica?

We were able to sleep in a little before heading over to the B&B for breakfast. Same wonderful breakfast as yesterday except she added potatoes to the menu. While waiting for our breakfast, Ms. Owens wanted to know how our assembly went. She told us how that a brother, Dan was his name, from the English congregation in Grecia used to visit her. We left her the Bible Teach book, hoping that she will read the chapters on the resurrection hope. Her husband just died last month, January 2nd, on the day of their 47th anniversary. Very sad. From Grecia we decided to do a little sight seeing around the city. At one point we pulled over to let a speeding ambulance go by. About 2 miles ahead we notice the cars slowing down and swerving around something in the middle of the road. It was a motorcycle with no rider near it! No police or anyone around, just a wrecked motorcycle in the middle of the road. Seems you seem something so strange here daily. We were headed to Escazu, a suburb southwest of San Jose. This is were a lot of expats live. You would never believe you were in a third world country here. The mall we visited looked like something you'd find in Dallas with all the shops and even a nice cinema. Outside, around the mall was an Office Depot, Outback Steakhouse, PriceMart(Costco) & TGIFriday. I even had to indulge in a bean burrito and beef taco at the Taco Bell inside the mall. After a little shopping, we headed back to Quepos, back to reality for most Costa Ricans.