05 ː Two thirds (¡¿?!)

Saturday, November 5, 2021

Ahora vemos de manera indirecta y velada, como en un espejo; pero entonces veremos cara a cara. Ahora conozco de manera imperfecta, pero entonces conoceré tal y como soy conocido. I Corintios 13:12

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I Corinthians 13:12

This next week marks the two-thirds point in my semester abroad in Costa Rica! While I’ve been slacking in my blogpost frequency, I’ve had no lack of post-worthy experiences and interactions in the last month and a half.

Things experienced:

We spent the first week of October at the Students International base in Nindirí, Nicaragua, near the capital of Managua. I worked in the agriculture program, accompanying an SI national on house visits, learning about how SI is investing in the projects of subsistence-based families. We took a boat tour of the islets in Lago Nicaragua, hiked up Volcán Nindirí, and spent a day in the beach in San Juan del Sur.

Returning to Desamparados, Costa Rica, we completed our intensive Spanish courses after three more weeks. In my literature and culture class, I got to research and present on Latin American modernist architecture. We students were able to breathe a bit after finishing up these heavy courses and let ourselves feel a bit of pride in accomplishing them. To celebrate, we went ziplining and whitewater rafting in the Río Sarapiquí.

A few weekends back, my host family took me to Pérez Zeledón to celebrate my host mom’s son’s 35th birthday. We stayed at a church retreat center run by Salesians, an order of Catholic priests that my host mom’s son belongs to. We went cheese tasting at a family-owned cheese farm, celebrated with a Caribbean-themed birthday party (I sang karaoke!), and went to Playa Ventanas, a stunning beach framed by two cavernous hills, which we explored a bit.

Two weeks ago we began working in our ministry sites in Los Guido, an impoverished neighborhood of Desamparados. I’m working in the Creative Arts Workshop, which hosts classes in woodworking, guitar, and painting. Attendance has been abnormally low as of this month, which has been a bit discouraging. However, I’ve been able to connect well with the people who have come and share in their creative projects.

Last weekend my teammates and I went to Manuel Antonio National Park. We went to (more!) incredible beaches, hiked in the forest, and saw lots of capuchins and iguanas. The capuchins were surprisingly aggressive. One stole my friend's Gatorade bottle and another hit my friend because she wouldn't give him the marshmallow in her hand!

Yesterday I witnessed a phenomenal performance by Costa Rica’s National Symphonic Orchestra in the Teatro Popular in San José. It was the first professional concert I’ve attended in person since the start of the pandemic, and what a joy it was to hear live music! The program was full of young soloists who were the finalists in a concerto competition put on by the orchestra. ¡Bravi!

This next week we will be in intensive classes again, this time taught by the director of SI Costa Rica, a course called Missions in Latin American Contexts. Although I don’t feel ready to dive back into coursework, I’m eager to learn more about the theory and theology behind missions work and what integrative and wholistic missions looks like.

Things learned:

about Central America…

Latin America is not a monolith (surprise!). With the help of my studies in the literature class and my stay in Nicaragua, I’m beginning to appreciate the richness in the different cultures and identities represented in this region. I grew up with a very generalized idea of “Latin culture,” which if often used to refer to “not U.S. or Canada” in our hemisphere.

In Nicaragua I learned how to hand-harvest corn and how to sow yucca!

about Spanish…

In my grammar class, we focused heavily on a concept called “temporal reference,” which I found intriguing. The idea is that a morphological form of a verb, whether it is conjugated in the past, present, future, or a perfect tense, doesn’t necessarily express that same tense in its semantic message. For example, the future tense can be used to express conjecture in a present situation. Likewise, the conditional tense can be used to make guesses regarding something that’s already passed. The imperfect past tense is used in indirect speech, when talking about something somebody said in the past, originally using the present tense in their message. I applied what I learned in my morphosyntax class this summer to help clarify the difference between the message (semantics) and the words and forms of words in which that message is conveyed (morphology & syntax).

about myself…

I’ve learned that I get carsick easily. I’ve been spending a fair deal of time in minivans and tour busses, and I’ve had some nasty headaches and some close intestinal calls along these windy mountain roads with lots of elevation changes.

I’ve always known that I was affirmation-, achievement- and goal-oriented, but I’ve never known these things to be a weakness, until this semester. Over the years as an overachiever, I’ve developed finely tuned gauges that let me know how well I’m doing, whether or not I’m meeting expectations. If I were a bat, affirmation would be something like echolocation feedback, letting me know if I need to change my course of flight. In university, I receive quick feedback on my performance in classes, work, and music, but here, apart from the final grades we received for our intensive courses, I’m left flying blind. I’m learning to put forth effort and take risks without expecting concrete feedback. I’m having to adjust my gauges and remind myself that the majority of what I’m learning is not academic, but is rather honing my relational and culture-transitional capacities. And that’s hard.

Things felt:

Limits. I haven’t been implementing a Sabbath routine, and we’ve been traveling almost every weekend. Two weeks ago this pace finally caught up with me, and I was knocked down with a migraine and nausea for a day. Everything I do is taxing here, and I need to be looking after myself physically and mentally.

Celebration. Celebration is a necessity for the soul, and there have been some clear milestones that I have been able to commemorate. In Pérez Zeledón, I met a group of ticos my age with whom I was able to quickly make friends and converse clearly in Spanish. I was surprised to find myself “flying” (volando, a Ticanism), conversing and conviviating in a natural setting. I also completed six weeks of intensive Spanish courses and—although I shouldn’t depend so much on affirmation—I am very pleased with my grades as well as the level of engagement I put forth in the writing assignments and presentations.

Homesickness. It’s been real. At my low points, I find myself counting down the weeks to when I return home. During these times, it’s hard not to think about the fact that I missed my nieces’ birthdays or the idea that it’ll be Christmas time when I get back and there’ll be a nice, toasty fire in the living room that my family will be sitting around. (Nonetheless, it’s truly hard to believe that I only have five more weeks ahead of me. In fact, I’m already researching internship opportunities for next summer, hoping to return to Latin America, if not Costa Rica itself.)

Prayers & Petitions:

If you are a person who prays, please consider praying especially:

· that I would be making space for God’s presence and time to worship Him sincerely;

· that God’s Spirit would continue cultivating a soft and fertile heart within me and give me eyes for His Kingdom;

· that I would be active in supporting and encouraging my teammates in their trials and frustrations; and

· that I would be giving myself grace and continually taking on the role of “student,” expecting nothing more of myself than to observe, adapt, and grow.

I appreciate you so much. Thank you for your impact, prayers, and presence in my life.

Be well,

jcb