Day 2: Saturday

After a long night of sleep, we woke up, ate breakfast (gallo pinto, eggs, fruit, etc.) at the hotel, then drove to our host church in Guarari.

The pastor was running an errand when we arrived, so we waited for a little while inside the church. While waiting, another mission group arrived, so we talked to them for a while. They were from another state and were planning on going to a Nicaraguan refugee village nearby and playing with the kids there. After a few minutes, the pastor arrived and explained our jobs. Two from our group walked around the neighborhood passing out VBS flyers to the kids, two went with our guide to the home of some church members who were in wheelchairs to pray with them and see what they needed, and the rest of us stayed at the church to apply a new layer of concrete to one of the walls. Some of us layed it down, and the rest went and smoothed it out. It was hard work, and we weren't very good at it, but we caught on eventually.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group returned and shared about their experiences. The group that went to the home said it was really moving and eye-opening. You can read more about their experience on Claire's blog. After we had been working for a few hours, we stopped to have lunch. A few ladies had been working in the church kitchen all morning to make lunch for us and the other group. I don't remember what it was exactly but it was really good. 

After lunch came the REAL work: the VBS. Ticos (Costa Ricans) are very laid back so the kids sort of drifted in over the course of the day. We did singing first (we sang Yo Tengo Gozo, the Spanish version of I've Got The Joy) then had story time using our resurrection eggs. After that, we did crafts with the kids, so I sat with a few of them at a table to help. The two girls I was sitting closest to were Emeli and Michel. It was interesting trying to interact with Ticos on my own for the first time and help them with the crafts. I ended up using my hands a lot and asking the guide what they were saying, how to say certain things, etc. The children all loved the crafts, including the boys. We made palm branches as our first craft from tracing and cutting out the outlines of their own hands on green paper, then taping them to glue sticks. For our second, we helped the kids cut out red hearts and glue them on pink paper, then add googly eyes and other stickers, then write "Abre mis ojos, oh Christo" which means "Open my eyes, oh Christ." The kids really liked getting to pick out their own stickers to put on their papers, and Emeli asked me to write her name and mine as well on her palm branch. 

Our group with the kids and their crafts

After they finished their crafts, we went outside to play games. We played a type of freeze tag that they play in Costa Rica, and then sharks and minnows. I think the kids had a ton of fun. After games, we did a few more resurrection eggs, took a few pictures with the kids, and were done for the day. It went pretty well and while it was hard understanding the kids at times (and a few poked fun at me and some of the other students' Spanish skills) it went much smoother than I had anticipated. I made some friends too :)

Me with Emeli

After a long day at the church, we drove back to the hotel and I took a nap since I had a migraine. After a while, we went to dinner nearby. I got a 1/4 of a chicken, salad, and fries. The chicken at this restaurant was fabulous. They also served us watermelon and pineapple juice which were amazing as could be expected. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and all met in one of the rooms for devotions. Then we sat and filled Easter eggs while talking and laughing.

It was still pretty early so the girls went to my hotel room and played cards and talked until around 11. Our group was really starting to get to know each other and there were a lot of laughs going around.