Sunday, August 14, 2011

A Great Week in CR


           The trip was great.  Very fruitful.  After catching up on sleep on Sunday after my red-eye flight (I was lucky enough to have a whole ROW to myself on the flight from Houston to San Jose – a little gift!), we were off and running around for the rest of the week.  Jonathan and Amy (one of the couples serving at the Project) graciously drove us to the appointment with the ob-gyn doc on Monday morning.  It was an informative, if a little intense, visit.  The Dr. was very informative and I felt really good about the type of care I’d receive in Costa Rica.  It did bring up some questions about how my ectopic pregnancy was treated here in the states, but getting a second opinion is always good, and I can tell he has a passion for his patients and giving them the BEST care possible.  My appointment lasted 30-45 minutes – that says a LOT.
            The rest of the day and week consisted mainly of us being chauffeured around everywhere by Steve looking for houses and at stores, pricing things out for setting up our home. (Steve is the original missionary that helped launch the Project 13 years ago, along with his wife Georgiana and the local pastor Jorge.  We met Steve and Georgiana 7 years ago when were traveling/studying in CR).  I wrote down a zillion prices of things we will have to buy: everything from dishes, to coffee makers, to beds and sofas.  Things are NOT cheap in Costa Rica. I saw my Covergirl mascara going for $24 in Walmart!           
More importantly, however, was we found a house to live in - we think. We have three options and have not signed anything yet, as we’re waiting to hear back from the landlady of our first option.  The house is a little farther away from the Project than we’d like (15 min. in traffic), but has a HUGE yard and lots of space where we could host visitors.  We had been praying for a house with at least some green space – a rarity in CR unless you live in a mansion practically – and this surpassed all our expectations.  It’s a little out of our price range though so we offered $200 less than the owner was asking and are waiting to hear from her.  She lives out of the country, but was coming back into town this weekend and wanted to meet us… Alas, we are back in Seattle already.  But the real estate agent suggested that they go visit the Project together to see what we’ll be doing/who we’ll be working with, and so we are hoping and praying that she accepts our offer.  She visits the Abraham Project on Tuesday.  Cross your fingers!!
If that doesn’t work out, we have two other condos that would work fine and they are a lot closer to the project, just with far less yard (like 12x6 feet).
Besides all that, we were not only blessed by Steve’s amazing chauffeuring skills, but also by all the legwork and phone calls both Steve and Georgiana made for us regarding housing.  In addition, their hospitality and gourmet cooking was incredible.  Seriously, they are amazing cooks and we were treated to some truly delicious meals.  We couldn’t make this huge step in our lives without their help, or the other families that are serving at the Project.  Muchas gracias amigos!  And thanks to all of you who were praying for us.  Kate did great with Joe’s padres, and we felt His peace and presence throughout the week while we were away.  Here are some pictures of our trip.
El Jardin (the garden) in house option #1
The back of the house.
Trash on the street - typical in lots of places.
A really cool, upscale store called Cemaco.  It was like a Costa Rican Anthropolgie.  I got in trouble for taking pictures!
A very nice home, but notice the razor wire.  Very typical and necessary.
Just down the hill is the Abraham Project.  This is a typical Tico (Costa Rican) neighborhood.

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