Costa Rica Jan 2024 Blog 4

Dia Cuatro (Day four)

Waking up to a bit more redness on our faces and necks reminded us that we were only 8 degrees from the equator.  The scrambled huevos (eggs) pocketed between two fried corn tortillas for breakfast reminded us that we are in a country with different traditions that we get the opportunity to enjoy this week.

Cathie started our day with a lovely devotional about taking time to shift our focus from what we can do to show God that we love him, to remembering the extent of God’s love FOR us.  God wants us to take time to intentionally soak in and appreciate his love for us.

By 8am we were off in the bus headed to the worksite.  On our drive this morning we witnessed the manual labor with which the sugar cane is harvested and the pineapples are planted.  (On the way back to camp at the end of the day we got to see the burning of a sugar cane field which Wil had informed us was the process they go through to remove the top of the cane and scare off the snakes prior to harvest.)

Once at the worksite we mostly resumed the same roles as the previous day but Julie and Marlene jumped in to help hoist the concrete panels into place after the last of the columns were set and the last of the concrete was poured.  Shortly after starting our workday, a woman from the church dropped off fresh pineapple and oranges for which we absolutely took an extra break to enjoy! (See photo with Jon and Pedro the jobsite foreman.). For extra credit, several of the team members (USA & Costa Rican) literally RAN away from the concrete work to help the neighbors run-start their car, and Julie led the team to victory.

We stopped for helado (ice cream) again on the way home.  One of us actually had 2 ice cream treats but I promised not to mention David’s name.

Wil, Yolanda, and their hermana (daughter), Isabella, joined us for dinner. Julie picked her first banana straight from a tree for desert, and Rusty and Martha gleefully took their turn at dishes…but I’ve come to realize that Rusty and Martha appear to enjoy every minute they spend together, even after 35 years of marriage.

To wrap up the day, Bill read from Psalms 16 and continued his devotion with thoughts on holy & happiness and how true religion lies in our hearts.  Bill concluded with a timely reminder that we are guests in this beautiful land and need to remember to focus our efforts on community and relationships more than our worksite productivity.