New People

We are meeting wonderful new people here in San Jose. Of course we are making friends with the other north americans who are at the language school to study, but we are particularly excited about our new tico friends.

Aida and Elsie, our next door neighbors are two very sweet ladies. They are a mother and daughter age 60 and 92. They invited us to their house for cafesito, which included coffee, tea, pasteries and little sandwiches. They were very patient as they spoke slowly in Spanish to get to know us. Apparently, we are the fourth family of language school students who have rented this house, so they have befriended the other families and helped them to progress in Spanish. They told us that the difference between Catholics and Christians is that the Catholics believe in Mary and God, and Christians believe in Jesus Christ. We hope to further than conversation in the future.

Rosa is a Costa Rican friend who is helping me learn to cook some new foods. She's made gayo-pinto (a delicious meal of rice and black beans with cilantro), pollo con tomate (chicken with a spicy, tomatoe, chile sauce), guacamole and fried plantains. She is showing me the tico way of life and helps us practice Spanish even though she gets excited and talks way too fast.

Fernando is a driver who works with people from the language institute to transport their massive amounts of luggage from the airport. We mentioned to him that we had heard that only Costa Rican citizens are allowed to have cell phones since the government has a monopoly on the phone services. He confirmed this, but told us that he used to work for the telephone company. We told him that we were wanting a cell phone for emergencies and especially to get a hold of each other when the baby comes. Two days later he came over to our house with a brand new cell phone. He had waited in a long line and put a cell phone in his name so that we could use it while we live here. What a blessing.

Just today, Mark was making an emergency run to the convenience store for diapers and met the Russian store owner, Alexander. He was showing Mark the scars and bullet holes on his arm, and told him that he has killed three thieves who were trying to rob his store. He said that our neighborhood is safe now because other hoodlums have heard what happens to vandals in our neighborhood. We're not sold on that story, but anyway, conversation ensued. In Spanish Mark told him that the problem is the same in north America, Costa Rica, Russia and all over the world. We all have wicked hearts that need forgiveness from God. Mark was informed that the god of Russia is vodka, but he would like to eat a meal with Mark and talk more. Wait, what country did we move to? We didn't expect to live as US citizens in Costa Rica and share the gospel with a Russian in Spanish. What a multi-cultural experience. Praise God for all these colorful people.