US Citizen

How many trips do you have to make in taxis to receive a US passport for a baby born in Costa Rica? SEVEN! Officially, Clarissa Elena was a US citizen from the moment of birth, but it was still necessary to complete a matrix of paperwork to receive her birth certificate, passport and social security number. So after 2 trips to the hospital records department, 2 visits to the Costa Rican Embassy, 2 excursions to civic registration and 3 appointments at the US Embassy, we hold Clarissa's paperwork in our hands. This is good timing because we are moving to Tegucigalpa in THREE weeks. We will say goodbye to our friends in Costa Rica, board a plane with one-way tickets, and arrive in Honduras. (That is if we can survive as we take graduation exams at language school and pack our 16 suitcases which hold our earthly possessions.)

There are many changes in front of us. We will be changing from a completely outdoor lifestyle to an indoor lifestyle. Without a car here in Costa Rica, we walk everywhere, miles every day. We walk to school, the grocery store, restaurants and stores. But Tegucigalpa is too dangerous to walk, so we will always travel by car. In Costa Rica we have beautiful parks, including a playground directly in front of our house. Tegus does not have parks, so we will probably make endless outings to McDonalds to let the kids play in the playland. This will be an adjustment for us, but we are willing to make this sacrifice to learn from and serve with the Honduran people.

We do not yet have a house or a car in Tegucigalpa, so our first weeks will be spent in search of these two things. A family from the church will be hosting us for 2 weeks while we look at rental houses and shop for a used car. Ten days after arriving, Mark will begin his work and studies at Iglesia Impacto. But we are comforted by the fact that we arrived here in San Jose, Costa Rica without very many details worked out, and God orchestrated things very specifically. If fact, it may be that it is easier to trust God and be flexible when not everything is planned. That way we don't have a specific expectation as to how life will look. And it's pretty exciting to have nearly everything a mystery.