RandiKate with Friends Victoria and Mariani

Thanksgiving

November 23

Yesterday we had a really good time at our Thanksgiving Dinner with the entire school. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! It was fun to meet everyone’s families and get to share an important holiday for us. Bo did a great job with his presentation of info on the holiday. Everyone told me they could understand his Spanish and that he did very well. Some people were even interested in reading more about it. It was a little hard not to be with extended family for Thanksgiving. I think it is the first time that I haven’t at least spoken to our family. I missed them! It was Lily’s first Thanksgiving.

This is the first day I am feeling a little sad. We had to deal with a little “situation” with the school. The boys’ teacher was fired today. She was a new teacher and the director just wasn’t pleased with her performance and how she was fitting in to the program. He said they were bored and he can’t let that happen. They asked her to change some things and she didn’t so, they told her that today was her last day. It is hard for me because of the relationship. I like her. Also, because the classes will change for the kids now and that will just mean more adjusting for them. I pray that the new teacher is amazing and the transition will be a good one. I trust Hector’s judgment and it is his school, but I just hate those kinds of situations. L Please pray for the kids next week as they adjust to a new teacher and changes in their classes. We do have 2 new kids coming, so that could be fun too!

We received a package from my mom yesterday! It was so fun!! Thanks Mom!!

She arrives in only 1 week and we are counting the days!

This week we made a new friend. Cameron is a friend of Hector & Daniel from California. He came to the school to help out and volunteer where ever needed for a few days. He has been traveling Latin America the past few months learning Spanish. He and Bo got along well and we all enjoyed the time we spent getting to know him. He was a homeschooled kid from a family with 4 children. He is newly graduated from college and in a different stage in life, but I think he enjoyed being with our family and we enjoyed being with him. It is amazing how often the Spirit can make people friends instantly.

Nov 27
Things worked out fine with the boys teacher. She was actually relieved to be able to spend more time with her family. Thank you , Lord!

Mucha LLUVIA!

That means TOO MUCH RAIN!!! We hear that a lot around here lately!! :) Everyone is doing well. (Glory to God!) Lily is growing so much! George is talking so much more! He speaks complete SPANGLISH!!! It is so funny! He makes us laugh everyday! RandiKate has made many friends and they enjoy playing Barbies and do a lot of roll playing to figure out what the other is saying! One of her sweet friends is named "Milagro" It is precious to us and reminds us to pray for the Feria family! We miss all of you and especially with the Thanksgiving season. No one here understands the significance of the holiday! We are hosting a big dinner with traditional Thanksgiving food. We are preparing to explain (in Spanish) the importance of the holiday to us! We will have about 30 adults and about 20 children Thursday evening. No, I am not cooking! :-) There is a lady in Turrialba that lived in the US and will prepare everything for us. This may be the first time any of the teachers will have eaten turkey!! It should be fun and we will post some pics afterward. We hope you all have a wonderful day of remembering all that we have to be thankful for and to God for our country and His provisions! Much love to all of you! (Oh, This is a picture of our family at the table for lunch. The table is usually set with wonderful food when we arrive home from school)

Our Address

You can send letters to us and they will arrive within 1 week if you remember to put "airmail" on the package.

Christian Immersion Spanish Academy & Voz Que Clama Mission
BO SUMMERS
Apdo. 28-7150
Turrialba, Costa Rica

Sweet Bo!

Bo brought me flowers from his trip into Turrialba! They are beautiful roses and Lilies!! They are amazingly fragrant and I love how it fills the house! Notice the vase??!!

More From Costa Rica

November 9

Whew! It has been raining for 3 days almost continually! I can tell that we are being covered in prayer because normally this kind of weather would make me very sad. I feel fine. Believe me, I will be happy when the sun shines again because dealing with the rain is a pain. I should have brought rain boots, coats and umbrellas with us! We can purchase them here though. Supposedly, it doesn’t rain at all in Jan/Feb. It will probably be very hot! *smile*

Lily found her thumb! I will continue to try to get her to take a pacifier, but it sure is cute when they are this age!

PTL! George slept through the night and Lily slept during school! Thank you all so much for your prayers for us!! We moved George into the girls room. Maybe he feels more secure with them. If he were to wake up, he knows the girls will “mother” him. Thankfully, we all slept all night! (well, not Lily, but that’s ok) I think we actually stayed in bed until the LATE hour of 6:30am! *smile*

OH, Yesterday was a great fun day of grocery shopping! I rode the bus about 40 minutes into Turrialba (with Lily). I was concerned about how that could be with the rain and a baby AND shopping but Lily slept peacefully in the pouch and everything went smoothly. I met my professora at the bus stop and we walked around the town to a supermarket for grocery shopping. My homework the night before had been to make a shopping list (in Spanish) and be ready to shop. It was so much easier to remember the names of things while actually looking for something familiar and remembering what I need! I enjoy Diana’s company and she speaks enough English to help me when I cannot come up with a Spanish word (which is often). We walked to a few more stores trying to find a few more items including a mosquito net for Lily’s crib. Everything I needed cost around $100,000 colones! It felt crazy spending so much money at the grocery store! Afterward, I took a quick taxi ride home.

November 10

John David fell and hit his head. It was a little cut that may have needed a stitch. We walked up and down looking for the dr that is here from PA. Bo went into another town to get some hydrogen peroxide. I shaved is head cleaned it out very well and put a butterfly bandaid on it. The dr looked at it and said it was fine. The main concern would be infection, so to be sure to clean it each day. We are thankful it was not worse!

November 12

George fell and busted his chin on our cement floor! Thank you Jesus that it did not bust open!!! It may have been a trip to the emergency room. He has a big goose egg on his chin and it is very blue! L

November 15

Things are going well. The sun has begun to shine again. The babies are doing well. John David is having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to being in school each day. I know he will be fine, but today he is a little tired, I guess. We are planning a visit from Mom and we are all excited preparing for that! She is going to come Nov 29^th! (Happy Birthday Forest Cook) We can hardly wait!

We are all learning a lot of Spanish and Hector (the director) is searching for a phone for us! Thank you for your continued prayers!!

Hugs!!!

George's Business

OK, Some of you have heard me say "George goes in his bed from 2-4 everyday. What he does with that time is his business" Well, I guess I got what I deserve! (Praise God for washable markers) LOL!!!

Random thoughts

We're still here. Our time on the internet is limited. We have had some highs and lows during the first two weeks. It has definitely been a positive experience. Most of the lows were probably common "culture shock". It rains a lot. It has been fun to watch our home become a magnet for children in the neighborhood. Here are some very basic observations that I have made. Children do not need to speak the same language in order to have fun together. Girls enjoy beads and dolls. Boys enjoy balls, trucks, and dirt. Kids make messes. Boys make most of them. Charlie likes to throw a baseball in the street every day. The other boys want to be the first to get one of the other "guantes" (gloves). If Charlie notices someone walking by, he likes to show how hard he can throw the ball. Costa Ricans are "futbol" (soccer) enthusiasts and not baseball enthusiasts. Their hand-eye coordination is obviously not as important in soccer. We have met a few neighbors by looking for baseballs in their yard. It rains a lot in Costa Rica. Boys play rough. Butterfly bandaids are very useful for cuts to the head. We enjoy watching "Madagascar" and "The Incredibles" in Spanish. We don 't understand everything, but the plot remains the same. I know a lot more Spanish than I thought I did. I also realize that I have so much to learn. We took some video from the church service last night and also of our walk from the house to the school this morning. We are planning to send a CD to our family. Perhaps we will figure out how to upload it to the blog. Did I mention that it rains a lot.

This Week

November 5, 2007

It’s A Small World After All

Yesterday we went to La Mission. It is the church we will be attending. I really enjoyed it. The music was great with lots of enthusiasm! There was a guest preacher. Guess where he was from? Little Rock, Arkansas! We couldn’t believe it! He spoke with a translator. We enjoyed the time and meeting people.

It has been easy to meet people here. We get stared at a lot with all of the blonde children and especially the baby. Chandler says she doesn’t like it. I keep telling her it is because she is so pretty! J

First Day Of School!

We had a good day of school. Bo and I each have our own tutors, the girls have one, the boys have one, and there is someone to play with George and Lily. The girls that watch George and Lily are thrilled to have them! I don’t think many people bring their 3 month old or 2 year old! So, they get lots of attention. I don’t know if Lily will ever get put down! It is ok, though. I am happy that she is being loved. I like my teacher. We just had a conversation and asked each other questions about ourselves- Much more like visiting than studying. I like the relational part of that. I know I will learn more that way too! The kids played games and learned words in their class. After school, we walked to the little store for ice cream cones to celebrate! It was great!

Did I mention it rains every afternoon? It is so weird. We wake up early to the beautiful sunshine and it gets pretty hot (probably 80) and just when I think, “Ok, I am hot” a dark cloud rolls in and it rains for the rest of the afternoon and sometimes into the night. It is nice that it cools us off for the night. It is the rainy season here, but I am so thankful that it the sun shines most of the day!

Our First Week Here..

Nov 6 we have been here 1 week. Seems like longer right now. It is good to start school have some things to do. School is really great, but I feel like my head might explode. There is so much to learn! I like my teacher Diana. She is young and I enjoy talking with her. On Thursday we are going shopping as our lesson. Sounds good to me! The kids seem to enjoy their classes too. They keep telling me they didn’t do school, but played games, went on walks, look at books (all in Spanish of course) Funny, they don’t even realize they are studying and learning!!

We went to the neighbor’s house for a birthday party Carne Asada! Yum! It was fun! The children run all around the road and the adults visit (sound familiar?) Bo had gone into Turrialba, so it was just me and the kids. I listened to the women and picked up a few words here and there. I hope to be able to converse more with then some day. One thing that is funny… the moms dress their babies up with hats, socks, and layers of clothing in the evening when it cools off. It really isn’t cool, only the sun has gone behind the mountains. (about 75-80 degrees) Lily is usually only dressed in a onesie. All of the other women are so concerned about her being cold and constantly ask me if she is ok. J

November 7

Lily is 3 Months Old! She is so precious! Happy Birthday Lily!

Please pray for George and Lily. They are all mixed up on their sleeping. Lily hasn’t slept well all day since we started school and by the end of the day she is a crying mess. George doesn’t nap and goes to sleep by 6pm then is up all through the night and up for good by 5 am. It is wearing on Bo and me! The sun comes up early and there is a lot of noise outside by 5 am and George wants to watch out the window. All of that would be ok if he hadn’t been up every hour since 2 am! Whew… they need a little sleep adjustment.

Some things to pray for us:

To have the “gift of language” and remember what we study

For us to grow closer as a family and to God

George and Lily to adjust to sleeping arrangements

For us to be able to get a telephone (there are only a certain # available because of a monopoly here)

Much love from here,

Adjusting

Well, I am already feeling adjusted to the house. The little inconveniences aren't bothering me. Today I did some laundry on the porch. The washing machine is so basic. You have to manually change the buttons between each cycle. There is a spinner you move the clothes to after washing. Then hanging on the line. It was fun today, but I am thankful for Sedy! :-) George came up to me and said "Miss Cruz". WOW! I could have cried over that! :-) I guess laundry reminds him of her too. We are going into "town" today for a little shopping and make some copies. I haven't gotten the slide show to load, so here is one picture of our house.

Doing well

Last night was a good night of sleep. Amazing the difference that can make! It has been a good day. We walked down to the school (5-10 min) for orientation. Everyone is cheerful today. We are learning already from the lady that helps in the house and the neighbor children. It is fun. We are enjoying the food! I had a Coke this afternoon! YEA! :-) There is so much to see outside here. It is very beautiful. I am thankful.

COMO SE' WHAT????!!!!

October 31, 2007

Como se WHAT????

Whew. Well, you can say “culture shock”! It didn’t take long last night for me to realize how comfortable I am at home and how much I take for granted. The house is large for a hotel room. There are 3 small bedrooms and a bathroom off of the kitchen/living area. Sedi (Sadie) is our new helper. She had a good Costa Rican dinner for us when we arrived. It started to settle in that we are here for 6 months. There are so many things I go to look for and don’t have. It was noisy outside most of the night and the kids were a little unsettled by that. The motorcycles and roosters started at 5am. I was up by 6 am. The sun must come up earlier. It is 1 hour behind Central Time right now, but will stay the same when home “falls back”. Charlie woke up a little teary and mad whenever we spoke Spanish to him. I held him for a while and he cried and said he wanted to go home. Chandler started counting the days down. This could be hard. I here my mom say “ya think?” We ate Fruity O’s for breakfast and quickly got to work trying to sort and organize all of this stuff. There are no closets, only 1 small armoire in each room. We are using trunks for some storage. The kitchen is small. There is a microwave and small refrigerator and a small stove/oven. The laundry is outside on the back porch. The floors are cement! Not like nice stained cement, but like your garage. The beds are fine. Not great, but fine. The girls have a room with a bunk bed and the boys have 2 twins with a trundle for George. Lily is in her crib with us. Sadie came at 10 am this morning. She made a quick breakfast and we left with Hector to Turrialba for big grocery shopping. It was similar to Cancun, only like one of the small local mercados not Wal Mart. It was fun and Hector was helpful. When we got home Sadie had put away ALL of the clothes and organized everything!!! I couldn’t believe it! I said “Bo, Cruz was here!!!” WOW! That helped me so much! We also had coffee this afternoon. That helped too! Sedi is nice and speaks only Spanish, so it is a little difficult, but it is only the first day. Bo is doing great with his Spanish. I am surprised at how much I understand too. A neighbor came over this afternoon. I really understood what she was saying (I think) I think she was asking me if I wanted to leave Lily with her while we go to school. I told her “No, con migo” (No, with me) Soon, some local children started to gather at our front gate. We invited them inside the gate to the front porch. Our older children and the locals began to play and have a good time together. They know a little English and we know a little Spanish, so we figured each other out. Bo was happy and said this is what he hoped for. It helped him.

All of this has brought real missionaries to my mind. So many people out there who are called by God to go to foreign countries and tell people about Jesus. Many of them are in danger. Most of them are certainly uncomfortable. They have much less that this. I find myself praying for them. –for grace for them. I know God has called them and they have grace, but I don’t know that it is just easy breezy for them. I am sure they miss their families and the comforts of home just as much as I do.

I feel better tonight than last night. I know I was so tired last night. It is really fun to be here with Bo. I enjoy our time together. Hopefully each day will be better than the one before.

My God Is An Awesome God!!

October 30, 2007

My God Is An Awesome God!

Today we traveled from Tulsa to San Jose, Costa Rica. We set our alarm clocks for 4 am! The flight left at 6:10 am. I prayed all morning about our trip. I prayed for God to go before us and prepare the way. I was hoping that traveling with 6 small children was enough of a challenge of its own without adding traveling issues on top. Thankfully, it was! The little ones were perfect on both flights! Lily and I were upgraded to first class on the first flight. She nursed and slept the entire flight. Then George and Bo were upgraded on the second flight. This gave us an open seat for Lily’s car seat! She was great! They showed an ok Disney movie and all was well for all of us. Then off to customs… All of our 13 checked trunks/bags arrived unharmed. We found someone to help push us through the airport to immigration. We had so many children and so much luggage we just passed right through without even asking us anything! We hardly even had to wait in line at all! On the way out of the airport there is a large glass window where people stand outside and wait for others coming out of the airport. I have never felt so much like a fish in a fishbowl as this time! People even had their faces pressed up against the window staring at all of us! It was so hilarious. Bo’s biggest concern was the luggage and how would we get to Tuis with all of us and all of our stuff. Hector arrived at the airport to pick us up. We all fit in a 12 passenger “mini”-van and our luggage behind us in another vehicle. No problems at all. Talk about “God going before us”! It was awesome! I sang the song all afternoon. We drove through San Jose about 1 ½ hours to a restaurant. It was our first experience ordering and waiting to see what we actually get. It was all good, just a bit too much food! J There was a huge rain while we were there. The kids had a ball running around outside in the downpour! Then we drove another hour to our house in Tuis. The countryside is beautiful. There is sugar cane and coffee growing all along the sides of the roads. It all reminds me of a movie. Little tin roof homes built into the mountain side. The houses are all different beach inspired colors. Our house is coral. I will send pictures as soon as I can get a time to actually get online and post on the blog. The house….hmmm. I will write more about that tomorrow. Thank you God for our traveling mercies!