leaving Grecia...

so i've spent the last three and a half weeks here in Grecia, Costa Rica. it is absolutely beautiful. sometimes when i am walking around i half to slap myself (figuratively) a little bit because i forget to be in awe of my surroundings. Grecia is considered the "campo" or country of CR, although it is still a decent sized town. we are surrounded by farmland (coffee and sugar cane for the most part) and mountains (and sunshine). 

aside from the physical aspects though, relationship-wise and what-i'm-doing-wise, Grecia has been a lot different than my San Jose and Nicaragua experiences. our program here has been connected in every way to an evangelical church--our families attend there, they organize our work, and we take classes there. the people at the church are awesome--extremely friendly and welcoming--but it has been interesting adapting to different styles of worship and organization as well as different beliefs. if you want to know more about these differences, come ask me in person when i get home--i would love to share.

I have been living with a single woman who has three sons out of the house, so it has just been her and i. although i love her and appreciate her very much, because it was just the two of us it wasn't the most exciting of times living here. however, it has also been a good thing, because i feel as though i have developed a deeper relationship with her than with my other families--we have had a lot of chances to talk about our lives and our faiths and discuss (sometimes argue) over our differences in beliefs.

i also spent a few days a week working at a pharmacy (they changed me from the bank). this was incredibly boring and by far the worst part of being here--because i know nothing about medicine and cannot really talk about medicine in spanish, there was really nothing for me to do there. i had to walk a thin line between looking friendly and not wanting to appear as though i actually worked there.

last week was semana santa (holy week), so we had part of the week off and my mom took me to visit her sons on the coast. i got to spend two days at the beach, although i felt a little awkward being the non-family member. i put pictures on facebook of this trip if you are interested.

now i am heading back to my san jose family for a few days, then off to panama for an indigenous island for a little over a week, and then back to the states! in two short weeks i will be home in grand rapids--so crazy. it will definitely be a bittersweet goodbye.

love you all and will see you soon!