Lost in Translation

We've started to make a few Tico friends, or at least acquaintances. My conversation partner Carlos and I have had fun the last two Wednesdays. We talk English for one hour, then Spanish for one hour. He's helped me with some cultural things also.

Lucas and Eliana just got back from a job. I enjoy hearing the comments from people we pass. The call blondies "machos" here; different from Colombia where they are "monos" (monkeys). We just met a family on the other side of the soccer field behind our house. They were very gracious and said they'd known two other students from the Spanish Language Institute. I think I'll head down there when I'm looking for some conversation.

I've heard a question here a few times, "What can you give me?" (I would write it in Spanish, but I'm still figuring out how to use the Spanish keyboard layout). Yesterday a group of four boys came to our door. "What can you give us?" they wanted to know. Well, we don't give strangers money, but I decided we could give them some lemonade. I then had a chance to tell them about the best gift ever, salvation in Jesus Christ. I read them a tract while they drank their lemonade and munched on a piece of bread I had also given them. They may have struggled to understand my less than perfect Spanish, but I was able to share the gospel with them nonetheless. Pray that we would have more chances like this.

My conversation class has been almost as much about culture as conversation. Today we talked about how Ticos can live on a $300/month salary and whether we should or shouldn't have mission agencies.

The short answer to the first point: Ticos often have to live together with other family members (brothers, etc.) to make ends meet. In that case, each family member would be responsible for paying one of the bills (water, power, rent, etc.). Our teacher started working when she was 11 years old. She worked from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. as a maid, then went to school from 6-10 p.m. After that she did homework, went to sleep, and woke up to do it again.

She now has her first car, for which she prayed twenty years. These discussions definitly cause we to feel humbled.

The Spanish word "pobrecito" is used to refer to people who are to be pitied. When you child is sick, you may call him "pobrecito."

This idea also has a place in Latin American culture. It's not uncommon for someone to just ask you for money on the street. They'll give you a story about their child being sick or their back hurting.

On Saturday we had the funniest experience of someone wanting money. We got on a bus and sat down. The last guy on looked very suspicious. His eyes shifted, and his gestures were jerky. Suddenly he started yelling that "God bless all of you and all the world." Then he started singing Latin songs at the top of his lungs. The hilarious thing is that he produced all of the rythmns with a clicking sound of his teeth and lips. He'd interupt his singing with the beat . . . it was pretty interesting. When he was finished with several songs, he walked the bus looking for money. Pobrecito.

Today was encouraging in a strange way. Eliana has been sick, and Lucas started the day at school by howling when we left him in his class. That was hard. In the afternoon we decided to take Eliana to Clinica Biblica for a checkup. We got there and had her checkup. When I saw the bill I realized that I didn't have enough money, nor did I have my credit card (I try to only carry what is essential here). So, Holly and Eliana waited while Lucas and I hailed another cab back home to get money and a credit card.

How is this encouraging? Well, I was able to have a good conversation with the taxi driver, talking to him about the gospel some. Meanwhile, Holly met a young woman named Karol, who used to attend a Baptist church but no longer goes anywhere. Holly said that she may come to our church with us in the future . . . God obviously uses our weaknesses to show His strength.

I just uploaded our January prayer letter.

January Prayer Letter

Today has been an informative day to say the least. It started at 3:30 a.m. with two gun shots being fired outside on our street. Holly thought they were firecrackers, and I wasn't sure. I kept wondering why someone would be shooting off two solitary firecrackers at such an hour. Adrenaline began pumping, and I don't think that I fell back asleep. On the walk to school, we learned that our neighbors across the street had someone up on top of their roof, trying to climb into their backyard. Our freelance guard took two shots (presumably warning shots) at the thief and he raced across the top of the roofs to safety.

This afternoon I went to Hipermas, which is a big grocery store. I felt pretty proud of myself because I thought I'd gotten everything on Holly's list. Unfortunately I'd made some mistakes (e.g. I didn't know "Shout" makes a product to get rid of odors . . . I was supposed to get the spot remover--sorry Holly!). Anyway, I had a nice conversation with the taxi driver on the way home. Young guy, asking about my family, etc. Then he helped me unpack the groceries into our little garage. I believed him when he told me we'd gotten everything. Later we realized that he'd taken a whole bag of stuff. Thankfully it wasn't anything high-priced. He got our avocados, sausage, cilantro, and mints. Chock that up to naivete on my part, and it's a historical day--the first time I've ever had anything stolen from me. What a sheltered life!

This pains me to say, but in Latin American a little healthy distrust never hurts.

What does it mean to say, "I speak Spanish"? Good question. As the people at the Spanish Language Institute have pointed out, it's not about simply ability to communicate. Almost anyone can communicate basic needs, through gestures, acting, drawing, etc. Or you can communicate by using simple nouns or phrases. "Bathroom," to mean "Where is the bathroom?" Or you can string subjects, verbs, etc. together, without correctly relating them grammatically. I know someone who does this. This person has a huge Spanish vocabulary but cannot conjugate a Spanish verb (their spelling changes based on mood, tense, and person)to save their life. Then of course ability with the language increases to the point of being able to clearly understand and articulate any idea in a grammatically pleasant way.

This is a huge job for anyone! I'm working on vocabulary, conjugating of verbs, grammar, listening skills, and pronunciation all at once. I think that my initial expectations were a little high for myself. Don't worry, I'm still going to get there, but it will more painful than expected.

Take today's sermon for example. I got the basic idea. I was challenged spiritually. But I missed most of the illustrations. I do best when the preacher reads a verse and then comments on it. I do worst when he says, "Now that reminds me of this time when . . ."

Pray that I'll find some good Tico language helpers. I talked to a guard down the street for about 30 minutes today--that was good. But I need to find more people like that. As the guard, Virgilio, told me, "People in San Jose only want to talk if they want you to do something for them." That's an exaggeration, but it will take time to find more good language helpers.

The Costa Ricans have a phrase they use for many things . . . "Pura vida," which literally means "pure life." How's your day? Pura vida. How's your car running? Pura vida (okay, I haven't heard that one because we don't have a car, but I've heard it's really used).

But the funny thing is that "pura vida" isn't all that pure. I was talking to our neighbor tonight, and he told me to be very careful around here. He said the houses are like jails, which is true. We need four keys to get through the front door, and our gate has barbed wire fit for a war zone.

The economy here has major cracks in it. Inflation is at 13%, and scandals abound. Something like two or three ex-presidents are in jail for corruption.

The weather has been strange here too, so they tell me. Limon, a city on the Carribean coast has had horrific flooding, leaving thousands of people without shelter.

This reminds me that we live in a fallen world. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," as Scripture says. Even though Ticos may say "pura vida," they need the forgiveness and new life offered in Jesus Christ as much as any other people.

These difficulties are actually good for us. The transition to Colombia will be easier. We'll be used to watching our backs and locking numerous locks and carrying a hidden billfold. God is good!

Our classes started yesterday in the language school. Holly and I are in the same grammar class for two hours, then we split apart for our conversation and pronunciation classes.

Holly has (moderately) struggled with the language for the simple fact that Costa Rican (they say Tico for the adjective) Spanish is different than Colombian Spanish. This has caused her some confusion. For example, the word for "grass" and "pacifier" are different. But she'll adjust. I told her it's a good experience for her to understand what most of us missionaries deal with on a regular basis. She looked at the paradigm of the Spanish verb and said, "Wow, I can't imagine memorizing that!" Well, I can.

Actually, Spanish has been going pretty well. I can understand virtually everything the teachers say, which is all in Spanish. They put me in the highest grammar class for our trimester and the second highest for conversation (Holly of course is in the most advanced for both).

The kids have been struggling with different aspects of living here. Lucas found an anthill at his Kinder class yesterday. I'm not sure why he let a bunch of them bite him, but he did. The kids have been waking up really early and not going to sleep very easily either. Oh well, what can we expect? They have enjoyed their Tica teachers and classmates.

Well, I better sign off for now. We have Internet at our house now, so updating and communicating will be easier.

This week at language school is orientation week. We´re really enjoying the sessions each day. The most fascinating session today dealt with the political and economic situation here in Costa Rica. According to the businessman who did the session, Costa Rica cannot produce anything cheaper than they can import, except Costa Rican babies.

For this reason, they have begun to focus primarily on tourism and service industries. 95% of Intel processors are put together here in San Jose.

Social security here is also very comprehensive. We´re learning about that because we´ll become employers when we hire a maid. We plan on having her work only one day per week, but it will really help. House work takes longer because we don´t have all of the same amenities (e.g. we don´t have a dryer).

Well, gotta run back to class.

We safely arrived in San José on Monday evening. The Carters picked us up at the airport, and we arrived at our new home.

Addresses are very interesting here because they don´t use street addresses but instead mark meters from a landmark (note: the landmark may no longer exist). Our house is a nice two bedroom located about 10 minutes walk from the language school. The interior is very nice; picture light orange and white stucco, blue ceramic tiles on some of the counters, and brown tile floors. We have a cute little backyard, probably about 25 feet by 10 feet. The first morning I took a cold shower . . . thankfully we figured out how the shower-head heater works, so I had a moderately hot shower today.

We´ve already had a few interesting cultural experiences. You put your trash out on the sidewalk twice per week. I didn´t want wild dogs to get the trash so I put it on our enclosed entryway. That was a mistake as the big black dog next door (somehow) pushed his body in enough to grab the bag and rip its contents out. Sorry next door neighbors! Then another stray dog made our neighbor dog angry at 4 a.m. this morning, causing him to bark angrily for about 40 minutes.

Holly, Scott, his brother, and I went to a big store for major purchases last night. Things are expensive here, so the bill came to $330. I pulled out my trusty Visa, and heard an angry beep. It said something like, ¨Your card has been rejected.¨ Thankfully Scott and I had enough cash between the two of us to cover the bill! That would have been very embarrassing as Holly and Scott´s brother had already taken the carts out to a taxi.

We had our first day of orientation today. I´m really going to enjoy the year of Spanish. The people at the language school are very gracious. Lucas and Eliana had a great first day of Kinder (like a preschool).

Climate note: I hate to say it, but we left an ice storm in Iowa to come to 70 degree, sunny weather, surrounded by green mountains on every side. Oh, our backyard also has bright pink and orange flowers.

Thanks for your prayers--God has blessed in our first days here.

Today is the big day. We'll be leaving shortly for the Des Moines Int'l Airport to leave for Costa Rica. Right now freezing rain is falling in Ames, but hey, that never stopped us before (I'm from Minnesota).

We'll try to keep you updated as we have a chance. May the Lord bless each and every one of you who prays for us--as Christ said, "apart from Me you can do nothing."

We'll be leaving Des Moines at 12:05 to Houston, then on to San Jose, Costa Rica, arriving at 9:17 p.m. (if the Lord allows us to get out of Iowa).