semana una...

I have been in Costa Rica about a week...a little more maybe. It has been completely amazing. We went white water rafting yesterday which was probably one of the coolest things that I have ever experienced. i was rafting through the rain forest yesterday. wow.

It is almost hard to put into words this experience. Everyday I am experiencing new things than the day before. Culturally, emotionally, and spiritually I am being streched and learning so much everyday. I never really imagined what this would be like while I was at school or even home. It almost felt fake. And even now there are times when I feel like, "man is this really happening?" It gets me excited to do more and more everyday.


So lets see what exactly does it look like down here. We start the day everyday with fresh fruit and time to pray and reflect and talk to each other. Then we go to the campus to just talk to and get to know the Costa Rican people. We have a lot of free time, and time to really love the people that we meet. I love it. Today I hung out with this girl that I met last week and we went shopping and to a coffee shop to just talk. she shared her testimony with me. I really got to know her which is what I love.

i love being here.


the picture above are (top) my toes and some leaves and some flower petals outside out hostel. (bottom) a little boy running through a field in Orosi

En Costa Rica

Estoy en Costa Rica...the "Rich Coast"...finalmente. Wow, it is crazy that I am here in this country that is so different than anywhere I have been. It has been amazing so far. Not only the country but also the people that I am here with. Its pretty amazing and blows my mind that I have known these people for only 2 days. With the amount of time we have spent together and the fact that God is most definitaly a part of this I can tell that I am going to make friendships and relationships that will be real and lasting... which is so exciting.

We explored the campus and the city today. And I had time to practice my spanish. Necisito practicar mucho. I probably am not even spelling those words right, but it is amazing and fun to try to comminicate in a different language. It reminds me how big the world is, and how little I am. Its also been really cool to see people talking about their faith in differnt languages, how cool that God and that love penetrates all barriers and languages!

pictures will come later...the connection to the internet iss really slow:(

Its crazy...i've been here a day and it feels so right here.

home?

I have been home for a couple days now. It's weird to be back in a place where I feel like I am in a foreign world that is completely familiar. The sights that I see are the same, but I am not. It's hard to find where and how I fit into this world of Charlottesville Va. Coming back to these beautiful mountains, and rolling hills is always a time where I find myself thinking alot. so... that has been on my mind.

I went to church this morning. it was really good.

perseverance

"one especially harmful aspect of our world is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. There is a grea market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprentiship in what earlier generations called holiness." ~ Eugene H. Peterson

so this was a quote printed on the front of the bulleten to go along with the sermon. I really liked this because it is so true.


I am leaving for Costa Rica in two days...crazy!

on the brink of something

Today was a beautiful day.
It was beautiful but more than just a pretty kind of day. I felt God today. I felt him because I took time to stop and realize. Realize that the world is big, huge in fact. I sat in the garden behind Scott Quad and saw the creatures "living" their lives, I went to Strouds and saw the majesty of the evening sky, against the lake. I spent time with good friends which was the other thing that made it beautiful. I spent people who I barely knew at the beginning of the year, but who have become a part of my life. People who I have talked with and people who have I have laughed with.

We sat there talking about our summers, our years, and our lives, and I got excited and a little scared. Seeing people graduate, marry and "grow up" made me think. At the end of this year I feel that I am on the brink of something big. I dont know what it is, but I feel that I will soon find out.

there is a first for everything

Well... Here is my first post. Exam week seems like a good time to do something like this. Instead of studying. This blog thing is kind of weirdly new to me. I never have done it, but I figure it is a good way to put pictures and thoughts out there. Mostly pictures I'm guessing.

Well I suppose I will just put a couple of my favorite photos that I have from this year. Which has been an excellent year.

My cute friend who I have missed a lot



Pretty Sky




PGIF outside