Buses, Horses & Volcanoes....

So, the past week has been quite exciting and it's just neat to look back and think about all the ways God is in our moments with us.

I'll start with last Sunday.  After hearing a great sermon on forgiveness, we (John, Ryan and myself) decided to spend the day at Rincon de la Viejo (a volcano about 2 hours from where we live).  We hiked a 2 hour loop around the volcano...where we saw geisers, boiling mud pots/lagoons, and could actually feel hot rocks at different points in our hike.  I had never been this close to what seems like 'activity.'

 
Afterwards we hiked to a waterfall where we had the lagoon all to ourselves.  On the way back, we had an encounter with some wild horses (we'll keep that story between us).  Let's just stay it delayed us for about 30 minutes or so.   John, with his awesome spanish, got us out of having to pay the full entrance amounts 3 times (2 hikes and then we got to view some hot springs).  Thankfully it worked because we literally went there with hardly any money (no bueno) and we would have had to drive 40 minutes back to society on a dirt road and then returned.

Afterwards, Ryan and I are trying to find this restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet book and of course it's already dark and we can't find it. Anyways, we take this turn and have to go through some massive mud puddles.  After we turn around...our car dies in the last puddle.  Thankfully, it dies right beside a gas/mechanic station (and not back on our crazy 15 mile dirt road journey) ...so Ryan helps to push us there (thank you again!).  After about 15 minutes our car starts back up on its own and we continue on our journey home (thank you God!).

Another pic from Ryan's trip.  He ran in a half marathon in the Costa Rican heat.

Next, I was driving to volunteer in El Llanito, like any normal Tuesday. I pick up a female hitch hiker (John tells me I'm absolutely not allowed to pick up male hitchhikers...which I agree with, but it's really hard to pass by females especially with kids when I have an empty car). Right when I pick her up, my car starts to make this awful (culack-culack noise). I continue to drive for another 10 minutes and then hope that after I'm done volunteering it will magically not be there anymore.  After, class I always take Isabel, Maria and Martha home.  Once I get to Isabell's house, they pretty much tell me that it sounds so bad that the mechanic that lives right beside Isa should take a look at it before I drive on the main road. I was completely out of oil and the mechanic didn't have any...so Isa's son's friend rides on his bike to get me some oil.  Then Martha calls her husband and there is a good mechanic he knows and he'll help me get there.  So, Martha and I drive in 1st gear for about 30 minutes back to Huacas...it is so hard for me to drive slow!  When I get there her husband puts in more oil for me and then we are off to the mechanics. Bad news...no oil means broken pistons, viellas, etc (lots of other spanish mechanic terms). Car is now out of service for at least a week.  John ends up taking the bus to come meet me and talk to the mechanic and then we walk to the bus stop to start our many bus adventures.  Martha and her husband were super helpful through the whole process and stayed with us to make sure we understood everything.

Bus adventures...

As we are waiting for the bus...a guy that Martha's husband knows, tells us to jump in (woohoo). He takes us to Huacas and then a friend from church sees us and gives us a lift the rest of the way home (woohoo again). John and I decide to finally put the basket on our bike that we bought over 2 months ago since we are now carless and still need to go grocery shopping, etc. After thinking we had destroyed the bike's turning radius...we get it working and now our bike has a nice little basket, that I'm very proud of.

The next morning I get on my first bus.  Mind you...there are no bus schedules in Costa Rica. Every person tells you a different time, so you pretty much just sit and wait.  John later asks me later that night...'if I thought God was trying to teach me anything from all of this'.  I think for a few moments and then I say 'patience' which he nodded in agreement (that little booger).  However, I do think it's true, that things that were once urgent can't be urgent anymore and things get shifted into perspective.  As Americans we are geared to go-go-go and we are running from one thing to the next at an insane pace. In this culture, it's just different. You don't plan that much because it just takes time/patience to do things and go places.

On with my story. So, after class, where we learned 'I' is for icecream, another volunteer (from Winston-Salem - mom with 2 kids) offers to drive me home (woohoo!).

I had to cancel a lot of my night adventures this week because buses don't really run at night...like meeting Janene for some prayer time, cancelling my spanish class, cancelling going out for a friends birthday in Tamarindo...so life shifted somewhat.  I still think it's crazy that buses don't run at night because lots of people work at restaurants and hotels and now I don't really know how they get home :(

The next morning, I have to catch a bus and then make a connection (du-du-du) to get to El Llanito. Martha told me she thinks there will be a bus for Santa Cruz around 8am. Well...funny story. Since my day has to get started a lot earlier, John and I decided to do some quick sprints up our hill. We were about through, when this lady (who seems a little out of place) comes slowly walking up the hill.  We say 'hola' and then we see her black pitbull behind her about 10-15 foot. I ask her in spanish if her dog was nice and she responds 'mas o meno' (more or less). Thankfully the dog just stared us down and continued walking behind his master. But...no leash and the owner was not trying to get her dog under control at all.  We finish our work-out, but now we start heading back up to our place and the dog is standing guard at the first house. He literally is in attack mode and is not letting us get close or pass by. We try a couple times but by the end of our efforts the dog has slowly moved John and I to the bottom of the hill and now we are headed anywhere but home (and my bus is coming at any moment...which means I'm going to miss it).  Then another guy from our church passes us and asks if we need help. It was quite embarrassing, but we asked him if he could drive us home because of this dog...which on the way back up we couldn't even find the dog!  I get changed and then John escorts me back down the hill with his machete...thankfully no dog...but we definitely need some pepper spray!!

I find the first bus, have to hitch-hike the second connection after waiting for 30 minutes, Martha's husband picks us both up after class, and then the connection bus comes within 5 minutes. I was home probably in record time. Then, John and I head back out to volunteer for Thrilling Thursday with the kids in Brasilito. We were waiting on the bus and one of our neighbors stops and picks us up. Then on the way back, our other neighbor picks us back up...so we don't even have to walk up our hill. And...since we were leaving for Nicaragua the next morning...she offers to drive us half-way there since she is going that way anyways (woohoo!)

It's just amazing when so many things fall into place and what could have been bad or stressful situations just turn into little moments where I can say 'thank you Lord!'

This verse I believe is so true, especially with my time here.  Just recognizing and thinking of God throughout my days and the special moments he gives us.  'Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.' James 4:8

More to come on our Nicaragua adventures on Ometepe Island ...