FATHER'S DAY

My little sister, Kate, graduating 8th grade. I was really proud of her for getting through her grade school with such a positive light.  I think it is easy to undermind the power of even the sucess in graduating from middle school, but a lot of the kids in Costa Rica may never have that opportunity.

Rolando and me on the last day in Costa Rica. I get to facebook with him almost daily and often we skype. I miss him the most and think about his dreams becomming a reality someday.

                After being home for a little over a week, the culture shock is still a constant. After getting off the plane from Costa Rica, I was closter phobic in my urban town. When I was picked up from the airport, my friend and I went to the mall and I felt like the exceptionally fair skinned people were running marathons around me while I was just trying to float through the day. No doubt, it was a great feeling to see my smiling roommate behind a neon green sin welcoming me home, but the piece of my heart that had been left in Costa Rica had begun calling my name from the moment I stepped off of my plane.

 It has been a blessing and a curse sharing my experiences with the people back home. While I am excited to tell everyone about everything and feel  fortunate that I had the opportunity to be able to really get to know people that are as far away as Costa Rica, it is hard not to become disheartened when I don’t feel  like I am truly able to make my point or be understood. If you have been able to follow along with my blog, I think I was able to share a few of the experiences with my family and friends but there are so many life changes that I hope that I can be held accountable to and I have decided that the blog that I started as an update while I was in Costa Rica could be used as a tool for this accountability, and a measure of growth. I invite you to follow me and grow with me as I update each Sunday. If not a tool for my own accountability, let it be a resource for motivation, or simply a family read that motivates change before your work/school week begins.

                Throughout the last week, I have been a little overwhelmed by the material culture that I was raised in and my ability to previously be more or less oblivious to it. When I got home, I saw my beautiful car sitting in the driveway and the guilt clenched at my stomach. I thought of how I had used the car for good since I had it. Granted, It was a lot of fun to bring siblings and cousins to their kindergarten graduations in the 1963 Falcon convertible but after all was said and done, the good from my car was really just pride and bragging rights. To be honest, I miss riding my bike down the one main street in Jaco and saying hi to each person that rode by. There is a friendliness native to Jaco, that I haven’t found yet in the States. So, Article 1 on my list of new and improved for life in the States is limiting the material needs in my life, the car being the first to go. I am bringing it into the shop soon to get it all tuned up and on the market. I am trying to learn to live life with an open hand rather than closed fists. Closed fists can only be used for trouble and holding on to things that most often, you don’t really need. While an open hand lets a whole lot of good in your life.

                I have been able to spend a lot of time with my siblings over the last week and am more thankful than ever for their presence in my life. We have been on adventures to the zoo, dog beach, the park, and the trampoline. After spending a month with children who were learning what it was to be loved, it isn’t hard to be moved knowing the simple fact that my siblings are fully aware of the deep and unconditional love that their sister has for them. My sister can be the biggest pest, she can try to push my buttons, and say mean things but last night when we sat side by side reciting the Lion King and giggling the whole time, there was no doubt in my mind, she knew she was loved and I knew she loved me too. My brothers have constant energy; they just don’t stop. The exhaustion as I hit the pillow is a small price to pay for quality time with kids that I know can grow up to change the world. So Goal Number 2 is to be the most patient person I can be. I try not to whine and whimper over things I have no control over, and I know it is best when I am pushed beyond my limits. So, I am working on it. With patience, I hope to be more assertive, to learn to say sorry, to make the kids in Costa Rica proud. When I go back to visit Jaco, I want to be the best example I can be, I want to be a powerful example of justice and love.

                Today is Father’s Day, and I am celebrating with my family in the San Diego sun. How blessed am I and how thankful. Thankful for the support I had throughout preparing for my trip. I am thankful for the people that wrote me letters, and kept track of what I was up to with honest encouragement. I am thankful for my family that despite the fear of leaving me alone in a foreign country was eager to hear about my adventures. Mostly, I am thankful for the children that I will forever be attached to with a love unique to them and to the awesome power of a God that allowed me the opportunity.

POWER

One of the hikes led us to a private beach.

I was trying to get the monkeys to come down to the beach.

A visit to Micoal and Berta was very eager to have a picture with everyone.

Berta and me!

Aimee and I got a free horse ride when the man that sells them almost crushed our heads with his horses!

Caught it with his bare hands ;)

         A friend sent me a letter a few days ago and one line in the letter has been on repeat like a mantra in my brain since opening it.

No matter how horrific or disturbing of a situation you face in poverty no one can ever take away your ability to look at such a dire situation and envision something better.

         A few days ago, Aimee and I were relaxing on the beach and a 23-year-old from New York who was working in a fancy law firm in the middle of Time Square started telling us all about his job. He explained that one of the coolest things about being in the middle of Times Square was that he could work all day, go get an espresso and then go back to work without sleeping; I can’t say that I was envious. I wanted to ask the guy where he found fulfillment in life but I knew the answer. He, like culture has tamed us to believe thinks that if you can rack up money and power then you will feel satisfied. When I looked at this guy, I felt just as much compassion for him as those that live in el Rio.

         It was a reminder that while I am in an area where poverty is the problem, at home it may just be the opposite. After talking to the New Yorker, Taylor’s letter was a reminder again with a new perspective. To me, he says that looking at a dire situation and being able to envision something better is the most power a person could ever have. Like, he said, it is something that no one can ever take away. If it is power that the Western world tells us we need; this is the kind of power we should be looking for. It is the power to see what needs to be changed with compassionate eyes rather than greedy. It is the power to help someone without the idea of making a profit. The day I forget the power of my ability to see the better, to find light in a dark situation is when I have become just as caught up in the world as the man from New York who drinks coffee in the mornings as his only sustenance.

          Below is a poem that I remember having read in high school. I read it again today and I was shocked. Nearly all of the claims that Dr. Moorehead makes about what the negatives in our world are Western ideas. When I read The Paradox of Our Age, I felt guilty because they were things that I had thought of, times that I fall short of finding true enjoyment in life. The people here in Jaco, don’t worry about taller buildings, having too much, or eating fast food because they don’t have the means to do so. They laugh all the time, they don’t have very much, they pray a lot, and they enjoy one another. Lesson learned: there is a fine line between the wonders of the Western world and the wonders of the developing. The trick is to find the middle ground and use power to right the wrong, and keep love and compassion at the root of all power.

         It is Sunday and in Jaco, everyone will spend the day with their family and friends. They wake up and eat breakfast together, they sit around and talk, they go to church, and they head to the beach together to play soccer. Point being, they give their time to one another. I hope my friends and family members back home have time to do the same.

THE PARADOX OF OUR AGE

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit delete...

By Dr. Bob Moorehead

WILD MONKEYS

            The last few days have been touristy and not much time has been spent at el Rio. It is 7 AM here in Costa and I am trying to fit a blog in before I head down to el Rio today. After not having been there yesterday, I am really excited to see the kids. Aimee, Rob, and I were talking yesterday about how easy it is to grow fond of someone who doesn’t even speak your language.

            Yesterday, we headed to the National Park here called Manuel Antonio. While we were in the middle of hiking a trail in the middle of the rain forest, I took a banana out and waved it to the monkeys. Instantaneously, they came running down the branches and surrounded us; it was one of the coolest experiences. For the next twenty minutes, we spent our time handing banana straight to them as they reached for the treat out of our hands. It was amazing to me that a monkey could be perfectly fine interacting so closely with humans; I guess it is a matter of adjusting to what will provide for you. The monkeys needed food and we had lots of it.

            One of the most shocking things I have seen here in Costa Rica is how easily people become accustom to new environments. When Westerners come to Jaco, their sense of time seems to slip away within days and they learn to accept the loose life style. People like me, who schedule their days up to the hour in a planner, don’t know what time it is most often. I just learned yesterday that Tito arrived in Costa Rica from Nicaragua (where most of the poorer people in Jaco are from) a few days before I got here. It made me think of how amazing it was again that people are so flexible and can grow accustom to living in a new environment so quickly.

            When I remember the first times I spent with Tito, I think about how overwhelming it was that all he did was hit and fight. Now, knowing what I do, it seems more reasonable. What I am saying is perhaps we are more like wild monkeys that we would like to admit. Tito had two goals: to stay safe and fed, and to establish a sense of security with the other kids. He knew that he wanted food and he wanted a home. He also knew that he wanted to be accepted by his peers so to do that, he hit kids and threw rocks. Similarly, the monkeys are wild animals; typically they wouldn’t interact with people but they had to eat and so they did.

            I am going to spend my last few days in Costa Rica (I leave on Wednesday) examining myself. I want to know where in my life I have grown accustom and if it is for the right reasons. Sometimes flexibility in life is a good thing but sometimes we are just settling for comfort.