June 25 - June 28

6/25/2012 at 9:10pm

After the long walk to MVI this morning with Abby and Ryan at my sides, I spent a relatively uneventful day working more on the graphs and data for ASADA since I was able to talk to Marlene and get exactly which homes were which and what was a finca or a hotel.  Hopefully now I have accurate data and graphs constructed; all I really am still considering is inputting data from 2009 as well (as I did with the only months of 2008) just to have it all digitized.  While at the Institute I also got to meet some new people who come to work at the library, and I also talked to Justin about helping him tomorrow and Evelyn about meeting with her on Thursday.  Justin also wants to take a look at my data next week.

Just a lovely, sunny day.  This is actually from June 26.

I left early today, probably around 3pm, to walk a nice, calm walk to Gabriel's house since we decided we wanted to toss the Frisbee around.  It was super fun being able to teach someone who isn't 11 years old and has athletic ability all the different throws I know, and he even was able to come up with one that I'm not sure how he did it.  Eventually we parted ways so he could go to his drum lesson and I could shower, eat, and then go to the church for the youth group.  I helped a little with set-up and just hung out and socialized before the reunión de jóvenes began.  We played a fun game that Gaby concocted with passing a balloon and then a game that helped me learn peoples' names a little more, thankfully.  We had powerful worship time followed by a talk that Gaby gave on Daniel 1:8 and being committed to the things of God and being in the world but not being of the world.  We prayed and then all went home.

6/26/2012 at 7:55pm

Today was so interesting.  After waking up a little later than I wanted to due to excessive tiredness, I hung out with Abby until Ryan arrived and we all walked to MVI.  The walk has gotten so much easier.  Then, I read the Bible a bit and enjoyed the lovely sunshine that, unbeknownst to me, would later turn into a ton of rain.  I added a couple of last charts to my data and wrote up a preliminary report in Spanish of my thoughts and observations of the data.  As all of this happened, I helped my sister Courtney figure out her first semester freshman year schedule and I chatted with Brittany (my other sister) about Costa Rica, all over Facebook.  I breaked for coffee and lunch alone as Abby and Ryan were doing their own thing, which was relaxing in a way but as also unnerving because I'm so used to conversing with others over lunch.  Later, I procured three pieces of cake...two from John (tico) and one from Jenny via Abby, who decided to also get me coffee, which was way too nice of her and Ryan.  I always like to do stuff like that for others, and so to be served by my friends like that was so weird and humbling, even.  While in the library with them I also downloaded a ton of music, including the loco song (which is possibly the happiest song I've ever heard, and the catchiest, and is my new favorite song).





I also over Facebook chatted music with Jon (chino) and Brian, talked with with my mom about me maybe graduating a semester early, and had a great conversation with Gabriel.

A species of fruit bat with a white back stripe.

Later, I met some fun high school students from Arizona and we chatted and I danced meringue with one of the girls before Jenny came and we all went over to the bat museum.  It was so cool and I learned so much!  Like, for example, how many bats in the United States are dying because of White-Nose Fungus and how the mass deaths of baths has led to increased mosquito populations and diseases transmitted by them because they're not being eaten by the bats.  We couldn't go mist-netting today because of the rain, but Jenny said Thursday we'll probably go.  I hope I'm back in time for the church service that evening!

When I came home I played with Auri, ate dinner, and chatted with Luis about my studies and about music and roller coasters and learning new words, then he and I studied together and we had a laugh attack where I couldn't pronounce the word "quincuagésimo" and so said the word "quin-" like six or seven times in a row, stutter-style.  We laughed so hard that his stomach hurt and I was crying tears of laughter.  Those are moments I absolutely love with Luis.  He was being pretty cool tonight.  We played soccer indoors for a bit and then went off our separate ways to chill out for the night.

6/27/2012 at 9:10pm

Fran holding the stunned hummingbird.

So today was interesting.  I know I say that about every day and all, but for realsies.  So, I had an amazing breakfast this morning of gallo pinto that I mixed my cottage cheese into, fried plantains (maduros), and a bowl of chopped banana and mango.  At the Institute, just about an hour after we arrived, Fran came walking by with a hummingbird that had crashed into a window.  I got to hold it before giving it over to Abby.  It was so cool!  It was sad that it crashed into the window but still so cool.  Then I read my Bible for a while before Justin asked me to help him make copies.  Initial thoughts: Sure!  I love to serve, and copies are easy.  I'm a good little intern.  I got this.

So 70 copies of a roughly 35-page packet later, all bound into folders, all taking a grand total of nearly four hours to complete and at least three whole packages of paper...

I am not complaining in the slightest though.  I was glad for the opportunity to serve and help with a cheerful heart.  I was sad I couldn't go to Jenny's workshop, but I am happy I could help Justin nonetheless.  And then when the high schoolers from Arizona came, we got to ride back into town with all of them!  It's fun talking to all of them.

Jannelle's lovely house on the outskirts of Los Llanos.

We (Abby, Ryan, and I) got picked up from Vitosi around 5:15pm and went to Jannelle's and Rick's place in Los Llanos for dinner.  And let me tell you, she's living on one of the most beautiful properties in one of the prettiest houses I've ever been to here in Costa Rica.  We had delicious mango salsa before the library helpers arrived, then we all socialized and had a delicious dinner and dessert that was pretty non-tico when it comes to food traditions.  It was yummy.  Then we all rode back to our homes and, amidst laughs and hugs, bid farewell to our hosts and friends.  I am very grateful for the role that Jannelle, her husband, and their daughter Natalia have played in the Groner Foundation and this program that Abby, Ryan, and I are now currently on!

6/28/2012

I definitely did not get everything done I wanted to today.  I decided that digitizing all of the data that still wouldn't be used for the ASADA analysis would be a good idea and a help to them.  I still have nine months of that to do, which I hope to get done all tomorrow.  Besides that, Abby, Ryan, and I helped Jenny make a delicious cheesecake and we went to CASEM for lunch before that.  Then I went to Evelyn's meeting for the summer camp only to discover a) I am going to be one of six or so youth leaders, and b) this camp will take up an entire week, a commitment I hadn't initially expected.  At first I began minorly freaking out internally because I was concerned about the other programming I would end up missing that Abby and Ryan will get to do, but I eventually realized that this is such a fantastic opportunity and something I am thrilled about.  I'll end up giving up a weekend, which could be used for church and family and friends, but I trust God so much in this.

Scorpion in the kitchen! Each floor tile is about one-by-one
foot, so as you can see he's not that big, but not small.

I had to leave the meeting to go help set up mist nets, then we came back, made/ate dinner, and went back out in the dark to go catch bats!  It's a lot of waiting around, but in between bats I had a ball catching insects, from crickets to walking sticks.  Oh, and earlier in the kitchen I saw my first scorpion.  So cool!  He was less intimidating than I expected; we just kicked him out the door outside.  We caught three different kinds of bats while mist-netting: insect, fruit, and nectar.  It was really neat.  And then coming back I found this ginormous cricket/grashopper thing on the step going up to some of the offices.  My camera was beyond dead at that point, haha, so I don't have a picture, but Abby does!

Funny leaf insect pretending to be a leaf and some twigs.

Earlier this morning I also had a really cool conversation with Abby's host dad Pastor Josúe about if I ever decide I want to come back that he's got connections and can help me do a job search while I'm finishing my graduate school degree.  It pays to network, I guess!