Art Workshop

Thanks to the swine flu, kids here in Costa Rica got an extra week off for their winter vacation. (Yes, it's technically winter here right now). Given that this was our first experience running a tutoring center during vacation we didn't really know what to expect. Would we have no kids because everyone is enjoying their vacation? Or would we have a ton of kids because the moms wanted something for their kids to do? It proved to be more of the first. Our faithfuls, Alica and Catalyna were there everyday, along with a sprinkling of others. When presented with a third week of vacation, we decided to take advantage of it and plan something special. Bríana and Jaclyn, who were part of a group here from Fresno, helped me plan and prep for an Art Workshop. Jaclyn made lovely hand-decorated flyers and we invited all the kids who normally come to the tutoring center, plus a few more.

I was a little nervous because I've never taught art before, but I quickly realized you don't have to be a professional artist to teach kids. We had a great turnout, and the kids loved it!!! Plus, I think everyone from the group enjoyed painting as much as the kids did. It was also a great opportunity to help expand the kids world. We put art prints from old calendars up around the room to serve as inspiration. Many of the kids made their own rendition of Monet or Picasso, and now those paintings are going to brighten up their own rooms. I can't wait to do something like this again with the kids! Thanks to all the groups' help; I couldn't have pulled it off on my own.



The Giannina and Ricardo, pastors at the church where we do the tutoring center, with Jaclyn and Bríana


Paola, Allison and Kenneth had a blast painting with Shirley and Janie


Britany, intently focused on her pointillism


Alicia and Catalyna. Alicia loved Picasso!

Parents' Visit!!!

Last week I had the great pleasure of showing my parents around my beautiful new country. They arrived at the end of an outreach, just in time for my dad to speak at Kid's Club for Father's Day. It also provided an opportunity for them to get a little bit of a feel for what it's like when teams are here. Summer isn't the best time to visit, since we are normally extra busy with teams, but it's the only time my parents had a reliable babysitter(Blake) to stay with the rest of the kids still at home. We lucked out though, since their visit fell over the two weeks we didn't have a team. I was able to spend the weekend with them up in MonteVerde, before they headed to the beach to celebrate their 30th anniversary. After spending the workweek at the beach, they headed back into the city to hangout with me for a few days before my dad had to head back to work. We went Farmer's Market, a birthday party for the Dixon kids, my church, and my favorite restaurant. Josh also came into town for the weekend to hangout with my parents.

It was great to be able to share first-hand what daily life is like here in Costa Rica. My mom continues to comment on how much longer everything takes here. Yup. But there are also many things they now love about Costa Rica: the landscape, how waiters don't bring your check until you ask for it, the kids in Los Guido, thunderstorms. There was so much more I wanted to do while they were here, but we'll just have to save it for their next visit...