Residency

After being "In Process" for almost a year, I finally received my Costa Rica residency. Yeah!!! This means I get discounts at all the National Parks, can get as many cellphones as I want, and most importantly, I don't have to leave the country every 3 months to renew my visa. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for this process; it is a HUGE relief to know I am approved.

In the same vein, Costa Rica is starting to feel a lot more like a home instead of a long trip. At the end of this month, I will have been here a year! It's incredible to reflect on all that has happened and been developed in this past year. I go back and forth between questioning why it took me so long to "get established" here and amazement that I am already so at home here. I still have a long way to go before I feel "native". Though, I am learning to be content in how far I've come and to recognize I don't have to take everything on at once. Development on a personal or community level doesn't happen overnight; it's a slow process if you want lasting results. Rather than trying to force things along, I'm learning to take opportunities as they come and invest in what is currently in front of me. So I'm enjoying the amazing friends from the States I'm blessed to have living here in Costa Rica, and slowly trying to build natural, deeper friendships with Spanish-Speakers here. I'm joyfully and diligently pouring into my twenty-ish regulars at the tutoring center, and not stressing about how to meet the needs of all the 1,400 students at the school next door. (plus the 3 other schools in Los Guido). This is what God has placed in front of me for now, and I want to give it my all.