Sophie's World

2:00 PM (Central time): We're home from Costa Rica! Yesterday sure was a long travel day. We were up at 4:00 am (no easy feat with teenagers), had a 6 hour flight to Denver, and a 9 hour drive back home to Farwell. Although it was a lot cheaper given how many of us were traveling, we sure regretted not connecting through Lubbock.

Since my last update, we finished our work at the seminary in Costa Rica and also had a chance to see more of Costa Rica and interact with local people. On Friday, we went to a shantytown called Los Guido and helped feed some of the kids through a program the church in that neighborhood runs (see http://fairclothcostarica.com/Edgar.aspx). I know such poverty exists, but it's amazing to see it and witness how the church is actually making a difference in that community.

On Saturday we did a canopy tour (I thought that was going to be a boat with a canopy on it--ha!) and white water rafting on the rapids of the Sarapiquí River. I did not have a heart attack while on the zip line or fall out of the raft, so I consider that a success. When it was all over and we were eating a much-needed lunch, Randall kept saying, "I can't believe we just did that!"

I had no idea what to expect in terms of what Costa Rica would be like. How incredibly lush! Plants people have in small pots in their houses in the US can be seen growing outside as bushes and trees in Costa Rica. And the food was so amazing. We ate fresh pineapple nearly every day (along with beans and rice!). The woman who cooked for us at the seminary used to live in Houston, so she knew just how to mix traditional Costa Rican food (gallo pinto, for example) with gringo food (like pancakes, or french fries).

It's good to be home (not sleeping in a bunk bed and covered in paint) but hard to be home too (not surrounded by our friends 24 hours a day, feeling fulfilled by the work we were doing). The girls are back at camp in Clovis (having spent a fun week at "Camp Cindy" in Gunnison), and Randall and I are trying our best to get back into doing our normal work.