I'm back--My last post!

i havent written in awhile because we didn't have internet access for almost two weeks and when I came back two nights ago I didn't know what to write. There have been too many thoughts to be able to put into words how I'm feeling. But I'll try my best. Los Guido was amazing. Me and Emma want to go back as soon as possible. It's funny how I always try to plan my own course, and end up being surprised by going down a totally different path. I was bummed out before I went to costa rica because I had my heart set on Africa. I was upset that I wasn't going and had a negative attitute about everything. But now, after I went to Costa Rica, I am SO glad and thankful that I went. One of the things I learned about myself is that I'm always busy here in the US; I always have a meeting to go to, school to do, going places with friends, etc. I'm constantly busy here, having to set aside time for everything I do. In Los Guido, I learned to chill and relax. Maybe that's a reason why I couldn't stop crying when I got on the planee to head back. Los Guido is a place where family is strong, where relationships grown immensley. In this shantytown, no one has internet or TVs, or any of the technology that most of us have. They hardly have anything. So instead of doing what most of us do, like surfing the internet or listening to music or facebooking, they people there will just sit down and talk for hours with each other in no hurry. No one ever has anywhere they have to be.

I usually played with kids from morning till evening, but whenever i wasn't playing with them, the family would just sit down with us and talk with us for long amounts of time. One day it was raining so all the kids ran home to their shacks. there was a few left, so about 6 or 8 of us just sat down under a small roof talking to each other for an hour or two. It was cool to see how relational these people are.

THe church services were also really cool. Every sunday during worship the kids and youth would come up to the front and dance for an hour. There were a number of people that had come off the streets from doing and selling drugs or being in gangs or had a history of some major violent crimes. The doors if the church gate were open for church every Sunday evening, so any one was welcomed. It was cool to see how real lots of these people were; admitting their problems and getting help and learning to surrender the little that they could control over to God. People here come from broken families and horrible histories but somehow still have a passion for life and have a desire to change. Not everyone was like that, of course. Los Guido is huge with I heard around 50,000 ppl within the whole providence. We could hardly ever leave the gated area because of the danger. There's still lots of violence in the streets. The pastor even got worried one time that we drove in a car at night time back to the church; apparently its dangerous to even be in a car late at night there if you're not in the driveway of the church.

I was definately excited to see my parents, but I didn't want to leave. I was an emotional wreck, I've never seen myself cry that much before! a few of the kids in Los Guido lined up against the church wall to say bye to us with cards and candy for us. While we were driving down the street, one of my favorite boys, joshua, ran alongside the car trying to keep up with the speed, sticking his hand through the window giving me a final handshake. It was a handshake I taught the kids there. there were a few other kids running alongside the car as well. While many of them were happy, it was so sad to see some of them really upset. One boy, Antoni, who can't be more than 7 years, asked me as I was leaving in Spanish, "are you coming back tonight?" He didn't understand that I was going to the U.S. When I told him I was leaving, I tried to make it sound okay, but he looked really sad. Another one of my favorites (i have too many favorites, haha), Yader, hugged me for like 5 minutes because he knew he wasn't going to see me for a long time. He kept asking me when I was going to come back, and when I told him I didn't know, he looked like he was about to cry so after he hugged me he left really quickly. I could go on with these stories but I just want to share one more. API, a two year old that pretty much lives with the family I stayed with, could tell that I was really sad the night before I left. I sat down on the couch, and this little boy sits down and tells me to sit by him. he picks up a pillow and puts it on his legs and pats the pillow motioning that he wanted me to lay my head down. So I put my head down on his pillow. This little boy is so sweet and intelligent! He then proceeds to brush my hair with his hand and bends down and gives me his big slobbery 2 yr old kiss on the cheek. then his brother who is also young, christopher, comes to me too and hugs me. then the two of them almost at the same time star having a tickling war with me, which made me laugh and forget I was sad for a few minutes.

This all just goes to show how incredibly AMAZING these people are. I've never built so many relationships in such a short amount of time with people who speak a different language than me. I didn't realize how close you can actually get to someone. I was able to usually hold a conversation with someone, but I messed up a milliion times. for my birthday the family surprised me with a cake. i was trying to say in spanish something like "I'm shocked, thank you so much for all the cake." but i used the wrong word. i said "caca" which means poop. so I ended up saying "i'm so shocked, thank you so much for all the poop." haha. that happened a number of times while I was there, but they got used to me messing up.

Both me and Emma miss the kids like crazy. The kids are so giving. Like I said before, they really don't own much, yet what they had they always wanted to share. They usually would give us candy or even part of their only meal for that day. Some of the things the kids gave me I had no idea what it was...I prayed a lot before I ate some of the mystery stuff, haha, but I was fine.
After being in Los Guido this summer, I fell in love with that place and the people, and I'll do whatever it takes to go there again :)

- Megan