Day 4: todos mis caminos te son familiares (church was lovely today)

We generally ease into weekends here. We don't have specific, recurring CDI or H@ngout responsibilities Friday-Sunday, though we often end up doing stuff still. Friday nights is also church here, rather than Sunday mornings.

So, today we took the first part of the day to relax and have some fun together as a team.

Plan:
Wake up a little late, eat some breakfast, take the train to downtown San José, walk through the central market, eat some lunch, come back home. We looked up where the train stations were and where the stops were and how much they cost.......and then we checked the horario.

Well, the train stopped running before we left the house. Turns out the trenes here are just for early morning when people are going to work, and late afternoon when they come back from work. So, our backup plan was to take a bus. So we looked up the bus routes and found the best one that would pick up near us and drop off near the market. It was the same one Don Rodrigo had suggested to Matthew! So we walked to the bus stop just in time for the bus to come by...the bus stop looked a little abandonada, but that's probably ok......but the bus never came.

So, we walked back home and called an Uber to take us directly to the mercado central... and that worked. PTL

By the time we got to the mercado, it was definitely time for some lunch. We had eaten Pizza Hut and PB&J and stuff, but now, por fin, it was time to try some comida tipica de Costa Rica. So, in the market, we got sat down at a little soda, and given menus. We ordered a lot of different things and there was a lot of, "hey, do you want to try this?" If you want an in-depth explanation of Costa Rican culture and food, reach out to Matthew. Go get a meal with him sometime and ask him about it, you'll learn a lot! Since you're here asking me, here's my commentary on Costa Rican cuisine:

It's good, I like it. Maybe I'd prefer some tacos de trompo, but the drinks here are unmatched.

Eight gringos in a crowded mercado is kind of terrible, so we split into two groups of four and went walkabout in the market. We saw a lot of stuff, we walked a lot of walking. It was pretty fun. Afterwards, we regrouped and cooled off in a McDonalds (don't judge, the McFlurries here slap, even though they had run out of KitKat ones this time).

We went home and went to the grocery store and got supplies for the CDI Airport Fieldtrip tomorrow (I guess you'll just have to come back tomorrow to hear how taking 40 kids to an airport for a tour goes), and made about 50 ham/cheese/butter sandwiches (weird combo, but the kids are super into it).

We hung out a little and bonded as a team, then got ready for church. Alexis wasn't feeling well, so we locked her in the house and headed to the CDI, which is now where the church services are held!

Pastor Gomez shared a verse from Psalm 139 and talked about the human propensity towards self-sabotage. It was really powerful, but for me the most powerful part was just reading Psalm 139. I got sucked into it. Does that ever happen to you? A certain passage of scripture just comes alive in a poignant way sometimes and I'm done. I tried to translate some for Ben, but I was moderately useless at it.

Matthew led worship, because he's amazing like that. He led us int he song Aleluya by Maverick City Musica. I recommend listening to it. You should go ahead and start it, especially if you haven't heard it before, then keep reading. Something about that song combined with Psalm 139 really got my heart in a powerful way tonight. Alexis asked me later about how church had been and how I was feeling after today, but I don't know really how to express it.

Maybe actually go read Psalm 139 too. Scripture does a better job than I do. I know it's a psalm that gets quoted a lot and can get a little familiar and skimmable, but maybe try reading it in a different version than you're used to. Like, if you're an ESV type of person, try it in something more heart-focused, like the NLT. Or, if you're an NLT type of person, try it in something like the ESV and wrestle with the meaning. I'm an NIV guy, so basically perfectly balanced (lol), but I read it in the NVI (español) tonight and that pushed both directions for me.

After church, we got to stack some chairs (so, my happy place), then stopped for dinner con Lagos y Ana Raquel, which is always lovely. They're just the best y'all. Pray for them.

We're home now. I updated our spending sheets from today and spent some time sitting with Alexis (I'm trying v hard not to think about her leaving). We're starting early tomorrow, so... goodnight! Pray for us and read that psalm and listen to that worship!

PRAYERS PLZ!
-for our team to feel God's closeness
-for Alexis to feel better
-for us to love on the kids well tomorrow in all the ways we get to serve them
-for God to refresh and guide and protect the church here
-for more and continued fruit with the students on campus
-for the Ohio team to get to see a taste of the fruit from their work these past weeks
-for God to open scripture to your heart in new ways