Day 6: 10 Things Gringos Do On Their Day Off (YOU WON'T BELIEVE #8)

Click-baity enough title for ya? Other options included:

    -Day of Rest (except for introverts)

    -the one where Matthew got it trouble

But now that I made that title, I kinda feel the need to stick to the format, though I don't think I actually have 10 things to list. Let's try it. 

1. Get Up Early and Work Out

-That's what Matthew and I did. Well, sorta. We walked to Oxigeno, which is a giant mall area with great outside spaces. It has a wide running track that wraps most of the way around it. Matthew brought his longboard and gear (including a newly-acquired reflective vest) and I wore my running shoes. We talked about long-boarding and things like this. So, that's now very interesting to me.

We got to the track and Matthew took off, then I started running. It was fun, I think the track is about a kilometer. Around the time I got tired of running (so, not very long), I saw Matthew walking, longboard in hand. He told me that two security guards had come and found him on a motocross-style dirtbike and told him he wasn't allowed to longboard at the Oxigeno. Que lastima! But, we'll still have the Sabana.

2. Sleep In and Make Tasty Eggs

In the words of Jesus: "Wisdom is proved right by her actions." 'nuff said. Ben made some ham and cheese eggs. Dang. 

3. Go Get Ice Cream with Friends (and pigeons)

Izzy took a crew (Alexis, Ben, Mallory, Sheryl, yo) to downtown Heredia to meet up with Ana y Ada (las chavas de H@ngout that we hung out with some last year (I think they both translated for the VBS?)) for some helado. It was a lot of fun, though I was too tired to be really social and just kinda napped the whole time. 

There were a lot of pigeons in the park. Did you know that the Spanish word for pigeon is paloma? Did you know the Spanish word for dove is also paloma? Seems offensive to me. Those are super-different birds, right? But, then I thought about this:

4. Nap
I did this. I was not the only one, but it felt really nice to just lay down and sleep in the middle of the day. It was warm, of course, but lovely. Very few houses in Costa Rica have air conditioning, you see. Because the temperature is generally milder, and it's pretty windy, houses are just built to channel airflow and stay cooler. Our house has a lot of windows that are lined up to allow cross-breezes. Apparently, there's something called papagayo winds in Central America?

So, napping was a good choice.

5. Relax at Home

I dunno, seems pretty self-explanatory. 

6. Do Some Wedding Planning
I did a little of this, Alexis did more. It's just fun and exciting, y'all. Yikes. 

7. Have Dinner with Friends

Don Rodrigo, Doña Francina, Rodrigo, Carlitos, y Luis (a.k.a. "Primo") came over and cooked for us and hung out with us and talked with us. It was a ton of fun, and a ton of Spanish! I was very proud of our non-Spanishers, they kept engaged really well and were very present, even though the conversation was inherently exclusive of them. It was such a loving choice on their part, since the familia doesn't speak a lot of English. A good time (and  g r e a t  food) was had by all. We are being hosted and cared for so lovingly. Don Rodrigo is planning to come over tomorrow to show us better how the buses work.

8. BUY SNACKS
After dinner, we decided to hang out a bit together, and went to the Más x Menos to get some snacks. Because... snacks. Obvi. Some chocolate, some chips, some sugar drinks, some cereal...the usual.

9. Watch TV

We watched two more episodes of "The Mysterious Benedict Society" together. Some of us are maybe more into it than others, but it's fun still. 

10. Spend Time with Jesus

And, the most important thing for a successful day of rest! I've had seasons with healthy sabbath rhythms before, and also very unhealthy rhythms. It makes a difference, y'all. I'm excited to have better rhythms this summer and keep them coming into the ministry year. I could talk a lot here about spending time with Jesus and about reading the Bible and about worship and about a lot of stuff, but I won't. I'm still stuck on Psalm 139. I'm gonna go read it again and go to sleep.

PRAYERS!

-for our team to engage fully tomorrow at the CDI

-for good rhythms for all of us, centered around Jesus

-for the Diaz-Alvarez family to be blessed and encounter God intimately

-for Lagos and Ana Raquel to be blessed and encounter God intimately

-for you to be blessed and encounter God intimately

-for the Ohio team to be filled with boldness and love and joy as their trip winds down

-for God's guidance for our team

Park, post-ice-cream, pre-nap, mid-paloma