Our First Day In Costa Rica

We took a "red-eye" out of SFO and arrived in Costa Rica June 27th at 9:45 am. Hector, Andreas and our bus driver Jimmy met us at the San Jose airport. We drove for about an hour and stopped for our first meal at this great restaurant. It was perfect. We had our first experience with Costa Rica food,
including blended tropical fruit drinks.
We were all pretty sleep deprived weary travelers, so the stop at this relaxing, beautiful location and and the cool drinks were a welcome treat!

The bracelet making was well received and we are had a great time mixing with the people of Tuis. This morning we went to Turrialba to the market place. We took the public bus and had two locals as our guides. We met Hector in Turrialba for lunch. We are all back now at the CISA building and the retreat is starting.
Everything is going great. The people are so loving, humble and hospitable. The whole community is excited about the retreat.
Adiós! Sandy

Hola from Costa Rica

Monday we prepped the wall for painting and then had a great canyoning tour. Tuesday was painting the wall followed by spanish class and soccer. Wednesday we started painting the murals. We are having great interactions with the school students who are fasinated by us. The principal is loving what we are doing too! After painting yester day, most of the group found a great spot to jump in the river. We had Spanish class again on Wednesday and then headed back down to the school for the basketball clinic. We had about 35 children turn out for that. It was high energy and a great showing of love to the school students from the community. Parents came to the basketball clinic as well as the soccer clinic to watch. Of course we had candy at the end for the children. Today we hope to finish the murals. The fresh paint really gave the wall a fresh look but the color of the murals really liven it up! Doug and I are leaving in 5 minutes to go with Daniel to deliver food to a home of one of their handicap friends in Tuis. Later today we are all meeting with Hector to get more information about the youth retreat. Friday morning we will all be taking a bus to Turrialba to go to the market and come back by 2 to start the retreat. Sunday afternoon Hector is going to take everyone on a hike to some place that he loves in the mountains around Tuis. Sunday night we will be having ice cream at Hector and Daniel´s as our farewell party. The youth are falling in love with thier Costa Rican families and many are already talking about coming back.
Thank you for praying for us! We love you! Hopefully the pictures will tell more than a thousand words!
Love,
Sandy