This Ticking Time

Shadows leading the way.

It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.
George Harrison

I have had such a full, blessed life. These past 5 (!!!) months in Costa Rica have really shown me that, but I have been given a particularly generous amount of time for reflection lately.

Each second, minute, hour that I live is a second, minute, or hour longer than someone else has been fortunate to enjoy here on this Earth. While I am still very young, I have become aware of this fact and it makes me even more deeply appreciative of God's guidance, protection, and His blessings. I am blessed day after day, and every time I laugh or smile or feel that bubbling joy it is another one of the little things He has sent me.

And I don't think there has ever been a day that has gone by without a smile dressing my face.

Especially this past December. After I returned from Panama, I had to help my school with the graduation process, but school was then over until February (next week, actually). I was given the opportunity to move to Cartago, where my incredible Mr. Pastor man is living, for an entire month. Spending the holiday season with Kenton was, in my opinion, the only way I was able to enjoy them. Krystal's family came to spend Christmas with her in Guanacaste, so we were both happy with the vacation.

Cartago is about 45 minutes away from the country’s capital San Jose. It has this huge, beautiful Catholic basilica, where the famous ‘Negrita’, or Virgin Mary statue, resides. Because of this, Cartago is the Catholic epicenter of Costa Rica.

The Basilica!

Cartago is a relatively big city. It is at least 10 times as big as my cozy little mountain. At first, I was really scared to live there, due to the crime and the fact that I am a white, young woman. MonteVerde is super used to tourists; but Cartago isn’t exactly a big tourist location.

However, Kenton had set everything up so that I would be living with a woman from the church, who normally rented this little apartment in her backyard out to college students. It worked out perfectly. The apartment was just my size, with a bathroom and everything, and was super safe because it was literally snuggled in the backyard of this other house. She had even hooked up a television to cable, so I could watch TV whenever I wanted (which worked out nicely, because I found a channel that played Crime Show dramas in English with Spanish subtitles. Law and Order for DAYS).

After about the first week, I grew to feel relatively comfortable in the city. I was still always on guard, but having Kenton by my side really helped my anxiety stay at a reasonable level. Whenever men would whistle, stare, or say something similar to “Buenas, bonita!” in that really creepy way, Kenton would respond with a very cold and unpleasant “Buenas!” which usually got the point across. 

Because it was the holiday season, both of the houses we were staying at were consistently full of family and friends. Kenton and I didn’t want to feel as if we were in the way, so after he would pick me up in the morning, we would usually walk one of two places: the mall, or Walmart. We were definitely regulars. It was so fun, because Kenton and I would just talk and laugh and make fun of the RIDICULOUSLY shaped manikins. We were just so happy to be spending time together that it didn’t matter where we were.

Every day was so abundantly full of joy.

Cartago, all dressed up for Christmas! In front of the Ruins.

We had some really incredible opportunities. On Christmas Eve, we were invited to eat dinner with the family of the pastor that Kenton works with, who lives in San Jose. There we laughed with his 3 sons (18, 21, and 22) - they helped me with my Spanish and I helped them with their English. 

Christmas Eve with this Stud!

There we met this really nice girl named Lisa whom had also been invited to dinner, and she invited Kenton and I to join her and a huge group of Adventist youth from her university in going to a place in Limon, called Cahuita. They would be leaving the 26th. After some consideration (and prodding from yours truly) Kenton and I said yes.(:

We spent the night with her in San Jose Christmas night, and woke up ridiculously early to meet everyone else in the center of San Jose the next morning. 

The trip was one of the highlights of my entire Costa Rican trip. It was SO. NICE. to once again be with people our age. We joked, we laughed, and we played games on the beach that I knew of, like MAFIA (I’m a beast) and games that I had never tried, like this really fun that involved a lot of winking and running around. I swam, I tried a fresh Pipa for the first time, and realized that my Spanish has SERIOUSLY improved since I first arrived here. We stayed in this adorable, quaint little hotel that ended up being owned by Adventists. It was perfect.

The next day when it came time to leave Kenton and I both agreed that we were SO thankful we had come. It had been a fantastic, beautiful getaway, and we made some really fantastic friends.

The next day, we went to Alajuela to pick Krystal up from the airport (she had flown intra-nationally from Libreria to San Jose, to meet us). A few days went by and then suddenly, New Years was happening. It was my first time having the privilege to kiss my soul mate at midnight!

New Year's Kiss!

That same weekend, we were blessed to travel again. This adorable old couple, who happens to be friends with Kenton's family, had taken Kenton and I out to eat once after a vespers service Saturday night - Pizza Hut! We had gone to their house to eat tamales, too, and now they were inviting Krystal, Kenton and I to join them in going to a place called Cobano, outside of Puntarenas. We agreed.

The trip also turned out to be super beautiful. It was so relaxing. To get to the island, we had to take a ferry across the ocean - it took about 45 minutes.

On the Ferry!

It was an interesting experience, because the deck we were on had live karaoke. It was monopolized predominantly by very drunk men who couldn't sing even if they were sober.

However, once we arrived at the place we were staying, we found out that Kenton, Krystal and I would be sleeping in a 6 person tent with a divider in the middle. This worked out PERFECTLY because it was SUPER hot during the day, but sleeping in a really thin, airy tent made the evenings cool and lovely. The family who was hosting us were so generous and kind, and eager to share their part of the island with us. We got to go swimming in hidden rivers, cozy swimming holes, and almost-private beaches.

They had hammocks all over their property! You can see our tent peeking in the back.

I found this positively ADORABLE smiling bit of watermelon, during one of our lunches at the beach.

We actually swam in this river more than the ocean, because the ocean was full of fishermen with hooks AND it was WAY hotter than the river. It felt like bathwater, and we were so sticky and sweaty, we wanted cool river water!

My handsome man, smiling, relaxing on the beach.

On the same trip, they also took us to see this really cool island graveyard that you could only get to (walking) when the tide was low.

The Graveyard in the distance - all those trees in a circle.

We left after spending three nights there. It was a really, really beautiful, relaxing experience. We all had a great time.

Krystal and I returned to MonteVerde together shortly after that, on January 8th. I was sad to leave. Spending time with Kenton really made the time just fly by, and I was inexplicably happy to be by his side every day, but I knew that I had other things that I needed to do.

We've been back for a month now. This past month here has been really difficult. For one, we have felt really useless and unwanted--we've felt more like burdens instead of appreciated volunteers, which is discouraging.

Also, when we arrived, there were two male construction workers living at the school as well. At first it was fine, but as time went by one of them in particular grew bold, obviously staring at Krystal and I whenever we would venture out of our room, and whistling at us as we walked by. It got to the point that Krystal and I hated having to leave our room, hated having to share a kitchen and shower with them, hated being alone with them there. After about a week and a half, four more men showed up, and we knew that we had to leave the school.

Before that, however, Krystal and I had been making some significant improvements to our cozy room! For example, we salvaged a nice round table that was headed for the trash, found a 3$ can of paint, and fixed it right up.

Yes, that is Hitler.

WE KILLED HITLER.

Our cozy little dining nook!

However, living at the school still has some disadvantages. This is the main on for me:

These NASTIES.

We also don't have a washer or a dryer, so we are forced to resort to a bucket in our shower, and then hang drying outside of the library.

But we've grown to feel really comfortable there, and love our little room. 

Two nights before we left Kenton came up to MonteVerde to help celebrate Krystal's birthday a few days early by going out to eat. We went to this place called The Tree House. It was BEAUTIFUL and so nice to be catered to! The food was so yummy.

I also had my first monkey sighting! We saw about 7 of these little guys playing around.

SO CUTE!

However, due to the construction workers, we've been living with one of the family's from our church for the past two weeks. They have been SO generous, and it's been really nice.

A lot has been happening at our little school. There have been so many changes--a new principal, a new teacher, new buildings, the loss of our old teacher, different classes... it's all been a bit dizzying.

But life is always full of surprises.

I am trying to encourage myself to continue to live in the present, day by day. It's really hard to do here. Often I think back to living in Cartago and spending every day with Kenton. I miss it and I miss him a lot, but I know that God called me here to do bigger things. 

I also often think forward to the day that I will go home. I miss my family so much that I ache. Lately I have literally been dreaming of walking out of the terminal and running into their arms. I always wake up a little bit sad.

And then I remember: I have already been here for 5 months (yesterday was the anniversary of that)! I am over halfway done with my missionary experience. School will start up again next week and I'll be able to fill my days with the kidlets that I love so much; their smiling faces remind me why I'm here at all.

God is blessing me daily. I always find a reason to smile, an excuse to laugh. I have been SO blessed with incredible experiences and growing opportunities. I have been in some really difficult situations, I have been sick, frustrated, and exhausted. I have walked miles and miles to decorate classrooms, and through it all I have been humbled and stretched. I have found joy.

I have learned to appreciate the moment; the moment that I am living. That is all I have - and these nine months have been filled with one fleeting, beautiful moment after another.

I miss you all, and love you all so much.

I'll write more soon.

Pura Vida.(:

Kayla

Panama.

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year!

Yes. This blog post is WAY overdue and I am fully aware of that. I have fewer excuses than I would like, but the excuses that I do have are at least legitimate.

Excuse number one: Internet. That is necessary to upload, well, anything. It is something that I have not had consistent access to in over a month—more on that later.

Excuse number two: Travelling. I really have been bouncing everywhere recently.

Excuse number three: I’ve had more fun things to do. Which is truly my favorite reason. (:

Since my last blog post, so much has happened that I feel I don’t even have any way to dedicate enough of an explanation to each of the happenings, but I’ll do my best.

First happening:

Panama. Due to the Visa system that I have here in Costa Rica, I have to leave the country for at least 4 days every 3 months.  My three months was up by the end of November, and so Krystal, Kenton and I did some research and decided to travel to a little island in Panama called Bocas del Toro.

On November 22^nd Krystal and I travelled to join Kenton in Cartago, and on the 24^th we had the very exciting opportunity to travel alone from one country to another.

While I say very exciting, I also meant terrifying, panic-attack inducing, and all around exhausting. We had woken up at 4 in the morning in order to make it to San Jose early enough to find the correct bus to Panama. As it turns out, the bus station that we needed to be at was in a very, very sketchy part of town—especially before the sun had fully come up. All three of us looked like full-fledged tourists with our luggage for the trip, and we nervously wove through homeless men and women passed out on the street, praying that we would find the right place to be as soon as possible. With the help of a street vendor (who was probably an angel), we found out that the bus didn't leave until 9am, so we were a couple of hours early. We grabbed the nearest taxi and went straight to a McDonalds in a safer part of town to wait it out.

Once the city woke up, it was far less threatening, and we got onto a lovely air-conditioned bus and rode it all the way to the Panama/Costa Rica border.

Leaving Costa Rica was the easy part. Once we had done that, we literally had to WALK across the border between the two countries, which happened to be on this wooden, rotting bridge.

And once we were on the other side, we had NO idea where to go. It turns out we had actually walked so far in the wrong direction that we had illegally entered Panama! Finally, some other tourists who had been on the bus with us pointed us in the right direction, and we found the immigration office.What they had to tell us was not as reassuring as we had hoped it would be.

Turns out, to enter Panama, you have to have proof with you that you don’t intend to STAY in Panama. A bus ticket wouldn't do; no, it had to be proof of a purchased PLANE TICKET to leave Central America within the next year.

Which, thankfully, we had! Right?

Wrong.

The panic set in. Our phones didn’t even work, because we weren’t even in Costa Rica anymore. SO, in the blazing heat, we had to go to this little closet-sized location with a computer from the 80s to try our hardest to find proof of our exit-itinerary. Krystal found hers. Kenton found his. AND then there was me—who had apparently been forgotten, and had never had her exit flight date changed. I only had a ticket out of Costa Rica--for two days previously.

I could not imagine what we could do. I started to have a panic attack, crying, the whole bit. It was rather embarrassing. Regardless, my level-headed man kept everything under control and printed out my missed plane ticket anyways. We then went back to the immigration office.

Krystal? Fine, she could enter.

Kenton? Absolutely! Have a great stay!

And… this blubbering girl with you? What’s wrong with her?

Kenton was kind enough to explain the situation, and the woman on the opposite side of the counter didn’t even look at my plane ticket. She simply asked Kenton one question:

“Ella está su novia?”

“This is your girlfriend?”

Kenton quickly nodded, and the woman laughed and smiled, and stamped my passport. I was free to go into Panama.

Young love triumphs again.

We then shared a taxi-van with 5 other tourists and made our way to the boat taxi station, about 30 minutes away. We then got on our very first boat taxi and made our way to the little island of Bocas del Toro.

It was paradise. Literally. I had such a fantastic time. The first day we were there, we slept in, walked all around the little island town, and found this wonderful 3$ breakfast place (which we faithfully returned to every single day.) 

The second day we went to a beach called Playa Estrella, or Star Fish Beach. It was the most tranquil, beautiful, relaxing beach I have ever had the pleasure of knowing in my entire life. The water was SO clear, that we could see all the way to the bottom even up to 12ft.

We saw starfish on Starfish beach!!

On the way back, we had the misfortune to share a taxi with at least 10 Costa Rican women who all LOVED Kenton. One in particular—literally—would not stop flirting with him. She kept encouraging him to leave me to spend the next day with her, to teach her English privately, to vote for her when she fought me for him. Did I mention she was OLD? Kenton was beyond awkward, and from the backseat where I was, I would respond to her comments in turn. It went somewhat like this:

50+ year old woman: “Mañana, voy a una parque muy linda. Quieres ir conmigo?” or, “Tomorrow, I’m going to this beautiful park. Want to go with me?”

Me: “Lo siento, pero creo que el esta ocupado.” Or, “Sorry, but I think he’s busy.”

Woman: “Amor, puedes ensenarme Ingles? Quiero aprender.” Or, “Love, can you teach me English? I want to learn.”

Me: “Claro, puedo ensenar!” Or, “Sure, I can teach you!”

My responses delighted the other old women in the van, and every time I would speak they would cackle with delight. Here’s a picture of Kenton looking horrified:

The next day, we went to a beach called Red Frog, or playa rana roja. This beach was more typical; it had waves and was a lot bigger than Estrella. 

We played in the waves for a while, and then walked up the beach to find a restaurant because we were hungry. I never could have fathomed that what happened next was possible, but sure enough, sitting on a park bench were at least five of the women from the van the day before. They saw us first, and were unbelieving as well, calling, “…Kenton? En serio?”

Fortunately, the real cougar was out frolicking in the waves, and even as the women started to call her in to behold the spectacle of their precious Kenton returned, we started walking away.

It was a pleasure to run into you, but we were just heading out! Enjoy your time!

Kenton, Krystal and I could not believe that they had actually been on the same beach as us. Regardless, we found a yummy restaurant and had some delicious food:

And then we returned to the beach for a while, just sitting on the sand and relaxing.  Some little kids, hoping for tips, ran up to us and procured a red frog—what the beach was named after.

We didn’t have any money to give them, but we played with them for a while and they seemed content.

We left on the latest possible taxi, and returned to the main island, where we were staying in a cute little hostel called ‘Spanish by the Sea’. It was actually a Spanish-School, which turned out to be PERFECT because they had a strict no-drug, no partying policy. They locked their gate every night at 7, and everyone was SUPER friendly and nice. They even had hammocks available to relax on, which we did whenever they were free.

In short, it was a perfect weekend. The next day we got up early, got on another boat taxi, and made it to the mainland in Panama. We found another van-taxi driver who was so excited that we talked Spanish that he took only us three, and was willing to wait for us as we did a little shopping in this place called Changinola. Kenton and I each got a hammock (SO COMFY) and I got a purse. We then returned to the taxi, and made it back to the border. We crossed the bridge again, re-entered Costa Rica, and…

Had missed our bus back to San Jose.

The always honest and ever helpful taxi drivers insisted that there was another one heading out from Puerto Viejo, and that he’d only charge us each 10$ to drive the whole way! What a deal!

Until his taxi ran out of gas half-way there, he called and there was no bus from Puerto Viejo, and he charged us each 10$ anyways.

I haven’t been so mad in my life.

Anyways, after begrudgingly paying him, we walked across the street in the rain to a little bus stop and made our way to Limon. There, we finally found a bus that would take us to San Jose, and we got back to Cartago safe and sound after hours and hours of travelling and being stressed.

Oh, and it was Thanksgiving day.

Exhausted out of our brains, we threw our luggage down and went out to eat our thanksgiving meal at…

Pizza Hut.

Which was delicious, but not quite our typical Thanksgiving.

And that was the conclusion to our Panamanian adventure.

I know I have lots more to catch up on, but this trip deserved a full blog post that I had been unable to give it until this moment in time. So, subsequent catching up will happen soon, I promise. But in order to avoid over-blogging, I’ll wrap this one up.

Soon to come:

Second Happening: Living in Cartago for a month!

Third Happening: Christmas day and Limon Trip!

Fourth Happening: Returning to MonteVerde!

Stay tuned!

Pura Vida.

With love,

Kayla