Pictures from Costa Rica

As promised, here are the pictures from our time in Costa Rica. I received a lot of slack from the ticos for not having many pictures from Costa Rica on the blog (due to me losing my camera). It was beautiful!

That ball in the center is a sloth. I about died.

The biggest ant I ever want to see. Gross.

Repping Missouri State and Springfield MO

Pineapple fields

Castillo Country Club with Rotary Club Heredia

Sorry Christi... It's too funny not to post

If one picture portrays this whole trip, I think it is this one. We laughed. A lot. 

 

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Day 28 Evening: A Beautiful Goodbye

Tonight was the final night of the conference. When we arrived in Panama we learned that tonight would be a white party... we had not packed for this. EEK! Christi and I tried to shop a bit for with little luck, so we made do with what we had. I did pick up this $6 black and white dress that worked out perfectly. Most clothing shipments go through the canal, so clothes are much cheaper here because they don't have the shipping cost to the US.

 

Our last night. I keep trying to think of the words, but I don't have them. Love is all I can think of. One of our hosts greeted me and said mi amorcita, my little love. Everyone we met has been so filled with love. Even the words they use about hosting us... they say they recieve us, like we are a gift to them. At the district conference we have gotten to see almost everyone we have met along the way. I'm not much of a cryer... but I keep tearing up every time I greet someone or leave someone.

It is no secret that we have had a lack of sleep this trip. And I am a person that needs sleep to be a functional human being. However, on this trip, I have had at max 6 hours of sleep per night... and that is a very generous estimate. The other part of this trip that is very difficult is being on point at all times with zero alone or rest time. I can not explain the exhaustion.

I literally just took a two minute nap. Seriously. We grab sleep everywhere.

With all of that said... we suck energy from our hosts and new friends. In every city we meet someone new that gives us such a boost. We want to talk to them, to learn from them, to laugh with them.

Hugging everyone goodbye was very hard. I honestly don't think I can ever say what their love, generosity, and kindness has meant to all of us. We have been humbled to the max.

To anyone reading this blog who has hosted us, driven us, spent an afternoon, a morning, an evening with us, eaten with us, laughed with us, talked with us, loved us...THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. We love you so much. You have no idea how much your life impacted us. We appreciate you taking the time out of your life to receive us. There are many times we did not speak the same language, but your kindness and love transcended any language barrier. Your smile gave me energy when I was too weak to talk. Your hug made me warm. And I think most importantly, you let me know I safe and at home. There are many wonderful aspects to this journey (the GSE), but you are the best. I love you all so much.

My wishes for you:

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind always be at your back,

May the sun shine upon your face,

May the rain fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Santa Ana, San Salvador, San Miguel, Chinandega, León, Managua, Jinotepe, Granada, San José, Cartago, Heredia, Panama City:

Liliana, Eli, Henry, Mario, Olga, Eduardo, Juan Carlos, Tony, Maybell, Meli, Niki, Sandra, Enrique, Manuel, Antonio, Jesus, Felicidad, Alejandro, Saskia, Julio, Jessica, Fernando, Francisco, Gladys, Ariella, Roberto, Roberto, y Roberto, Neny, Tito, Ramon, Lydia, Eduardo, Chuck, Alvaro, Humberto, Cristina, Jorge, and anyone I missed who we met along the way.

I will miss you. I will love you. And with all my being, I hope we will meet again.

 

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Days 19, 20, 21: Kim is Not Allowed to Have a Camera

Yep. I did it again.* I lost my camera in a foreign country. Well, lost isn't quite the right word. I know exactly where it is, it is just not in my current possession. I like to give my camera extended stays. I will meet up with it again in Panama. However, due to my mishap, this post will be lacking pictures for a bit.

Speaking of posts... I've been terrible at posting during my last days in Costa Rica. I can give two explanations:

1. I often blog when I am riding in a car. There is absolutely no way I could possibly even attempt to type on highways here. I can barely keep myself upright.
2. I have a pretty incredible host family. So when I do have some free time, I'm hanging out with them. A gigantic thank you again to Olga and Eduardo for welcoming me into their home. If I have gained nothing else from this journey, I met two pretty incredible and sweet people whom I adore and can not wait to see again.

Now... onward with the very brief post of highlights from the past few days:

Friday: I saw a sloth. Kind of. I kind of saw a ball of fur that they told me was a sloth.

A picture of a picture of a sloth

We went to the Organization of Tropical Studies (i.e., the jungle). We had an amazing morning walking around checking out monkeys, tons of frogs and other critters, including (to Jimmy's dismay), a snake.

Saturday: The Heredia Rotary Club (who we met with on Thursday night and they saw our exhaustion) were gratious enough to give us a relaxing day. We went to the Castillo Country Club and had a great afternoon BBQ-ing, walking and even drinking a few adult beverages. It is at this point I left my camera in the car of a Rotarian (hence the lack of pictures).

My key to my house was made in the ol' US. A fact I enjoyed since I could not find a place in the US to make a copy of my house key before I left

Below is a billboard I saw while we were driving home. I do want to note that I think we spent no less than 6 hours in a car most days in San José. People must really love their cars here... or it just takes hours to get anywhere.

Saturday night Jimmy and I went to our hosts' cabin in the mountain for dinner. It was a perfect evening of wine, cheese, bread, and salad.

Until this dude showed up. I thought I was pretty brave to even get that close. No good.

Sunday we went with members of Rotary Club Cartago to Volcán Irazú. The volcano is about 11,000 ft. high (maybe?)

The fog/clouds and rain rolled in almost immediately and soon you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you.

In the cloud

Another brave(ish) moment... getting with 5 feet of absolute volcano crater abyss:

After we left the volcano, we took a two hour drive down the most curvy and hilly roads laced with potholes and speed bumps. This is how Jimmy and I felt for most of this car ride. Miserable.

But, it was all worth it to have a late lunch at this location.

 

And that's a wrap for Costa Rica. I will add more pics once I get my camera back.

Tomorrow we have a super early flight to Panama City for the District Conference. We start our week in Panama almost as soon as we land. It's crazy to think that we are in our last week. We all have mixed feelings regarding the beginning of the end but are very excited to explore another city and get to reunite with so many people we have met along the way.

Another important note about week 3 and 4: I knew this was coming, but I am so sad to have missed Rock'n Ribs and the 20 Under 30 party this week. I mean, I think of it and then realize where I am and that feeling dissipates immediately. I have a part in my presentation about Rock'n Ribs and this week our audiences were especially interested in the event, which made my heart happy.

 

*So one time I left the same camera in my hotel room in Playa del Carmen. I realized my mistake almost immediately and the hotel was awesome enough to mail me back my camera (a few months later). These things happen.

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Day 18: Something Clever

Last night I was exhausted, but, like an idiot, I decided to see a bit of the night life of the town with my hosts' son. Somehow five hours of sleep gave me more energy than eight. My body has officially adjusted to this schedule. Incredibly, I have been super hyper all day... enough to annoy Christi who is not feeling the same way.

We started the day with a city tour led by Manuel, who is a young president of the oldest club in San José (which reminds me remarkably of Springfield's downtown club).

We started at the very architectual post office.

After seeing so much trash in so many cities, this is probably my fave statue

The National Theatre

One fish, two fish

Former headquarters of the Army (now the national museum)

Depiction of a former president

On this day, we had two presentations. Our first was at lunch with the San José Rotary Club. The club meets in the Club Union (again, a super pretty building that I failed to take pics of).

Depiction of a former president

Our hosts were awesome enough to take us to get a few gifts and then meet at a coffee house/bar for debriefing and then to dinner at a fellow Rotarian's house. We once again were welcomed into a stranger's home as it we were old friends. We had a very fun and lively dinner. Even though we only have a short time with many people, we are very excited to see many of them again at the district conference in Panama.

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Currently, it is 9:20p and I am sitting at our second Rotary meeting of the day as they discuss business regarding an upcoming event. My energy has officially worn out. I think we expect to be home at midnight tonight and have be up at 5a for our trip to the jungle tomorrow. This experience is very incredible, however, it does get hard when you are running on fumes. I know I will be expected to stand and present at sometime in the next hour and then mingle with the Rotary club. About once a week we all hit a wall like this and the exhaustion is overwhelming. However, we know we will sleep in May and are trying to muster all the energy we can during the homestretch.

 

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