Monday, December 3, 2012

Seasons? Don't Remember Those


So last I left you was at the beginning of our National Convention.  It went well and everybody was happy to have it in the new Hogar Escuela building.  It was a lot of committee making and long talks by Bishop Monterroso.  He is a great speaker, but there is so much that I can understand in spanish before my brain is fried from translating.  But overall it was a successful day!

Gulf of Papagayo... ridiculous 
After a week of working in the office and having meetings and preparing for groups to come in January and February, it was time for me to vacay.  Well, my parents were missing their favorite child so much (sorry not sorry Kyle) that they had to come and visit me.  I hope it was for that reason and not just a chance to visit Costa Rica.  But anyways, they did not bring me Chick-fil-a.  We spent two nights in San José before heading out to the pacific to the Gulf of Papagayo.  Absolutely awesome! It was very nice to spend time with my parents and am very thankful to be able to have them here for Thanksgiving. But the weather made this Thanksgiving feel different.  Still getting used to it being pretty much the same weather year round.  We did not have any Thanksgiving food (which is my favorite meal of the year), we were able to take in the tradition of watching Turkey Day football.  And it was nice to see my Jets beat the Patriots (That is how I choose to remember it).  Anyways, after our time there we headed down to my second home in CR, Tamarindo.  My dad preached and celebrated at St. Paul's by the Sea.  Afterwards, we took Pedro and his family out to lunch and had great conversation.  The next day we headed back to SJO and relaxed until my parents had to leave the next morning.  I was sad to see them go, but will hopefully see them in January.

Out with the rents for some outdoor fun... careful dad!

So a few hours after they left, we had two people fly in from Montgomery, Alabama for an exploration trip.  Jeff and Holly, from the Church of the Ascension, are two great people.  They are very kind and very flexible.  The Bishop and myself showed them around SJO on Wednesday to visit both Hogar Escuelas and La Ascención (one of the Diocese missions).  Thursday we drove out to Limón on the caribbean coast to show them more churches and another school.  Two very long days called for a relaxing day in SJO on Friday and to be able to see CR outside of the Church.  Well, we did visit one more church in the morning (Todos Los Santos), but then we went to the National Museum and hit up the markets.  The day was a success and capped of with a fiesta at the Diocesan House for seminarian students throughout Central America who had been here for the week as part of their educational process.  Overall I think that Holly and Jeff had a great time seeing what it is the Episcopal Church of Costa Rica is about and who we are.  We are excited to see them again during the summer for a mission trip.
A little karaoke with some seminarians

Now I am back to work in the office continuing to get all the logistics ready for our mission groups coming in Jan. and Feb.  Mucho trabajo!

Pura Vida

Ryan

1 comment: