I herded cows on horseback

That right there is a true statement. The first weekend of June, Stephen and I stayed the weekend in Los Ranchos where Krista lives. It was pretty intense. We were so excited for it to be June, finally, and we planned this special weekend.. let me just tell you. First of all, I had another lesson in God's sovereign plans and how I seriously need to stop trying to decide what it is I want all of the time... long story short, we weren't taken to Santa Cruz that Friday so I sort of freaked out – anger, tears, trying express my emotions in Spanish – anyway, I finally ended up getting a ride to Krista's house and all was well. I have learned how incredibly grateful I am for what I have been given in my village, that is for sure. And I have developed some serious respect for Krista becasue I wouldn't have lasted one week there. So anyway, we woke up Saturday to pancakes for breakfast! We had butter and peanut butter as toppings.. hello, hadn't had peanut butter in forEVER! It was glorious. Then we hung around for a while listening to music until we went horseback riding in a sort of tour of Los Ranchos.. all, like, ten houses of it. But it was beautiful and sometimes I felt straight out of a John Wayne film as we would ride up to the tops of hills and look around at all of the beautiful mountains. It was truly an experience. It hurt a lot and I bounced uncontrollably off of the saddle if we went anything more than turtle-slow, but that's okay. On our way back, we stopped by a pen of cattle and herded them for the guy who gave us the tour. It's real. We went into the pen on our horses and circled them and yelled ¨väca¨ at them (spanish for cow). Not gonna lie, this was so not my thing, so I started to just leave the pen and let Krista and Stephen do it, and then all of the cows followed me! Hello! After we finished, we went back to the house and got ready to go to a dance that night in a nearby town. It was awkward and I relearned quickly how much I just don't do dances. My favorite part was the drunk Costa Rican who asked me to dance repeatedly, and I said no repeatedly, so he started dancing at me.... I wanted to leave. Haha. But it was certainly an experience and there was a live band and the dancing was really neat to watch. I ended up dancing one time with stephen, which turned into more of an homage to Caitlin Bell's dancing style. We got back from the dance at like two o'clock in the morning, the latest I had been up here, and then had to wake up at seven to go to the beach. We went to the beach with the town and wow, what a trip. Am I talking too much? Anyway, I was pretty grumpy and had a lot of allergy stuff going on and not a lot of sleep and lots of loud people in the bus. The town ended up renting a school bus to take them to a nearby town for a soccer game, so we went and then walked to the beach. It was beautiful, that's for sure, and I really enjoyed the beach. Then on the way back, say hello to the busride from hell. All of them were seriously inebriated and we stopped at a bar on the way home, in which the driver got a beer as well. We also pulled over on the side of the road three times for the guys to get out and pee. Hello, not acceptable. At one point this guy started to get everyone's attention to tell them I was his girlfriend (he is married with a kid) and so I didn't take that too well, obviously, and I told him sorry, I only like Nicaraguans. Here, that is a serious insult because Costa Ricans hate Nicaraguans. So everyone oooooed and whatnot. Then he got really excited and threw beer at this one girl and a beer fight erupted, which ended with us all dripping in beer and beer raining down from the ceiling. After that, home was a nice thought.. my La Garita home that is. It was a great weekend with Krista and Stephen, lots of bonding, but I really learned to be thankful for what I have been given here. The next day, this past Monday, I went to Playa Tamarindo (a beach) after school with Brian and Anna and checked internet and spent time there on the beach and chatting. We ate TCBY and ran into one of the family friends who drives us places, so he gave us a ride home for free! The four week mark passed by this past week and now, today, is 19 more days until home. I have had to be reminded many times about how God is everything to me, here in Costa Rica and there in the US, and how simply going to the US isn't going to fix anything except physical comforts. I have to consciously focus my thoughts and desires on doing what God wants for me here, about spending time with Him, and about loving and praising Him here. My mind does tend to wander about home though.
Okay, gotta type fast. Super fast recap, ready? That Tuesday I went to church and my brother here, Leo, with the daughter and girlfriend, got saved at church! I'm not quite sure what all happened but they said for everyone to clap and welcome our new brother in Christ... that was pretty amazing! I can't wait to talk to him about it and see what that means to him. Wednesday one of the teachers, Christina, brought her computer and hooked it up to the internet and I was able to reply to personal emails. It was amazing and so awesome and wow I almost cried. I just loved getting in touch with home. This experience has taught me more than ever to apreciate what I have. And to apreciate what is in my heart at all times, no matter Costa Rica or the US. I am here to teach, first and foremost, and that is what I need to pour my heart into. The afternoons may be slow or sucky, but I'm not here for those, and those are also amazing times for me to get into the Word, and praise Him for alluring me to do so each day. Please pray for our team here. I will update about this weekend next time, but just so you know, we all got hit with some sort of diarrea bug when we were together, and we are praying that it be over soon. Praise the Lord we were together to share in the experience and that there were multiple toilets. I'm serious! I love you all and I am so thankful for your reading these ramblings and for loving me. I think about you every day!

--Amanda