Semana Santa

My first real vacation since I’ve been here and I still ended up leading—you know me, I can’t just say no J 



Luli and I by the pool

Last week I was blessed to be able to travel with the Padilla DeBorst family (that’s right, just Jim, Ruth, Tali, Luli and me) to a spiritual retreat in Pochomil, Nicaragua.  While we had quite the border experience (we got stuck there for 4 hours waiting for them to approve our car to cross the border), the trip itself was fun, if a bit awkward at first with me being the only non-member of the family… but I got over it thankfully J  The hotel we stayed at in Pochomil was beautiful, right on the beach, complete with a pool, a beach volleyball court, a bar, and plenty of hammocks.  And I got to room with just Tali and Luli—it was like a sleepover every night!  This retreat is for CRWM missionaries and their families who are living in Central America to come and hang out, study God’s word, and in general have a good time.  This year’s speaker was the head pastor, Mario Vega, from Elim church in El Salvador, the biggest church in that country and supposedly the second biggest in the world.  It truly was a treat to hear his story and learn from his experiences.  I also enjoyed immensely the time I had meeting the other missionaries and reuniting with my friends from El Salvador—I missed them so much! 


View from our bedroom window

One evening, Luli and I led the hymn sing (I played the ukulele) and it turned out beautifully despite the mistakes that we made—it always seems to turn out that way, doesn’t it?  Another night, Luli and I once again led an event, this time the fun night.  We were the judges and encouraged everyone (on penalty of losing and not getting ice cream) to participate in several fun and sometimes embarrassing games.  It was a hoot!  So, I didn’t have much free time what with all the planning and organizing but it was worth it.  In all, we were there for four days, long enough for me in the heat but way too short of a time to be with friends.

 

On the way back from Nicaragua, the family and I stopped in Monteverde, Costa Rica for a few days of true vacation.  What a change in climate!  Whereas in Pochomil the temperatures were pushing 90 every day, in was chilly and misty in Monteverde.  Monteverde (literally “Green Mountain”) is a national park and is a protected cloud rainforest.  This means that it has all the wildlife and nature of a rainforest, but is higher up in altitude so it’s generally cold.  Way cool! 
One afternoon, Luli and I went horseback riding to a coffee plantation and let me tell you, the coffee tastes wonderful.  And yes, my butt is still sore from that ride.  Before dinner one evening Tali pointed up in a tree and, before my very eyes, there were monkeys swinging from the branches.  How cool is that?!  The girls were so surprised that this was my first experience seeing monkeys in the wild.  I literally pointed to myself and said, “Uh guys, I grew up in MICHIGAN, remember?”  Jim had a good laugh at that one.  Another day we all went on a hike through one of the parks (you can rent mud boots for $2—yeah baby!) and I got to see beautiful trees and flowers and birds and insects (including a very pretty centipede and the gorgeous blue Morpho butterfly) all the while being lightly rained on.  It was amazing!  God is so good.  I also found out during this trip that I am randomly allergic to pineapples now.  I wasn’t before but now I am.  Who knew?  This trip was a great bonding experience for all of us, for me to see Jim and Ruth outside of the office and more relaxed than I have ever seen them, and I am so incredibly thankful to have been a part of it.

I need to also mention a few things about Semana Santa, or Holy Week, since it’s seriously the biggest holiday here in Central America.  For Holy Week, everyone gets off of work and school and basically hits the beaches.  I was told that more people die during Holy Week than any other time due to car accidents and drowning incidents—yes, it’s that crazy.  Since I was on vacation, I didn’t get to directly participate in any Easter event, but I did hear/see about several traditions.  For example, I briefly saw someone pulling a bull out of a catholic church on the day before Palm Sunday, all decorated and such.  I’m not sure what it was for, but by the large crowd that circled the bull, I’m sure it was something important.  We also passed by a tree where a dummy was hanging from a rope by its neck—Jim explained to me that this is the “Hanging of Judas”, another tradition that people do during Semana Santa.  With Mass every day, and the beaches packed with families and friends, and loud music playing from every corner, the whole week felt like a festival.  I highly recommend you experience Central American Semana Santa once in your life—you’ll never forget it.

Before I end, I would just like to ask for your prayers for this month especially.  Rachel has left to visit with her family for the month of April, a huge blessing for her.  This means, however, that Guiss and I are loaded with more responsibilities with this project to fix the soccer court.  I’ll admit, this is making me a bit stressed.  Ok, a lot stressed.  And not only that but both Jim and Ruth will be traveling this month, leaving me in charge of the office/household for a bit.  I know I won’t do it alone but it is still a daunting task to me.  Please pray for peace and confidence to get through the challenges I’ll face.  Thank you and stay tuned!