I’ve been living in a tropical paradise for a little over a
week now but I’m still adjusting. I have
gotten used to the critters that live…well…everywhere. Bugs in the sink, cockroaches on the toilet,
and chickens that randomly climb the stairs and come into my room have become a
normal part of life for me. I usually
spend a few minutes every night chasing huge cockroaches or crickets out of my
room. Thank God for mosquito nets though
so I can sleep peacefully without fear of waking up with a lizard on my
face! Spanish classes are intense. We have class for 3 hours a day during the
week, which is equivalent to a week’s worth of classes in one day. The homework load is crazy at times but I am
learning so much. Applying what I learn
in class to my host family life is easier than I thought. I am picking up on things during
conversations with my host family that I have learned in class which makes me
feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.
On
Saturday our director and the missionaries that live here took all the students
on a creeking excursion. We started out
crossing the river by walking through the rapids. Then when we got a place that didn’t have many
rocks, we let the current take us and floated downriver. This was scary at first because you have to
put one foot out in front of you to check for large rocks and the other beneath
you to use as a brake. All this is
happening while you are floating down the river without any life preservers and
trying to keep your head above water so you don’t drown. Before reaching the next set of rapids, we
got out and walked along the bank of the river.
However, the beach was on the opposite side of the river. This meant that we had to wade out to the middle
of the river just beyond the rapids and let the current take us down a few
hundred yards to the beach. Just before
the beach, there are 3 or 4 large “cliffs” (or really big rocks) that we
climbed and jumped off of into the river.
After spending a few hours at the beach and sunbathing on the rocks, we
hiked for about 20 minutes up the mountainside via a horse trail. I could tell it was a horse trail because of
the considerable amount of poop, and sometimes diarrhea, that was on the trail. (Sorry if that’s too graphic – I’ll put a disclaimer
next time.)
Unfortunately two people had each lost a shoe in the river and had to
walk through the excrement-saturated trail barefoot. After that adventure, we walked to Mary’s
house, a woman who lives in Los Higos, to eat lunch. All in all, it was a great adventure filled
with laughter and encouragement. I can’t
wait to see what kind of adventure we’ll have next weekend!
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