Clarity

First thing's first... The pool opened today!!!! I haven't been back yet, but you better believe that tomorrow after work I'm gonna be soakin up some rays. Gotta work on my base tan for Panama. That's right, I said Panama. My visa expires in about a week and a half so I "have to" leave the country for 3 days. This is actually the perfect time. The first year students have their integration week next week. (Not sure exactly what that is but they have activities all week and therefore I have none of my first year classes) Also, the fourth year class that I'm taking is canceled for the next couple weeks since we spent so much time on that field trip about a month ago. Therefore, I have the whole week free after Saturday and won't have to miss any classes. The other exchange students and I are going to a little island place via ferry just across the Costa Rica border. I'll be sure to take tons of picture. I'm not sure exactly when we'll return. I guess it depends on if we want to make the journey down to the canal or not. Either way I'll be gone til at least Wednesday.

I started my first day of work this week and it was really good. I left here around one on Sunday for San Jose (took about 4 1/2 hours to get to the course) and when I got there had to find the Hector, the guy that runs the club house. He came and picked me up at the front gate and we went first to his house to get some sheets and a pillow for me to sleep on, then to a grocery store to get anything I might need for my short stay. He showed me the room that I was going to stay in which was basically a fold out couch against one wall, and boxes and other storage stuff shoved into the other side of the room. It was still a little early and without really asking Hector told me to come with him and he drove me around showing me the area and all the things that I should know. Then we even went a little out of San Jose to Cartago, which was apparently the first capitol of Costa Rica. We drove by the old church ruins which is a pretty big tourist site, then parked at the center of town which encircles a giant cathedral where an image of the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared some years ago. The place was gorgeous but there was a mass going on so we were only able to see the outside. On our way back Hector stopped us off at a Chinese restaurant that he frequents and wouldn't let me pay for anything. It was a little rough sleeping that night, (The couch wasn't too comfortable and I didn't really know what to expect the next day so I kept thinking about that.) but I was able to get a decent nights rest before I had to get up at 5 am. The morning was nice and cool outside and felt great, which made it really funny to see everyone showing up in jackets and even a scarf. For my first assignment I went with a guy named Miguel to fill in divots on all the tee boxes and driving range that were made over the weekend. Miguel is an older guy and a pretty interesting one at that. He was really easy to talk to and at one point after we were talking about who we thought would win the presidential election he just out of nowhere said "Jesus, I am Christian, I love Jesus!" It was great! It was the only thing he said in English all day, and he even said Jesus like "Gee-zus" not "Hey-zeus". The topic of church and God came up a couple more times that day and it was nice to at least try to talk about it a little. He even shared part of his testimony with me and from what I understood I was really encouraged. The assistant superintendent was pretty open with being a Christian also. Looks like I may have finally found some resemblance of a community here after all. After we filled holes I was sent off to help dig one... A big one. With it being the rainy season, there's a lot of water and a certain low spot was pretty soaked so we were digging it up and replacing the clay soil with rock and sand to help with the drainage. It was hard work, but I liked it and was able to get to know the other people working there too. I finished my day around three as the rain started coming in. The bus ride back was a little more efficient as it only took me about 3 hours until I was at the cafeteria eating dinner. I was very satisfied with my first day and will probably be going back for Mondays and Wednesdays for the next 7 weeks of the semester. It'll be a lot of bus rides but I hope it's worth it.

Classes are still going pretty well. I'm lost a lot of the time, but I've been able to get everything turned in on time so far and I've even had my first two tests this past week. They were a little intimidating, knowing that they'd be all in Spanish. For one of my classes a lot of the material came from articles that took me way too long to read since I had to keep stopping and looking up words and then going back and trying to remember the information. Despite all of that I think they went pretty well. I haven't gotten the results back yet, but I feel pretty good. I mean, I only have to pass.

Not only have I been receiving some clarity with schedule and school stuff, but I feel like I've been hearing from God a little more clearly lately too. I've been a little more regular with my time spent with Him and just my overall focus I think, and I've been seeing a difference. One of the things that seems to keep coming up a lot lately is dying to myself and making myself a servant to others. God's really been showing me the areas of my life that I've been being selfish and really challenging me with developing a legitimate servants attitude. (not looking for praise or noticeable acts or serving when it serves me) My pride's definitely taken a few hits lately. I think another area that God's been getting at me lately is my obsession for efficiency and production. I'm learning that the sign of a good disciple isn't busyness or how much he gets done, but where his focus is. Jesus spent hours with God, and often even left to get away and be alone. Heck, one time he was told that his friend was dying and he stayed for two more days were he was before going to him. (Of course he raised the guy from the dead once he got there, but you know what I mean.) Anyway I guess what I'm saying is that I'm trying not to worry about what I'm "doing" here or what changes as a result of all of this, and am just trying to follow and focus on God and let the chips fall where they may. It sounds obvious... If we keep our eyes on God and listen to and follow his voice, then he's going to accomplish what he has planned. But I think a lot of time we get the idea in our head that we know what needs to be done and we spend all our energy on that then we get to busy miss when that fleeting really important thing happens. I'm not saying that we should just sit around and wait for something to fall on our laps, but that our work should be going to God and listening and following what HE wants us to do. I'm think that's what Jesus did.

This Thursday is a milestone for two reasons. One... it's my birthday! It'll be my first away from family and friends and I'm not saying this so that you'll all have to remember and tell me happy birthday. (Facebook does that well enough.) I don't have anything specific planned for that day, but I don't have any class, so I think sleeping in will be a good way to celebrate. I've also heard some rumors that some of the students here might be planning a little something. Hopefully there's cake. Thursday also marks the beginning of my last two months here. Even though it's only about 10 days different, 2 months sounds like a lot shorter amount of time then half way does. Who knows if it'll fly or drag? Who knows if it'll be full of challenges or bliss or moments of both or something all together different? All I know is that there will be days that I say "I only have 2 months left" and days that I say "I still have two months left." Whatever happens, I'm thankful for that time and will do with it the best I know how.