What have I been up to?

Good question...Let me fill you in  :)

So school ended here back in mid-December. The school year here goes with the calendar year: early February to middle of December. Between that time there's "summer" break (though don't be fooled, up here in the mountains, it's anything but summer during that time). Ben, Frances, and I all went back to the US for the holidays. So before we left we did team evaluations. Personally, I feel like things like team evaluations can either go really horribly or really well. Praise God, they went really well. We each evaluated ourselves and each other and answered some questions about the past year. Then we went down to the city to get out of the cold and talk about them. Most of the time we sat on the side of the road overlooking the valley and discussing the evaluations. We each had a chance to ask any questions about the evaluations others did on us. I have a tendency to get defensive and I'm very aware of that. So I decided instead of getting defensive to ask the same basic question for any of the areas that I was scored lower on: What are some ways I can improve in this area? It turned out to be a really encouraging time. I felt honestly cared about and appreciated. I was encouraged to be more open with my team and lean on them more for support. It hadn't been an easy year, but God used this time to draw us together as a team and love on each other through constructive criticism and affirmation.

We also took time to write down the many miracles God performed this year and the many ways He pulled through. You can check that out here. It's definitely important to have time to reflect. Having that time made coming back after a great time in the States easier.

Our Christmas tree

Christmas Eve with my favorite people :)

I then went back to the US for about 3 weeks around Christmas and New Year's. The very first weekend, I got to celebrate a winter wedding in Blacksburg with my MC friends. I then spent a week helping my clean the house and set up for Christmas. You should have seen us as we picked out a 10 ft Christmas tree and then somehow carried it up the stairs in our house just the two of us and laughing so hard. My dad called and was leaving a voicemail on the home phone when we were midway up the stairs. I'm surprised we didn't break anything! Kirsten then came home and we got to spend lots of time together. It was a great Christmas with family and also my friend Kathy spent it with us (taking Nicole's place, though don't tell Nicole that). Throughout the holidays I was able to spend a lot of time with so many of my great and faithful friends from home. I even was able to spend New Year's in DC with some of my best friends from Tech even though we're now all scattered.

New Year's Eve hike with my Hokies

On the 2nd of January, I came back here to Costa Rica to prepare for the group from my old high school (DCCS) to come do a Spanish immersion trip here. You can read all about that in the blog I wrote for our ADE blog.

Since then we've been preparing for the start of the new school year and settling back in here. As you may have hear, our house got broken into while we were all back in the US. After many hours of cleaning it looks better than before (minus the money and few other things unfortunately stolen). We found out through all the cleaning that the robbers left some of my stuff (from upstairs) in Frances and Ben's room (downstairs), like a cheap necklace and the little remote for my ipod player. But that's not the strangest part...they also left a pocket knife, a set of keys, and a shirt in Frances and Ben's room. So weird. We're trying to find the owners to the keys now.

Anyway, the school year is about to start. We've been busy with meetings and working on hiring new teachers. If you think of it, pray we get some great new teachers for this year and money to pay them. God is good and faithful. I'm excited to see the many ways He will display that this new year!

Blessings of Friends Here

My prayer for a long time here has been to have some friends. I always felt a little pathetic asking people to pray that I find a friend, but God has been answering that prayer especially in the last few months. Praise God!

I have had my students and my teammates, who are all my friends, but I was really praying for another lady around my age and maybe a similar place in life that I could relate to on a different level than my students and teammates. So I now actually have 3 that I would call my friends here :)

Joselyn when we were ziplining with the students

Joselyn has been one of the teachers at the school with us this year. She's a little younger than me (19), but she's my neighbor! We get along really well. She's learning English, so I help her with that and she helps me with my Spanish. Her family also reminds me a lot of my family. Their house is always open and it feel comfortable to just stop by. There's always people over and are so generous. They have the kitchen and living room open and connected and often have the TV on. They also have a fireplace which I like to sit close to on these cold wet days. I actually took my parents over to see them while they were here and we stayed there talking with their family for a few hours. I love going over to their house. My neighbors have been a huge huge blessing to me!

Yuliana and her son

Yuliana has also been a good friend. I first met her a long time ago when I was teaching English classes to kids in San Rafael and she brought her 3 year old son and would hang out during class. Just over the last year I've gotten to know her better. She lives in a temporary housing shelter that her sister-in-law lived in before. She's 25 and is "married" with 2 kids now (a 5 year old and a baby). We're definitely in very different places in life, but we really enjoy spending time together. I don't see her all the time, but when we do I really enjoy it. A few weeks ago she sent (through her niece) a bag of clothes for me. It was so sweet and generous and humbling and really made me feel loved and thought of by her.

Kathya's beauty salon where I got my hair cut

Kathya is my friend that I've gotten to know the most recently. She's been one of my English students over the past few months in night classes. She's been so sweet to invite me to things and reach out to me. She's 30ish, lives in the town over, is a hair dresser, and as she's no longer married, she likes to go out and do things (which is not always the case here). We've made plans to do a lot of different things and though all of them haven't panned out, just her excitement and energy about it makes me really happy. Also a few weeks ago she cut my hair and she said because I'm her friend, it was free.


I really do praise God for these friendships that are building and am so grateful for them.
Psalm 147:1

A Little R & R

Everyone needs a little vacation every now and then. Our staff is no different. So as the students had two weeks off after exams, we as a staff took one week for lots and lots of meetings and then one week of vacation.

To kick off our vacation, we took the bus together down to San Jose and went to a soccer game in the national stadium. La Liga (my team) was playing against Santos. It was really fun to get to go to a game in the huge stadium built by China for Costa Rica. Then we walked through the central park, had lunch at Taco Bell (though I snuck away to Wendy's) and ate granizados before heading back up the mountain. It was a fun time with the team and a great way to start off the week of vacation.

Sunday night, when we got back from the game, Nadia and I walked in to Gabi's house for a sleepover. Gabi, Nadia, Sandra, and I had Gabi's (sort of) brother-in-law's house for the night. We ate snacks, watched movies (including The Princess Diaries) and talked about boys (like any good high school girl sleepover). Then I tried to go to bed. Unfortunately, it was all four of us in a double bed and the girls stayed up talking until 4am... meaning I also stayed up until 4am. All in all it was a good time. I love each of these girls so much. They are my little sisters here :)

I then went down to San Jose on Wednesday to get away for a few days. Most people go to the country to get away and recharge; however, as I live out in the country, the city is much more relaxing and renewing for me. I had found a bunch of hotels online and asked them all for prices. This one guy wrote me back and through a few emails back and forth gave me a huge discount on this awesome hotel. I could have just stayed at friends' houses the whole time, but I really wanted to recharge and spend some good quality solitary time with the Lord. I got to do that at the Adventure Inn Hotel. It was awesome. I also got to enjoy the hottub, great breakfasts, TV, and a shower with both hot water and good pressure.

During this week and specifically the couple of days alone, I was meditating a lot on PEACE. As I sought peace from and with the Lord, He continued to show me that He is working in me even when I don't feel it. The verse I mainly focused on is Isaiah 26:3 -

"You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind

[both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he 

commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."

I then spent the final days of my vacation with my good friends Bob and B. They are missionaries working in the San Jose area. Bob works at a seminary and B works in the prison and a few slum areas leading women's Bible studies. They've become really good friends and encouragements to me since I've gotten to know them. During the few days I was with them, we played Scrabble (once in English and Spanish and once in just Spanish...not too easy), we talked a lot and had some really good discussions, we watched a movie, and we took a little trip out to Orosi Valley.

This time of vacation was really good for me to be refreshed personally just as a person (if that makes any sense). I praise God for this time and the things He's doing in me and in this community  :D

A Few Life Updates

Hi friends! I've got just a few life updates to share with you all. Things here have been overall uneventful as our main focus has really been on the school and our students. They have national exams that they have to take in order to pass their grade in that subject. So English and Spanish were last weekend and now the rest of the subjects (math, science, social studies, civics) are this weekend. Potentially all of our students passed the English exam, which was really exciting! If you think of our students tomorrow or Sunday, keep them in your prayers. Because of these exams, I've been doing lots and lots of tutoring mostly for math. I've enjoyed working with them, though I'm a little worried for most of this year's new students in math as so many came to us so far behind in math and have learned a lot but I don't know if they've really caught up. We'll see though.

Students: At least pretending like they're studying hard

What else is new with me? Some of you may know (and some of you may not yet know) that I'm working on applying to grad school for next fall. I'm looking at schools all on the east coast between VA and NYC for either an MA or MPA in International Development (or something similar as they all have slightly different names). So on my own time, I've been researching and contacting schools, working on my application material, and praying a lot for guidance throughout this whole process. So (si Dios quiere) I'll be back in the US for grad school in August 2012. (Don't worry...my dog will be coming with me). I'll be back for a few weeks in December due to some great gifts from some great friends and family, which is when I'll hopefully get to visit the places I'm applying to. Please keep me in your prayers in all of this and if you have any connections or suggestions definitely let me know!

My sis and I when I was back visiting her at VT.
I love this picture and it reminds me of moving back!

Psalm 118:1 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."

I think it's important to get away sometimes and just be with the Lord reflecting on who He is and what He has done. I'm getting a chance to get away for a few days at the end of this month. It'll be sort of a solo vacation (which I've never done) but really just me and God and a time to reflect and praise. I'm excited and will report on how it goes  :D

Two Weddings and the GRE

This month I got the awesome gift of getting to go back to the States to be in the wedding of one of my best friends. Melissa and Caleb were getting married and I HAD to be there! So due to some wonderful friends and family I was able to come back to be a part of their special day (and do a lot more while there).

In the first half of my trip...I celebrated birthdays: Uncle Ken's, mom's, Brittni's and my grandfather's. I spent a lot of time with Melissa preparing for the wedding and all that goes into that. I spent good time with my parents and my grandparents and ate out way too much (gaining like 5 lbs in 2 weeks). I enjoyed the beautiful and Christ-centered wedding of Melissa and Caleb. We also danced a lot at the reception and had a great time with all our families from when we were kids.

Throughout that time, I was also studying to take the GRE for the Monday following the wedding. I studied a ton, but still had moments of freaking out (in particular the night before). God is so good though! Thanks for your prayers, because between others praying for me and my own prayers, God was faithful as always. I woke up Monday morning, spent some time stretching, reading the Bible, praying, singing, and eating a healthy breakfast. I had a great lunch with a friend who worked by the testing center and she paid for me. (Side note: God's given me some great friends and I'm reminded of that every time I go back to the States - oh and not just because they pay for me). So I went into the test a little nervous of course but really trusting in the Lord's sovereignty and knowing that His hand is over everything that I do even a "randomized" computerized test. I took the exam with that peace (and all the studying I had done) and came out on the other end alive and well. Praise God! [On another note for future blogs I'm sure - If you're asking why I took the GRE, well I'm looking into grad schools for International Development or something similar for the future and that was the first step.]

The second half of my trip...I spent in the great state of Virginia. I got to spend some amazing time with my little sister at my alma mater, Virginia Tech. It was of course interesting staying with her in her dorm room and pretending to be a college student. I was always able to use her ID and people knew I was her sister even without seeing us together. I also got to spend time with lots of people who are still in Blacksburg who are really important to me. That's still a home for me!

Friday afternoon I left Hokie Land and spent the evening at Smith Mountain Lake with Josh and Todd and Todd's parents. It was probably the first time in the whole trip that I actually got to relax. I was also (as usual when I hang out with my Young Life friends) so encouraged. I do miss having such awesome brothers in Christ who love me so well surrounding me and encouraging me regularly. Thanks, guys :)

Then Saturday, through the hurricane, we drove to Richmond for Kerry and Stafford's wedding. Our plan was to stop somewhere to eat and change into our "cocktail dress". Unfortunately the road we were on didn't have anything for so long and by the time we finally found somewhere (a Subway) Irene was in full force and the Subway was out of power with the two employees sitting outside on the sidewalk. Instead we went into the Food Lion next door running on generators. As we walked in with my dress and the boys' fancy shirts, the lady asked us if she could help us with an odd expression in her voice. We said we wanted food and to change for a wedding. She questioned whether the wedding was cancelled, a thought which hadn't even crossed our minds. Gladly the wedding was not canceled and though the power was out in both the church and the reception, nothing could have brought down the joy of that day and what it signifies for Kerry and Stafford. It was so great to get to be there and to share such sweet time with so many of my good friends from college who are still such good friends despite the long distances between us. I'm so thankful for all of you!

Our hotel that night did not have power and neither did my parents' house when I finally arrived home Sunday night. (Thanks for the rides Laura and Alex!) I packed up all my stuff and the hundreds of gifts to bring to the Dozier family all in the dark but with lots of candles (see the picture below). I slept for a few hours and then headed back here to Costa Rica to continue the adventure that God has thrown me into.

Thanks again for such a sweet and encouraging time in the States :)

Back in the Mountains & Busy

As I warned you, I haven't been as good about writing now that I'm back up in the mountains. I may be a little busier, but I think it's more that when I'm living and working in community (like I am up here) I'm so dependent on other people. It's not always fun and I feel busier as all the work happens not on my scheduled time and often last minute and I have to remain flexible. But I do believe that God calls us to seek community and seek to live that way. There definitely can be some great joys within it also and great opportunities to ask forgiveness and offer grace - living the Gospel every day with each other. With all that said, I do want to continue to update you all on my my last two weeks:

I had my last week of language school July 4th to the 8th. It was a really great week and I got more connected with the other students that week, which made leaving sadder. I definitely got to know better those in my classes (AJ, Mary and Jim). We had a lot of fun together, and became a great encouragement to each other. Jim and his wife Pat are maybe going to come visit me here in Vara Blanca before they leave CR. I'm hoping to go visit Mary in Nicaragua the next time I need to leave the country to renew my visa. And I'm definitely planning on continue praying for and staying in touch with AJ and his wife Brittany as they get ready to move to Belize as missionaries. I really believe that God brought us all together even for this short time for greater purposes. Both my teachers were also really awesome and I wish I could be there learning from them for at least a few more weeks. I left in the middle of learning all the subjunctive rules and so have to try to learn the rest on my own. The work they're doing at ILE is definitely a huge ministry to all of Latin America. I was definitely encouraged and uplifted in my short time there.

The last week was really busy apart from school stuff with some really exciting things. Monday was 4th of July and the people at the institute decided for the first time ever (so I heard) to have a big party. Apparently the Canadians had one for Canada Day and so those from the USA had to do something. It was so fun. We ate stuff off the grill, had some great baked beans, burgers, apple pie and homemade chocolate chip cookies. We sat around and talked for a while (mostly while I held Titus - AJ and Brittany's baby). Then we watched as some of the guys set off some awesome fireworks. It felt very unusual, but oddly comforting.

Then my friend and one of my roommates from college visited me, Laura Welch! We became masters at the buses around the city and did lots of walking around and just spending good time together. My favorite bus ride was one evening when we got on only to be serenaded by a aspiring musician who wasn't really very good but was very entertaining. Our stop came up at the perfect time that we didn't have to give him money but got to see most of his "conciertito". Then we came up the mountain and I got to share with her some of my life here. For me it was so nice to have one of my closest friends in the world here and my favorite times with her was just hanging out amidst the craziness of my last week of classes.

Laura and I eating together downtown SJO

I'm trying to continue my Spanish learning and improving even though I'm no longer in classes. I'm trying to read an easy romance novel in Spanish (pretty cheesy), I'm reading some of my Bible in both English and Spanish, and I'm attempting to continue working through the grammar book and workbook that I was using at the institute. I'll also be practicing a lot, obviously  :)

Now I'm back up here in the mountains and though our students are on vacation until Monday, I've been working away preparing for a group visiting from my home church and the normal work I have to do. I'm glad to be back in my room and bed and with my puppy! Though to be honest, it's bitter sweet to be back here, but I know God has me here and is working. I'll try and keep blogging, but no promises at how often. Thanks for checking in, friends! I love your comments and messages and emails!

Remember Luke 1:37

Little Updates

So this stretch of not updating my blog has been longer than ever before. SORRY! The summer was crazy busy and then I was back in the States for most of the fall with my family. Well to be a little better I decided to try something a little new and hopefully more interesting than a somewhat monthly update. I'm going to try to regularly update an album on facebook with a lot of the daily type things that occur in my life here. I just started, but hope to keep up with it better. It should give you a greater glimpse into my daily life here.

Check it out here: Life in the CR is always interesting

First Summer Update (and much too late)

As you can probably tell from my lack of blogging, we've been kept very very busy this summer. It's hard to know even where to begin, but I'll try. (Warning: I'm way behind, so this is going to be long!)

Eastern: The Masters students from Eastern University's International Development program spent a week with us at the end of April. We outfitted the ADE center with a new kitchen and bunk beds enough for 27 people - and just in time. It was a great experience for everyone involved. The Eastern students got to see some of Costa Rica, study natural disasters (specifically volcanos), work with the ADE colegio students, and help both ADE and our local community. There were also lots of really good discussions between individuals and the whole group and development, sustainability, ecology, and community resilience to name just a few. For our ADE colegio students, it was great for them to get to build some relationships with new people, learn about development and disaster preparedness with the masters students, get a view of higher educational possibilities and take part in serving their own community alongside others. It was great for our staff (myself totally included) to really get to have meaningful conversations with others in the same mind and gain the experience of hosting a group of that size. I was really exhausted after that week, but it was definitely good.

Nicaragua: Shortly after the huge group left, I headed on the Tica Bus to Nicaragua to renew my visa, visit my friend Leah and relax. It was so great to see Leah and Hemby who are in Nicaragua for the year with Manna Project International. I just hung out in their house (and pool) for a few days and read. I also got to see some of their projects and have lots of good convos about community development, learning from the good and bad of their program. It was a sweet time thanks to Leah - You're awesome :)

Interns: We've got interns (and volunteers) here for the summer! Amanda Rinker, previous YL leader at East Mont, came down in May. She's taking her summer break from getting her masters and seminary degrees to get her hands dirty in this community. Her specific role is working with our agriculture project (which Morgan, who was here over spring break and then came back for a couple weeks in May, helped to start). Lauren Ko, also a Hokie alum, came down in May also to be here for the summer. She just graduated from Tech and is working hard here. She's specifically working with some of the environment issues going on here with the reconstruction. Lauren and Amanda have been each so helpful with all of the different projects and needs we've got here. They've done everything from moving rocks and painting signs, to creating handbooks and inventories. For one week in the end of June we had Karen here doing a week of intensive English learning with our students. With years of experience in teaching English and in the process of getting her masters degree in it, she worked hard for a week and brought down tons of awesome resources. Hopefully from the training and resources she gave me, I can be a better English teacher! Now Maria is here for the month of July all the way from Austria (we met while I was in Vienna). She's up for doing anything and everything we need and filling a great need for us this month. And of course, we can't forget Mikki who was here from April to the end of June. She definitely was here right when I personally needed her - and I miss her lots now that she's gone. Look at all the amazing people God brought to join us during this summer. Blows my mind!

Georgia Group: We had a group of high school students from Georgia here for 2 weeks. They spent the first week down in our ADE Center seeing the area, working with our students, and learning and serving in this area. For the second week, they went to a small town on the Caribbean coast to do some service/learning there and our group went with them. Our students worked hard to fundraise for the trip. They hosted a Bingo night in town and made enough money for everyone to go. (Bingo is maybe the most and only successful fundraiser in this community - no lie). It was a great time with our students and serving another small community like ours.

Restaurant: Here's the big one that has totally changed my time here in many ways. On June 11th, 2010 along with the opening of the World Cup, we opened a restaurant with women from our community! It's been an exciting but very challenging venture. I myself have never really worked at all in the food service industry (much less starting a new one). So I've been learning a ton. The women are incredible! For me that's been the greatest part, getting to know each one of the "associates" (as they're definitely not employees as we're all partners in this business). The women range in ages and family status, but what is greater is bringing together and seeking relationships across borders that are usually not crossed - specifically between Evangelicals and Catholics in this community. It's been so great for me getting to know each one and feeling more and more like a part of the community and have friends (close to my age or older - unlike before when my only friends were my students)! It has also been very challenging and definitely needs your prayers in terms of money and response from other local businesses. You can check out our new website (still with lots under construction) at: www.RestauranteArcoiris.org


To come in July and August... visitors, camps, and my family!

Spring Break 2010!

So this week we've got 4 spring break students from different schools in the US here learning Spanish, contributing to the community projects and getting to see Costa Rica. We've done so much already and it's only Tuesday:

• Worked on Spanish with local community students
• Gone to church (awesome cultural experience)
• Seen waterfalls, butterflies, and jungle cats
• Eaten typical foods
• Held toucans
• Made empanadas
• Seen the volcano
• Hiked in the jungle
• Tracked a tapir
• Milked cows
• Laughed a lot

There's a lot more to come and I'm really excited. I'll write more and put up pictures after the week. Definitely be thinking of and praying for us :)