10 days and counting...

Wow! 10 days until I go home for Christmas...the time has flown by so fast down here!!! It's been very busy here lately. We've been preparing for exams and Thanksgiving dinner here on Thursday. I'm making green bean casserole for 50 people! To make a GOOD green bean casserole one needs french fried onions to top it off. So..I went to at least 3 different grocery stores down here looking for them and what do you know...they don't sell them here! So tonight I spent my evening making home made french fried onions. I've never made them before but there wasn't a chance that I was going to make the casserole without them. It wasn't too difficult either. My friend Jared worked at a restaurant and taught me how to do it. All it took was milk with eggs and flour with salt and pepper to taste. First you put the onions in the milk and egg mixture and then in the flour mixture and fry it on the stove in oil! They turned out great!! I'm really looking forward to making the casseroles :) Hopefully they turn out OK! Thanksgiving down here in Costa Rica will definitely be a unique experience!!! Everyone is contributing a dish i.e. mashed potatoes, pie, casseroles, etc. and the Turkey is provided. :) We have games planned and of course we will be watching the Macy's Day Parade too!

On Friday we have one of our exams for a Spanish class. I'm in a group with 5 others and we have an exciting activity planned. We have the whole hour of class to 'teach' the class. Our theme is 'Vacation'. There will be 4 different stations. Josh and Sarah S. are going to be tourist guides up in the mountains, Ashely N. is a farmer and going to walk them through a 'typical day on the farm', Zack has a cruise ship and Kelsey and I are guides at a beautiful beach. :) Everyone will get a passport which they will take to each station and get stamped. There they will have activities that they will do in Spanish(of course) that correlates with where they are. Then they will write out in Spanish what they did while they were there, etc. Hopefully it all goes well :) Last time we did a group project it didn't turn out that well. It was last Friday and we had a Cooking Show and each group had to make a dish and tell the class how they made it and what they used. Well..my group decided to make parfaits. The night before one of the girls went to the store and bought fruit, yogurt and condensed milk. We didn't try to make it before we presented it to the class. While we were mixing it all together one of the girls tasted the yogurt and came over to me and said 'Cara, I think somethings wrong with the yogurt...I think it might be spoiled!' Well I checked the date and that was fine but then Kelsey noticed that it was NATURAL yogurt not vanilla!!!! So..we doused the yogurt parfaits with the condensed milk and they actually turned out just fine...our teacher loved them so I guess that's all that matters-right!? Hahaha It definitely turned out to be a fun little adventure!

I've been getting to know more people at my church and in the youth group so that's been really great! Yesterday one of the guys from our church went bowling with us :) Josh, Zack, Tim, Marlon, Kelsey and I left after lunch and spent the afternoon bowling and playing pool. It was fun!! I won the first game, came in second on the 2nd game and played left handed on the third game...can you guess what place I was in for that round...yup..definitely last place!!! But it sure was a good time :)

Tomorrow we are going to the Children's Museum here in Costa Rica. I'm sure it can't come anywhere close to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis but it should be a fun time! :) Tomorrow afternoon we don't have any classes...YIPEE! We will spend time getting ready for the Thanksgiving dinner:)

Well, that's all for now...chau!

pIcTuReS

I've posted new pictures! One album is from a fun day w/the girls and the other one is from our field trip to the National Museum here in Costa Rica that we went on yesterday(Nov. 12) I will be adding more from the Museum later when I have more time. Enjoy :)



http://picasaweb.google.com/caratsweet/NationalMuseumInCostaRica#

http://picasaweb.google.com/caratsweet/DAyAtThESPa#

5am and waiting for daybreak!

I don't know why but I'm up at 5am! Spanish classes have been going well. I've been trying to have a more positive spirit and to enjoy it even though I'm not grasping all of it yet. This past week in Costa Rica has been a good change that I've greatly enjoyed. On Tuesday, the day we begin our school week, they divided out the more advanced students and that has been a tremendous help for the rest of us. Not only does it allow more one on one time but it also lets us progress just a bit slower so we can grasp the concepts better. It has been a lot less stressful w/not trying to play 'catch-up' with the more advanced students so that they aren't completely bored. I enjoy my teacher, Mary Mata, she is very patient and kind and helps in anyway that she is able. All day on Saturday, Nov. 8th we went to a church in downtown San Jose for something called Teens Involved. It is hosted by Word of Life and it conists of 4-5 local youth groups competing in Bible narratives, preaching, solos, and choirs. It was so encouraging to see 12year olds preaching! It was a VERY long day w/not much to do since I didn't compete. We left the Villa at 7am and didn't return until 6:30pm. It was good to see so many young kids involved in those different ministries. I attend Impacto w/4 other GAP students..Ashley M, Missy, Zack, and Josh. Today after church one of the Pastors is taking the 5 of us out to eat. I really enjoy Sundays even though I'm only able to get part of the message I LOVE singing along w/my brothers and sisters in their own language! I love to worship my God and my Savior whether it's in English or Spanish, it's such a precious time. Tomorrow morning about 13 of us are leaving early to go up to the mountains and to go ziplining! I'm so excited!!! There are less then 30days left until I'm back in the States. Whew, the time is flying so fast! I'm continuing to pray and trust that the Lord will provide the necessary funds for me to return for the 2nd semester. Here in Costa Rica some days are really hard to be here(especially when it's different then what I thought or had in my mind) and I just want to throw up my hands and go home but then I'm reminded that God has me here for a purpose and that is to be used by Him and for Him(in any situation). These days are not about 'frolicking in meadows and picking daisies' but humbling myself and doing whatever He asks of me even though I find that to be a difficult endeavor AND to do all these things with a cheerful heart. Please continue to pray...

Dios te bendiga!