Cultural Day

We just celebrated Columbus Day here in Costa Rica. Because there are people from all over the world studying here at the Institute and people will be going to places throughout Central and South America to serve, we call it Cultural Day. The day itself celebrates when Christopher Columbus landed in Central America in 1492, thinking he had reached the coast of India. But, in reality, he had discovered a new continent. The Institute celebrated in grand fashion. Two teachers paired up to turn their classroom into a festival about a certain country in central or south america. There were people dressed in typical clothing from that country, they served typical food from that country and had lots of information concerning the country. It was fun and interesting to try food from the different places represented. A highlight of the day was a pinata for the kids. It was fun for the kids, but also highlighted the fact that there is no way this would happen back in the States. I am thoroughly surprised that a child didn't get wacked in the head with the bat. The pinata was pretty strong, so it took many hits to actually break. And, of course, mayhem ensued afterwards. An interesting twist of pinata games here in Costa Rica is that it's on a string and the person holding it is actually moving it up and down so that the child has to work harder to hit it. It was pretty amusing.

We also took advantage of the long weekend to spends some time with some other families at the beach. It was a very relaxing time and God used it to refesh us and give us a renewed energy for school and learning the language. We are glad to be back in San Jose now and back at school. We cannot believe that the semester is half over already and the Christmas break is quicky approaching. Please be in prayer that these last 8 weeks will be a great time of learning. We realize there will probably never be another time in our lives like this where our focus is on language learning only, so we pray for focus and discipline to finish strong. Thank you so much for your prayers! You are the support and prayer warrior for our family and we couldn't do this without you!