Wednesday

The last two day have been a time of forming routines and emersing ourselves in camp life.

Our mornings begin with a time of prayer and a short devotional at 7:30 in front of the guys cabin.  We like to have it at the camp fire pit but the last two mornings have been windy and wet.  We have been using ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication) to help us focus in prayer, and we have had great participation.  On Tuesday Robert Bruno, the camp director, and Adam Carlson, a staff member and our liaison joined us and Robert shared about the purposes of the trip (Personal Growth, Cultural Experience, Living in Community and Service).

Breakfast starts around eight.  A big difference between Costa Rica and southern Ontario is something we affectionately call 'Tico Time' (Tico being the nickname for Costa Ricans).  Things run at a different pace here and schedules are frequently altered in response to how activities are going.  People are not stressed about what time things are at, and the children are, in my opinion, able to occupy themselves, when there is a lull in the action, than average Canadian kids at the same age.  Overall we have found the people here very relational and alway eager to talk with us and each other.

After breakfast the program staff help clean up the dining room, though currently don't have to do dishes, and the work project teams head of the meet the maintenance manager and get there jobs.  The team have completely transformed one of the maintenance sheds (the one they cleaned out and organized).  It now has had broken boards replaced and a new coat of paint.  Tomorrow will probably see the roof extension to the shed finished and the new wood shed complete.

Cleaning out the maintenance shed

Assessing Repairs

Painting the cabin

A new paint job

One exciting thing today was the taking down of a tall pine tree.  The maintenance staff had noticed a crack at the based of the tree and every time the wind cause it to sway the crack would expand and contract like vertical mouth.  Needless to say, the tree needed to come down.  Jesse and Micha have been helping with the clean up.

Making sure the tree falls in the right place

The tree comes down

Another project we have is pool maintenance.  Nathan has taken this role and will be vacuuming the pool each morning and making sure it is ready for the kids later in the day.  This will involve him getting up while the rest of us are asleep.

Le Piscina Muchacho (I think that means something like Pool Boy)

The program team (Harald, David and Danielle) have been have a great time with the kids are are getting well acquainted the game, or should I say serious sport, of four-square.  Anytime there is a free moment a game seems to form.  We thought that it would endear us to the kids if we weren't very good, but we were wrong.

4-square (the sport of Kings)

The work crews finish around 4 in the afternoon, then compare sunburns and have showers.  Joining everyone at dinner (around 6, remember Tico Time).  Meals here are a somber affair; NOT!  They are full of laughter, cheers, music and tonight even dancing, as one of the counselors gave what looked like a performance of a traditional Spanish style dance, though I am not cultured enough to know the origin.

After dinner there is cleanup and evening games.  Some of the project team join in and others take the opportunity to rest, write/call home, update facebook and enjoy each others company.  Each week we will switch who is on the program team so everyone has an opportunity to serve in that capacity.

It has been amazing how fast the time has gone.  Please continue to pray for us and may you experience the blessing of God as much as we are feeling it on this trip.

on behalf of the interns
Allan