Friday, February 20, 2009

Today’s adventure began with swimming in the warm Pacific Ocean, collecting rocks and colorful shells on the dark sandy beach, and relaxing around the beautiful swimming pool and gardens at the hotel. An iguana joined us for our breakfast of watermelon, pineapple and papaya, plus all the other goodies.

After a well-needed morning of rest and renewal, we headed out of Jaco, but had a brief stop to make at another hotel. The sign read “No Prostitution – No Drugs – This is a family hotel”. The owner came out and spoke to us about his values and ethics and the local effort he’s made with the mayor to stem the tide of prostitution and drugs in their community. He encouraged us to write letters to the Department of Tourism in Costa Rica to express our support of family-value motels and attractions.

Steve and Lisa’s oceanfront restaurant provided a scrumptious lunch – many of us enjoying the typical Costa Rican meal of rice and shrimp – YUM! Our travel back to Robledal Bed & Breakfast took us past Crocodile Bridge where we viewed 27 crocodiles, one of which enjoyed lunch on Violet’s fallen sunglasses. We had quite a chuckle over that. A quiet ride home through the majestic mountains provided a chance to nap and reflect on our trip. Some of us found it necessary to keep our eyes closed anyway on the narrow roads at very high altitudes.

After a quick change of clothing at our hotel we headed out to the Santo Tomas Church in Heredia where we met with the Baptist Women’s Federation. The church is across the alley from a coffee finca (farm) and many of the coffee trees still had their white flowers blooming. Women from several area churches were present to warmly greet us and we enjoyed pastries and café. Four of our women shared why we made the trip to Costa Rica. They then shared skits with us about how they do women’s work in their churches. One group has a neighborhood program for adults and children teaching reading and writing. In addition to this, they have a youth club where they teach the children religious songs, Biblical stories, and prayer. Another church demonstrated their women’s planning session and laughed about how they spend much time eating and drinking café – just like us! They explained how they have fundraisers with garage/rummage sales, cookbook sales, bake sales, bazaars with hand-crafted baskets and quilts. Sounds familiar! The last presentation was women in cultural, colorful dress that danced for us.

Supper was served and we really enjoyed the food and especially the desert of warm rice pudding with coconut and cinnamon. They promised to give us the recipe. The women of the Baptist Women’s Federation surprised us with lovely gifts of Costa Rican tote bags with a embroidered map on them. By now, it was raining and very cold so a quick tour of their facility took place before we hopped back on the warm bus.

Upon returning to our hotel, Marilyn shared a “loving-kindness” devotion and prayer. Marilyn shared a reading from 1 John 4 that describes the love of God for us and His command to love one another

— Eileen Smith and Sue Maiocchi