Posts filed under 'Costa Rica'
Tyson wanted to help those in the congregation learn English or Spanish using the accelerated learning methods that he was taught in California. So about 25 people from the congregation were invited for a language class. We had a lot of fun juggling and tossing balloons and learning some new phrases.
After the class, a sister invited us outside to talk to us for a moment. When we returned inside the house, everyone yelled SURPRISE!!! They had planned a going away party for us – the rest of the congregation came in and we all had dinner. Later a group gave a small skit about how they used to work territory and then what it is like now and in the future. It was heart warming to see how much they appreciated the effort we put into making territories while we were here. Later many danced in the carport – the brothers and sisters here can really cut a rug. We definitely want to learn Salsa dancing when we get home.
Here are some pictures of the class and the party.
April 10th, 2006
One of Calista’s “must do in Costa Rica†adventures was to take a coffee plantation tour. Her idea of heaven on earth is swimming in mounds of Arabica beans (dark roast of course). So our last tour took place at the Britt Coffee plant in the town of Heredia, just North of San Jose. The tour is lead by an acting group dressed in traditional clothing of coffee pickers. They were very funny most of the time, other times just weird. We enjoyed learning about how coffee is grown from seed to fruit and what the process is for roasting as well as how to brew the perfect cup. There was also a movie that told the history of how the coffee plant became popular around the world. We were also served a wonderful lunch and all the coffee we wanted to drink. Needless to say, we are wide-awake late at night writing this.
Enjoy our "good to the last drop" pictures.
April 9th, 2006
Sarchi is a small town just a 30-minute drive outside of San Jose and is one of the oldest settlements in the Western Valley. Most people come for crafts shopping in the Plaza de Artesania. And, for those who just moved here for good, it is where you buy your furniture at a reasonable price. The town is home to many artisans who keep the tradition of making painted wooden ox carts (or carretas) alive. These carts became socioeconomic status symbols and were later declared the national workingman’s symbol in 1988. We enjoyed the great variety of carts and enjoyed watching the artisans paint in a variety of colors. You can even purchase a cart and have it shipped home to the states if you like, although I don’t think it would look good in the living room.
Enjoy the beautiful pictures of these carts.
April 8th, 2006
Outside of Jaco, a booming beach town on the Pacific Coast, there is a bridge that the locals call the “Mother-in-Law Bridge.†The reason they call it by that name is because there are upwards of twenty large, hungry crocodiles below. Either the crocodiles are like the mothers-in-law or the crocodiles are supposed to receive the mothers-in-law. Not sure which. They are huge, at least 12 feet long. Some crazy people buy hunks of fat from the store and throw it to them. They devour them quickly.
See a bigger picture here.
April 7th, 2006
One of the latest developments is the addition of a literature display table in downtown San Jose. The mayor granted the brothers' request to set up the table, a first in Costa Rica. It is located on Avenida Central, a very busy pedestrian-only shopping district in the heart of the capital city.
A couple brothers and/or sisters sit at the table on selected days of the week and talk to people who approach for more information. There is literature that is available in many languages and a book that people can sign if they are interested.
In just seven days there were 288 magazines, 99 books, 56 booklets and a large number of tracts distributed to people who requested them. 138 signed the guest book and 76 gave their phone number to be followed up on later. Several Bible studies have been started already. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
See photo of the table and some volunteers here.
March 27th, 2006
Two sisters were doing a search in a neighborhood and came to a huge house that took up the whole block. There were security people around and TV newspeople with cameras camped outside the house. So, they knocked on the door. A lady answered and asked them what their business was there. The sisters replied that they were looking for people who speak a foreign language, including English. The lady informed them that this was the house of the former president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias Sanchez! Undaunted, the one sister asked, "So does he speak English?" Needless to say, he is now in the territory list!
March 26th, 2006
So, here's what we've really been doing all this time… As we mentioned before, there are no addresses here in Costa Rica. The way you find someone’s house is with directions, like “just go 200 meters North and 300 meters East of the little mini mart that only locals know where it is…â€. So this has been really frustrating for the foreign language groups here. It was difficult to actually write the interested person’s address, let alone find them ever again. In addition, the publishers kept their not-at-home records on maps, which required a lot of work to update and didn’t allow much room for recording more info about the householder. As a result, the congregation had actual residential territory only in a very limited area. So, our assignment was to organize all of this mess.
So, after interviewing the pioneers and working in the various avenues, we formulated a plan. We would separate the info about the householders from the maps. Each city block would be assigned a unique block number, based on the province, county and district it resides in. The maps would show the block numbers, while all the information about the person or business would be stored in a database. That would allow us to print territory lists sorted by language, location, type, date, etc. It would also eliminate the process of updating maps. We would eventually create our own master map, complete with various layers like streets, geopolitical boundaries, congregation boundaries (the branch doesn’t even have a map of these!), landmarks, bus routes, publishers’ homes, etc.
So, first step is to get good street maps in vector format. With the help of others, we found 1:50,000 street maps of the entire country of Costa Rica and 1:10,000 street maps of just San Jose in AutoCAD format. Sounds great, except that they were from 1984! One company offers updated street maps for the whole country for only $3,000. But, since that is out of the congregation’s price range, we had to figure out a way to update the old street maps. Google Local has hi-res satellite imagery for some of our area and some of the municipalities have updated CAD maps in various formats for their own area.
We needed special software to do all this, called GIS (Geographical Information Systems). After much searching, including many open-source programs, the congregation purchased Manifold System Pro. Not cheap, but worth every penny. It does everything we need and more. So, now we can create maps with block numbers and everything else we need to show. See a sample map here.
In order to locate a house or business, in addition to the block number (which at least gets you to the block), you need some more info to pinpoint the location. Most houses in the San Jose area have some kind of number located somewhere on their property. It may be the water number (0160-3234) scratched on the gate or on the intercom. It might be the water number (1948-24). Or, we might have to use the number on the electric meter. Any unique number that’s visible and won’t change is recorded. Things that can change (house color, plants, signs, trees, pets) can’t be used. We made a visual aid that shows the guidelines. It helps also to write down a relative location (3 houses North from the SW corner). When the publishers do a search, they write down the block number, house number and directions, language, and any other info on a blank sheet (see actual copy here). This info is then entered into the database.
All of this effort is not actually working their territory, it is creating territory to work in the future. They will be able to print out territory lists based on language, type, and area, whatever they want. And since they have maps with the block number they will be able to go right to the location. In addition, once the other foreign language groups and Spanish congregations are using the same system, they can easily send referrals that can actually be located!
So, needless to say, we have been working hard. Our time is spent working at the computer, brainstorming and training the publishers and pioneers. Although the ministry is very different from what we expected, and at times it feels like we’re working full-time at a secular job, we get satisfaction thinking about how much more effective the ministry will be here and the resulting response from the field.
March 22nd, 2006
Costa Rica is famous for biodiversity, boasting an estimated 1 million species of plant and animal life. So it’s no surprise that there are many, many, many kinds of butterflies. While in La Fortuna on vacation, we visited a Mariposario (butterfly place). There were five buildings, each with a unique group of butterflies. They have to keep them separate because different butterflies have different host plants on which they lay their eggs and feed on. Plus, some butterflies are more aggressive and they don’t want fights to break out.
Some butterflies are brightly colored on the top of the wings, but when they land and close their wings, only the bottom, camouflaged side is visible. The patterns on the wings on one butterfly look like an owl, complete with eyes. Another butterfly looks like a snake, with scales, an eye, and mouth.
Other butterflies are brightly colored red, orange or yellow on both sides. These butterflies don’t care whether predators can see them or not because they are poisonous. So, they can go wherever they want. We also saw the various stages of development of these butterflies.
Next to the butterfly farm was also an orchid garden, some the size of grains of rice. There are so many varieties to see, we may attempt to grow one when we get home.
Enjoy our pictures.
March 21st, 2006
About ten minutes from La Fortuna is the beautiful Catarata waterfall. The Rio Fortuna tumbles down through 210 feet of rainforest canopy. The twenty-minute walk down was very steep and difficult even though it had concrete steps for the worst parts. Once you reach the base of the waterfall, you can swim in the pool and river, although you can’t swim into the waterfall because you would die. We didn’t bring our swimming suits, so we just watched others. What we did see though that was interesting was a rare species of pasty white old guy who performed an amazing and rarely seen dance of taking off wet swimming shorts and displaying his “plumage†for ALL to see (sorry, no picture available). There were some really huge rocks there and you wonder where they came from and if more will arrive while you are there.
For your viewing pleasure…more photos.
March 20th, 2006
We have never had the experience of being next to a live volcano, now was our chance. Volcan Arenal is the most active volcano in Costa Rica ever since it erupted in 1968, killing approximately 80 people. Arenal is the 12th most active volano in the world. In 1993, a huge lava flow swept down the west side of the volcano. In 1994 the Arenal National Park was formed and includes three trails that lead you to this lava flow (now much, much cooler).
The day we visited was one of the few days that the clouds were not covering the top of the volcano. Because of this, we had spectacular views all day. Thirty seconds after we arrived at the observation point the volcano rumbled and a big plume of smoke billowed from the top of the cone. Afterwards, you could see the lava flowing from the top and large boulders bouncing down the volcano and bursting apart. All this taking place a mile away from where we were standing! The locals don’t seem to get as excited as the tourists – this happens several times a day, every day.
Feast on our photos.
March 19th, 2006
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