Manuel Antonio and icky blechy sicky.

Hola amiguitos!
¿Como van las cosas en los Estados Unidos?
Here things have been wonderful....and a tad bit not so fun.
But lets start from the beginning shall we?

*Side note...currently typing on a spanish keyboard...I think I might be just a little too excited about being able to type ñ so easily!!!
mañana, tamaño, cumpleaños, baño, año, ñññññññññññññññññññ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO much fun!
¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ upside down question marks are fun too!
But back to Costa Rican stories....

Last weekend we went to Manuel Antonio national park. I've been trying to think of ways to describe it and it's pretty much impossible. Even pictures don't do it justice. God's creation is just...wow. There was so much diversity, so much creativeness, so much beauty. Several times I wanted to cry from the pure, un-altered, simple joy of it. I am so in awe of the beauty that surrounds me - it speaks of the beauty of the Creator.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard." - Psalm 19:1-3

And then I read verses like Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever."

And I am in even more awe. As beautiful as all this is, it will fade and end. Yet the God who created it endures. Such an amazing thought.

On the way to Manuel Antonio National Park, we stopped by a river and saw some GIGANTIC crocodiles. They were icky looking but pretty cool at the same time. Me gustan los cocodrilos mucho!

After seeing the crocodiles, we headed into the national park, hiked to the beach, and were absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.

If you can find the lizard you get a prize!

Once at the beach we saw some adorable monkeys just hanging out and a super cool iguana! Also the beach was just incredible.

(The iguana is on the log behind me!!!)

Sometimes I have to ask myself if this is real life...cause I'm really not sure anymore haha. Once at the beach we went on a hike up in the forest to a lookout point. 

After the hike we went and hung out more on the beach.

I might just stay here forever. Maybe. :)

After hanging out at the beach we did some souvenir shopping, went to a super cool beach-side restaurant to eat, had some ice-cream at this pharmacy place, and learned a Spanish card game in the hotel room. I was bad and didn't take any pictures of it all....got to do better about that.

The next morning I woke up bright and early, sat outside our hotel room, and joined the birds in praises to God in the early morning light. Remembering His sacrifice while sitting in the midst of a rainforest and gazing out at the vast ocean before me was so overwhelming that I cried. May the Lord make me ever the more mindful of the heights of His love, the depths of His sacrifice, and the magnitude of His blessings. Also, Psalms 104 and 148 are pretty incredible. After everyone else got up, we had some delicious breakfast and drove through some precious small towns in the mountains before reaching our destination. The drive in an open jeep type vehicle was seriously one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on. Unfortunately, we were told not to bring our cameras or I could have some breath-taking pics to share with y'all. So just imagine amazingly beautiful tropical scenery and precious little towns with friendly smiling people. Had some major thoughts about becoming a little school teacher in a village here. Will keep y'all up to date on how that plan works out.

Water rafting was SO MUCH FUN!!! Seriously, I LOVED it! And want to do it again and again and again! It was absolutely beautiful and invigorating and just...wow! If you've never been, I highly recommend it.

After rafting we stopped by a cute little bakery and then made the drive back to Heredia. It was good to be home. :)

The beginning of my week held fun activities such as spending time with friends and being able to learn more about the bus system/also see more of downtown Heredia. Unfortunately though, around Tuesday night I started to feel pretty bad. Wednesday morning I was definitely sicky sicky. 

It wasn't very much fun. Major nausea, bad stomach pain, headache, super tiredness, entire body aching....yeah. Slept the entire day on Wednesday. Thursday tried to go to school but that was a fail so made a little trip to the "clinica biblica" - the doctor's clinic in Heredia....which was an experience! Turns out that I had a pretty nasty virus and had lost so much fluid because of the virus that I was dehydrated. After a super painful injection, drinking a liter of "suero de rehidratacion" (rehidration solution), getting some pills AND liquid meds that I have to take three times a day...I've started to feel MUCH better. The doctor was very nice and my Tica madre Ubelia has been very sweet making me soup and crackers and hot tea. So, after sleeping all day Thursday and loading up majorly on the meds, today has been a million times better! Actually starting to eat real food again...so nice! 

*Other side note...it's VERY hard to speak Spanish when you're feeling bad. I was definitely longing for a little more English in my life. Made me feel sympathetic towards Spanish speakers in the U.S. when they get sick and have a hard time communicating.

This weekend looking forward to going to La Fortuna...ziplining, hotsprings, and waterfalls! Whoop! Will let y'all know how it goes and try to update more frequently so that these posts aren't so monstrously long!

Lastly, a little thought from some 1 Kings reading I did while laying in bed this week. After finishing the temple construction, Samuel prayed a beautiful prayer to God. In this prayer, Solomon says, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built!" - 1 Kings 8:27. Yet God DID dwell on the earth. Read what Philippians says. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." - Phil. 2:5-8.

My great God whom even the highest heaven cannot contain humbled himself to the point of death. Our God dwelt on the earth. Our God took on flesh. My Lord is so strong and so mighty and yet loves with a love great enough even to come and dwell among us! It is hard for my mind to comprehend such love, such sacrifice, and such greatness. And yet, as hard as it is to comprehend, I am so thankful for it.

As always, love hearing from all of y'all estadounidenses!

Que Dios les bendiga muchisimo!

Y Pura Vida!