Life is Good

I have now been in Costa Rica for 20 days. Life is good, God is good, and I am so thankful to have been given this opportunity to study abroad here. I have been blessed with some amazing new friends, an awesome host mom, and memories I wish that every person that the chance to have. Each day is even better than the last and each weekend brings even better beaches along with it. So far these 3 weeks have been non-stop going places and trying new things so it is nice to finally be getting in a routine.

This past weekend we visited one of the most popular beaches in Costa Rica, Tamarindo, where some students through the program along with myself went on a day-long catamaran ride. Food, drinks, snorkeling, and a phenomenal view included all added up to create an unforgettable day. Minus the gallons (little exaggeration) of salt water I ingested while snorkeling and fighting the current, it was definitely one of the greatest days yet. I was even able to hold a porcupine (puffer) fish which was pretty neat.

Clearly having the time of my life.

Never before have I been more appreciative of my friends and family back home in the states than I have been this past week. As much as I love being here, being away from both of my homes (Prior Lake and Drake) has become somewhat difficult. Let me tell you, Skype is a beautiful thing. To anyone back home reading this, I appreciate you. I have become so thankful and realized how lucky I am to have such fantastic people in my life, both here and in the states. Life is not always easy, but I am fortunate enough to have people who make it fun and worth loving. If there's one thing I have learned while being abroad so far it's that I need to appreciate where I am and who I am with in the moment. As cheesy as it sounds (very cheesy I know, sry 'bout it) it is making me value each second of this trip even more.

On another less sappy note, I recently went out and did some mission work with the group of missionaries my roommate, Kelli, works with. In Costa Rica prostitution is legal and there is an abundance of prostitutes out on the cold streets at night. For about 4 hours, we drove around downtown and stopped when possible to talk, hand out cookies and coffee, and prayed for all of the men and women prostitutes we were able to. It was such a crazy night but I cannot wait to go back out and talk to those people again. Although it was a little intimidating at first, it ended up being so cool getting to talk to and love on people who really need it. We definitely could never do that in the US!

This weekend we are traveling to Monteverde and I finally get to cross off another thing on my bucket list. We are going zip lining above the trees through the forest on the longest zip line in all of Central America. I'm just a little excited. It's so cool to be able to travel all over the place every weekend and get to see more and more of this beautiful country. 78 more days to see every bit of it possible. :)

Pura Vida,
Serena