Day 1 March 6, 2010-Alice Kong

Hello Costa Rica! Today was day one of Living Water’s first International Tour. We’ve been up, literally ALL day. At 11:30 pm (on Friday), we met at Phelps Gate, spent some time in prayer with a nice send off by our fellow droplet Jason Chu, and then headed off to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in our three rental cars. Having safely arrived at the airport around 2:30am, we checked in, and waited for Derek who was planning on meeting us at the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:00 am and it wasn’t until the last passengers were boarding the plane, that Derek came strolling through the terminal to our gate. Praise God that we all made it onto the plane safe and sound. I was thinking about how ridiculous it was that we were traveling at such a late/early hour, even after 8 weeks of sleep deprivation at school, and I can’t help but thank God for the abundance of His grace in giving all of us energy and strength to stay awake until we made it onto the plane. The moment I sat down in my seat, I knocked out. I awoke to the sound of the flight attendant so beautifully announcing that the weather in Costa Rica was 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Oh sweet and glorious words of bliss! Nearly 40 degrees warmer than New Haven! We got off the plane to the sight of bright blue sky and lush green palm trees blowing in the wind. Talk about the trees the dancing and declaring the glory of God! If I thought the scenery outside the airport was beautiful, I couldn’t even imagine what the rest of the country would look like. Our shuttle picked us up from the airport around 9:30 am and dropped seven of us at the Greenhouse Hostel and then took the rest to Luis’ house. The whole shuttle ride, I stuck my head out the window and soaked in as much of the sun, the smells, and the sights as I could. Costa Rica is such a beautiful and bright and colorful place. Around lunchtime, the droplets at the hostel walked up to Luis’ house where Luis’ mom, Dona Myrna, greeted us with kisses (besitos) on the cheek and had prepared an enormous and incredibly delicious meal for us. I think all of us were paralyzed afterwards by how good the food was and also by the sheer amount of food that we consumed. Oh man, Costa Rican food is sooo good. After lunch, Luis gave us a tour of his neighborhood, Barrio Cordoba in Zapote, San Jose. We walked to his second house where we met one of his four brothers, Sergio, who is a professional musician. He played some saxophone for us and it was beautiful! While walking around outside, Luis pointed out the many mango, papaya, banana trees which were interspersed among the brightly colored houses and exotic plants and flowers. We played around in a children’s park for a bit and then some of us went to a small shopping mall to get a few toiletries and other little essentials/random things. We ate another large and delicious meal at Luis’ house, had our very first debriefing with Luis as our first droplet of the day, and then parted ways to pretty early so that we could sleep and prepare our hearts for the next day. I’m so thankful that our first day was so smooth and that God brought us here safely. I’m excited to see what God has in store for us, ways He will stretch and grow us individually, ways He will draw us closer to each other, and how He will cause our hearts to flow rivers of living water for the people of Costa Rica these next 11 days. G-prov!