Basilica Views

It is actually not extremely large, but this highly ornate building, the basilica of Cartago, Costa Rica is quite famous. Every year, several million people journey to here from many different parts of the world, especially the Hispanic countries to pay their respects to the Virgin Mary. It is sad to see people who are so dedicated, yet so mistaken as they will crawl on their knees up the isle in reverence. We were privileged to visit this as well as what are called “Las Ruinas” (the Ruins). These are ruins of the original cathedral that was attempted to be built, but never completed because of earthquakes that halted progress. Both were a unique and interesting experience.

The Front of the Basilica

Closer up!

Some inside views...

An Ornate Window

Some of the ceiling!

The Front (Notice the Seal of Costa Rica high on the wall.)

Paul David, Brady and Ashley just waiting for everyone else.

The Front of the Ruins

The Old Bell

A view from down low, inside the ruins. It is beautifully landscaped!

It was a nice break!

A Fascinating Legend about the Ruins

The View at Night

~ Zip-lining… In the Rain! ~

If you’ve never been dangling from a little wire flying at speeds of over 50 miles an hour, 600 feet off the rainforest floor, you haven’t experienced real zip-lining! (In my opinion…) We were a little disappointed when the area we were in acted by its name and dumped a pounding rain down for a couple of hours, the day we were scheduled to “zip.” However, with sturdy raincoats and good nerves, we did it just fine. In fact, the guides said that we went even faster than normal because of the slickness caused by the rain. I believe them!!! It certainly is a thrilling experience, one that I think everyone would repeat were they given the opportunity! The thing that made it even better was this particular company’s location: basically adjacent to Arenal Volcano and up from Lake Arenal, the largest lake in Costa Rica. What a mind-blowing view! We were all very thankful for this unique opportunity!

This is a map of the zip-lines and the gondola. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

This is Lake Arenal, the largest lake in Costa Rica.

A truly beautiful view!

All harnessed up and ready to go!

Nothing to worry about! (At least I HOPE so...)

Ready for take-off?

...in the pouring rain...

At least he's smiling!

What do we do?

I think we can handle this!

I'll make sure to take a good one!

Might as well do it...

Ready for the long one. (Over 600 ft above the ground!)

Ready to go (First man out!)

Bro. Heidler LOVED it! (The people trying to stop him didn't as much)

Caleb... FLYING??

My girl... Dangling on a little wire!

I even did it (though I'll admit I was nervous!)

Paul David on the zip-line!

Go Holly!

We prefer more safety!

Those guys are CRAZY!

Whoa! Did you see that???

Arenal, in all its glory!

What a ride!

Was it all a dream?

This past Sunday afternoon, most of us got together at Holly’s house and swapped pictures and talked about the trip. Jody Heidler made a comment that I could agree with, and I believe other’s did as well, that being that our time in Costa Rica seemed like a dream! It’s so true, time flue so fast, and we had such a good time that it almost feels like it never happened in real life, but it did, and here are some more pictures to prove that of wildlife and food!

"The Lonely Sentinel"

A Friend???

Fish Fries Anyone?

What's down there?

Oh wait! That's not real???

This one certainly was real!

A little frog

We were able to try an incredible variety of foods during our stay! Some of the dishes are shown below.

A tamale wrapped in banana leaves!

A tamale wrapped in banana leaves!

Absolutely Delicious

Olla de Carne (Meat soup)

More Typical Food!

Much of this we don't commonly have in the USA.

Of course, there was lots and lots of more delicious food than this! That’s one thing I miss so much when we’re back in the US! Oh well…

I’ll be posting pictures of the zip-lining next. It was fun!!!

And We’re Home!

I honestly can’t believe that the trip is finished, and we are home! One of my students told me just yesterday, I believe, that he felt like he had just sat through the first class in which we discussed the idea and a trip. Now, after literally months of planning, working, praying, saving, budgeting, etc., an absolutely FANTASTIC trip is done. I have personally been on many missions trips, and out of the country many times, but I believe this was one of the best ones of which I have ever had the privilege to be a part! Seemingly everything went well, from the travel (sure there were a couple of minor problems and close calls, but still it went very smoothly), to the places (some of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen!), to the activities (we had an absolute blast with the many unique and exciting things we did), to the ministry (we all were impacted and blessed by what we saw, and what we were able to help accomplish!) Not only that, but the people involved were simply wonderful! The kid’s attitudes were exceptionally pleasant all week long, with very little grumbling, a willingness to do what they needed to do, cheerfulness, kindness, you name it!

My Spanish 1 Class

My Spanish 2 Class

Frank and Jody Heidler were simply an amazing help in keeping everything together, and helping to liven things up!

Still in Love!

Rex and Missy McDowell, my brother and sister-in-law, did so much work for us, and really helped make the trip happen.

Thanks so much for EVERYTHING!

Even the people down there were such a blessing and help to us! Special thanks to our tour guide, Fernando, who went above and beyond the “call of duty” to help us. I think he really enjoyed hanging out with us, and we certainly did with him!

Me and Fernando

Carmen, Rolando, their boys, and the rest of the church people were a joy to be with, and did so much to make us comfortable! Wow, the list could go on and on!

What a Blessing!

Special thanks as well to my fiancé who helped in so many ways as well!

Me and Jaylena!

Though the trip is now complete, I still will continue to post many different pictures and stories of our time there for the next little while.Thanks for stopping in and caring about what God is doing with the Spanish classes of Penn View Christian Academy!!!

Last Day… Already!

WOW! It’s incredibly hard to believe that we are already on the last day of this trip! I want to thank God though, for all the help He has given. So many have commented about how much fun they have had, and how it has been a help for them here in the gorgeous land of Costa Rica! Yesterday, we went on a class III and IV whitewater rafting trip, which was fun in itself. However, what made it even better was the amazing scenery we viewed on the 18 mile trek. Sparkling clear waterfalls that stretched far above us (we were even steared under several of them), lush tropical rainforests spread out on either side, vibrantly colored butterflies, exotic birds, the list can go on and on… It was truly a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, we could not take any cameras along, since they would have gotten soaked, so we could not capture any of the beauty for you that way. It truly was fantastic though.

The reason I could not update this last night was because I got extremely sick partway through the river experience with a fever, etc, and slept basically all of the afternoon and through the night. Thankfully, I’m feeling much better today. God has been good to us as well in not letting many get sick. There has been some, and it has made it miserable at times for them, but overall, it has been fairly good.

Today, we took a leisure day, got up late, and spent the afternoon exploring more of downtown San Jose. We went to the national theater, where the are many excellent concerts performed, and saw the ornate architecture of the building.

Inside the National Theater

 

It was a unique experience to feed some of the thousands of pigeons that flock in the square out front.

Some were not quite sure what to think!

Paul David and a friend???

 

It took very little for lots of birds to be swarming around us, fighting to get some corn. Then, we continued with the shopping that we were all anxious to get to, buying souvenirs for us and everyone back home! Markets in foreign countries are always an interesting experience. This one is no exception, with everyone trying to sell their wares to us, and many strange sights and smells. I think everyone came away quite satisfied, and I know that we made many merchants happy that we stopped to buy.

The rest of the night, we plan to pack pack pack, and play lots of games! Pray for us tomorrow as we travel home. Hopefully we won’t have any cancellations like we did on the way down.

It has been hard to post pictures down here, which is why there haven’t been as many some times, but I will be able to post some more after we get back. Keep checking in to see all we got into here! It’s been a BLAST!!!

Yikes! Time’s Flying!

Buenas noches. Espero que todos estan bien. We’ve just come through an awesome weekend of ministry! God helped us so much to work with the people in various different ways. Frank and Jody Heidler were able to communicate very well with the married couples, even through an interpreter. God also helped me to speak to the young people every night, and my students just pitched in amazingly in whatever area they were needed! Each night, they split into two different groups, some staying with the young people, and some actually conducting the children’s services all by themselves. Talk about Spanish practice 101! They really did GREAT though, and the kids loved them.

Here we are singing the first night of the weekend.

 

A couple of students even told part of a story in Spanish (well, at least read it). Then today we worked for about 6 hours and got as many things done as possible before coming back here to San Jose.

Paul David hard at work painting

 

Brady about the enter the main church area.

 

We painted,  repaired, did maintenence, put up trim, framed a doorway, and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned!!!! A lot was done and the Rolando and Carmen were extremely greatful.

One of the pastor's boys helped Bro. Heidler

 

Saturday, we had fun playing soccer with a bunch of the nationals. One game, the gringos actually beat the ticos!

Who's gonna win?

These little guys did fantastic

The girls thought it better not to play with all boys!

 

We even had a chance to stitch a wound!

Bro. Heidler and Holly working on the little puppy.

 

Here are some pictures of the Orozi overlook.

Red Rover, Red Rover...

 

Check out the view

 

Speaking of views, here are some other pictures of different views we have seen.

Sheer Beauty!

The different views of Arenal

There used to be a small village resort on the far side of the laguna, but it was destroyed by the volcano!

 

Everybody loved the view!

There’s so much more to talk about, so keep stopping in. Hopefully you’ll get to see some of the food we’ve been eating, as well as more action shots. Tomorrow is whitewater rafting and we can’t wait!

What’s going on?

Hey everybody! Right now I am sitting in an Internet Café frantically trying to update everyone on what is going on this trip! I will apolgize right now that there won’t be any pictures, since this computer doesn’t seem to want to read my thumb drive. Also, things have proved to be extremely fastpaced and busy, hence not as many posts. However, I will be able to get a lot of pictures up, probably on Monday!

So far, everything has been amazing, and God has been helping us to have a true blast! All the students are doing a fantastic job of throwing themselves into things, and not being afraid to try new things. I gave a couple of details in the last post, but just wanted to expound some. After the mix up with our flights we arrived pretty early. Rex told me that it might be a good idea to skip trying to go hiking around the crators of the Poas volcano because in the last couple of weeks, things have been more active, and access would very likely be closed anyway. Instead, we opted to sleep in a little, and get a fresh start the next morning. We left around 10, and drove the 3 hours to Volcán Arenal, a beautiful cone shaped volcano that is still very active.

We already had reservations to stay at an amazing and upscale resort, and were planning on seeing lava from the volcano that night. However, after spending some time chilling at the resort, it looked like we would likely not be able to see anything from the volcano due to overcast weather. We of course really wanted to see some though, so we prayed and made the trip out to the point where it would be most visible. Thank the Lord, we were able to see some, which was rather amazing considering all the clouds that were present that evening! Fernando, our national guide said that often families will pay to go see lava for several nights in a row, and never get to. We were blessed!

The next day, we spent some more time at the resort seeing different wildlife they had enclosed there, and relaxing (they had an absolutely fantastic breakfast prepared for us!) Then we went to an adventure of a lifetime… ZIPLINES! I’ll explain more again later, and post pictures, but those who did it loved it!

Yesterday, we made it out here to Paraíso to start the weekend services, and God really helped us! (I’m typing fast because church starts in 15 minutes…) Today, we traveled to Orozi overlook where we had a delicious grill out, and played soccer. Pictures of all these things will follow on Monday, but for now, I’ve got to run!

Keep in tune for more!!!

We’re Actually Here!

Hey everybody! Sorry it’s taken a couple of days to post, but we’ve been running like crazy and haven’t had a chance. I’ll give a brief overview now of what’s been happening, and then give more detail later.

The whole trip started off with a bang when our first flight was canceled due to mechanical problems with the plane. American Airlines rebooked our flights for later times, and instead of it being a 13 hour travel day, it turned out to be closer to 20, and we didn’t arrive until 9 pm, Costa Rica time (we are two hours behind EST). It felt like after 1 before we got to bed!

Howdy!

Hey, at least we're smiling!

I am not thrilled!

 

Just waiting for our ride!

Say Cheese

Let's get on with it!

Flight 437... Cancelled!

 

Due to the shuffle, we were all separated on the first flight to Miami, FL. Many of us were stuck in between complete strangers which indeed made things interesting!

Since arriving, we have seen an erupting volcano, gone ziplining, been awestruck by gorgeous and breathtaking scenery and had a blast! Pictures and more details of our first two days will follow, but right now, I’m off to bed!

Less than 60 hours!!!

Wow! All the time spent planning, raising money, praying… everything has paid off and we are less than 60 hours from leaving Penn View campus for Costa Rica!!! We will be trying to keep every day’s activities posted, so please keep visiting to see what’s happening!

I thought you might want to see again why we are going and what we are planning on doing. A lot of this is explained in the “Why Costa Rica?” page on this blog. Here is the tentative itinerary for the trip:

ITINERARY:
• Tues: Fly down, visit downtown San Jose in the afternoon and evening
• Wed: Poas Volcano, Resort, Arenal Lava Tour
• Thurs: Resort, Zip-lines, hanging bridges, etc.
• Fri: Bus-ride – Cartago, Basilica, Ruins, Orchid Gardens / Night service.
• Sat: Early Morning Market, Orosi overlook with Costa Rican youth group for picnic and games / Night service
• Sun: Special services AM and PM, spend time with church people (maybe break up into groups of three of four and go visiting with a national in the afternoon, which would be good Spanish practice)
• Mon: Work day at Paraiso, Back to San Jose
• Tues: Whitewater Rafting
• Wed: Down day
• Thurs: Fly Home

This is the river we are planning to raft.

Class III and IV rapids!

What we will ride to get to the ziplines.

Suspension bridges anyone?

This is the weekend announcement, made by Carmen, the national church President's wife.

Brady…

Hi! My name is Brady Shiffer and I’m 17 years old with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. I’m a junior in high school, enjoy playing sports (football is my favorite) and I work at a car lot detailing cars. I love my job, love to take naps and love seafood! (I also have one brother and two sisters.) I’m looking forward to going zip lining in Costa Rica, and can’t wait!!

Brady Shiffer