We are back in Costa Rica

We have returned to Costa Rica to a car that does not work.  We got the message out that we needed prayers for that and we appreciate everyone that is praying.  We can feel your prayers, especially for our hearts in coming back to problems.  We had someone drive us to a hotel and are trying to make the best of this road block.  A man named Christian is going to be working on the car on Monday and then if he can fix it, he is going to bring it to us.  He is a trusted friend of our tico friend Fernando.  Please pray for Christian, that God would guide him to the problem and that he would have all that he needs to fix the problem.God is in control of all and we are looking to Him and focusing on Him and not our desires to go and do and get what we thought we needed to accomplish and all our plans.  His are perfect and He is looking out for us and our car!

The kids are doing great.  They are enjoying the playground here at the hotel.  It has a swing that has been made out of some parts of a car that Jacob explained to me, that I don’t understand, but it basically works like the that swing that spins around at Carowinds, but is much smaller.  We got some video, we will try to post it.  They are so flexible and as always, up for next adventure.

It is wonderful to have friends that pray!  We love you all.  Please keep it up and we will keep you posted.  We are happy to be back in Costa Rica, despite the problems!!  🙂

 

We got our Costa Rican Drivers Licenses!

Okay, so last week we decided that while we had time to do it, we would go get our driver’s licenses.  And man was it a process.  Jacob had called around and gotten as much information as possible before we started out and so we had a whole list of what we needed to do and we were off.  We knew that we needed proof of our blood types, but we did not want to pay someone to tell us, so we went into San Jose to Clinica Biblica and donated blood.  We figured they could print us out something with our blood type on it, we would be helping by donating blood and we would get our blood types for free.  That was easy enough.  And when we were done, they had a little breakfast prepared for us consisting of Cocoa Crispies, Milk, OJ, crackers and jelly.  It was very helpful because we then did not have to go and find food before we went on to the next item on our list.

We hopped in a taxi and headed over to their equivalent of the Highway Department.  At the gate we were told that we had to go get a physical.  I was leery because I did not know what this entailed, but it was necessary, so off we went down the street to the place everyone has to go.  It is a building set up with a desk with a secretary taking your 10,000 colones ($20 USD) for each physical and then you wait in line for this doctor.  After waiting for about 20 minutes, it was my turn.  I entered this room and sat beside a desk and waited.  It turns out that it is simply a vision test and the doctor listens to your heart and takes your blood pressure.  He then proceeds to fill out a whole medical sheet on you that is officially for the driver’s license without asking anymore questions!!  So after Jacob’s turn we were back to the highway department.

At the gate we were told to go meet with the jefa (or the big boss) who would give us her signature so that we could continue.  We walk the equivalent of 2 city blocks to wait in this long line.  While in line this man from Chicago tells us we were supposed to go pay at the bank first and even asks the guard to confirm this, which they do and we head over to the bank.  It is on the same complex, but back at the front gate.  After we stood in line over there, they found someone to tell us that no, in fact we had to meet with the jefa before we could continue with this process.  So back to the other building.  Where we are told to wait outside and when the jefa is receiving people they will come and get us.  So we wait….

After about 45 minutes, apparently the jefa returned and was ready to receive people, so we were told to go upstairs and wait some more.  Everyone who was around the jefa or had to go talk to the jefa seemed really nervous.  She was clearly an important person here.  So we waited…until it was finally our turn.  We had all of our papers in order.  We had already made copies of our SC driver’s licenses, our passports copied, our medical forms and our blood type proof.  She looked it all over…looked at us…put her signature on it…and sent us downstairs to wait some more.  Apparently we were actually getting permission to get a driver’s license.  I guess if the jefa had not liked what she saw, she could have denied us…but she didn’t, so downstairs we went…and I was given the number 99 and Jacob got 00, so we waited.

We had to wait on our number to come up and then go sit with someone who put all of our information in the computer.  The first thing she wanted to see was the jefa’s signature.  After that, I had to tell her in Spanish my address.  Seems like that would not be a hard thing, but when you live in a country with no street names, it is harder than you think to tell someone where you live exactly.  Somehow, what I said passed as exact enough and she then gave me a slip of paper and we had to head back over to the bank…

To stand in line 7 to wait to pay 4,000 colones ($8) each for our license.   After waiting, we got our receipt and were sent back to the other building to wait and get a signature on that receipt from the same people who put our information in the computer and then we had to wait in line to get our picture taken for the card itself.  This line had seating and it was the funniest thing to watch.  It was like we were continually doing the wave at a football game.  If one person got up, one by one the people would move up one seat.  At one point the guy in front of me did not feel it was necessary to move just one seat and attempted to stay put and the guard came over and asked him to move up.  I found that funny.  Then when it was our turn, we went, had our picture made and waited again, then we got our licenses!!! 

It was not a terrible process, just a long one.  And even though we got our license, we do not have a car yet.  But that is okay.  We plan on waiting to get a vehicle until the Lord provides money to purchase it in full.  He knows what we need and when we need it, so we are simply waiting on Him and we will be prepared when it happens.  We do have an account set up with Global Outreach where we are saving for a vehicle.  So we are just waiting….. 🙂

 If you would like to donate to our car fund, please see our “Getting Involved” Tab on our site.  Thank you.