The World - Our Classroom (Part 1)

One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling and living on the mission field is the freedom we have to make the world our classroom. Because we live an international lifestyle, our children are exposed to all kinds of "schooling" without a lot of effort. Walking out our front door opens a whole new world almost every day.

To live in Costa Rica for an extended amount of time, requires us to "renew" our tourist visa every 90 days. This means that we literally have to leave the country every 3 months. On the 23rd to this month, our 90 days is up, so Gabi, Abi and I were required to exit Costa Rica. Since Grace and Steve had recently gone to Nicaragua they were legal and did not need to go with us.

As a family we had plans to attend a wedding in Puerto Viejo last week. Puerto Viejo is located only 45 minutes from the Costa Rica/Panama border. This was our chance to cross the border and renew our visas with relative ease. Fortunately, we had a couple of friends who needed to do the same thing so we were not alone on our adventure.

The Caribean wedding was lovely. It took place on the beach with everyone wearing white and cream. Puerto Viejo is a beautiful coastal community with lush vegetation full of tropical animals of all kinds. We enjoyed the 'fruits' of it all. Before we knew it, the two days were over and we were on our way to Panama.

After a 45 minute bus ride to the border, we faced the dreaded chore of going through customs and immigration. Much to our surprise, our time at the "frontera" was relatively quick and easy. The most challenging part was the bridge over the river which serves as the border.

Every mother's nightmare. The bridge separating Costa Rica and Panama.

Besides serving foot-traffic as well as an automobiles at the same time, this bridge was riddled with holes and gaps in the surface plenty big for a child to fall through. All I could do was move forward and pray. The girls did amazingly well, as their mother prayed over every step.

Along with the heat, the next most dreaded part of the process was the immigration office. Fortunately, this was much quicker than expected although the heat made it seem like an eternity. The only relief came once we got right up to the window, where the air conditioning from inside was blowing out the small hole in the glass where we handed our papers. I told the girls to gather around me. They were glad they did.

Gathered around the immigration window. Cool air was pouring out. 

The Immigration office.

The girls showing off the 20 stamps they have in their passports.

Lugging our heavy backpacks up and down towers of stairs, the girls and I with our friends Jody and Amy all began our negotiations with the local taxis who were taking us an hour down the road to the small coastal village where we were to catch our water taxi. I was so thankful that we were not alone on this adventure since my spanish is still greatly in need of improvement. Jody and Amy were awesome as they managed to get a taxi without me having to pay for the girls. We hopped in the van.

After about an hour or less, we came up on the water's edge where a man came running into the roadway banging on the hood of our van. He had a water taxi waiting for us and was ready to leave. It was all very crazy and seemed a bit curious but we went with the flow. As it turned out, the water taxi driver was a Godsend as a the evening unfolded.

Aboard our first water taxi of several. 

The cool air and speed of the boat was refreshing and encouraging. As we headed across the bay, we were enjoying the ride until the men in front of us started swearing and drinking. Before I knew it, the girls were crying and upset. Not being around drinking and swearing ever, they were greatly unnerved. I began praying, then politely told the men to please be careful of what they said because of the children. They were kind but were pretty much incapable of talking any other way. Fortunately, the girls got distracted with the scenery and talking with our friends and forgot all about it. After a bit, we moved them to the back away from the men.

One of the happy moments on the water taxi.

We had the option of going to one of several different islands in the area to settle in for a few days. After discussions with others on the boat, we decided to go to the largest, but less developed, island, thinking it would be quiet and a positive environment for the girls. Boy, were we wrong! Upon inspection and a quick walk through the closest coastal community on Bastemante Island, we realized it was neither quiet nor positive. By this time it was dark and the ball in the pit of my stomach was growing.

This is when our water taxi driver came through for us. George, a young local, black man, committed to getting us to the more developed island of Colon and into a place to stay for the night. George not only committed to it, he also carried it through. After a long wait on the pier, a night time water taxi ride and a short walk through Colon, we found a hotel for $38 a night with 3 beds. It was clean and comfortable. We knew that God had sent us George. He knew that 5 women alone in a foreign country needed some extra help.
The next day we found another place to stay that had our own kitchen and complete privacy. What a blessing it was and it was on the water.

The girls with our dear friend and South Dakota sister Amy at breakfast.

Gabi on the back deck of our flat - God's gift to us on this grand adventure.

Once we got settled into our flat,  it felt as though we had just lived out a scene from the movie Plane, Trains and Automobiles. Our modes of transportation were varied and adenturous but God kept us safe and we enjoyed the journey in the process.

The next 2 days were beautiful and relaxing. We have much more to share on the journey so look for the next post within the next day or so.

To close I'll share this photo of Abigail. It reminds me of how we have to face life and all its adventures - look to the horizon before us with a sense of peace and assurance of God's promises, and do it looking as lovely as possible.