La primera semana de clases

I haven't blogged in quite a while and have a lot to catch up on! I'll try to detail my first weeks of teaching at Iglesia Misionera Fuente de Restauración.

Monday, February 9
I had planned to go walking with Daisy, Ana's oldest daughter, but I never heard the alarm. I woke up at 6:45 and David was planning to pick me up at 7:30, so I texted Daisy apologizing and got ready just in time to leave, running out the door with a coffee mug in one hand and a bowl of eggs and gallo pinto in the other. Even thought classes started at 1, I left early with them so David and I could drive to Liberia, the biggest town nearby, to make photo copies of the book and workbook for the first week of classes. I squeezed in the back seat in between Adrian, David and Raquel's son, and the church cleaning lady. Before we left the house I tried the coffee and promptly jumped out of the car and spit it onto the street. I had stirred salt into my coffee instead of sugar! Thankfully I hadn't swallowed any, and I poured the rest of it out before jumping back into the car.

We dropped the cleaning lady off near the church and drove Raquel out past Playa Coco to the hotel where she works. Every time we slowed down to go over a speedbump, David's car turned off and he had to start it again. I started to worry and imagined us getting stuck along the road and never making it to Liberia, but tried to push the concerns to the back of my mind. We drove back to Comunidad, to pick up the text books from the church, and as we were turning the corner onto the street where the church is, the car stalled again, in the ditch in front of the street. David jumped out and I took the drivers seat, gingerly. I had never driven a stick shift, and especially not in a foreign country, but David said "there's a first time for everything" and "Whitney, do you know how to pray? This would be the time to do so." So I prayed as I got into the driver seat and David explained that I had to hold down the clutch and then press the gas once the car got moving, hoping to get it started again.

He began pushing the car out of the ditch, towards the main road, and letting it roll back towards him to gain momentum. Another man noticed we were in trouble, so he came and pushed the car as well. With his help we got the car out of the ditch and I steered it into a parking lot nearby. Another man and woman ran up and helped David push it across the street, between the oncoming trucks that passed, and we parked it in the neighborhood soda, a traditional tico restaurant owned by one of the church leaders, Lourdes. I sat there at the soda with Lourdes and David, as they discussed church finances, but I was feeling anxious about getting the copies done, so I really couldn't participate in the conversation. We left after what felt like an eternity, leaving Lourdes with the car keys to give the mechanic whenever he showed up, and walked across the main road and down the street to the church.

We made the copies in a tiny neighborhood shop down the street since at that point it was 10am and we didn't have time to take a bus to Liberia. I handed page after page to the shop owner and David was by how many copies I had to make for just one week. It was probably 10 pages per student, multiplied by 40 since that's how many students we had signed up for classes. We also bought markers for the whiteboard, folders and paperclips. When we were almost done making the last few copies, I got a call from Doña Ana saying that a pastor from a neighboring church, Guido, was a their house looking for me. I had expected him to meet me at the church in Comunidad, but apparently he didn't get that memo. I told her to send him our way, and by the time David and I walked back to the church, Guido was there waiting for us. We greeted each other and I have him a gift from Trellise, the former missionary who sent me here, and we took pictures to send to her. I was relieved to get that gift off my hands since I had been trying to contact Guido for the past few days and he hadn't gotten back to me.

When we arrived at the church, Leopoldo, a church employee, was just finishing painting the classroom, to my chagrin. And after the painting was done David decided it would be best to replace the picnic table with small round tables and plastic chairs. So I cleaned the chairs while the guys tried to remove the table from the room, and everything finished up around the time classes were starting. We ordered lunch to-go, but my stomach wasn't feeling quite right, and I really didn't have time to do so, as the students were arriving and it was already 1 o'clock. I took my box to the classroom, thinking I might squeeze in a few bites, and started the first class. As the students arrived I handed them printouts and greeted them in Spanish.

We practiced the alphabet and numbers and I helped them with pronunciation, and the class went really well, but I was feeling worse by the minute. I called a break at around 2:00 and still didn't feel better, so I let David know. I decided to try to finish the class, and maybe let them out at 3:00 instead of 4:00. After a few minutes back in class I felt a sudden wave of nausea, told my students I'd be back and promptly threw up on the concrete in the corridor between the school building and the sanctuary. After washing up I felt much better, but very weak, and decided to finish the class. My students were worried about me, but they stuck around, and successfully finished the material for the day. During that class Ana called and said their car had broken down too and that they needed a ride or wanted to take a taxi with David and I, but I told her I couldn't help since I was still teaching the rest of the class. They ended up getting a taxi back.

After that class, David and I took a taxi back home and I showered and rested for a few minutes before leaving again for the 6-9pm class. I wanted to do nothing but sleep, but I knew it was crucial for me to show up for the class since it was the first day, so I crawled out of bed and took some vegetable broth with me that Daisy had made. As we rode to church I didn't talk much or smile because I just didn't have the will or the energy.

I told my second class that I wasn't feeling well and that I'd be sitting down a lot more than normal, and not talking very loud. They were sympathetic and didn't wear me out too much. By the end of that class I was feeling exhausted but much more alive, and able to talk and smile with a little less effort. By the time class was over, the mechanic had fixed David's car and he drove us back to Palmira. Doña Ana made me some rice and beans and I ate a little bit, and drank some water. That night I collapsed in bed.

Tuesday, February 10
I can't remember if I walked on Tuesday or not, but probably not, since I was still feeling really week from being sick the day before. I ate minimally that day, and drank a fiber drink and an oatmeal "fresco" that Ana made me. David picked me up around noon and I taught the 1-4 class with just one 10 minute break and no problems! I was relieved to have finished the first group's first week of classes, and felt fairly confident about having taught them clearly. The students were very enthusiastic and responsive.

Between classes, David and I walked to a nearby mini supermarket and I picked out a blueberry greek yogurt for "dinner." That yogurt tasted so soothing and comforting after being served large plates of rice and beans for the past week and never being able to finish what was offered to me. It was relieving to eat a small amount and not feel full, especially because I wanted to ease my stomach back into normal meals.

The 6-9 class came and went successfully, with a coffee break in the middle. The students in this group are very talkative and energetic, so they tire me out, but also encourage me with their eager attitude towards learning.

Wednesday, February 11
My first day off! I know for sure that I walked with Heidy this morning, dropping off Marilys, Heidy's daughter, and "Ema" Emanuel, Wendy's son off at kindergarten on our way to the trail. Most parents arrived on foot or bicycle to drop off their children, which allows for clear streets in town and a lot more personal interaction between teachers and parents and parents of different families than we have in the States, where most parents drop their kids off at bus stop or drive them to school and leave them at the curb. Every day Heidy walks the kids into the building to their teacher, who kisses them on the cheek and says "Hola, mi amor" ("Hello, my love") or "Hello precious!" We turned right out of the school, following a road south towards Paso Tempisque. After passing a neighborhood memorial to a patron saint we turned left down a smaller dirt road, passing small well-kept houses and greeting each neighbor with "¿Cómo amaneció?" or "How did you wake up?" I found that phrase strange and bit intrusive at first and I thought, "Why is it our business to know how that person woke up and how their morning has been?" but since first hearing it I've gotten used to the phrase.

I was planning to go to the beach with Dinora, my friend Laura's mom, but she called me and said their car was not working, so Daisy and Heidy agreed to go to the beach with me instead and Don Modesto agreed to drive us there. We squeezed Shirley (Daisy's 21 year old daughter), MariLiz (Heidy's 6 yr old), Emanuel (Wendy, another sister's 6 yr old son), Luciana (Heidy's 2 1/2 year old), Heidy and I in the back seat of the sedan, and Don Modesto and Daisy sat in the front. Modesto took us to "Playa del Pastor" which is really called "Playa Panamá," but since it is his favorite that's what the family has named the beach. We spent the afternoon there and I enjoyed swimming with the little kids, taking them deeper than they could go alone, since none of them swim. I tried a "copo" for the first time, a typical Costarican beach snack that is like a snow cone, with powdered milk dusted over the top and a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk to top it off. The sweetness was a bit overwhelming, but it was good to try just once. I visited my friend Sylvia at the hotel spa where she is a manager, and the guard let me in under the pretense that I wanted a tour and an appointment. I think he let me in mostly because I'm "gringa" and looked like a potential customer.

 Heidy and her daughter Luciana, the "brava"

 MariLiz and Ema playing in the sand

Shirley, me and Heidy

We returned back to the house around 4, showered and I went to culto that night at David's church with Ana and Heidy. Culto is the word everyone uses here to refer to a church service. Both Modesto's church in Palmira and David's church in Comunidad hold three to four services a week. So many church services was at first a wonderful idea in my mind, but upon arriving I realized how much it would pack in my schedule to try to attend every culto at both churches each week. After talking to Heidy and other family members I've mostly settled on attending Wednesday and Saturday evening in Comunidad and Sunday morning and evening in Palmira.

The services here are generally more enthusiastic, expressive and charismatic than the churches I've attended in the States for the past 10 years of my life. The services remind me of a mixture of the Vineyard, Assemblies of God and the Bridge en Español/Stonemill Church styles of musical worship, preaching and prayer. It has been a tough transition for me to get used to standing and sitting often, raising my hands and praying out loud. For now my tendency is to sit quietly and journal prayers while the rest of the congregation is loudly proclaiming their thanks and petitions to God. I am both challenged and encouraged by the fervent singing and eager prayers that I'm surrounded by in both of these churches, and it has lead me to do a lot of "soul searching" and self examining in regards to how I express faith.

After the service David told me he had decided to go to San José that night and that he'd be back by the next day at 2 to take me to the church. I was pretty surprised by that decision, but thought it would be fine since he'd be back in time. That night we returned home and I ate a late dinner with Ana and Modesto before going to sleep.

Thursday, February 12
I went on a walk/jog with Heidy and ate gallo pinto in Ana's father's kitchen. Each morning Ana wakes up early and bathes her ailing father, cleans his kitchen and porch, and feeds him (and now me as well, since I'm the "adopted" daughter). His house is behind the church building and in the same area as Heidy's house and Modesto and Ana's house. Ana's father abused her and her sisters when they were younger, and that caused her to run away from home at 14 and marry Modesto, who was 19 at the time. In their young adult years they became Christians and eventually became pastors. At some point along the way, Ana forgave her father and although their relationship is not completely normal, her ability to care for someone who used to be a source of danger to her is amazing. Her mother died last year and since then her father's health has been waning. He no longer walks and spends the days sitting in a chair outside on his porch, moaning from pain.

Since Ana cooks there every morning, I've started eating in that kitchen after walking and stretching with Heidy and/or Daisy. Sometimes I help by frying plantains or blending a smoothie. The rest of the day I learned how to do laundry in the semi-automatic washer and dryer, with the help of Daisy and Heidy, and hung my clothes to dry the rest of the way. I washed a lot of clothes, since it was the first time in more than a week of being there that I'd washed anything. No one signed up for the 1-4 slot on Thursdays and Fridays, so I have more free time than originally expected.

David didn't make it back in town in time to pick me up, so Raquel and I rode with Modesto to the house of a woman from the church, picked up the keys and barely made it into the building in time for class to start. Since we arrived and turned the air conditioning on at 6, the room was pretty steamy for the first hour of class. David arrived during my the first half of class and said they had run into a lot of traffic on the road back from San José, but that he and his mom had brought with them two puppies to keep as pets.

Friday, February 13
I walked with Heidy and Daisy that morning and spent the rest of the day trying to blog and trying to lesson plan, with little success. It's hard to focus in this dry, dusty heat, and I had about 20 bug bites that seemed to never stop itching. I'm pretty sure I just lazed around all day and might have taken a nap, until David picked me up to go to the school around 5:45.

After class, I walked home with one of my students, Bryan and he took me to a small group (celula) where Raquel had been, since David was preaching at a church in Playa Coco. Bryan happens to be my friend Laura's cousin, and his mom goes to the church in Comunidad, so I was excited to meet him and have that connection with Laura.

I locked up the church and walked just a block down the street to the celula. 10-15 church members were all standing in a circle along the walls of the main room of the house, and it was a very small room, so there was not much room to walk inside. Raquel was preaching but she said "Hola Whitney y Bryan" and someone close to the doorway offered me their seat. The meeting finished up soon after I arrived and then we ate something I can't remember the name of. The dish was a small, thin, crispy, round tortilla shell with lettuce, pico de gallo and shredded chicken on top, marinated in something citrusy. It turns out that the celula was not in Bryan's mom's house this time, but in one of my other student's houses. I was glad to see him and tried greeting him in English, which provoked an immediate ear to

After eating and chatting for a while, Raquel dropped me off at home and I went to bed after talking to Ana and Modesto for a while.

La iglesia y la sala de clase

Last week and weekend Pastor David and the youth from the church painted the walls of the classroom a nice pale turquoise that I got to pick out. They sawed down strips of metal to create a ceiling, then covered it from underneath with large rectangular tiles that they screwed into the metal structure. They spent many long hours working, and up until just before the first class started. David says the construction was last minute because of a lack of funding, and that more development was possible as donations and class tuition came in.

On Monday, the morning of my first class, Leo, the main helper was still painting, and they decided to remove the large wooden picnic-style table that was in the room and replace it with three circular plywood tables. All of the last minute activity was pretty stressful for me because it didn't seem like we would finish in time. I helped to clean the chairs that went around the tables. 

Leo built a shelf for the air conditioning unit and they closed in the metal-barred window so that no hot air could get in. It is now a completely air conditioned/fanned space with no outside air and not much outside light. When installing the ceiling they had to take out the ceiling fan that hung from the roof, as well lower as two or three light bulbs. The ceiling is now plain white with screws showing and bare light bulbs are the lamps. On the inside wall there is a sliding glass window and opposite that is the white board (from a fellow Berry grad, Eva Gordon) and the air conditioner.

Pastor David, right, drilling in the ceiling tiles with some of the youth (a few of which are taking my Thurs/Fri class)

The church office where I lesson plan and David works.

 The office bathroom is in desperate need of a door. Click "Donate" on the right hand margin of my blog if you'd like to contribute :)

 Another classroom that is in the front part of the church. I won't be using this one.

There are no services Saturday at 7am! They're at 7pm, the sign maker just printed incorrectly.

 The main sanctuary

 The hallway between the two church buildings. My classroom is the second room on the left.

The church vision: To be a disciple of Christ and a disciple of souls. 

The church mission: Reach, Integrate, Disciple, Send.

Storage closet where I found a very large spider hiding between the chairs!

 Kitchen/cafe area

Hang out/seating area.

Women's bathroom and men's bathroom.

Escaleras en el carro

el jueves, 5 de febrero

I woke up and ate Ana’s gallo pinto, which was delicious just as the morning before, with coffee and a homemade corn tortilla.

David had told me the night before that he needed to go to Liberia to do some errands and pick up a financial gift from another pastor, so I asked if I could go with him, since I hadn’t been to Liberia yet, and he said sure. He picked me up around 10:30am in the Toyota and we toted a ladder along with us, and it took up the whole backseat as well as most of the front seat.

He brought the ladder in the car so he and some of the guys from the youth could start working on the ceiling in the classroom. On Wednesday some guys came in and replaced the metal-barred windows on one side of the classroom with real glass windows that slide shut from the inside, and Thursday was the day to start work on the ceiling. Leopoldo, one of the young adults who helps out with maintenance and music, etc helped David get the ladder out and put it inside the classroom to use later.

David and I drove to Liberia with the windows rolled down, and mind you, they manually roll up and down, which is an experience I don’t have often in the States, since most of our cars now have the automatic windows. David tells me that he is hoping to sell his car and get one that’s has air conditioning, but that here all cars cost a lot more since they are all imported. While we were on the way David called the other pastor, and it turned out that the other guy was on the road as well, driving the opposite direction. So they planned to meet at a gas station we had just passed, and we turned around, got the check from him and continued towards Liberia.

First we went to the bank to cash the check, and I enjoyed the air conditioning while David talked to the teller. Then we went to the Kolbi (cellular carrier) store to try to figure out a problem with my voice mail password and David enjoyed the air conditioning while I talked to the employee. Then we got batidos (smoothies/milkshakes) and walked around the main park in Liberia, next to a big, Catholic church with sharply pointed steeples and rooftops. Within about 5 minutes of being at the park, David spotted an old friend. After chatting for a while, he called another long-time friend who works at a home-improvement store and could get us a good deal on paint for the classroom and church buildings. I picked out a pale turquoise-green for the classroom and we drove back to Comunidad.

That afternoon some of the youth from church came and helped David work on the ceiling in the classroom. While they worked I did lesson plans in the office, but focusing was hard because of the warm air and sunlight streaming through the windows and doors. We had coffee around 3 or 4 and David around 5 to go to a pastor's meeting. I stayed at the church to be available to sign up potential students and answer questions about the ESL program. Not many students stopped by, but it was good to have extra time to organize the class plans. 

The pastor's meeting ran late and consequently so did David in getting back. The band practice scheduled for that night had to be cancelled and I got home later than expected. Ana made me dinner, I watched some crime docu-dramas with her and Modesto, showered and went to bed. 

 

Diferencias

Aspects of Costa Rica that are different than the US: 

News anchors say "Dios les bendiga" and "Si Dios quiere." Faith is still a part of everyday vocabulary here, even on secular/national tv channels.

Toilet paper goes in the trashcan, not in the toilet.

Air conditioning is a rare luxury so most people sleep with a fan on.

A typical greeting is a hug and a cheek-to-cheek kissing sound.

Dishwashing is done by hand.

Laundry is done either totally by hand or with semi-automatic machines, and normally clothes are washed three times, without any fabric softener, then hung to dry.

There are many tropical fruits here that we don't have in the States: cas, jewplum, guanábana, etc: http://www.insightguides.com/inspire-me/blog/costa-rican-fruit

Cars are more expensive here so many people rely on the bus system, bicycle or taxi for transportation.

Little "pulperias," convenience stores, are scattered throughout residential areas.

Stray dogs and chickens roam the streets freely.

Squirrels have a white stripe down their back.

People get married right out of highschool or sometimes before. 15-22 is the range of when many women marry and the husband is often a few years older than the wife. 

Llegada a Guanacaste

el 4 de febrero, 2015

I woke up at around 6 feeling very sweaty and not able to sleep anymore because of the light streaming through the window and the heat. Costa Rica is in central time, one hour earlier than Georgia and the sun rises at 5:45, about one hour earlier than it rises in Georgia, so it really feels like a 2 hour time change instead of one. I Facetimed with my mom for about 2 hours, catching her up on all the details of the trip so far. 

We had planned the night before for David to pick me up at 10 to take me to the church to start planning the class calendar. He arrived around 10:30, as I expected, from what now knew about "tico time." Apparently he is one of the worst in the family about getting up late. I was still eating gallo pinto and sweet bread when he arrived, but it was no big deal to him. 

We headed out to the church and it only took about 10 minutes to arrive at the orange and brown building in the little community of Comunidad. I knew my friend Laura's family nearby, so soon after arriving I called her mom to check in. She walked over within 10 minutes and took me to her house, just a 2 minute walk away from the church, and introduced me to her mom, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. She served me a fresco de piña, fresh pineapple juice, and the granddaughter showed me her pet puppy that upon seeing me jumped up on the couch and got dust all over my white pants. Thankfully none of the clothes I brought are my favorite or most fancy ones, and I was mentally prepared for things to get dirty and to give things away at the end of the trip. 

Dinora took me to visit with her sister who lives just down the street where I met some of Laura's cousins and drank some cold water they brought me. At that point I realized that I was drinking the local water on the first day, something Trellise and Marlen had advised against. The water in Guanacaste is clean but the minerals in it are different than the US and the taste is different even than the water in San José. It tasted fine to me and I pretty much decided to just go with the flow and drink what people gave me, because if you refuse the tap water you might as well refuse smoothies and fresh juice, since those don't have purified water either. So far I've felt fine and have continued drinking the water. 

I returned to the church office and started planning the class calendar with David. His office has a fan, wrought iron barred windows (the typical kind here) on both sides, yellow walls and two foldable wooden tables for the desk. I started planning the class calendar according to the basic English test that is required to get a certificate. The test includes content that is spread throughout all four levels of the books that Berry ESL donated to me. 

The heat was pretty bad that day and I took this screenshot of the weather: 

 And this picture of my bright red face. Needless to say I'm never wearing a scarf again here in the name of modesty because it's just too hot, and no church people are offended my shoulders here, just offended by too much leg.

Later that day I walked back to Dinora's house on my own for lunch and I think everyone else had already eaten because she made a plate just for me and it took her about 30 minutes. David went to the local "Soda" for lunch, a restaurant that serves typical Costarican home cooking, so I knew he'd be a while getting back. I sat outside and talked to Laura's sister-in-law while Dinor cooked, and her little daughter showed me her "pet" chickens and chicks. We ate raw mango with salt, a very sour and bitter experience, but tasty and fresh nevertheless. Here they eat the mango whenever it grows, not matter if it's still green or if it's ripened. 

David and I worked til 7ish when Raquel arrived from work and I rode back with her to Ana and Modesto's house. That evening Ana and I went to culto de oración (prayer meeting) at David's church. I wore my same clothes from earlier that day, white capris, brown sandals and a pink tank top, with my hair in a simple braid, and Ana and her daughters said I should wear whatever I felt comfortable in, so I just didn't change. I felt a little out of place once I saw all of the elderly women in their short-sleeved dresses with skirts down to their knees, but I don't think anyone judged me for that. I got a lot of stares and weird looks, probably just because I was the only pale-skinned, sandy-haired person there. David played piano and sang worship songs for the first 30 minutes as people filed in and took their seats. I think about 30 people came all together and 

el 3 de febrero, 2015

We ate breakfast together, Jose, Marlen and I and spent the rest of the day packing, cleaning and working on our computers. I finished some blog posts from other days and imported a lot of photos onto my computer, Jose worked and Marlen studied. It was a very low key day since we knew we were leaving in the afternoon. I talked with Trellise, the former missionary that organized this trip for me, and she reminded me to meet up with Pastor Guido in Santa Ana to give him a gift from her. I tried calling Guido 10 times, left him a Facebook message, text message and a whatsapp message, and still he didn't answer, so I did all I could do to make a connection. The plan was to leave at 5 but we ended up leaving around 6 (tico time) and went straight to the ATM for me to get cash and to add credit to my phone.

I called David, the pastor who I would be working with, and we planned for me to get dropped off at the church in Comunidad instead of at the house in Palmira. That wasn't the most convenient plan for Jose and Marlen since Comunidad was farther away, but David said he couldn't leave the church til 8. So we set out on the road driving north away from Santa Cruz and I texted David as we got closer. When we were almost to Palmira, passing Filadelfia de Guanacaste, I texted David and he said he could just meet us at a supermarket in Palmira instead of us having to drive all the way to Comunidad. That worked out a lot better for Jose and Marlen and saved them maybe 20 minutes extra driving time to get back to San José. We met at the Atsecatsa supermarket in Palmira and put all my bags in David's little Toyota sedan.

I said goodbye to Marlen and Jose and we promised to see each other again, sometime soon. David took me to his suegros (in-laws). David is the pastor of Iglesia Misionera Fuente de Restauración in Comunidad (north of Palmira) and his father-in-law, Modesto, is the pastor of the main church in Palmira. Modesto is the leader of a brotherhood of pastors in the area with 46 members. All the churches are evangelical Christian and are located in the surrounding province of Guanacaste. Once a month these pastors meet to plan activities and community gatherings between the churches. 

We parked on the right side of the street and opened a large metal gate that lead to the house. Just inside the front door I saw a long dining table with a turquoise table cloth and lots of young women sitting around it, as well as an elderly woman. I said hi to everyone and the mother-in-law, Ana showed me to my room. Ana is in her late 50s and has dark grey hair and brown skin. I met David's wife, Raquel and his son, Adrian, as well as a few of Raquel's sisters. Ana and Modesto had seven girls and one boy, and all of them are now married with children. Their youngest child is 22 and their oldest grandchild is 21, if I remember correctly. 

We all sat down and ate rice and beans together with fruit juice, all at the long table, Raquel, David, Adrian and Ana. Adrian is 5 years old and goes to a private school in the area where he is learning English. Raquel works with a tour company in the sales department, and Ana is the pastor's wife and takes care of everyone, including her ailing father. 

After David and Raquel left I sat on my bed and caught up with friends and family, reveling over the fact I had wifi in the house, my own bed and a fan in the room. I wasn't sure what to expect, although Trellise had told me there was lots of space in the house, I didn't think they'd have wifi. That night Ana gave me an extra quilt for the bed, one made by her daughters for their family business, and helped me make it up. The quilt is bright blue with flowers and has a skirt around the edges, kind of like a bed skirt/spread. My walls are turquoise/ green painted cinderblocks and I have sheer white curtains. The floor has brown linoleum tiles and the ceiling has a brown wooden molding. I have a small shelf and nook for my clothes and a table where I put books and toiletries. There are a few hooks on the wall where I can hang towels, scarves and bags. Out my window I have a nice view of the front porch, a fruit tree and the street. Ana and Modesto's room is next to mine and the bathroom is in the same hallway. 

Anna came in and sat on my bed for a while, telling me how happy she was to have another "daughter" in the house to keep her company, even though the rest of her daughters still live nearby and visit almost daily. She broke down and cried about the recent death of her mother and the fact that her father is sick. She said she always loves to host guests and is was happy to have me in her house. 

I met Modesto before I went to bed. He is a few years older than Ana, with short grey hair, dark brown skin and a smaller stature than that of Ana. He works in construction and is also the main pastor, so he comes home late every night, tired after working all day. They were both very friendly and welcoming to me, saying I should feel at home.