A party, a retreat and a festival! Oh my!

This post is going to be FULL of pictures.  That means the formatting is going to be off.  That means I will get annoyed with trying to get it just right, and I'm just going to let it happen how it happens (after I've tried making it look right....).  In any case, there are three major events covered in this update, Thursday's party for the women at Rahab (which was also a graduation for some of the women), Friday's retreat for Rahab workers, and Saturday's Festival de la Luz ("Light Festival"; a Christmas parade).  Now, I just want to point out before I even start showing pictures that I have already been working on this for about 4 hours--and that doesn't include me taking pictures and video at these things specifically for my blog.  So, feel special because this has been intentionally planned just for you.  Without further ado, I present to you my past three days:

Thursday: Christmas Party for the Women

Some of my co-workers getting ready to start

The buffet table set up

The women sitting at their tables

The center pieces

The graduates of the program

Some of the women sang a song for the rest of us

There was a time for people to share testimonies of how Rahab helped them

Everyone got gifts, all the women AND all the kids.

She DID eventually get it...

Slightly more successful

There were a few games before the lunch started.  In one, the women had to imitate the picture on the screen--or at least try to.  Some attempts were more successful than others....

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

V

Friday: Retreat for Rahab Workers

We spent about 2.5 hours driving to the location, it was basically up in the mountains. At one point, we literally drove through a cloud. It was awesome, but also terrifying because of the ridiculously low visibility.  There was also horseback riding and general hang out time.  It was pretty great.

A sunny time

Cloud moving in

In the cloud; this wasn't even the worst moment!

Maritza on a horse

Milena with her daughter María José 

Yerling and her horse

Arleth and hers

Me and my horse (or at least my horse)

María José again (such a cutie!)

Me riding

So after going horseback riding, the five of us went back to meet up with the rest of the group and to tell the second group of horseback riders it was their turn.  Once we were all tired of the pool area, we decided to head back up to the main area to eat lunch.  The only thing is, the main area was 800 meters (about half a mile) away (and mostly uphill) and nobody wanted to do that--especially because we had to carry all the bags of the horse-riding group.  So we asked the attendant when the next shuttle was--not for another 2 hours!  He ended up calling a co-worker to give us a ride.  The guy came with a pick-up and Milena and her daughter sat shot-gun while the rest of us piled in the back...

Gaby, Wendy, and Yerling after a sharp turn

Us in the back of the truck

The sunset on the way home

Saturday: Festival de la Luz (the grand finale!)

"I believe in you too" a Coca-Cola ad with a letter from Santa

City Decorations

Look how many people!

The mascot for the police department...

Yep, a blue Santa!

They had scooters on one leg so they could glide around

Another of that same group--they were so cool!

Lots of bands went by

And lots of awesome cheer leading teams

Then came the floats!

And fun dancers ;) the crowd went wild!!

 

 

 

I really liked this Musical one, I forgot who sponsored it though

I just really felt this needed to be on an endless loop.

So that, in a really big nutshell, is what my last three days looked like.  They were super exhausting, but so awesome.  It was so great to see kids' faces light up when they realized they got presents, and it was cool to hear about how Rahab has changed people's lives.  These three days held my first time riding a horse, as well as getting to know my co-workers better.  I also got to experience Festival de la Luz, and that was truly unforgettable.  I know I was grinning like one of the five year olds in front of me as all the groups were passing.  All of this was such a great experience and such a great way to close out my first three months here.  Now I'm ready to go back to the States (on Tuesday) spend some time with family and friends to get re-energized for Part II of Following the Call: Costa Rica.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the pictures (also, this post took me ALL DAY, so I REALLY hope you enjoyed them!!) and Merry Christmas! xoxo

Peace and Blessings,

Kiki