Costa Rica

The beginning of this month Seth and I met my parents in Costa Rica for a week. Part of the trip was to relax at the beach and the other part was to visit our host family we stayed with when we studied there in 2000. Our study abroad experience was our first exposure to Latin America and that experience influenced us to work in Latin America with MCC.

When Seth and I studied there we went to the beach at Manuel Antonio National Park and we had such fond memories of it, so we decided the first part of our trip would be spent there. We knew it had become more popular (touristy) and there were more hotels, but boy was it way different then we expected. The beach outside of the park was not as pretty as we had remembered (a lot of trash on the beach) and all the local places where we ate had gone out of business. The trash on the beach did not stop us from enjoying the water. We found some spots that were less trashy and took the pictures there, as you can see from the photo.

The day we went into the park we had to wait in line for 30 minutes before we could go in...I felt like we were at Disney Land waiting for a ride. Once we got in the park, it was a pretty but not as I remember, and there were a lot more people then the last time we were there. There were many down trees probably from a tropical storm or hurricane, so that is probably why it did not look as pretty. Manuel Antonio is well known for seeing wildlife and this is still true. We saw 2 sloths, several monkeys (White faced cappuchin, Howler and Squirrel), several iguanas, raccoons, coati mundi (looks like a raccoon, but has a longer nose and tail), and many birds including a toucan. We also ventured off a little further south of Manuel Antonio to check out some other beaches. We stayed near a marine national park, but never went in the park due to lack of time and entrance fee was expensive for the amount of time we had. We stayed at a nice hotel on a hill where we could see the ocean, we ended up enjoying the pool and relaxing in the nice cabins.

Our host family had lived in San Jose, but moved to a town(Las Juntas) about 2 hours northwest of the capital. We spent several days with them catching up and exploring some. There is a river that runs through town and is close to Mario's and Laura's house, so one morning we went to check out the river as well as cool off. We also went to a place well known for seeing macaws. We thought it was a specific place that the macaws always visited out of natural migration, but it turned out that they were being fed there and that is why they would fly in every evening. They are magnificent looking birds. Our last night we went to a hot springs just outside of town, which was really relaxing. It rained while we were in the springs, so it reminded me of being in a hot tub or hot springs when it is snowing in Colorado.

The last morning in Las Juntas, we learned about the gold mining in the area from Mario's and Laura's neighbor. There is no company; individuals that live in the town will go daily into the mine to collect rocks and haul them back to their houses where they have a way to break the rock down so they can get to the gold. More or less they use large rocks to grind the rocks from the mine (picture on left). Once the rocks are broken down small enough they sell those to a company that then extracts the gold (picture on right).




We also saw Monse and Orlando (whom are cousins), 2 exchange students my parents had at different times, after Seth and I studied abroad in Costa Rica. The connection to them was actually made through the host family Becki stayed with when she studied abroad in the same program as Seth and I in 2003. It was nice to catch up with them and see how much they had changed. My parents are going to have another exchange student from Costa Rica and she is actually Orlando's little sister, Belen. She will be arriving to Denver this week and staying for 6 months.

River walking, Yoltamel, States Side, and What to Eat

AsoFenix did a micro hydro turbine in the community of Malacatoya in 2007, but it only produces enough energy for 32 houses, so AsoFenix is looking for a way to produce more energy for the rest of the community. In order to know how much energy could be produced from another location in the community we needed to take head and flow measurements. So it consisted of measuring a volume and finding out how long it takes that volume to move a certain distance and then walking a portion of the river with a plastic tube and pressure gauge in order to calculate the change in elevation. In most parts of the river it was around shin height so the rubber boots worked well, but there were spots that were deeper and we got wet up to our upper thighs. Part of the experience was to train the interns (Nicaraguan, North American and French) how to do the measurements. We also found a nice waterfall and pool for swimming, so we made sure to take advantage.

We have also spent a lot of time with our dear friends Ricardo and Santo. Santo taught me to make Yoltamal (new corn tamales). More or less you grind up the new corn and mix it with water to make a dough, then you put a certain amount in a banana leaf, fold it up and put it in boiling water. Once the tamales are done you eat it with sour cream and cuajada (salty cheese)...it was pretty good, but three was too much for me.
Also, we enjoy walking around their land and seeing all they have planted (beans, corn, watermelon, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, granadia (like passion fruit), banana and papaya trees, as well as many other things). They also always give us vegetables or fruit to take with us. The last time we were there they sent us home with a huge watermelon...it was delicious.

The Nicaragua MCC team has started the send off of many workers to be ending their terms this year. The first send off (going away party) was for the Forry family. Seth and I spent quite a bit of time with Steve, Colleen and their kids (Zach, Nathaniel and Sebastian) over our time together. They became good friends and we are excited for the adventure they are now undertaking. They are following God's leading and will be returning to live in Northern Nicaragua. They are not sure what that will look like, but they trust our Almighty God to provide for them. The Forry's are currently in the States spending time with family and friends.

I had the opportunity to do a nutrition workshop with 16 teenagers in a community called Potreritos. AsoFenix has an intern, Fiona, working there and she has been doing all sorts of workshops with the kids on environment and water protection and saw the need to educate more on nutrition. Being a nurse and having done workshops on nutrition I offered to help her with the workshop. The students where receptive to the information and it felt good to be able to share my health related knowledge.

Flying for the First Time

MCC Nicaragua sent a team of Nicaraguans and Costan Ricans to Haiti for 10 days to help the MCC team in Haiti. Of the team our dear friend, Ricardo, was selected. Before hand he asked all sorts of questions about what to expect (not that we have ever been to Haiti, but we have more knowledge of what it is like and of course about flying). This was the first time Ricardo flew and it was the first time for most people on the team.

When he returned he shared with us how his stomach felt weird taking off and he looked out the window at that point and he almost threw-up. Later on as his body adjusted and he had other flights he was able to look out the window and see the world from a different view. He mentioned that he had always looked up to see the clouds and never thought you could look down to see clouds, but now he knows you can. He also shared many experiences of his time in Haiti and how it was an eye opening trip. He told us he realized that the God of Haiti is different then the Nicarguan God or the Costa Rican God. What he meant was that culture's are different and how we see God (there is only one God). The example he gave was in Haiti the evangelicals there played cards, whereas in Nicaragua an evangelical would never play cards. The beliefs about God are similar, but how we (the culture) puts it into practice is different. Also, that it is okay to be different as long as it does not go against the Bible.

He was also able to see that Nicaragua is headed down the road of Haiti, in regards to deforestation. Ricardo is more motivated to work with people in Nicaragua about reforestation and how to properly use the amount of land one has. The group spent time with the MCC reforestation project that has been going on for more than 20 years. We had some money donated to us for him to buy a camera to take with to Haiti and he shared his pictures with us. Enjoy Ricardo's pics.

The Destruction and Church Service

Well Pumping and Youth in Church

Goats (the most common livestock) and Planting Trees

Spending Time in Fellowship and Planting Trees

Haitian Money and A View of Port a Prince

Belize...We Love Snorkeling!

After our time in Honduras we went to Belize to celebrate our 10 and 11 year anniversaries. Last year we had been in the states right before our 10 year anniversary, so we were not able to celebrate last year. We took a 2 hour ferry (larger speed boat) from Puerto Cortes, Honduras to Placencia, Belize. The ferry on leaves Honduras once a week and returns once a week, so we had limited time to explore Belize.

We opted to stay at the beach and to go snorkeling since Belize has the second longest Barrier Reef in the world and we had heard it was beautiful. We spent time relaxing on the beach, taking in some sun and of course a lot of snorkeling. We did 2 full days of snorkeling and saw the most underwater sea life we have ever seen. We recently had to buy a new camera because my camera broke, so we bought an underwater camera and boy are we glad we did. Check out the pictures and tell me if you are.

Coral and Conch Shells

Manatee and All Sorts of Fish







Jelly Fish and Large Crabs









Sea Cucumbers and Sea Stars











Laughing Bird Caye National Park:
Tropical Island and Beautiful Reef

*Check out our photo web site for more underwater adventure*
http://sethandsarahhays.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php

What does it mean to be a man?

The end of June we were in Honduras for an MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) retreat. All the other MCC teams from Central America and Mexico united to learn more about gender and more specifically masculinity. Latin American men are well known for their machismo (male shovenism), so gender inequality is something we are all aware of and for us women experience it first hand. The training did not touch on what I thought it would exactly, but it was more interactive and made me think what it means to be a man or a woman...what are my preconceptions are, how the culture affects one's beliefs of what a man or woman is and each person needs to become aware of what it means to them to be a man or a woman in order to work with others.


Since it was a retreat there was time for relaxation and enjoying the outdoors. We stayed at a Lodge (PANACAM) about an hour southwest of San Pedro Sula. It was located in the mountains and there was a nearby reservoir we swam in and sailed on...yes sailed. One of the MCC workers in Honduras made two small sail boats to try out on the lake...it was a fun, but it takes more patience when there is no wind. We also enjoyed hiking on the trails.


Seth and I stayed an extra night at the lodge after the retreat was over, so we saved the long hike for our extra day. It took us 3 hours and we more or less climbed to the top of the mountain for the amazing views, as well as saw a beautiful waterfall and enjoyed a dip in the ice cold watering hole...it took my breath away initially, but I was able to get used to it.