Greetings from Jaco, Costa Rica

We arrived last night here in Jaco for the vacation part of our trip. My first time swimming in the ocean today. the waves pick you up and take you into the shore with a strength that I find surprising. the water is warm and very salty, stings my eyes. it is very hot and there a lots of shops and places to eat american food. very nice after two weeks of rice and black beans for nearly every meal. i think we are planning on pizza tonight. that's what i craved last time i was costa rica, this time it's and egg mcmuffin. very funny.
it is difficult to be away from my family and my church community for so long but God has blessed me with a relaxing time away from the pressures for a while. we have had a wonderful experience with a lot of firsts. have seen so many reptiles this trip, including snakes. thankfully dead both times because they were very poisonous coral snakes. had to laugh at the puppy in amparo chasing the toad through the yard. a very big toad too.
we have given out many gifts to many people. i hope that it encourages them that people from a church far away would be so thoughtful of them and what their lifes are like. the children always touch me the most. there were several schools in the frontier that we visited for the first time. very small and very poor. the government makes the building but provides very little else. we were able to give them hygiene bags and school supplies as well as t-shirts and undershirts which are part of their uniform. Some of the children had not eaten that day and we were able to give them cereal and bread. I don't know how they can learn when they are falling asleep in class because they are hungry. we had to travel on very rough roads in the back of a pickup truck in the hot sun. a two hour journey.
the school that we have visited and provided for is doing well. the children are happy and well fed. what a difference a good meal makes.
we have so much in canada that we take for granted, these people get by with so little. they welcome you into their very simple homes and feed you the only food they may have. it is very humbling.