Naughty boys

If you recall a previous post where I looked at the electrical work in this country. .... well here you have some of the naughty boys in action ;)

Free ride on the roof

A brother gave us a lift home from the meeting this evening and when we jumped out of the car we found this huge thing travelling on the roof.

Superstitious people in Costa Rica believe that if this comes into your house then it means "good luck" somehow.

Not too bad at all

We normally never eat out... it's just way too experience.
However on this occasion we did and to our major surprise it was a bargain price!

● 2x Double espressos for me costing approx £ 1.70
● 1× Gallo Pinto (local dish that is a rice & pea mix) for Mily..... only 90 Pence.

For a minute I almost felt like we had came back to Nicaragua again ;)

Fresh bread? ??

Well kind of. ... or maybe not!
We bought some "fresh" bread here during our lunch break in the ministry. .. but we will probably not do it again though. .. why is that?

Just after finishing to eat our purchased goodies we noticed some commotion around the display. .. and the reason is they found a cockroach crawling on the bread!!!
They did not bother much with cleaning up where it had been and they did not bin any bread it crawled on either.... so the last time we buy any bread there; thats for sure

Local snaps on Wednesday

A couple of local snaps from the Wednesday preaching.
Not city centre but not countryside either.

I found a couple of returns and one of them seems to have great potential. .. very open minded & willing to listen and discuss on Biblical subjects.

Local bus services

This is how the local bus services looks like here.... a lot less crowded than in Nicaragua
The payment is done in the front with the chauffeur as well; just like in Europe.... so they don't need a separate guy running around inside the bus like they did in Nicaragua.

The clothes they sell

The clothes they sell here are not the best of quality and rather expensive on top of it.
For this reason they have a lot of places here that sell "ropa usada".

"Ropa usada" are second hand clothes they import from the USA to sell here locally.
There are a large number if these shops around.... and some even sell it from their houses as well.

Dress code

This is the dress code at a school in the area we preached (Matasanos just outside San Isidro).
On the other hand ... the way they dress here (especially the girls) makes it understandable why they need a sign like this in the first place!

It's quite outrageous at times here..... and needless to say there are consequences as well to this attitude since we see a lot of "kids having kids" if you get the point.
  

Uneducated European

Another of these things that we walk past in the countryside when we preach (Pois D'angole).
Now... there are so many things that one can eat... however being an uneducated European I just walk past everything since I simply don't know any better...

There are so many plants growing around us.... but... being brought up in ...
   1. Europe
   2. A city environment
It makes me woefully ignorant about what is growing around me....

So I would probably starve to death if I was lost ... even though its full of nutritional stuff around me here.

Still a very religious country

Costa Rica is still a very religious country compared to Europe.
When walking past churches of all dominations on a Sunday there are plenty of cars outside to prove that point.
This is a snap outside a tiny church in Quebradas where we used to live before.

Maintenance day in the Kingdom Hall

Woke up early cleaning the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in San Isidro yesterday.

Market day again

Today was market day again.
We have to be careful with the "dinero" nowadays.... the more we can save the longer we can stay here in this country.
The trick in the market is to go there just before they close down and they are desperate to sell... sometimes we get a good deal on the stuffs.

Preaching in the countryside

Another trip into the countryside and in one photo you see San Isidro in the distance (where we currently live).

In 2 other photos you see an 85 year old man who was very, very, VERY angry with both global corporations and with all the governments in Costa Rica.
Even though 85 he still works hard (pension is a practical joke) but even though working hard every day of the week he is literally living on the breadline.

As he continued complaining on how he is paid less and less for his produce whilst prices are going up in the supermarkets and he made the obvious conclusion that.... when his generation is gone nobody is left to do farming for us.

All his kids and grandkids educated themselves to do other things.... nobody wants to follow his steps and work in the farming industry... so nobody left to grow what we need in the supermarkets in the future.
He certainly got a point; or what do you think?

Sisters only today

Preaching close to where we live nowadays (Morazán) and it seems like I was the only man around in the crowd.

If you are not a JW

An update for all non JW who follow us on this blog. I just came across some surprisingly accurate information about us from a neutral source.

Since we all know... "its just as important to know what we reject, as well as to what we accept"... here are some facts to consider before you listen to all weird rumours flying around. .

http://listverse.com/2014/11/13/10-things-you-never-knew-about-jehovahs-witnesses/

How do we enjoy ....

How do we enjoy ourselves in the evening  without TV?

Petrified !!!

This entered into our flat yesterday evening and Mily has not been able to relax since .... she got a genuine fear of these creepy crawlies!!!
However I found it this morning and killed it (photographic evidence here) so things are back to normal in the house again ;)

Some Copy and Paste info below from a website regarding facts on this bug.

They can survive ten minutes in a vacuum, levels of radiation that would kill a human in one second, prolonged submersion in water, being at ground zero of an M60 cherry bomb - though shoe heels bearing down, as well as being inside active microwave ovens, will kill them.

A cockroach can live without a head for a week, after which lack of water intake will cause it to die. Not because it's lack of head but lack of water. It can go for a month without food, but only a week, as I said, without water.

A female cockroach can gain enough sperm from a single mating to reproduce over her entire life span, up to one year. A single female cockroach that had mated just that once can have 90,000 offspring within three months

Fresh Pineapple

Fresh Pineapple = fresh juice :)

I have seen better workmanship ;)

1. So how's the electrical engineering coming along in Costa Rica then?
2. Do I have any trust in it?

I think the photos below speak for themselves.... I have seen better... and no, I don't feel at ease with this.

One photo is the electric post outside our house; and it looks like a complete spagetti junction done by a cowboy :(

The second believe it or not.... it is actually our shower-head in the flat.
Now the first thing you learn as an electrician is that it is a BIG no no to mix any electrical wires and water .... but here they don't seem to mind??!!
This is just so crazy it beggars belief !!!

Tierra Prometida

Mily preached in Tierra Prometida the other day and she even got some of it on her shoes to prove it ;)

PS: Tierra Prometida means "The Promised Land" in English.

This was the size of my hand !!!

Don't know what this spider is all about, and I did not want to find out either.

I found it sitting on a wall in the city centre.... and it was the size of my hand so I just had to take a snap...

But I didn't want to get too close with my phone!!!.  After all I didn't know if it jumps..... if it's poisonous.....  if it bites..... or if there are any other nasty surprises.

The Market

A couple of secret snaps in the market where we buy veggies etc.
They are open 2 days a week but we only get bargains during the last afternoon just before they close down.

Two different sides

Two different sides of our territory,  one is the country side; the second is the city center... I'm sure you can make out "what is what" in these photos.

Bible study

Our bible study in the city and this guy is a story in himself .. a long story.

To say he got problems is a serious understatement;  and sadly... most problems relate to him being too nice to others for his own good.

He is very open minded spiritually though and all our discussions are very fruitfull.
A potential brother if all continues the way it has done up to now ;)

Out in the country side

Today we went to a territory that's FAR out in the countryside.... so far out that we can't even make return visits!

Besides distance altitude was another thing, extremely steep climbing and change of temperature as well (nice and cool 20-25 Celsius).

Seems to be lots of rain there as well because the car could not go uphill in the mud at times... stuck stuck stuck.
We had to push it.... and one brother ended up with freckles in the face and a spotted shirt if you get the drift ;) LOL

Also; lots of coffee plantations where we preached, but the only ones actually working there are people from Nicaragua and not Costa Rica.
I was told (by a local) that the work is too hard so the locals don't want to do it; thus they import people from Nicaragua who at times are under paid and illegal.
Next time you have a tasty coffee think of all the hard work that gets into your cup... sweat and tears.