Looking Forward

We have just three more weeks in Costa Rica! We are scheduled to leave for Honduras on August 1st. Yesterday I was thinking of things I am looking forward to in Honduras and two things immediately came to mind. The first is a car and the second is a cell phone. It has really been different living for a year without a car or a cell phone.

Without a car I have to walk most places. I occasionally take a bus or taxi if my destination is too far to walk. I have throughtly enjoyed walking this year and I am certainly in better shape than when I arrived in Costa Rica. It seems like yesterday that we arrived and the second day here Lynda Gregg (a fellow missionary with BMDMI) took me to get a copy and laminate made of our passports. The walk seemed to be three miles long and I thought it took more than 30 minutes. Today that same walk would be a crisp 8-10 minute walk that would be no bother at all.

I especially like getting out and walking or jogging in the cool mornings and it is even better if there is a little breeze, which happens alot here at 3000 feet above sea level. So walking everwhere has been great.

Nevertheless, I am tired of constantly being on the lookout for potential thieves. We watch for men wearing hoodies or shoulder bags so they can hide a pistol, ball caps pulled down low, or men who change their gait when they get close to you. So when we get to Honduras we will get a van that can hold all nine of us. I will still exercise but I will miss the conditioning that walking everywhere does for my body. Overall, though, I will definitely be glad to have a car we can drive and take the family around easily.

Second, in some ways, it has been nice not having a cell phone and being free from frequent phone calls. When Dawn and I went to Honduras to look at a hospital ministry last month, our director's phone must have rung every ten minutes. He did not seem to mind or get flustered at all. I thought it would drive me crazy. So I have enjoyed having the freedom from the chirp of a phone but on the other hand I also will be glad to have a cell phone to where my children can reach me if I am not at home. Frequently if Dawn and I go to a store, the children have absolutely no way to contact us if there is an emergency. There are other students living nearby who can be here in seconds in the event of an emergency, and they are usually on standby. But, I will look forward to having a phone to where I can call Dawn or our home if I need to or they can call me.