Hello everyone!
Sorry for last week´s lack of email. Time and resources are at a premium, and I am running out of time again so I´ll have to hurry. Here are two weeks worth of information on Costa Rica.
The terrain of San Jose is made up of a mixture of pavement, loose rubble, mud, plant life, razor wire, rubbish, large unexplained holes, dog residue, and water. Costa Ricans overcome this through the use of flip flops.
Costa Ricans are exceptional multitaskers. I once witnessed a man operating a bicycle, an umbrella, and a sandwich, all at the same time.
99% of things in Costa Rica are hot. 1% of things in Costa Rica are my shower.
In Costa Rica you are:
The doorbell
A target
Probably lost
Definitely moist
Possibly me
Welcome
All meat in Costa Rica is on the bone
Or Tuna.
This internet cafe computer is rejecting my camera so you´ll just have to imagine what my house looks like. Elder A looks like Barack Obama but shorter and Brazilian.
Ah I have so many stories but I have to go!
I´m so sorry. Ask my mother about the Taxi Driver.
Hasta Nunca
Elder Godivala Here is the story of the Taxi Driver in Elder Godivala's own words, compiled from lines of texting.
Yesterday we had a bad experience
Almost funny, but not quite
After going home to change out of suits after church
We were planning to go and meet a referral given to us by a young woman
We had barely stepped out from the house
And a taxi drops someone off
And the driver hails for us to get in
We tell him we can walk but he assures us it will be cheap since were doing the Lord's work
So we get in
On the way there he tries to lead us in his strange Christian chants
That don't really make sense
He doesn't stop until we join in
We only have the directions of the person who gave the reference because of course
No addresses here
When we get to the street we tell him we can find it from here
But he is determined to drop us off at the door
Insists Elder A lets him speak to the reference giver
Which he does for 5 minutes
On our phone
When we find the house
He really wants to make sure its the right one
And we had already told him what we were doing
So of course he leads us to the door
Ok
Imagine you are the man of the house
Opening the door to a coarse middle aged taxi driver demanding an audience with your 14 year old daughter
He was not generous with the time he spent at the door
The taxi driver of course suggested we continue looking
Not realising that it was the correct house
He then insisted he drive us home
The taxi driver took us home
"5800 colones, por favor"
Then he remembered his promise
"5000 colones"
70 colones buys you a bunch of bananas
The standard bus fare is 350 colones
For a distance we were willing to walk
It was an absurd price
So turns out 5000 colones is how much it costs to lose a referral.
To finish on a high, two little stories of positive human interactions
On Saturday
We couldn't find our intended contact
Or either of our back up plans
That's when you go to find someone new
After deciding to hit the streets we hadn't taken 20 steps before I made eye contact with an old man
He came over to us
He was not familiar with missionaries or the church
But he told us he liked reading and asked if we had a book we could give him
We put our names in the front (of a Book of Mormon) and he took it and went on his way
Later we met a homeless man
He told us he had an alcohol problem
But that he loved missionaries
And if we ever wanted food
We could come past his bench and share his fruit
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