Camp Jennie Sue (Fun, Faith & Fellowship in Paradise)

Friday:

9:00    All suitcases in the lobby.  That was our only directions for the morning, so that meant a few extra minutes of sleep for me.  (5:30 AM has pretty much been the lastest I can sleep.)

We left the hotel in the city at 9:30 to head to Camp Jennie Sue in Sarchi, Costa Rica.  Has we head out of the city, we leave behind the San Jose.  Although there is glimpses of beauty there, it has the typical grime, and poverty of most cities.

Away from the city, the beauty of Costa Rica becomes more evident.  (Lush hills covered in plants and vegetation that Tennesseans can only buy in the house plants section of Lowes.)  Last year we did stay at Camp Jennie Sue, but we weren't there long enough to enjoy it.  This year it's different.  We've planned a weekend retreat/Bible study for the members of Purral church of Christ.  

Schedule for Friday:

12:00  Lunch

1:00  Men's class on Men's Church Leadership roles & Margaret Reeves lead the women in sharing our thoughts about our trip and what it has meant.

Break time  (There was a national pickup game of soccer.  I'm not exactly sure who won, but at one time the US may have had 20 on the field!!!)

2:00  Lesson on Youth Ministry taught by John Thacket and Jeremy Myers (2 youth ministers).

5:00  Dinner  which happened to be pizza from a local pizza place.  It was much enjoyed by all!!!!

6:00  Free time which consisted of many card games.  I myself enjoyed several games of Nertz.  (I can hardly ever get my family to play.)  I think there may have also been another game of basketball or soccer.

About 60 of us are sleeping in 4 very nice cabins.  I slept well!!!  Adios from Paradise!!

Feeling blessed

I’m going home……

A slice of heaven (Vista Atenis)

 

Saturday we traveled from La Fortuna back towards San Jose and the airport.  Our plan was to tour a coffee plantation and have lunch there.  It so happens that a young couple from the Tampa area (some of our group go to their church)work and volunteer there.  I don’t really know  all of the details, but they both speak Spanish and they hung out with us the first few days at the Bible camp.

Rainy travel day

 

 

Well, there was a miscommunication and our bus driver made a wrong turn.  I think he assumed we were touring a different well-known coffee plantation.  When we figured this all out, we were over an hour away, so we had to forgo that trip.  Many of us were not disappointed because we are tired and weren’t really up for another excursion.

 

 

We did make a stop off in a little town called Zarcero.  Most every town of any size has a central park.  This town has a really unique and beautiful park.  It has landscaped gardens as well as shrubs that have been clipped into cool shapes.  Check out all of my pictures.



 

 

church by the park

We stopped off at the town of Sarchi for lunch and souvenir shopping.  Costa Rica is known for its painted ox-cart wheels and this town is well known its giant painted ox-cart.  Most of us ate a delicious lunch at a restaurant called La Finca and then looked at a souvenir shop afterwards.

 

 

 

Sorry, I took a bite out before I remembered to take a picture!


 

 

 

The next stop was our B&B, Vista Atenis.  It was great that we didn’t do the coffee plantation because that meant that we got there before dark and had several hours to enjoy the 360 degree views.  We found out that the mountain as wells as several of the others around us were called, “Gringo Mountains” because many “ex-pats” lived there.  Our B&B was run by a lady from Belgium.  The grounds were beautifully landscaped, there was a great breeze and we had the whole place to ourselves. 

 

www.vistaatenis.com

Some of us enjoyed the pool (even Jose, our bus driver, not me though), but all of us enjoyed the views and cool breeze.  We ordered pizza to be delivered for dinner and we all had fun sitting in Steve and Janet’s larger room.  The room was equipped with dishes, but since there was more than 20 of us, people were drinking out of anything they could find!!!  (Shot glasses, measuring cups, wine glasses, etc.)  It made for lots of laughs.  We ended the evening with some kind words from our leaders, “Bind us together”, “Get Right Church”, “Greatest Commands”, a prayer, and cheers for our leaders and bus driver.

 

 

 

 

My flight departs at 8:40 in the morning, so that puts me in the early flight group.  That means we are to leave at 3:00 am!!  I made it though and I’m sitting in the CR airport typing this on free Wi-Fi!!

 

I’m sure I might have a follow-up post once I’ve had time to process all of my feelings.  All and all, it was a great mission trip and it’s been a long time in my 8 years since I’ve gotten to end with a retreat.  This was my first year to come to Costa Rica and I’m positive that it will now be part of my annual trip!!!

 

 

It's after 3 am and I'm waiting for the slowpokes to get up!!

 

Pura Vida y Proximo Ano!!!

 

PJ  xoxo