Pura Vida – Costa Rica!

Here is country number 2! In July 2019 my team and I will experience our first split from the squad and be spread throughout the country of Costa Rica, just south of Nicaragua, so be expecting updates from a bus ride through Central America! God had some fun creating Costa Rica, every picture I see of it is just beautiful! I have had many friends serve in Costa Rica for both short term and long term missions and I am so excited to see the country and meet the people that are so close to their hearts! <3

Map:

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Language: Costa Rica’s official and predominant language is Spanish. The variety spoken is Costa Rican Spanish, is a form of Central American Spanish. A Creole-English language, Jamaican patois (also known as Mekatelyu), is spoken along the Caribbean coast.

Religion: 76% of Costa Ricans identify as Catholic. 13% are Evangelical Christians. 1% are Jehovah’s Witness and almost 1% are Protestant Christians.

Population: The current population of Costa Rica is 4.9 million

Unique Animals:These bad boys are a genus of araneomorph spiders noted for the impressive webs they weave. Nephila consists of numerous species found in warmer regions around the world. They are also commonly called golden orb-weavers, giant wood spiders, or banana spiders.

Coatis, also known as the coatimundis, are members of the raccoon family in the genera Nasua and Nasuella. They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, and the southwestern United States. The name coatimundi is purportedly derived from the Tupian languages of Brazil.

Special Foods:Gallo pinto is a traditional dish of Central America, consisting of rice and beans as a base. Gallo pinto has a long history and is important to various Latin American cultures.

A casado is a Costa Rican meal using rice, black beans, plantains, salad, a tortilla, and an optional entrée that may include chicken, beef, pork, fish and so on. The term may have originated when restaurant customers asked to be treated as casados, since married men ate such meals at home.

Cool Geography: Costa Rican Geography features nearly 1,300 km or 800 miles of tropical coastline. The Pacific Coastline is more mountainous and makes up about 80% of the coastal land. The Caribbean coast is a quarter of the size of the Pacific and features long stretches of sandy beaches.  The Caribbean is highly humid with lower ocean tides and features swamps and mangroves. Along the Pacific Coastline there are high sheer cliffs rising majestically from turquoise lagoons, high tide variations, rainforest to the south and dry forest to the north. In fact, the Pacific Coast has two large, lush peninsulas reaching into the ocean. The Nicoya Peninsula is in the North and the Osa Peninsula is in the South. Osa is home to the abundant rainforest wilderness of  Corcovado.

Fun things to do: Ziplining, Horseback riding, sunset sailing cruise, snorkeling/scuba diving, surfing, canyoning and beach hopping!

Prayer: I pray for the 16% of Costa Ricans that still live in poverty. I pray for the churches to reach out and touch their congregations with the Word. I pray for our squad and ministry to reach the youth and really light a fire in them to learn, grow and become closer to God because two thirds of the nation’s population is made up of the youth and I pray for the Nicaraguan refugees who have fled to Costa Rica because of their poor conditions in Nicaragua. It makes living arrangements difficult for both Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans. Therefore I pray they find peace and comfort in coming together to join as one.

If you have visited or served in Costa Rica, please feel free to share your experience in the comments, I would love to read them! <3 KJ