Bob Dylan Said It Best

The times they are a-changin. The majority of people living here when I arrived have left or are leaving, one by one (well, actually they seem to be leaving in twos). It’s making me get a little sentimental about the friends I’ve made. Jeff and Carley Snethen, who lived here on and off for about two years, finally had to return to Oregon. They were the first to befriend me and help me find a car. Harumi and Ayano, the two bestest Japanese girls in the world, are leaving us on Tuesday, and I can’t believe I won’t be seeing them anymore and that we won’t be sweating in service together.



And my roommate will be leaving at the end of this month! With everything changing, it takes work not to let my perspective shift as well. What am I gonna do without my friends? Another bummer is that a lot of the studies I was working hard to cultivate have become irregular or are MIA. When service is great here, it brings with it a definite sense of satisfaction; but when it wanes, it is really easy to think, What AM I doing here? It’s hotter than Gehenna and the mosquitos are back...get me outta here!

And this all makes me think of the Malavasi Family, because if it wasn’t for their stability, Huacas English wouldn’t stay afloat.



Lady and her four sons and their two wives moved here from San Jose several years ago, started a property management business, and started learning English. Every year they see possibly hundreds of people come and go, but they remain and keep things moving along. I’m sure they miss the climate of San Jose, their friends, and the diversions a city can offer, but they stay here to keep their lives simple and help out. Lately there’s been around 20 people at our meetings, which means this family makes up a third of our hall. It must be so interesting for them to see people that visited three years ago finally come back for a longer stay. So even though they're staying put, they're never standing still. And what’s pretty amazing is that just as it seems the hall is going to waste away, word comes that an entire new crop of people will be passing through. Welcome to the revolving door of Guanacaste!

Anyhow, Laura and I have been pounding the pavement and things are picking up again. I’ve got 60 days left to do everything in Costa Rica I wanted to but haven’t!

"Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled...
For the Times they are a-changin'"