of the blog…we will keep on writing only by personal emails. we had a lovely time in Kentucky saying hi and goodbye to our friends here.
We are leaving Saturday am at 7 am and our goal is to get 600 miles a day so we will see.
Love you all lots and see some of you soon!
Katalena
It is Monday night and we are packed and ready to leave by 10 am tomorrow.
we have been so welcomed and cared for and had so much fun in the last 4 days that it truly makes me melancholy to leave. Friday we were treated to Samira (our Lebanese sister) and her delicious chicken with cinnamon and allspice and rice. Then Saturday she had a party of 25 brothers and sisters including 2 visiting Beth élites from NY and we danced all of us! well of course not Tifka she had a excuse with her swollen foot and stayed the night at Ida’s (convenient wasn't it). Kevin even danced with Cassie! It was a blast. Tried to do the Arabic dance and costarican and salsa. When Samira started the belly dance we waited on the side lines and cheered her on, she had instructed 2 other sisters and they all put on a lovely graceful program.(not sexy at all).
Sunday we had pancakes with flower pattern of apples on the bottom with real maple syrup from Canada! the meeting was great all came up and gave us hugs and encouragement and just made us- not feel like losers. wonderful hugs all around! Sunday we switched camps over to Ida and Nicole's, but first had a treat of eating real southern food at Karin Shickners, Tacos and green beans with yummy bacon. We ate like pigs! she also has a house in Texas and gave us permission to stay on our way through the states to Reno. Wow! It really is raining blessings, and we don't deserve even one of them,,, but I will take them non the less. Now the girls are downstairs with Ida, Nicky, Carolina, playing card and laughing like goons. Kevin and are the old ones upstairs being lazy and updating the blog…someone has to act like a grown up around here! You would never know Ida has a couple of years on us she is more fun that the girls, she thinks of all the fun stuff to do, and she constantly has people stopping by or calling on the phone. She is quite loveable.
I tried to make a to do list today, since getting here it has been impossible cause your life changes every second and you really have no control of it, but I think we are going to Chicago, then renting a cheep car to Louisville, then pick up our car at Vivian's work, then run to the thrift store for a few necessary things we couldn't bring (one suitcase each) then crash for the night at Abel and Vivian as, next days the evil day of sorting through our old stuff and seeing what else we can get rid of, visit with our friends in-between, then off to Reno on Saturday, and Kevin thinks we should head through the southern way cause of all the weather. My hope is to be in Reno by 27th of December. we will see if it goes that way.
So that our itinerary…next blog will be back in the good old usa
Love you all-and see you Norte Americanos muy pronto!
Katalena
just a quick update…we are getting a ride to Flamingo Beach to catch the bus back to San Jose, and will be staying with Samira for the next couple of days.
Ida is letting us use her house to sell Kevin's computer, and ….Tifkas massage table, and his little tool bag the girls brought with them. Tifka went through a lot of drama packing and hauling that computer here, but the airline is allowing only one bag per person, and will not allow us to buy extra space for them (something to do with the holidays).
Sin embargo this is good for us as we can use the profit for costs in the states! Thank goodness for Craigslist.com!
See ya soon
Katalena
I could follow my heart and live where ever I chose.
I think I have learned that it is not the location but the locals that make my living enjoyable.
Tracey, I love you and can easily picture myself taking over your attic room and stuffing your fridge full of our junk food, and double pots of coffee every morning. And sitting on your largest chair, like chanchos, reading the newspaper.
The Job situation seems to dictate a lot in my life. And now a lot of my friends life too. We had to leave Ohio cause of lack of work, not lack of love for my friends. Same with Kentucky. I have tried to guilt, coerce, sell, and bribe my dear friends into hoping on the Haanpaa wagon where ever it may take us… including Costa Rica. Sometimes I think you are better off not being on it. In the mean time, what an awesome privilege it is to have such friends as you. I don”t have any “letters of recommendation” from our service efforts, but somehow I think that your friendship is equal to that.
Thanks for always letting us know we have many safe houses.
Your friend
Katalena
p.s. we vote for Alaska next……cassie (smile)
Hi guys!
After my talking about our situation We received more communication from our Brothers and Sisters.
In Ohio the economy has hit seriously and as we know of in our North Hill congregation there are now many families unemployed (thanks in part to the auto industry) and any work I.e. basement improvements have been hit. Also Mable Patrick and her family have had a loved one recently die. One of Gails nieces. So sad. And friends of ours there have lost their Mom too (she was 95 bless her heart).
We have a friend who is ready to pop with a new baby anytime (#2 baby Rocco!) A friend who is at the end of her schooling for message therapy, and still keeping her sanity, those that are dealing with extreme cold, and still serving Jehovah will all their might.
In another state we have friends who are dealing with the serious illness of their Mom, and Dad and Mother in law. And are trying to split themselves in many pieces to care for all their family, no matter what county or country they live in. All this and still trying to make a dime to provide for themselves and their pioneering.
So friends I am starting to count my blessings. We are all healthy, including our parents, we are all serving Jehovah, we have sustenance and covering and an incredible network of Witnesses to rely on for support and encouragement. Sometimes you don't want to sound negative or complaining, but how would I know what you are going through if you didn't tell me. Thanks for the window into your lives. My prayers are for your endurance, and Jehovah's continued blessing on your beautiful heads.
I love you allot today
Katalena
Hay y’all! This is Cassie. Mom asked me to temporarily add one blog- mostly filled with happy thoughts and adventures, so here goes!
We had gotten the privilege to experience one of the best spots for service in Liberia. There is a college that teaches English, and that has allowed us to come in and be a part of their program. What they do is study the Bible teach book with each student, allowing them to practice their reading in English, and conversational words, but at the same time learning the truth. Last Saturday we went, and had a lovely study with a 20 year old girl, who seemed shy at first, but had gotten all the main points at the end. It was an absolutely awesome feeling to have when after reading bits and pieces of the Sermon on the Mount(we were studying the 2nd chapter in the book-Bible, book from God-) and after asking her the benefits of that sermon, she recited from memory what we had just read, and truly agreed with it. Her heartfelt expressions made our whole day.
We have also been able to preach in this little beach side town we are staying in. You can literally walk from one end to the other in 15 minutes, but yesterday Dad and I chose instead to go up the mountain a bit. And this is all walking my friends. So we go up and up, and there are a lot of million dollar homes perfectly situated to look over the Pacific Ocean- beautiful, but a bit hermit like. They have gates and intercoms, and they don’t like company. Many had their maids come tell us that there were no English speakers, but we didn’t give up that easily- we just preached to the maids in Spanish instead. The congregation in Spanish doesn’t come up here that often because it is so far away, so they don’t mind us doing that. And they are the most receptive.
Other then preaching, we have been having a lovely time with the hall here. Their spirit and warmness has helped us immensely. Their zeal for the ministry is one to be admired. We have to give a shout out to a special couple who have shown us extreme love, the Loesch’s from Minnesota. They have come as need greater, and they themselves have gone through many problems in their stay here. But they still have opened their arms and have taken us to the meetings, ate dinner with us, laughed at Tiff’s hilarious crab-bite story, and worried about our future here. A true fulfillment of Proverbs 17:17.
We can never complain. Right now I am writing to you while sipping on coffee, looking out over the Pacific Ocean, in a 4,000 dollar a week house, just a few minutes walk from an amazing beach. Most grateful we are though is for the lessons we have learned in patience and reliance on Jehovah. Only by these trials can we truly strengthen our endurance. I loved 1 Peter-2 Peter, and all the wonderful counsel provided there. But I have already filled this page righteously, so I will sign off and again pass the torch to Mom. She has more hilarious stories then I do.
Shout out before I go to Abel and Vivian- We love and miss you guys- as well as Tracey and Jeremias- always a joy to read your comments- and our wonderful family in Nevada, Thank you for all your help and love.
I love everyone else immensely too, but there is just not enough space! Virtual hugs and kisses,
Cassie
Hey guys, sometimes I just need to put things on paper or in writing to see how to look at things properly. Did you know that when I am using this bloggy thing, in my head it is like some cyber movie where all of you are on the end listening and telling me different points of counsel, or advice. Like some picture family tree with extend ended wires connecting me to you.
I guess you can tell I am fighting the blues right now. So this should have one of those t.v. rating warnings. Read with caution.
This is the current update, from newest to oldest this time. Kevin is ralphing up his guts with a severe ferocity. We went to the beach today and all was fine until around 4 pm when we were all surprised by his run to the sink and uncontrollable vomiting. I got him to the fence in the back yard and let him heave till there was no more then took his shaking body to bed and made him lay down. He requested a sip of water and that started this all over again. He is on restriction for the next 12 hours of no water till what ever bug is in him dries up and is out. Tomorrow morning we will test him with some water and if he still doesn't keep it down, then I am not fooling around and he is getting a doctors care.
Well the story doesn't stop there. Before that, at the beach in the last final minutes of play in the ocean before we left Tifka got bitten by some sea animal. She told me later that in her fear she thought is was a piranha! maybe my complaining of sharks and seeing lots of flying jumping fish started this. her foot was bleeding allot, really allot it was on the sand and gory. A man named Miguel saw us and came over and looked at it and said it was a big crab that tried to snip off her toe. He put sand in the wound to stop the bleeding and had me lift it above her heart. Why cant I think of this stuff when it is needed? We all know that makes sense! (sorry Stefka). She is such a trouper wouldn't let us get someone to hep us drive her up the mountain, she limped and suffered all the way up the goat trail to the house, telling me Mom just get me there, and while I still have enough adrenaline to do it. She had the shakes and attack of the nerves and incredible pain. It was breaking my heart to warsh it out she really could not take any more. Then Cassie and Kev came a few minutes behind us as they stopped at the little grocery store and got Listerine, aspirin and beer. I know, but there is no pharmacy in this little town. It took an hour but the pain started to subside a bit and she is now ok. We have her foot up and she is just chilling in front of the t.v. and now so is Kevin.
There has been many happy things going on too. so I am going to think of that now, give me a minute….
well the brain is not cooperating, and I think I will put it in the next blog or let the girls do a report.
Oh and Clara Dawes is now no longer in Costa Rica. I am sad. I had just started a friendship with this lovely sister from Australia, and wish it could have continued longer in person, now we will have to keep it going by email.
So thanks for listening. And understanding I am not a perfect person. I know with Jehovah's help this will seem like no big deal. I am praying and asking for holy spirit. Please keep us in mind in your prayers too.
I love you all
Your crazy friend
Katalena
So far we have not shown too many animals and creatures that you may encounter here. So I thought I would put up just some of the living creatures around here. All of these shots come from around this house in Potrero. Even though there are other houses around there seems to be a tremendous amount of wildlife in the area –especially birds – and even Howler Monkeys!
Here is the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/khaanpaa/LivingCreatures#
Update…
We are fervently praying for direction on what our next step will be. Finding other means of income here away from the hotel is so far proving elusive. Our thoughts originally were to get over to Limon and search for work, but as days go by it seems a bit premature to go over there with no prospect at all of work or income ( we are still checking on a possible call center over there). Living in this house although very nice is proving to be a challenge as well in many ways – so we are not planning on staying here too long either. We seem to have reached a crossroad as to what to do trying to be patient and wait on Jehovah but also be prudent and try to figure out if our Costa Rica horse has had it’s run and it is time to get off.
As the Apostle Paul asked we also ask for you to pray for us that we make wise decisions in our next course. We too will continue to pray that no matter where we end up next we can continue to serve in some full-time capacity. We have been able to learn and experience and I believe help in some ways here in Costa Rica – and if it be Jehovah’s will that we continue to do so –wonderful! If not – we will always cherish what we have been able to do and the new friends in Jehovah’s organization that we have made here. What a beautiful thing it is to know that no matter where you go on this planet – you WILL have friends in the faith.
We will keep everyone posted on any further developments.
Stay tuned…
Well, we finally are here in Potrero at the house we are looking after for the next few weeks. It is a little smaller than we all imagined –but very, very nice as one would expect. The views out the back porch though set it apart –wow! It is very easy to just sit and stare for hours at a time. Below I have included a link to just some of the stunning views. I have come down with a bit of the “Gripa” I guess –so I have been sitting out and letting the sun burn the “Gripa” out – and letting the whole scenery just wash over and relax me. Nothing manmade can ever compare with the Great Artist Jehovah God! This evening at dusk we were treated to masses of birds who earlier in the day I had seen from a distance and thought were Love Birds. At dusk however, they all start darting and flying by the masses to the treetops. One treetop just beside the pool came a whole flock –they were not Love Birds –they are Amazon Parrots! Green fronted and yellow banded I believe. To watch them fly together in pairs and chatter to each other in their freedom makes one really reflect on how they must be affected when they are relegated by themselves in a cage. For us –it would be difficult to ever have a caged bird again after seeing them in their native and wild domain! Truly breathtaking!
We do have Internet access here at the house for the next few weeks – so we should be in pretty good contact with everyone that wants it. Email is good, Skype is good, Skype is: kevin.haanpaa, chatting is good, so stay in touch all!
http://picasaweb.google.com/khaanpaa/TamarindoYPotrero#
Kevin
Here is the link to some pictures of our trip over to Limon to check things out and some from our first few days in Tamarindo.
http://picasaweb.google.com/khaanpaa/TamarindoAndLimon#
I am sure there will much more to come!
I AM TRYING TO BACK TRACK IN MY MIND FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS. Opps sorry the cap lock was on. The bus ride was good, and we got here fine, the one bus driver did look exactly like Dustin Hoffman when he played in Rain Man. Kept us laughing when he purposely ignored the waiting passengers and roared by with a smile. Tamarindo is beautiful…like picture perfect. Just like photos of Fiji or Island paradise. We will put some pics on the web for you all, (we as in Kevin). It is clean and well kept and like old money feel. Not allot of bars and obvious bad stuff like we saw in Jaco. Where you would recommend your friends to come and have a proper vacation.
The Dawes’ invited us to crash in their pad for the next 3 days till the house we are caring for opens up. They are finishing their last few days here in Costa Rica with a bit of a vacation,and their brother is with them. We were quite taken aback at the accommodations. 4 story mission style condominium, with waterfall pool and patio and huge living room with modern gorgeous furniture, all channel t.v. for addicts like me, huge kitchen bigger than Diane's, and 3 bedroom 2 bath with washer dryer. Washer and dryers are like Mercedes or Jaguars here, just not many people have them, and they provided the soap and thick towels and excellent sheets. There is a brother in charge of this complex and he can use his discression to give discounts and privileges. Since Brother Dawes and his family have been here before and have such a fine reputation, they got a deal, and he gave the Sunday talk for the group of 17 in this English congregation. There was actually 35 in attendance.
Cassie and Tifka Surfed today! They had their own personal instructors from Australia our 3 brothers! They did good, Cassie advanced a little faster than Tifka cause she had more time on the board. You will have to ask them about it in their blog. They really looked adorable like hippy surfer girls.
we are planning to go in service tomorrow, Monday at the table here at the BEACH!
We visited with the Susa's at the Kingdom Hall and our dear brother Castro from the Silver Hills Congregation in Carson City, Nevada! talk about a strange feeling when you shake hands with a brother and you ask where are you from? Carson city Nevada! So it is a small world. The Susa's are expecting friends from Nevada so Karen if you want to send another care package they said they would take it and care for it, and only take 1/2 the package!(smile).
so time for sandwiches in this awesome condominium that should be for millionaires. I love you all and wish you could see the happy things I do, the sea shells abundant on the floor of the beach for any to pick up , the sunsets that change every second, and draw you closer to Jehovah, and the individual humans that serve him that look so beautiful in their service to him.
Thank you for not getting upset at anything I write remember I am a random thinker and writer. I have no intent to hurt or upset anyone.
Personal note to Bob and Sherry Christianson..
We gave your love personally to the Teaos (spellling) husband and wife they were still a bit shaken from the tragic loss of our dear brother. But still greeted us with a smile. For those who didn't know, Brother Rodriguez who worked as the presiding overseer of the Spanish congregation here in Tamarindo had pulled over off the side of the road and was behind the car opening up the trunk when an Pirate Taxi ran into the back of him. He was crushed between the two cars, the driver ran from the car and the accident with out helping, the wife of this brother jumped out saw her husband trapped and ran to the drivers seat and moved her car to un pin him. He lived a few hours but doctors were not able to save him. There was quite a uproar in the community as this brother is well known and well loved. The Taxi driver was found, and the brothers had the funeral service yesterday. The had a lovely prayer after the meeting for his wife and family. Please keep this lovely family in your prayers as well.
Well I will sign off for now, if you have any suggestions for topics or questions… leave them on the blog and I will try to answer them.
Hasta la Pasta
Katalena
For comments and email! Sorry but Kevin is making me be nice about it. Tina, we saw your twin yesterday Kevin and I had to do a double take would have taken her picture if we had a camera. Same smile and everything. Love all the updates every day life seems so endearing.
Kevin and I are sitting at a cement park table across from the Dawes house picking up a signal, and watching two little toddlers play in the park one has those onesey jamies on…so tempting to grab him and give him a squeeze. Tifka is lazy and wont get out of bed…she was so dead this am that she didn't notice me taking a picture of her sleeping even with the Flash! maybe next blog I will put it on…(just kidding).
we are off to Tamarind in the morning…at 6 am wow! we are leaving allot of our stuff here with a sister and just taking one suitcase for the 4 of us. It is worth it not to have too much clothing so you don't have to pack it or carry it.
For all my girlfriends…guess what…I am wearing Cassies skinny jeans! so what if there is a muffin top above it…I got into them! Now she cant get them back. I hope in a years time to be a size 10! Is not that ironic to get skinny a few years before 50? Oh well it will be good for my health. Kevin is loosing gradually like me. Boy did we blimp up before we got here, so it is taking allot longer than we hoped. More walking ahead will help.
Well this purpose of writing was to solicit more emails and blog comments, anything about your lives would be great …the progress in the congregations, etc. we love you a little bit
Katalena
This entry will be purposely brief. More details will follow as we progress and I have better access to the Internet.
We are currently staying at the Dawes house in Belen close to the Branch office. We just returned from a wonderful and fruitful trip to Limon again – and it would seem that a lot of factors are pointing to us serving there next. So, we will be going to Tamarindo to housesit –and we will certainly have an open mind to other possibilities of serving there. However, we seemed to have lined up a brand new apartment in Limon that will be completed just about the same time as we will have to leave the housesitting house. So – We think Jehovah is giving us a bit of a respite and allowing us to go to Guanacaste area to have a bit of fun and preaching – and then head to our new assignment serving in Limon and opening up the fields in Cahuita and points south from there in the English speaking and other foreign languages.
We will likely be going to Tamarindo sometime in the next few days and then be in Limon by around the 23rd or so of December.
Jehovah’s hand is never short in regards to his servants and that is certainly true of us! We cannot express enough our appreciation and thankfulness to all those that have helped us in so many ways so far!
We will try to keep everyone up to date of our situation – at the moment we only really have email and this blog to communicate until I get more reliable Internet to use Skype again.
Until next chapter…
Kevn and the whole family
Well guys this is my last entry here at the kitchen table desk of our little office. And boy am I glad. Seems like the day is dragging on though. All of our tempers are a little raw, or maybe just mine. The ding dong events planners who steal from the boss scheduled one group of 19, another of 90 and another of 30 with out telling the chef or us! so all was in a panic this am trying to get food prepared and all organized for them. The chef burnt his inner forearm pretty bad, and our waiter came in with a severe case of gripe (flu). The girls and I raced a cute couple from Arkansas to the Cafe Britt tour by 11:00 as our hired guide forgot them. But now at almost 2 pm we have made it! Kevin finally hog tied the boss and sat him down and told him we wanted our last pay and we might consider caring for his email and marketing from Tamarindo. Well it all went well. He is such a mediocre bla person. Didn't tell us thank you or didn't like our way of management. Just hope all goes well for you and give me back my cell phone!
So how does Jehovah care for his crazy family Haanpaa?
One: Brother Lindsay Dawes (and yes I use his full name) and his wife and son, Clara and Max from Australia have been an instrument of Jehovah's love. They have invited us to stay at their home close to the Bethel here, and as they are soon to leave for Australia they will not be in their apartment much for the next couple of weeks, so we can “caretaker” their apartment, just a kind way of them giving us charity. She also is an gourmet cook and looks like Sheila Falkowski and hugs and loves everyone just like her.
Two: There has been an offer out of the blue for us to use a car left here by a former missionary couple.
Three: A brother who works as a realtor and more, offered us a mansion to stay in for 5 weeks as we get our heads together. In compensation we will care and clean and repair and uhem use the beach to make sure all is well .
Four: The P>O> offered to house us if we need a place to stay.
Five; Cassandra the baby who hates change has been awesome and learning lessons every day. She has been nothing but supportive and trusting in Jehovah even when she is scared about the uncertain future.
Six: Tifka Rachel Haanpaa is the voice of wisdom. She has had to coral me several times and keep a bridal on my tongue. She keeps telling us that less is more and get rid of your Crap!
Now they all are off to pick up the couple from Arkansas and I am on my own doing the last little clean up of this room. Unfortunately there was a few left over's in the frig that needed to be used or tossed…including a little left over wine. So if this blog is a little tipsy my apologies.
Jamie…my dear friend we have been expecting this change in Lionel's work, no better excuse to visit than use the time from layoff to next job to visit us. If you make the decision we will help with the plans. Who knows if Jehovah needs you here too. Brothers willing to work are a treasure anywhere.
Tracey…I love you.
Stefka…you constantly are my favorite of the day.
And Karen and Dad…well Thank you for knowing what we needed at just the right time.
Well of course Marlene and Jerry you have been a consistent shoulder to lean on during all our adventures here
I have to go quick Kevin and the girls just drove up and I know they will want to edit this so I will quickly end this before they can.
To those of you not motioned ….you are in my heart and mind forever…!
Love Katalena
Well…here we go again. The Haanpää’s are on the move!
Things here at the Hotel have spiraled down progressively to the point that we must leave –now! or jeopardize our spirituality. We have been seriously considering going to Limon and the Caribbean to serve there- but interestingly we have been meeting some resistance finding a place to live there. So yesterday we came to the decision that we were leaving the Hotel anyway and would trust in Jehovah that we would find something in time or possibly be ready to leave the country if not.
So, I made arrangements to work in the ministry with Lindsay Dawes, the awesome brother from Australia who sadly is leaving in a few short weeks. He met us up at the Hotel and we worked the territory up here in the mountains and had a wonderful time! During the course of the day he tells me of a brother up in the English congregation in Tamarindo that he knows well that needs someone to housesit a place right on the beach. Rent free. For a month and a half. Wow. We now it is short term- but we will have time to check the area out for work and other rental possibilities and see if we can survive there.
Tamarindo is an area of great need in English. Up until very, very recently it has functioned as a congregation with only 2 Ministerial Servants. Just in the last month or so it has now 2 Elders I believe.
So, I called the brother up there and it looks like we will me moving to Tamarindo sometime next week –likely Tuesday or Wednesday. We were invited with the Dawes to go to Limon again with them as he is giving the talk there this week. The girls are going to stay in Belen and housesit the Dawes place while we are gone.
We will try and keep everyone in the loop – but I am not sure what my Internet access will be right away. We are leaving the Hotel on Friday.
Please keep us in your prayers so that we can do Jehovah’s will and serve here in Costa Rica as long as possible- of course it that be his will!
How’s everyone doing in the Special Tract work?
We are having a great time here – very pleased that with Jehovah’s help we have been able to really participate and be involved like we have wanted to do here since we came. It really is the only satisfying work to do.
Until next time…
Kevin
Hi guys… it feels like a long time since I wrote! I don't have anything earth shattering to say just a conglomerate of stuff. Tiff doesn't like my morning song routine “Time to get up Time to get up and make your bed and fold it away, and hurry up in the shower, and run down to the laundry for me….” Just once I am going to surprise her and let her sleep in till…7 am. (smile) They pretty much camp out on the floor of the Little office and this is the first area all the workers go to no matter what hour, evening or morning, so they do get interrupted sleep for sure. Then there is the friendly wrestle for the coffee in the morning, even Cassie is part of it now. Usually Kevin wins with a huge sumo wrestler squishing of the children, and a dragon breath bellows, the girls usually surrender the first pot and make the second for themselves.
We have some Government officials coming to the Hotel today to dedicate the street they just paved (ours) and it is going to be named after our hotel, so allot of pomp and circumstance and champagne. I guess they are the equivalent of the senate in usa. I have the reception clean and bleached the front walk and Cassandra set up the bible display with the tract ready for any of them to access. Lets hope we have a good story to tell after of these hard to reach people getting a chance at the good news.
Tiff and Cass have been roped into service as waitresses for the event the owner wants to show off the American workers to the officials. Plus they are kind of cute and definitely competent.
Kevin has a 8 am meeting with a guy from New York who is interested in buying the Hotel. He is the second one in 2 months. I guess because we work behind the scenes we see all the errors of the place but on the outside looking in it really is a lovely Hotel. I would love to see it sell.
We are investigating moving to Puerto Limon. They have a greater need than here. For all of us. So know we are asking for Jehovah's direction in housing, employment, and support of the congregation. This is just the beginning part of the idea so we will see where it takes us…as you all know things move quickly in my life so I am sorting and organizing already. I would love to leave this hotel in proper order before we make any changes, but our authority is limited as well as our resources. That is quite frustrating at times. We have holes in our towels and torn bedspreads that need replacing, but the owner prefers to sink his money into a continuous building project of a tree house. Oh well, its his hotel.
We get to have a life tomorrow it is Saturday our day off and Service day…Yahoo! it is easier for me to get in service here as it is the happy place I get to go to escape this silly Hotel.
All of you please remember I love you. And I quite often read your notes over and over again, like dear paper letters one holds on to for years and years. Some of my responses are direct emails or on the comment area of this blog… Thank you very much..
Katalena
Here is a link to some of our pictures from Puerto Limon and Cahuita.
As always, keep the comments coming – we love them!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=ubb74vu.t0n8iy2&x=0&h=1&y=-r3apir&localeid=en_US
We have just returned from the Caribbean coast!
Saturday, we got ride to San Jose to get on the bus and head over to Limon. We were able to stay with a brother and his wife that live there in one of their bedrooms. Then on Sunday we visited the congregation. If you review the account of Costa Rica in the 1987 Yearbook you will learn that the Truth came to Costa Rica at first in English! Very interesting!. Well, there are some in the Limon congregation that are related or remember serving with some of those first Christians here! There was an English congregation for many years in Limon and then something happened and it began to die off until about 30 or so years ago it was dissolved. The friends then had to learn Spanish and start attending the Spanish congregations. You have to understand that English is many of these friends mother tongue- so they waited patiently on Jehovah until just recently-About April- the English congregation was once again formed. How happy they are!
So, we had a beautiful time in Limon-but our trip was not over. We had heard of a great need to preach to the English in a small town about 46KM South called Cahuita. There are two Sisters there that for the last 6 months or so have been opening up the preaching work there. So, we went down there to help out and preach with the Special Brochure.
Wow! These Sisters have been busy! They have over 50 RV’s in this little town in just that short time. There really is great need here and apparently South of here too in Puerto Viejo. There are alot of native English speaking people in these areas and in reality only these two sisters preaching to them at the moment-so, we will see what the future holds for the Haanpää’s.
A sister from the Spanish congregation in Cahuita and her husband who speaks English and is studying let us stay in one of their houses for very little cost. Actually, they would have let us stay for free-so we just made a small donation to help defray any costs we incurred them.
So, anyway we had a wonderful time in the ministry and we have a few pictures to show you that I will put up on the website. There is so much to talk about-like the Cahuita National Park. The girls and I walked for about 9KM through the jungle next to the Caribbean sea. We saw all sorts of Monkeys, Sloths, cool insects, Blue Crabs, Lizards, and much, much more! It was awesome!
I am sure Kathleen will have much more to say about it so I will not go on and on here – so… until next chapter…
We placed 24 Bibles and 24 Tracts! no Kidding! Just our family and one little Spanish Brother in 4 hours! Kevin and I have 2 good calls from it. But I have to confess, the bibles and most of the tracts are now part of the Hotel. We got permission to place a Bible in each room here for the clients to use…many of them claim to be Christian and are here as missionaries and believe it or not not once have I seen them crack open a bible. Usually have their own manuals and things of business to consider. The reception has 10 each of the new Truth or Verdad tract. And one Bible of each language. we hope this starts many a conversation and interest. The door to door was fruitful too. We talked to 5 English people right on or off our street. within walking distance. all were friendly and took the tract we hope to call back and start a study as recommended.
Any reports of your activities this next 2 weeks we would love to hear! Campaigns always have a happy ending.
Love you too much…
Katalena
Hey guys! Kevin covered for the girls and I. He worked at the hotel alone so we could be free to take the bus to Heredia to help the La Aurora congregation build their new kingdom hall. Want to hear some specifics? …They already have 3 congregations assigned to this hall. All in Spanish. They average 80 publishers in each. Not including the bible studies. The sweet brother was explaining that many families have 5 or more members and to take the bus 2 or 3 times a week for all is very expensive and many times they forgo going to the meeting because they don't have enough money to get there. bus fare is equal to 1.70 in dollars. but multiply that by the amount of kids, and the average working wage is 1.60 an hour. Because of Jehovah providing this hall many will be able to walk to it and not have to buy bus fare. most live within 2 miles and some of the very fortunate ones are across the street. The building is as big as some of our 2 car garages. made of cement bricks covered with that cement stuff they use with trowels…not stucco but the other stuff. Sorry but the name fails me. The girls and I had a girl boss who was awesome. We were assigned the scraping of the metal window frames getting the cement wall stuff off. It took us all day to do 3 windows with spatulas and then clean then paint. (Orange) we also climbed ladders to scrape the dried cement with another piece of cement to smooth it. Our arms were ready to fall off, and the rickety ladders made us fear falling but we did it. In the rain and In the mud 4 inches deep. We didn't have rubber boots so our tennis shoes were full of thick brown mud, slippery and a mess. They offered a simple lovely lunch. Sea food soup and rice. The soup had every type of meet possible, we didn't ask, and was very thin broth but everyone got a scoop with meat and scoop of broth. with the rice it was very filling. and tasty. The sisters were very happy to serve but we were nervous taking too much, so that there would be enough for all. We were a little shameless at 2 we were tired and worn out from going up and down ladders a hundred times slipping in mud, that we went to the kitchen area and asked for coffee they were sympathetic and gave us some. we forgot the tradition here is coffee at 3 so when all broke for coffee we followed in for the second cup..the sisters didn't look to happy with us. Oh well. Rude Norte Americana's. We are still learning that one cup is sufficient for Costa Ricans, so Haanpaa’s need discernment.
we had a meeting with the attorney yesterday she is trying to help us get the girls legal here. We will keep you posted.
Thank you fro leaving comments or emails. Trish Fretz keep trying to figure out the blog comment you have succeeded at much harder things. Hope your training at taxes goes well, our hearts are with you especially. Don't let any one bully you! except me of course.
Love to all
Katalena
We had the most lovely assembly. “Keep Conquering the Evil with the Good” Romans 12:21 I wont give anything away only that the local needs was very special and specific for the foreign field here in Costa Rica. There was good advice given about only inviting spiritually healthy friends to come and serve, that this enables the Elders to focus on the ministry and the congregation. That might sound a little tough. But of course Sean Scribner was more loving and tactful than me. Makes sense too. These people need help. People who are ready to put away their own problems and start helping with the locals. It was like a big pioneer meeting. Almost 400 people. Mostly 30’s and 40’s and only 2 babies that I could find. All was quite during the session, and the songs were song loud and with gusto. Many are “need greater” ( Kev and I never have liked that name, but cant think of a better one) Many are having the privilege of working the same as a missionary in a foreign land with out going to Gilead. This is great with Parents or old people like Kev and me. The loving brothers addressed the difficulty there is in providing for one self and your immediate family. Difficulty in territories, the maps and census, transportation, and for many of our long time brothers in Limon, poor health. Did talk to the D>O>’s wife, sister Taylor and she told us of a regular pioneer couple who were working in Nicaragua who are now assigned to Costa Rica as ….Missionaries, with out going to Gilead! Wow! They have necessary exceptions here as they have exceptional needs. so many of the brothers are doing several jobs at one time. And not always the ones they would have picked. Many of the English here are sacrificing their love of Spanish and serving where the need is great here in English. But they don't pout or complain, Jehovah Love them.
So how are Cass and Tiff? Precious and Adorable. There was a little pressure to make a decision on where they were going to serve, basically from any who met them, it really is the focus for all visitors, so that they can be stolen and set into your own personal Kingdom Hall.
Early this am Cassie showed up at my door step ready for work. (6:30) she is next to me at the kitchen table desk doing her own mini blog …but she does it fancy using email with hundreds of addresses attached. Don't know how it is done, but solicit her if you want one of her blogs, I think they are funny.
Tiff and Dad are sleeping off a night of Guard duty for the Hotel. The owner had to go to San Francisco, and all problems broke loose while he was gone. The employees are not happy about not receiving due pay or due hours. Remember he is not bound by the same rules as we are. We think in retaliation the Guard let loose the Bravo Perros and allowed them to kill 5 of our goats 2 adults and 3 babies. Not only that but the daughters pet rabbits were taken out of their cages and were killed as well. We have done our own investigation and believe that they have been stolen, and used by the employees. we will be having a reopening of the supposed grave that the employees quickly buried the animals with out telling us. Very underhanded, you have to be here to understand. Our boss is in around 10 am today so if he is not too tired, we will let him deal with any firing or disciplinary action.
This Hotel business is wearing thin. Kevin the girls and I are praying and looking for other means of income. We are also now finding red tape slowing down the process of residency and work permit. Always needing something else and then differently, or notarized or certified, it is a bother. some how when you are sponsored by a business like us, you can not change sponsors. You have to start from the beginning all over again. Pray our brains follow Jehovah's direction in this.
Tracy, Did you or Jeramias have a part on the Assembly? let me know what it was!
Jamie – thank you for doing what we were just told to do in pioneer meeting before assembly…invite our brothers and sisters out in service with us and follow thru! especially those who may be fighting inactivity or discouragement! You are a Lovely Pioneer and an awesome human!
Love you all, I will get Kevin to put some pictures up.
Katalena
P.S. write me!
I thought I would show you a couple of pictures of the “Chicken Buses” like we rode from Managua to Granada. The whole experience is so surreal that you feel like its all normal life –which of course it is for the people of this land. In all reality it was not bad – reminds you of riding to school. Well, it should as that is exactly what they are –old worn out US school buses that have been imported and “customized” to suit somebody –they are all unique in their own way.
To start off you have to identify which bus you actually want as to where it is going-that can be a real challenge as ALL the buses slow down at the stop when they see “norteamericanos” standing there. Once you get on the right bus – you just go find a seat –for us we picked a good time as there were not too many riders-and no animals this time either! They don’t call them chicken buses for nothing you know!
Then a guy comes down the aisle collecting the fair – we were worried because Cassandra was lacking enough for what we were told the fair was by a couple of Córdoba's. It did not matter it seemed in the end. If you handed him a few coins – he went on to the next passenger – if you asked – like the people behind me – they got charged 14 Córdoba's – we all paid 12 and Cassandra only paid 11. We could have given less. It is a mas o menos affair like a lot of things here.
Well, Kathleen will probably still log her own version of the trip so stay tuned…. We’ll probably give and update or two after we enjoy our first Circuit Assembly here in Costa Rica! Woo Hoo! Until then….
Grandma asked for close ups here you go…! There is so much to tell you but I cant get it all on paper. I am happy the girls are here, I have a sense of peace knowing they are in arms length. We cant believe it has only been 3 months since seeing each other. seems allot longer and that they have lived allot of life in that time. Is it possible that they are no longer my babies but grown women? I didn't cry when they came on the plane, instead I was laughing and joyous. Kevin and I have had tears in the past and now we only can be happy. Weather or not they stay is not important, I just needed to see them, the separation business is something better when done gradually. Cassie is determined to go back in January, (Tifka Rachel is still making up her mind) they have been encouraged by the Bethel friends in Nicaragua branch and from the local Spanish congregation to stay and work hard for Jehovah. They haven't had a chance to get to our English meeting yet it is tonight where Kevin and I are sure they will be approached by the Arabic brother, and all the English learners to help out. They are staying in one of our cabañas here and Tiff- Rachel is already cooking like a camp out queen for us. She went and robed the weird banana trees and is boiling them as I write, she also pulled of a leaf of a cactus and swears it is edible, but I am going to ask the chef before I eat it. Cassandra is on computer duty for Dad, doing a U tube promotion for the hotel. So they are already helping out. Oh I took them down to the airport and the Cafe Brit and they handed out flyers to the taxi drivers and personnel giving discounts and thank goodness they speak Spanish so well, jumped in with both feet.
Service plans are delayed till next week after the assembly so they will have even more fun then. This is just the mundane stuff.
Abel, Vivian, Trish, and Ernspikers…thanks for giving my girls back!
Will right more again, but with the girls here I am not so lonely and I am in their faces constantly, when the newness wares off then I will be back!
Love you all way too much1
Katalena, Kathleen
The girls finally made it! Their travel adventure was not quite complete however.
Just hours after arriving – we all boarded the Tica Bus headed for Nicaragua. Little did we realize what lay ahead. To be fair –the Tica Bus was not that bad. It was relatively comfortable with reclining seats and air-conditioning. They also movies playing – unfortunately, the movies they were playing were not very nice movies and it was very difficult not to watch because of how the TV was situated.
After 9 long hours – we made it to our destination. Managua! It so happened that Tica Bus operates a Hostel style Hotel so we were able to stay there and the price was not too bad. However, we were very hungry by almost 10PM when we arrived. Managua is not a city you go wandering around in at night. Especially if you do not know where you are going. We were left with little option but to get a taxi to find dinner. The taxi driver was a very nice fellow and drove us all around looking for an open restaurant – we finally found a Pizza place open and got our order to go.
Very quickly we discovered why there were so many guys at the border exchanging currencies – in Nicaragua you cannot use Costa Rican Colon's! Even though about 1,000,000 Nicaraguans have fled their country to Costa Rica – they despise the money in Costa Rica. So, we did have some US Dollars the girls brought with them so we survived until the following day and we could use an ATM.
The next day we had to use the taxi again to find the Bethel in Managua. The bus system in Nicaragua is not nearly as efficient as Costa Rica – getting around was an expensive prospect for US tourists. We did get to the branch though – and we had a lovely tour. What a beautiful thing to see Jehovah's people in action and the beautiful branch that was dedicated just recently in 2004. Nicaragua is a country still in somewhat of turmoil it seems and so the friends their have had to endure some difficulties in the not to distant past. The last 5-10 years have been better and they have seen tremendous growth in the field.
That afternoon we found out where the “Chicken Buses” ran to go to Granada from a brother at the branch and we decided to walk instead of get a taxi – save a few Córdoba's. That was a long walk in our dress clothes in the heat and humidity! WoW! But we made it. We took the Chicken Bus to Granada –about a 30-40 minute ride –not too bad.
Upon arrival in Granada – we were faced once again with the dilemma of where to go –on foot or taxi! We found a nice fellow at a mechanic shop that told us of a Hostel not too far away and we walked there. The price was not too bad and it was about as nice as we expected to find for our price range. We settled in the room dropping our stuff off and decided to walk down to the center of the city to eat. This was the part that was most difficult. All the way there – and everywhere we went we encountered mostly empty streets with a few families just sitting in their doorways. In the park were a lot of people selling things – and lots and lots of poor people. Destitute poor –everywhere. Begging –hanging on you begging for a hand-out. They were all very sad – one would like to help – but you cannot. There are too many – this is a country in desperate need of the New World. Most of the people have nothing – and little prospect of ever having anything. The city of Granada itself is interesting from an historical and architectural standpoint. It is the oldest city in All of the Americas – being founded in 1522. The architecture is a mix of Old Spanish and gothic. You can see in certain sections of the city, especially down by Lake Nicaragua where they had started to restore certain aspects – but the restoration itself seems to have failed long ago.
I am going to leave off this part of the blog for now – Kathleen will likely have her version which will probably be more entertaining too!
I did post some pictures though over at the website under the Nicaragua link.
Oh my goodness it has taken so long to get to this point! I know it should go fast now that it is less than a week before I can hold both my girls in my arms at the same time! I don’t know about this Kevin guy he is on his own when the girls step off the plane, cause I’m not in the mood to share! They will be in around 12:00 noon our time so I plan on having the room nice and tidy, food waiting, and my hair done! I might even put on some make up so Tifka doesn't send me to the M institute!
We will be taking more pictures once the girls get here. I am going to be deaf to their protests because I listened before and regret not having current pictures of them.
Kevin conducted his first bookstudy here, last Tuesday night. The brother who normally does it has been a brother of many hats. Bethel Lawyer, head of the legal department, something in the RBC, secretary of our English congregation, spear heading the Arabic in this country. And much more but I don’t know all the titles. The guy is the one you go to for anything. One of those sweet brothers who is everyone's first pick for telling problems too etc. So Kevin is doing the bookstudy to give him more time for the other jobs, and also the secretary job too. But all were a little melancholy at the change as this brother did a lovely job. Kevin was aware that the changes would be a little hard for our bookstudy group so he went to the store and got 2 store bought cakes for goodies, and was very mild and gentle in his questions..(no festival of booth questions thank goodness!) by the end all were participating and enjoying the study. but what happened after the meeting well….was priceless. I never have a camera when I need it.
One of the native sisters who is a few years older than us offered in service one day for her and her husband to teach Kevin and I how to dance Costa Rica style! Well they put the music on and watched us with cautious eyes and started the first steps for us…we were doing the salsa at bookstudy! Yahoo! There were maybe 6 of us dancing and the Cutie girls sat on the couch and made fun of us and I loved it. Kevin had his monster boots on so couldn't slide around properly so he just stomped and I tried to lift my ___lbs body like my chiquita sister who jumped around like a grasshopper and my feet would not cooperate and move so fast but it was fun to try..I think I will put my own twist on their steps reducing them by half. anyhow what a fun and happy thing! Not inappropriate at all !
Remember you really want to come visit us before the end of this system of things!
Jamie Wilson…Why have I been thinking of you lately? Must be time for you to check in so I don’t worry about you. Remember my email, and do a detailed report including uhem gossip…
Love you all
Katalena
We thought you may be interested in some of the methods we are trying to use to expand the preaching activity here in our little part of the world.
We have been trying to be more creative in our approach and trying to use to the full the opportunity that has been presented to us here at the Hotel as well. We have been able to have some very good conversations with different clients of the Hotel. Two particular guests we took on a tour of Volcan Poas and we were able to have lovey conversations with them throughout the day – in fact we basically started a study with them –especially Kathleen was able to have a wonderful time with the wife. It was a day we decided not to go out in the ministry on Saturday to help out – and Jehovah helped us anyway to find a way to do the work we are really here to do anyway! WOW!
Being in the Full-Time work here is a definite challenge to be sure –no car, different land, totally different territory. But, that’s part of the fun of it right? So, we have been able to do Bus witnessing, street witnessing, bus stop witnessing, Hotel witnessing, and of course –door to door some times.
Here for your viewing pleasure is a magazine display we have keep up in the lobby of the Hotel. We try to maintain English, Spanish, and Arabic. Yes, we have had a lot of interest lately in some thumbing through the Arabic!
Enjoy! 
I am finally getting around to posting just a couple of pictures of the volcano that we went to see a few weeks back.
Behold Volcan Poas!
So, you get some idea of the volcano –but of course nothing can compare to being there and taking it all in – in person! Truly awe inspiring. According to reports inside the visitors center, the volcano has erupted several times since it came back to life in the 40’s. It’s most recent eruption was in 2006. Apparently these are not really big eruptions that cause damage –mainly lots of steam and ash and minor earth tremors. Where we are is right to the side and below this volcano and to the other side and slightly above us is Volcan Barva. We have only gone to the gate of that park so far. We have not seen it yet.
Maybe we will save that for when someone wants to come down here and visit?
Our next adventure will probably be our trip to Nicaragua. That will be the second week of October. Even though we are legal to work, the process has not gotten quite far enough that we do not have to leave the country after 3 months. So –our 3 months is coming up. Wow! Time sure has flown. It seems at times that we have lived and experienced so many new things here that it has been almost years already. Time is funny that way.
Our plan is to go to Grenada and Lake Nicaragua riding the bus from San Jose, CR to there. Once we are there we are going to find an inexpensive hotel to stay in for 3 or 4 days since we have to be gone for a minimum of 72 hours. While we are there we will likely get to experience the “Chicken Buses”. We will tell you all about it later.
So… until the next folks… be good to one and all and don’t forget to eat all of your vegetables.
After calling a hundred times and waiting impatiently we now have Internet! We are now able to use our computer in our room and at the office here. so you might be getting more personal emails. I don’t know why you all are so shy about making notes on this bloggy thing, I hope mine don’t come back to haunt me later! Claudia Harris I love you, my friend! thank you for the email… and update. wish you were here to see the growth in sign language it is just taking off. we have no competition with the churches here or really any other organized group so they are just thirsting for knowledge and attention. I am sitting at our kitchen table /desk looking out my large picture window with it open and the door open watching the fog clouds come in. The 3 palm trees planted in front of my room are gently swaying, the breezy time of day like in Genesis. it is cooler now and I am thankful, it was a little hot and sticky, usually lasts for 2 hours from 12 to 2 then starts to cool down.
we are very busy at the hotel this week as it is their forth of July. moving beds ,making beds from scratch ,rearranging furniture…you would think I am in my own personal heaven. Kevin is doing more and more managerial things with the reception and sales, it is taking much patience on his part because many want to buck this new organized way of running a hotel, would rather stay casual laid back and puravida. So he is having success, but it takes time and patience.
I tried my first bible study today, and …..she wasn’t there. Oh well, that is just like anywhere. I will try again Sunday am before meeting and hopefully she will be there. I really want a bible study! I will keep praying for this.
well gotta go Kevin is yelling for help with translation…isnt that a hoot!
love ya
Katalena
Rock on!
Thank you Abel and Vivian for opening your home and giving our girls pool privileges.
Trish, thanks for all of your help in getting our girls down to Atlanta!
We love you all!
Kevin y Katelena
well if that doesn't get your attention it sure got ours.
Interesting some of the things you deal with on hotel property. Our architect guy is a crazy guy and got out of control on Friday morning. After a night of “boracho” drinking he hit the property totally smashed. The workers start at 6 am prompt and by 7 they were worried about where he was, I hit the restaurant around 7:30 am and I asked why they were not wording on our new tree house? What a shock I got when they told me that the guy just had come out of the bushes bare naked in a delirium not knowing where he was. They walked him back to his room and quickly shut the door. But by that time at least 20 people had to see this disgusting thing. I was so mad because we have made a business relationship with this guy that I borrowed one of the carpenters hammers and went marching up to his room and used it to pound on his door to wake him up. (they are sturdy wood doors). I told the workers I was gong to use it on his head! All the residents had to vacate the hotel as there was a wedding and we needed all the rooms for their family, so getting him out of his room was an all day process. I have keys to all the rooms just didn’t have the courage to open his door , no idea what I would find. In the afternoon got his attention and yelled thru the door come to the door dressed I need to talk to you. Well I fired at him in Katalena style, and he was mortified because he really didn’t remember doing that, I told him I have 20 witnesses to the fact. So now I am thinking how to be a help to this guy and not just a nag. I am doing research now on alcoholism any advice would be appreciated. I have found many scriptures for him, but need to have a bit of tact now.
We went to another Hotel the Catalina just up the street. It was helpful to see the competition..and how they do things different. It was nice to get away from the hotel for a while. Kevin is re reading his talk for today, we are sitting in McDonalds near the kingdom hall. They have free Internet and the best fried chicken! Better than Kentucky fried or Popeye's. Wow. We invited our little brother Alan from the Spanish congregation to go in service with us today, he was so sweet he had his presentation all prepared and written and we practiced together in the car on the way. I so appreciate the friends trying this foreign language and realize just how much help we received in our congregation in Spanish. That one on one is priceless.
So Hope you all are doing great and read this blog with a sense of humor!
(Marlene I haven't forgot your request for the picture of the display table but each time I look at it it looks dumb so I keep rearranging it…I will try the next blog to get Kevin to put it in)
And Guess What ….The girls are coming to visit us! They got our of their lease and are coming down here early as of October 1st. Their job at Nelson was only giving them one day a week and you cannot pay rent utilities and gas let alone food on that. So they are Selling the furniture cheep if you are interested, give them a call. This is how they are buying their tickets here. We will worry about the tickets back later. The longer they stay here , I hope they decide to stay!. But no pressure mind you! They are leaving a few things with Abel and Vivian… You know them our other family left behind in Kentucky. Little by little I hope they too will have the circumstances to be here with me. I miss them too. So who else do I miss…hmm by name … ok here I go being sentimental…All of my favorites..that includes you.
your silly friend or family member Katalena
PS… The girls need a ride to Atlanta Georgia, for the airport ....one way there. They are not old enough to rent a car (too expensive too) but will pay for the gas down there...let them know if you can do this...
much love and appreciation
Hello All! Thanks for the email and input on the blog. On Monday we went to the attorneys office with the owner of the hotel and the architect and started the proceedings for legality in Costa Rica. The Lawyer was a woman and was so sweet and funny. We all had a hard time keeping our eyes on hers as she recently had breast implants and basically left nothing to the imagination. (Smile) She knows her business with the law for Costa Rica and united states and is a friend of the owner so she is working hard and fast for us. We let one of our elders know that we are obeying the law and showed him the receipt for deposit (30.00) a person that goes to immigration. We now use this as documentation that we are in process! What a relief.
It was goody night at the book study on Tuesday night cause we had the service overseer come visit. It was one of the most quality programs I have ever heard. The brother looks 10 years old but he presented the information for Regular Pioneering and extending yourself in service so beautifully. He let us know it was a branch outline that was provided just for that purpose! Wow! So we accidentally picked up some fresh bread around the corner from the sisters house so we had something to offer. No one can get a hold of us these days even in Costa Rica! Sorry guys but everything is still taking forever.
Now we have to get out of this little Internet cafe and go back to the Hotel and back to work.
Love you all , Katalena
We did allot this week went to Cafe Brit for a tour that was awesome and I recommend it highly and then we also used the quads big motorcycles with four wheels and went almost to the top of volcano barva we were in the clouds it was awesome and I had my own motorcycle! ya hoo! But today we went in service and started our time in the restaurant with a lovely couple from Florida who asked us to briefly explain how we as J>W’s are different than Catholics….. briefly? wow did a genesis to Revelation in 5 minutes and they loved it …and then got to talk to a woman from San Diego and she accepted the literature , but reaffirmed that she was not going to be converted… no problem just a start of a friend ship.
and now I am typing like a fiend without spell checking cause it is raining and the coffee shop we are at is closing and waiting for us to finish…but wanted you to know we are alive and well, and not any skinnier, but love you all very much and keep the emails coming as we get to read one or two before it goes down.
adios katalena
Well… it finally happened – a disgruntled, former employee in the restaurant at the hotel as she was leaving said she was going to call immigration and have everyone one at the hotel deported or thrown in jail. That included the owner of the place –Alex too! She made good on that threat and low and behold Kathleen and I were having lunch in the restaurant Friday and these two guys come driving up. They come in and come right up to us and ask for Kathleen by name –she was almost going to ask him if he was there for a job- Ha Ha – I am glad she did not do that! Anyway he has his slick little patented move of flashing his badge and told us to come with him to show him our passports. So on our way to our room we find the owner and the tree house architect – the immigration guy wanted to see everyone’s passport. His first big surprise was that the owner is in fact a Costa Rican citizen. Then he wanted to know all about what we were doing and working and on, and on. Very nerve racking – I can tell you! To the best of our knowledge and checking we were convinced that what we are doing is completely legal. And after Alex got grilled for about 15 minutes – he was telling him what we were doing here and the immigration guy was satisfied that what we are doing was OK – but it sure makes you feel like a criminal anyway – it almost ruined our whole day! After though we still felt a bit uneasy about certain aspects of our arrangement. So, today we had a chat with Alex again and we are now in the process of meeting with this guru Lawyer in this country who knows all the ins and outs of what we need to do so that we do not need to worry about those immigration guys anymore – and we would not have to leave every 3 months too. So we will be working on that this week.
News and weather at 6:00 for all that are interested (J and T)
You just got the news. Here is the weather.
This time of year here at the Hotel, which is up the mountain about 20 Kilometers from Volcan Poas, the weather stays in the 70’s almost every day. Yes it is very humid most of the time. In the evenings it may drop into the mid 60’s. It rains almost every day too. Normally around 2 or 3 in the afternoon – but it may come a bit earlier or later. A few days it has rained all day with wind.
It is considerably different however on the coast. While we were there it was sunny most of the time and very warm, in the 90’s and very humid. Actually, it was quite strange to see the evening fog roll in and yet it was still very warm. We are so used to the Pacific coast of the States that it is always cold and chilly when the fog rolled in. This time of year you learn to bring your umbrella EVERY WHERE you go. Because when it rains – it RAINS! You will be saturated in mere moments without an umbrella.
One other thing. If anyone is interested and can get a little group together- it is very possible we can get you an excellent deal on awesome Cost Rica coffee from Cafe Britt. It is what we drink here at the Hotel and I love it. They have all kinds of different types as well. Here is the deal.
If you order 20 items from them they will include shipping to the States for $99.00. If you order 20 bags of coffee which are 12oz. each that is 15lbs of coffee! At that price it is about $6.60 a pound – a very good price. But if anyone is truly interested I will find out if we can get it for even less –since the Hotel does a lot of business with them and we will likely get and even better deal. So if interested, Just let me know and I will try to get the discounted rate.
Until the next chapter…
The Internet stayed up long enough and I finally took the time to organize some more pictures. So, now you can go over to the website www.palan.net and look at the pictures.
I just wanted to add this note too. I think some may have gotten the impression that I was being very negative in the last post. I really was not trying to be overly negative. I was trying to paint a picture of reality here that is often not reported anyplace that I looked when researching coming here. It certainly is not meant to discourage anyone from coming. It’s just that I think it is better to be honest and upfront so you can look at things objectively.
In all reality it is a telling picture of what man has done to Jehovah’s beautiful creation. It helps us appreciate that even in this so called paradise – and in many ways it is – we need desperately God’s Kingdom to cure the ails even here. It may be the very reason that the English field is growing here. People move here thinking that it is their paradise. But they soon realize that problems still exist and their hearts are perhaps motivated like never before when they lived in their more affluent homeland.
We are very happy to hear some of the good reports from the old congregation. I know Brad did well with his responsibilities conducting and his outgoing talks and I know Jehovah will continue to bless and use him to the full if he lets him.
We do thank everyone that has left comments – We cannot express enough what it means to read them and feel connected still to people we know and love.
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of… Kevin and Kathleen in Costa Rica –the adventure continues!
We just got back from our little sojourn to the West Coast of Costa Rica. We went from Puntarenas to Jaco to Estrallido Este and down to Quepos in 3 days! I know it sounds like a lot of traveling but it was really not that bad. Things seem farther away than they really are here. Travel can sometimes be very slow because of the roads, traffic, etc. But distance is not that great. Less than one tank of fuel – so that gives you an idea that it is not too far to travel. Costa Rica is a land of many contrasts. On one hand you have the stunningly beautiful scenery – the rocky coast lines, the black sand beaches that stretch on and on, the warm ocean water that is a delight to swim in, the coastal mountains filled with jungles and beautiful creatures –like 4 Scarlet Macaws we saw flying above us! On the other hand you have the austere poverty that most of the locals live in. And the trash and filth and litter that they throw all over the place that shows their utter lack of pride and decency of where they live. Some parts of the coastline where we were is trying to lure the big money people here with elaborate and very ritzy developments – but like one that we drove down to – the road was unbelievably bad you could hardly drive it at all – to all of the trash and garbage all over the place – this country has a ways to go to clean up its act and put its best foot forward. It may never happen in this system. There does not seem to be a whole lot of interest in the locals to change any of that. There is a profound sense of laziness here among many of the locals. They do not want to work hard – or at all if they are not constantly watched and babysat. This unfortunately can effect even the friends. Some of those that we have hired here at the hotel have proved themselves less than hard workers. Many have not apparent pride in what they do either. It really is disappointing in many ways and could be discouraging if you let it get to you. I don’t know –maybe that is the case in most third world countries – it is just that what you read and hear about this place is that they claim not to be third world. Believe me, this is a third world country!
We certainly do not want to paint a dismal picture – we are having a great time. This place is awesome. Every time we walk down the road to our hotel room and see the million dollar view of the valley below– we are very thankful we are here and have this tremendous opportunity. Our congregation too is a joy. It is very encouraging and enjoyable to be with so many friends that have and are learning the English language so that they can help out where there is a greater need. English is a very big need in this country and it is growing all the time. It is not that they do not need Spanish too. They do – especially in other parts of the country. But overall- the need seems to be about the same as English in the USA. There is always a big need for pioneers, and brothers willing to work hard and help out. Part of our fun is relying on Jehovah to meet the new challenges living here brings on. Our jobs are great and provide us what we need for our means of maintenance – we are just having to learn to be more productive in other avenues of preaching – and be diligent. It is not easy not having your own source of transportation. No assignment will ever be perfect in this system. We will always have to find and keep finding the positive joys that we have just by being alive and able to serve Jehovah to the best of our abilities.
We got to visit the Kingdom Hall in Quepos where they have 3 Spanish congregations and 1 small English. There was a Sister their cleaning the hall from one of the Spanish congregation that we were able to meet and talk to. The English congregation has only 18 publishers –which I believe 14 or 16 are all Regular Pioneers. They just had their Pioneer School and almost all of them got to go again –so the congregation was effectively shut down. The Spanish congregation she is in has 125 publishers. The opportunity to return to Pioneer School occurs much sooner here as the time of service is based on this branch and the Pioneer’s here in Costa Rica. It looks very favorable that we may be able to go again next year as our time of service is very high for this country –(working on our 7th year). Very exciting prospect indeed!
I wanted to give everyone some addresses that can be used to mail things to us. As the local Postal Service here is extremely unreliable and riddled with theft and fraud – I have opted for using this service that guarantees their service –gets everything through customs, etc. The one address is for letter type mail. The other is for larger packages. Just be aware please that it does cost to us to use these addresses. They charge a minimum of 1/2 Kilo for $5. Not too bad. Even 2 kilos which is pretty heavy is only around $15.
Another option it to use DHL and have the item shipped to their Heredia/Belen, Costa Rica Service Center. I don’t really know which is cheaper – but I know DHL will cost you something and the other addresses get charged to me. So either way – there are options to consider at least.
Letters and documents:
Haanpaa Kevin
SJO-29999
P.O. Box 025331
Miami, FL 33102-5331
Packages:
Haanpaa Kevin
SJO-29999
7979 NW 21st ST.
Doral, FL 33122-1616
When you use either one of these they ship the item to Heredia where we can pick it up.
The most economical method of contact is still either Skype or Email. Our Skype name is kevin.haanpaa email is khaanpaa@palan.net
So for a brief address update this turned into a rather lengthy little blog – so until the next chapter…
These pictures were taken just below the hotel. They are upstream from the falls which you only get to see the top of here. By the way… that is someone’s idea of a bridge going across the river – it is a skinny little metal pole and a guy wire to hang on to.
There were too many people down below when we were there to get a better shot of the falls – but maybe next time. It is like another world though and it is just below –within a 2 minute walk of the hotel to this awesome jungle.
