New Addresses

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…