I hope everyone enjoyed our team meeting last night at the Drake's. In case you zoned out for a minute or couldn't remember everything when your parents asked you what we talked about... maybe this will help.
What temperatures should we expect?
- Day = 70-80
- Night = 30-40
What will be our housing accommodations?
- We will be staying at 3 YWAM houses that are a part of the YWAM base in as suburb of San Jose called San Francisco. San Francisco is a district of central San José, in the southern neighborhoods. 22,000 people live in this highly developed zone of southern San José, usually known for families with low resources.
- All meals will be prepared by YWAM staff.
- We do the dishes.
- Everyone is required to bring one fitted sheet for the bed you will be sleeping on. You will also need to bring your own pillow and blanket or sleeping bag.
Who is providing our in-country transportation:
- YWAM will take care of this for us.
What kind of work projects will we be doing?
- there are several possibilities in the works and it is difficult to say exactly what needs will be most important when we arrive, however, here is a short list of the kinds of things we anticipate working on:
- home building
- home repair
- construction cleanup & assistance
- church repair and maintenance (painting)
- cleaning parks
- Special Olympics soccer day
Can we drink the water?
- Some may try to convince you that the tap water is “safe” because it is part of the municipal water system, however, experience has taught us otherwise. We will not be drinking the water from the taps in Costa Rica.
- Plan on buying a bottle of water at the airport once we land in
- We will be providing purified drinking water for the entire team during our stay in
- You will want to pack an empty water bottle or "sport bottle" in your bag that can be easily refilled throughout the day. (we will have a 5 gallon jug to dispense purified water while on location)
- We kicked around some guesses as to what the current exchange rate was for Costa Rican Colon. Click here to get today's rate.
Do they have toilet paper?
- Yes they do. But do not put toilet paper in the toilet. The plumbing is not designed to handle toilet paper so you must put toilet paper in the small garbage can next to the toilet.
- Also, no drinking from the "little drinking fountains" in the bathrooms. (they aren't drinking fountains!)
How much spending money do I need and what do I do with my valuables while I'm there?
- A general rule of thumb is to try to remember that you are on a mission trip. It's fine to want to bring a few things back but nobody should single-handedly try to revive the economy of Costa Rica. I'd suggest not bringing ton’s of money. This will help you resist the temptation to buy things on impulse. I don't want to tell people what the proper amount is so let me just leave you with this bit of advice that also happens to be the speed limit in Montana: Be reasonable and prudent.
- You are responsible for your money at all times. Don’t leave it laying around.
- We also recommend that you keep money in separate places, so that it can't all be lost at once.
- As with anytime you are traveling, you will want to wear a backpacks that cannot be easily accessed, and keep your wallet in your front pocket.
What if I need a band-aid?
- Kathi Meade and Robert Morgan will both be bringing team med kits filled with the basic medical necessities (including Imodium).
What are the basic things I'll need to bring?
- As our departure date approaches we will be providing you all with a more detailed checklist of what to bring, but for now here are a few essentials that we discussed:
- Passport
- Copy of Passport (for Mr. Neill to carry)
- Light leather gloves for working
- Clothing should be nothing special
- Light jacket or sweatshirt that can be easily removed as temperatures change.
- Shoes to work in (no working in sandals)
- Bible, pen, & notebook or journal
- Bedding
- 1 fitted sheet
- sleeping bag or blanket
What NOT to Bring?
- personal audio players (MP3 players)
- cell phones
- video games
- machetes
- necklaces
- bracelets
- firearms
- throwing stars
How much can my bags weigh?
- 50 lbs. is the NEW maximum weight limit for bags. Weigh them before you leave the house.
What are the carry-on requirements or restrictions?
- Space does not permit me to go into the detail necessary regarding what can and cannot be packed. The TSA has provided a detailed website specifically dedicated to this issue. Please take the time to click here and read the requirements.
- Click here for the current regulations regarding liquids.
- We recommend packing 2 changes of clothes in your carry on just in case you have a luggage "issue".
- At present we are planning on flying Continental. You can read their baggage requirements here.
- don’t allow anyone that you don't know carry your bags at any time.
How do I call home or send e-mails?
- There are a couple of ways that we are planning on keeping in contact while in Costa Rica. I plan to keep this site up and running and to make a daily post so that everyone will know what we are up to. We have not yet learned if the YWAM base has on site internet access. If not, I will try to hit an internet cafe and post from there.
- As for phone calls... Most homes do not have landline phones because of the popularity of cellular technology. However there are places (similar to an internet cafe) where phone calls can be made. You may want to purchase an international phone card before leaving. I've heard that AT&T is a convenient prepaid card to use. Check those out here.
No comments:
Post a Comment