This will just be a fun little post about a new delicacy that we found in the Feria around here lately. In our Feria (fruit market) that we attend every Saturday, there are tons of fruits and veggies that you can buy, many that are familiar to Americans, but some are totally foreign. It's a fun place, especially if you're willing to try new things.
Our weekly Feria here in San Francisco de Dos Rios
An example of what you can find at the Feria each week.
This week, we got a bag of the newest, weirdest fruit to be in-season here in Costa Rica. The official name is a rambutan, but here they call them Mamón Chinos (literally means 'Chinese Suckers'.) These are some weird little fruits mainly because of how they look: they have the color and size of large ripe strawberries, but are covered in these weird looking hair like things with the texture of something offered by Nerf. On a scale of 1 to Weird, these are a 12!
Remember these toys? That's kinda what a Mamón Chino feels like.
Some of our selection from the Feria this week.
So, we decided to get half a kilo (about a pound), and show everyone how to eat them! The girls helped me with this experament. Zoe and I loved the Mamóns, while Sara and Caitlynn didn't really care for them (and Gabe was too young to try).
The girls with their Mamóns all ready to try.
The first thing you have to do is use your fingernail to crack open the Mamón, so that you can get to the fruit inside. (Thankfully, you don't have to eat the 'hairy' part, I'm not sure I could do that!)
The Mamóns all broken open with the fruit showing.
Once you have it cracked open, you can take the top off to see the fruit inside, which you can squeeze into your mouth. It has the texture of a peeled grape, with a very large seed inside. You suck on the fruit until you eat all the fruit off, then can spit the seed out. The fruit is somewhat sweet, kind of like a grape, though not as juicy. Overall, they're a lot of work to eat, but very good!
The seed with all of the fruit off of it... you wouldn't want to swallow that thing!
If you want to see more, you can watch the video below and see my assistant Zoe show you how to eat a Mamón. If you ever stumble across them in the markets back home, give them a try!
A few weeks ago, we had 'Spiritual Emphasis Week' here at the Spanish Language Institute. Every semester, they bring in a guest preacher, who shares at chapel during the week. However, instead of just having chapel on Tuesday and Thursday mornings like normal, chapel is every morning and afternoon during the week! Also, teachers are not allowed to give out homework during Spiritual Emphasis week, so it's supposed to be a time to step back from the Spanish (a little), and focus instead on the Lord (a LOT!). In theory, it's a time of rest... in practice, not always :) But, it's always blessing! This semester, I'm the worship leader for the institute's chapel time, so that meant there was a lot of preparation to do to get all the worship ready for each chapel time. However, it was a great blessing to gather every day and worship with the students at ILE.
We were blessed this trimester to have David Sitton come and be our speaker for Spiritual Emphasis week. David has been a missionary to Papau New Guinea, focusing on completely unreached tribes, many of them comprised of head-hunters and cannibals. Now, in addition to continuing trips to PNG, he founded and runs To Ever Tribe Missions, (www.toeverytribe.com) which focuses on sending missionaries to the unreached people-groups all around the world. He spent the week sharing about his experiences in missions, and encouraging us in the theme that 'Jesus is Worth It.' It's good to be reminded that, when we struggle with the language, when we miss home, when we are unsure about our finances coming in on time, and have countless other struggles, that Jesus is worth it! It's also challenging to be reminded that, when there are times of personal loss, when people reject our message, when we share Christ for a long time without seeing clear fruit, that Jesus is still worth it!
David Sitton (right) with our friend Scott from the Institute
We were also blessed to get to have David in our home on Friday night for dinner. We got to just talk to him about our mission to Mexico, and hear more from him about missions. To Every Tribe supports missionaries in Oaxaca, Mexico, sharing with unreached people groups just a 2 days' drive from the US border! We were also blessed to hear David's heart for Mexico, and to find out about ways that David might be able to help us as we prepare to get started in Mexico. It's so amazing how God brings the right people into our paths at the right time!
Gabe checking out someone else's yard
Patriotic girls at our school's 4th of July party
We also had a great surprise during our week of rest, because Sara's friend from the States, Michele, came for a surprise visit! I (Nick) had known for a few months that she was coming, and helped work out a lot of the details, but the entire idea for the trip was Michele's! I had to lie a little, and tell Sara that I had a men's meeting at the church to go to, then I went across town by bus to pick up Michele in a cab and bring her back home. I had told Sara that someone was going to be staying with us on Monday night, so she was expecting a guest, but she definitely wasn't expecting Michele! It was so great to see her reaction, and to get to spend time with Michele for a few days. Michele stayed with us, went to classes with Sara a few times, and we took her downtown one day to see a few sights and do a little shopping, but mainly we just enjoyed our time with her here. What an encouragement it was to Sara to have Michele here!
Walking through downtown San José with our friend Michele.
It was a very BUSY week (of rest), but we couldn't have been more blessed by it all. Now, as I'm writing this, we're down to only 40 days in Costa Rica before we come back to the States for a few months! Be in prayer for:
The end of our schooling here, that we'll learn as much as possible.
For Nick as he'll be taking a massive exam at the end of July called the ECHO exam. It consists of a 30 min oral examination (that must be passed at an 'advanced' level), followed by a 3 hour written exam (that must be passed at a 70 or higher). Nick really wants to pass this test, so keep that in your prayers.
Pray for us as we get ready to say goodbye to some amazing friends here in Costa Rica. The difficult truth is that, for many of these great friends that we've made, we may never see them again this side of heaven as we spread out around the globe to share Christ. Our goodbyes will be very hard (some of them already have been), but we rejoice in the time that we've had with everyone here.
Pray for us as we are still seeking more churches to share at when we're back in the USA from August to November. We are hoping to share about our mission at many new churches, and raise a little more support, but the doors haven't been opening well so far. Keep this in your prayers, please!
Thank you for your love and prayers, and for remembering us!
Zoe having one last play date with one of her best friends here, Bethany, before their family leaves for Mexico City this weekend.
One last time being silly before having to say goodbye.
