McCanns in Honduras

Vacation to Punta Uva

smccann24 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:34:19 +0000

Above: Lucy and Sean on the small stretch of beach between the Caribbean ocean and the jungle.

This weekend we went on a trip with other missionaries at our language school to a beach on the Caribbean coast, Punta Uva. Punta Uva is a small beach town on the northern coast of Costa Rica, near the Panama border (to the west). The school set up the trip and the bus travel (6 hours each way) and we had a great time on a much needed break.

Lucy especially loved the water. It took her a little while to get used to the ocean, but soon she was swimming and squealing with joy. She also enjoyed the pool and the bathtub, only her second “real” bath since we’ve moved here.

Although the beach was small, and the water was filled with coral, we had a great swimming spot. We also got to do some snorkeling, played on the beach, and enjoy some fun time with friends.

All in all a great trip, and a beautiful place for Lucy to have her first ocean swim.

Language School Update

smccann24 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:36:49 +0000

Above: Lucy enjoying some TCBY at the July 4th party.

(The picture has nothing to do with the post, just a fun picture.)

Amazingly, we have already passed the halfway point of our first full trimester here at the Spanish Language Institute. Though at times it feels like we still don’t know a word of Spanish, when we look at where we were when we started, we see how far we’ve come.

Here is a glimpse at some of the things we’ve studied.

Language Class: Vocabulary of jobs, clothes, animals, weather, seasons, food, transportation, outdoor recreation, the classroom, the house, numbers, the family, and the body parts.

Phonetics Class: Alphabet, inflections, unions, vowels, consonants, combinations, accents, diphthongs, lines, and syllables (all to help our horrible gringo accents).

Grammar Class: Nouns, articles, adjectives, present indicative tense, different “to be” verbs, paraphrases, direct and indirect objects, reflexive verbs, intransitive verbs, preterite perfect (one past tense), preterite imperfect (the other past tense), and the different uses between the two past tenses.

It is amazing that though that list is as long as it is, we still speak Spanish like young children. Learning a language is both humbling and encouraging, and we need both of those things!

Spanish Phrase: Sin Agua

smccann24 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:23:06 +0000

Translation: Without Water (seen ag-wa)

Every once in a while, about ever few weeks or so, we loose water in our home. It is not a big deal, it only goes off for a few hours, and usually by the time we go to bed, the water has been turned back on.

We thought this was the case Thursday morning when the water shut off around 9 AM, so we didn’t think anything of it. Unfortunately, is was a big deal, as we still have yet to have water restored, at 6 o’clock Sunday night.

Some guy with a backhoe was working outside Thursday morning when he struck a water line and cut off water for over 400,000 homes in San Jose for over three days.

We’ve been all over looking for water, putting out buckets for rain, and even joining 50 other Tico’s chasing down a water truck, as you can see in the above picture.

Today around 12 a water truck parked on our street (the picture is taken from our front porch) and we all lined up with jugs, bottles, pitchers, trash cans, coke bottles, Tupperware, whatever would hold water. We got about 25 liters and used it to flush our toilet, do some dishes, and give Lucy a bath.

Water is supposed to come on tonight, we’ll keep you posted…

Happy 4th of July

smccann24 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:04:55 +0000

Above: A patriotic Lucy.

What are Americans living in Costa Rica to do on the 4th of July? Go to the American Embassy’s Independence Day party of course.

We had a great time eating hot dogs, ice cream, and popcorn, waving flags, and hanging out with hundreds of our other fellow American citizens.

Hope you have a great day.

Spanish Word - Tiempo Libre

smccann24 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:42:20 +0000

Above: Lucy and Sean at the park on Saturday.

Translation: Free Time.

Throughout Lucy’s whole life, she always been with either her mom, her dad, or both. When she was born, Lindsey had a long maternity leave. When Lindsey went back to work part-time, Sean stayed at home for half the week. When we both quit our jobs and starting raising support, we were all together all the time, either at home or on the road. So here in Costa Rica, with Lucy in “school” 30 hours a week, it has been a bit of an adjustment.

How does this tie in? We now we value our tiempo libre as a family more than ever. Usually most of our shopping outings are together, we love to go out to eat as a family, and we absolutely love a nice Saturday morning with no one but the three (four!) of us.

This Saturday, a children’s home in our neighborhood was throwing a fund raising festival at our local park, so we stopped by for some food, games, shows, and music. The festival was fun, but being all together was even better!

Honduras Team Picture

smccann24 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:22:18 +0000

Above: Our most recent team photo, Mike, Erin, and Madison Pettengill, Lindsey, Tica, Lucy, and Sean McCann.

Today is quite an exciting day for our church planting team as we are about to arrive in La Ceiba, Honduras and begin our work there. No, we have not completed language studies yet, nor have we abandoned them to go to La Ceiba early. Rather our teammates, the Pettengills, left San Jose, Costa Rica this morning at 4 am and now are in our future home.

It has been amazing to see the Lord work in bringing our families together over the last 2 years or so. Separately, he placed Honduras on both of our hearts and then united us together as a team with one vision, simply to see God glorified in Honduras however he sees fit. We have ministered, traveled, and trained with them in New York, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Honduras during the past year and we cannot wait for the times to come.

If you would like to see pictures of La Ceiba and our future ministry work, they will be updating both their website and personal blog as they get settled in our new home.

The Ladies

smccann24 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:58:48 +0000

Above: A couple beautiful girls chillin’ on the porch, and if you look close, you can see three beautiful girls.

That’s right, after a month of delay because our modest baby had her legs crossed, we’ve just found out this afternoon that we’re having another girl.

From a fathers standpoint, I could not be more thrilled. I have loved Lucy more than I ever imagined as she has stolen my heart. I have loved her pretty hair, her pink dresses, her playing with baby dolls, her cuddling, and her love for her daddy. Having another beautiful girl who I can protect, care for, and love with all my heart truly is a dream come true.

I have always said I wanted lots of boys, but I cannot imagine life now without my three amazing women.

English as a Second Language

smccann24 — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:34:39 +0000

Above: A view of San Jose from the hills north of Alajuela. (The picture has nothing to do with the classes, its just pretty!)

Over the past two months here in San Jose, we have been volunteering at a local community center teaching English to Costa Ricans with a desire to learn. The students have been great and they all speak much more English than we speak Spanish.

The classes meet every Wednesday night for two hours, with a 20 minute break for coffee, singing, and a bible message. We have been alternating teaching the same class, intermediate English. Usually Lindsey goes for the first hour, Sean brings Lucy for the break, and then the girls go home and Sean teaches the second hour. Though we have taught certain themes and subjects, by far the favorite thing for the students is to talk, talk, and talk. Unlike us, who interact with Spanish speakers constantly throughout the week, most of our students only speak English on Wednesday nights.

We have really enjoyed our time teaching, it has been great to make some friends in the neighborhood, practice our Spanish, and learn more about a ministry we hope to implement in Honduras.

Tubs and Taxis

smccann24 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:13:43 +0000

Above: Lucy enjoying her first real bath in 4 months.

This weekend we had a couple firsts in our time here in Costa Rica. One of the tougher adjustments for us and for Lu is the lack of bathtubs in this country. Lucy has had to adjust to bathing in a Tupperware bucket that is fast become to small for her. This weekend we went to a hotel near San Jose, and were thrilled to find a tub! Lu wasn’t quite sure what to do at first, but then enjoyed just hanging out and bathing herself in her newfound, roomy tub.

Above: A taxi line in Central San Jose

Another first for us this week was chatting up various taxi drivers. Of course we’ve taken dozens of taxis since we’ve been here, and we’ve talked with most of the drivers, but this week was different as we actually conversed and held long conversations without the driver kicking us out for butchering his language. For some that might not seem like such a big deal, but for us it was an assurance that we might in fact learn Spanish after all.

Mountain Vacation

smccann24 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:15:48 +0000

Above: Lucy, Sean, and Lindsey in front of Volcano Poas.

Sorry for the lack of posting early this week, we’ve just returned from a family vacation to the mountains and volcanoes above San Jose. Sean’s parents, Gannie and Mac, flew down Thursday for a quick vacation and some much needed time with grandparents. We rented a car, escaped the San Jose traffic and rain, and made it out of the city and into the hills.

One of the stops on our trip was Volcano Poas, a volcano with a huge crater, aqua blue lake, and constant steam rising from the depths. Despite the constant sulfur smell, we had a great time hiking around the Volcano.

Above: The family huddled together under one of many waterfalls at La Paz.

Another morning, we headed to La Paz, a park full of gardens, animals, and trails along many waterfalls. Lucy loved especially enjoyed the bird and butterfly houses, the monkeys, and the soothing sounds of the waterfalls, which put her right to sleep. The park is filled with all the nature and wildlife Costa Rica has to offer, and we throughly enjoyed hiking around and exploring all morning.

Above: Mac, Gannie, Sean, and Lucy in front of the toucan cage in the bird house at La Paz.

Despite all the beautiful sights and fun walks, the best part of the weekend by far has been time with family. Lucy has truly loved being around her Gannie and Mac, and we cherish the time we can all spend together as family.