5.

Today marks 5 months of being in Costa Rica. 5 whole months of being torn down and reconstructed, of learning and being taught daily, of keeping eyes wide and heart open, of loving something new and missing something old, of adventures and crying and language and newness and culture and laughing and hurting and changing and fully living. What a life. 

And so, in honor of this not-so-monumental occasion, I have decided to compile a list of my top 5 favorite moments of being in Costa Rica - inspired by a walk with a friend on the beach on Saturday who asked me this very question.

five. Visa trip to Panama - so much laughter and beauty and fun and grace. Although it is technically not "in Costa Rica", taking Visa trips every 90 days are part of living in Costa Rica. So it passes the test. And there was too much goodness in this trip to not make the list!

four. Going to the beach with Olga and her sisters. Pretty sure I did not say a word the entire time except for si, no and gracias. I look back on this trip and smile at my first bout of culture shock, unknowing what I was getting myself into. What else can you do?

three. Service Project with the International School students and Serving on work crew at Vida Joven Growth Camp were both amazing experiences. 

two. Getting to be a part of the All Country Costa Rica Mega Club. Cannot fully explain how awesome this was to see so many different faucets of Young Life to be in one place and so many youth from all over Costa Rica getting to come to this event. One for the record books for this girl!

one. There was this one Sunday, I remember so clearly. Literally just spent the whole day just hanging out and laughing with my host family, helping them do stuff around the house. It was such a sweet sense of belonging.

So there you go. In no particular order, 5 of my favorite memories from Costa Rica thus far. Here's to the next seven months!