Con Mucho Gusto

"Con mucho gusto" has been one of the new phrases I've learned on this trip. The first day, our "gracias" was met with "con mucho gusto" by my host mom, and I didn't quite understand why she deviated from the typical "de nada." About the third day I realized that "con mucho gusto" is a typical response to "thank you" here in Costa Rica and that phrase has resonated with me greatly. "Con mucho gusto" or "with much pleasure" has been the attitude of almost everyone who I have been in contact with on this trip. The pure generosity and hospitality of everyone, especially my host families is something I thought I knew of, being from the typically most hospitable region of the USA. I was so mistaken, the love that these people poured out for a group of foreigners out of the generosity of their hearts was amazing, especially considering some of their very limited financial resources. My most memorable moment of the trip has to be in Guaraí. We went around to different homes, giving them food, praying for them, and singing with them to the tune of Carlo's guitar. I went around with a group and met a woman named Jenny and had the opportunity to meet her beautiful little girls. At the last home, the group ministering to the woman there, Maria Elena, sang a song that I can't even remember because the look of happiness as tears streamed down her cheeks was overwhelming. I sat outside her home and was moved to the point of tears as the group ministering to her all gave her a group hug. She noticed some of the students who were watching outside the house and walked out to hug us. The moment she walked up to hug me I burst into tears. She hugged me, pulled away, and wiped away the tears on my face, saying "tranquillo" or "calm down" repeatedly. Maria Elena should have been the one crying like I was, with someone to wipe her tears and say "tranquillo", her home was made of scraps of tin, in an area where you couldn't stretch out your arms and not touch a house. But quite the opposite happened. Her love and joy came from God and not her circumstances. As she hugged me multiple times and smiled and cried as she wiped my tears, I was speechless. There is absolutely nothing you can say to a person in that situation that can help them other than to rest in the hope that God is in control and knows every single one of out struggles and fears. This overwhelming moment of pure, Christ-like love that moved me to literal speechlessness is without a doubt the most intense, awe-inspiring  memory that I will take away from this trip. 

Emily Goad