Wilson Global » General

Water and Electricity

swilson — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:02:57 +0000

I remember when we lived in Maine, we had occasional droughts, and we had to measure the depth of the water in our well regularly. I thought that water supply was one thing that we would never have to consider here in Shell, Ecuador, “on the edge of the rain forest.”

I was wrong.

Ecuador is experiencing their worst drought in decades. Since Ecuador is so dependent on hydro-electric power, the government has begun to ration electricity. We have had the power turned off for 4-6 hours most every day.

A while ago, we had issues with the water supply as well. We are still keeping an eye on that.

Please join us in praying for rain.

Communication – What do you prefer?

swilson — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:20:44 +0000

Communication has changed so much these last few years. And it is still changing.

We’d like your opinion.

How do you like to communicate? How do you like to be communicated with? How can we best communicate with you?

Here are some options:

Blog entries on our website

Monthly (or regular) formal newsletter

Facebook

Short e-mails about daily life

E-mails with pictures

Snail Mail

Please tell us what you prefer. Choose as many as you like. If you think of another means of communication, please let us know that as well.

We can’t guarantee that we can do all of them all of the time, but we will probably do all of them some of the time. Your thoughts will help us in determining how best to keep in touch.

Can’t wait to hear back,

Steve and Diane

The Rain

swilson — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:47:45 +0000

Since it’s the rainy season, it rains most afternoons. Here’s a little sample.

Short Term Team from Maine

swilson — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:37:55 +0000

Quite frequently, there are short term teams from the US who visit our church here in Costa Rica. We usually talk with them, find out where they are from, etc. Well, one Sunday about a month ago, we were talking with one team, and they said they were from Hermon, Maine! And one of them came up to me, and it was someone we knew! What a small world story. Check out the picture of the team. Some of you may recognize Glenn, near the middle in the green shirt. He came to an EE clinic at Hollis a couple of years ago. And here we were meeting again in Costa Rica.

Football in Spanish

swilson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:42:19 +0000

Yes, we do get to watch NFL games here. The CBS station is in English, but the Fox station is in Spanish. If you’re interested in learning how they call a game in Spanish, click on Read More….

Viewer’s guide to those Spanish commentators

By Christopher Howard
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

This is for readers who have to watch the National Football League games in Spanish on Fox or other stations. Learning the vocabulary below will help you understand what the announcers are talking about.

abucheos – boos (noise)
acarrear – to carry a ball
acarreo – a carry
aguador – water boy
ala abierta – split end
ala cerrada – tight end
alineación titular – starting line up
anotar – to score
apoyador – linebacker
árbitro – ref
arranque en falso – off sides
atrapada –a catch
atrapar – to catch
balón suelto – fumble (noun)
banca – bench
buena posición de campo – good field position
caderera – hip pad
campo de juego – playing field
captura – sack
capturar – to sack
carga – rush
casco – helmet
castigo – penalty
cuartos – quarters (periods of time)
centro – center (lineman)
¿Con quién vas? - Who are you rooting for?
corredor – runner
defensivo – a defensive player
defensiva – defense
doble marcaje – to have two men guarding one man
doblar la esquina – turn the corner on
the outside
empate – tie game
echar porra al equipo – to cheer or root for a team
entrenador – coach
engaño – a trick play
equipo favorito – favorite team
escopeta – shotgun formation
estadio – stadium
finta – a fake
fuerza excesiva – unnecessary roughness
ganar – to win
guardia – guard (lineman)
gol de campo – field goal
hombre en movimiento – a man in motion
hombrera – shoulder pad
hueco – a hole in the scrimmage line
intercepción – interception
interceptar – to intercept
jugada – a play
jugada de anotacíon – scoring play
jugada de pizzarón or de película – a picture perfect play
jugador – player
interferencia – interference
lesión – an injury
línea de golpeo – scrimmage line
lineros – linemen
marcador – score or scoreboard
marcador final - final score
marcar – to guard a player
mariscal de campo – quarterback

mascarazo – illegal grabbing of the facemask
mascarilla – facemask
medio tiempo – half time
muerte súbita – sudden death
narrador o locutor – announcer
ofensiva – offense
oviode – football (the ball)
pañuelo – flag (penalty)
pasador – passer
pasar – to pass
pase – pass
pase completo – completed pass
pase incompleto – incomplete pass
patada corta – short kick or onsides quick
patada de salida – kickoff
patear – to kick
perder el balón – to fumble (verb)
pédida – a loss
primera, segunda, tercera oportunidad – first down, second down and third down
por aire – through the air
por tierra – on the ground
postes – goal posts
postemporada – postseason
pretemporada – preseason
primer tiempo – first half
primera y diez – first and ten
profundo – safety (player)
protector bucal – mouth piece
protesta – challenge
punto extra – extra point
receptor – receiver
repeteción de jugada – replay
reserva o suplente – back up player
retorno – kick return
rodillera – knee pad
sujetando – holding
Super Tazón – Super Bowl
tabla de posciones – standings (record)
tacleada – a tackle
taclear – to tackle
temporada regular – regular season
jugador titular – player in the starting lineup
tiempo extra - overtime
¡tiempo fuera! – Time out!
uso ilegal de las manos – illegal use of hands
utilero – equipment man
victoria – victory
zona de anotación – end zoneLa ópera no ha terminado hasta que cante la gorda – The opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings!

Appendicitis

swilson — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:33:11 +0000

Tuesday morning after breakfast, my stomach started to hurt. Since I had just eaten, I thought maybe it was just indigestion. But it didn’t go away. The previous Thursday, Diane had made me a Tuesday appointment with the doctor because I have had a bad cough (still have it). She said if I got better, I could just cancel the appointment. Well, I kept the appointment, and told him about my stomach pain. After examining me, he said it might be appendicitis, and sent me to the ER for more tests and analysis. The diagnosis was confirmed and I had surgery at 4 that afternoon.

I could definitely see God working through this, because I’m sure that if it had been left up to me, I would have suffered through it for a few days until the pain became unbearable, and then who knows what might have happened.

Since Monday is Independence Day in Costa Rica, I don’t have to go back to school until Tuesday. That should give me enough time to rest. My classmates have been providing me with my homework assignments, so I should be able to keep up.

All aspects of my hospital stay went well, even the food. I had a large private room – see the pics. The hospital name is Clinica Biblica. If you want to check them out, here is their website.

http://www.clinicabiblica.com/index_eng.html

A Special Houseguest

swilson — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:23:55 +0000

We have really had a great time the last couple of days visiting with our friend Shedd Waskosky. We first met in Ecuador in 2003 when we took our first short term trip. He stopped by for a couple of days on his way to a conference here in Costa Rica.

…

First Day of School – but not for us

swilson — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:23:57 +0000

Over the last week or so, three new teachers have moved into the apartment next door. They have been getting acclimated, as well as preparing for the school year. Well, today was the first day of school for them. Since we have always liked to take first-day-of-school pics, we thought we’d like to do that with them to. So here they are, from left to right, Kim, Kate, and Trish.

Please pray for them. They are missionaries too, teaching in Sojourn Academy, the school that shares the property with the Spanish Language Institute. Most of the kids of the Spanish students attend there.

A New Look

swilson — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:43:19 +0000

Welcome to our new look for our website. We’d really be interested in what you think of it. Leave a comment or send us an e-mail.

One down, two to go

admin — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:23:15 +0000

Well, our first trimester here at language school is now history, and I’m glad to be taking a break. We both got all A’s, so we were really pleased with that.

It’s a hard time, though, because we have to say goodbye to a lot of the people that are graduating and leaving. And that part of it is only going to get worse, because generally speaking, we know the people better who are closer to us in school. So when the second trimester ends in December, we do it again. And then we will be the ones leaving next April.

As we reflect on this, and as we talk about it, we have concluded that this meeting and then saying goodbye is a good thing. God has brought so many people from so many places across our path, and then sent us in all different directions. We know people all over the world! And as a result, we can hear first hand what God is doing in other parts of the world. So, as painful as goodbyes are, we can trust that they are for our good. Romans 8:28

What do you do when you don’t have snow?

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:53:54 +0000

You use cardboard or plywood on the grass.

We went to El Parque de la Paz today, about a 15 minute walk from our house. This is a popular place for kite flying, and sliding. We went with another family and their 3 small children.

Here are a few pictures of our day…..

For more pics, click HERE.

And HERE is a short video too.

There is a big hill right in the middle of the park.

The mountains surround this whole area.

There were plenty of kites for sale.

The views from the top were really great. (OK, Mike, not as great as some of the places you’ve been.)

We thought we’d try our hand at the cardboard.

Not quite the same as on snow, but a lot of fun anyway!!

The Water’s Back

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:05:46 +0000

The water started coming back about mid-day Sunday, after being off most of the time since Thursday. By evening, it was at about half pressure. And by this morning, it was full-strength. Here is a link to the story in the Costa Rican newspaper. Check out the picture of the pipe that was broken!

http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/julio/06/pais1607424.html

Also, if you can’t read Spanish, here is a translator that I use occasionally. It isn’t great, but sometimes you can get the idea of certain phrases.

http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/

Celebrating the Fourth

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:12:03 +0000

Some of our friends had planned a big celebration at their house for the Fourth, but with the water issues here (see the last blog entry), they had to cancel. They have 5 kids, and there were about 35 or so people expected – too much for a non-functioning bathroom.

Since we still had a trickle, and could flush about every fifteen minutes, we invited them and another family over for a little cookout in the front yard. Below are some pictures of the festivities.

Diane had prepared some Whoopie pies and some baked beans for the occasion.

We moved our dining room table outside, and pushed some of the other furniture back to make more room.

The charcoal here isn’t quite the same, but it did the job.

Brian is from

Maine also, and we both chose to celebrate the Fourth with our Red Sox shirts.

All we had for fireworks was a Tiki torch.

Water, Water, … Anywhere?

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:46:19 +0000

We are now entering our third day with water issues in the San Jose area.

On Thursday afternoon, the water was reduced to a trickle in our house. We soon found out that our neighbors had no water. And we later found out that the problem was quite widespread. We had a trickle because we live at the bottom of a hill, so whatever was left in the system worked its way in this direction.

It’s Saturday morning now, and the water is back on at a reduced pressure. We don’t know how long it will last. One person said that they had heard that it was going to be a long problem, so they planned to give each neighborhood some water for a few hours at a time. We’ll see. But at least we were able to go out and buy some bottled water. The first store we went to was cleaned out, but we ran into a guy that we know from church, and he told us where to go.

Grammar, grammar, grammar

admin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:15:47 +0000

Last Monday, I (Steve) started in a new grammar class that was ahead of where my old one was. I found out about it the previous Friday, so I spent some time over the weekend trying to study the sections I had missed. In order to totally catch up, I hired one of the teachers to spend a couple of hours after school with me to go over the sections on (for you grammar buffs) direct objects, indirect objects, and reflexive verbs.

On Monday, the new class was starting a new section, intransitive verbs. The most common one is