Alec Chrystal, Missionary

What do you think of when you hear the name ‘Costa Rica?' For many people, I think the answer would involve the country’s beautiful beaches, towering volcanoes, peculiar spider monkeys, or dense rainforest—all of which are valid answers. Prior to this trip, I would have responded with these same exact answers. These preconceived notions of what Costa Rica is like are to be expected; in Spanish ‘Costa Rica’ quite literally means ‘rich coast’. While Costa Rica is rich in biodiversity, beauty, and kindness, it would be asinine for me to describe Costa Rica as rich. In reality, the best way to describe Costa Rica is through the trite iceberg cliché, where immense beauty constitutes the visible portion, and incredible poverty comprises the submerged majority. This metaphor has been exemplified most clearly to me in retrospect, where I have been able to analyze the trip as a whole rather than simply focusing on individual experiences.
           
The poverty of Costa Rica was made apparent to me as soon as we stepped out of San Jose’s international airport. While we were surrounded by beautiful mountains, we were simultaneously surrounded by houses with mud floors and dilapidated sheet metal roofing. Many of the roads that we travelled on to reach our various destinations were not paved, especially the roads in the mountains. Perhaps most importantly, the very shoes of the children we came to serve were exemplary of this poverty, as many of them lacked soles and were decorated with tears and holes.
           
This poverty, however, was starkly contrasted with the beauty that we found within Costa Rica. It would be easy for me to say that this beauty was exemplified to us through our trip to the beach and the seemingly never-ending mountains, yet while this is true, it’s rather superficial. The true beauty of Costa Rica was revealed to us through the sheer joy of each child we had the opportunity to meet, through the incredible passion to drive change found within John and Jill, and through the inspiring love given to us by Emerson and Erick despite their rough pasts.
           
When I began this short letter, I was considering explaining the most meaningful experiences I had on this trip, but I soon found out that I would need to write an entire novel to depict them all accurately. Therefore, I decided to adhere to the ‘quality over quantity’ rule and try to explain the most valuable lesson I learned in the most meaningful way possible. If anything, Costa Rica has taught me to abandon my preconceived notions of everyone and everything, and instead base my opinions around what I have personally experienced. Thus, if someone was to ask me, “what do you think of when you hear the name 'Costa Rica?'” I would answer with "poverty, yet within this poverty incredible beauty, love, and joy."
 
—Alec Chrystal, Missionary