TOMS in La Carpio and Christmas at FundaVida

I've been wanting to post this for awhile, so figured I might as well get around to it!  Awhile back I went into the office at the center in La Carpio where I teach English and saw a plastic bag full of black shoes.  I asked the director what all the shoes were for and she told me they were a donation of TOMS shoes for all the students.

WOW!  It hit me de nuevo (anew) the difference between working in the States with teens and working in poor communities in Costa Rica with teens.  In the States, my Young Life kids bought expensive (or what I would consider expensive!) TOMS shoes (http://www.toms.com/) because they loved the styles and the fact that for every pair they bought TOMS would donate to a pair to a child in need.  And now the kids I work with here are on the receiving end!  The girls LOVE their TOMS and wear them a lot.  The boys aren't quite as convinced of the fashion statement that is TOMS shoes, but they've discovered they make good shoes for playing soccer :)

And I actually got a pair as well as there were some leftover!

Isn't this kid the cutest thing ever?  They got some for some of the girls who have kids as well!

And, as you all might know, I LOVE Christmas!  And I don't love mornings :)  As I was heading in early for a teen club meeting with FundaVida I was dragging my feet (don't get me wrong, I love what I do, I would just rather do it later in the day) To my great delight, the ladies in the kitchen had decorated for Christmas.  Yes, Costa Ricans have all their decorations out in early-mid December.  It's amazing!