In Costa Rica

This post has been writing itself for quite sometime as I've reflected on the differences between Costa Rica and Honduras, and realizing that some of the things I said "only" happened in Honduras are actually a Latin America thing. Who knew?

In Honduras
Only In Honduras
Continuacion

Here are some stories/pictures from my three months in Costa Rica:

(Macaw at La Paz Waterfall Gardens)

Dry vs. Rainy Season
During my entire time here (Jan-April), it has been summer. Never raining, always sunny with a perfectly refreshing breeze. BUT. This week that has changed. They still tell me it is summer, but it has begun to rain. I was studying on our patio, when I heard the distant rumbling. What could that be? Another power outage? Then the skies opened, and it downpoured. It was the strangest rain though, for I saw it was raining in the front of the house but not in the backyard. Though, I was grateful for this quirk the next time, when I had to run out and grab clothes off the line.

(Leading a typical Costa Rican Ox Cart)

Another time when we heard heavy peals of thunder, my Tico dad told me that they have an expression here: "San Pedro esta corriendo los muebles." (Saint Peter is moving the furniture.)
I tried to explain that in the States we like to say "The angels are bowling." But somehow the Spanish didn't translate. haha.

(Standing by Catarata Magia Blanca at La Paz Waterfall Gardens)

El Agua Se Fue (The Water is Out.)
Last weekend, the water was out for three days. It was supposed to be one day, just for "cleaning" the water. Not sure how they do that, but it meant we literally only had drips of water. Or those of us who didn't know the water was out and tried to turn on the sink may have gotten sprayed with brown water and then been left with nothing.

(Butterflies! Brilliant blue on the inside, patterned brown on the outside)

My Tica family adjusted well, storing buckets of water in the shower and cleaner water by the sink. But not to drink. I never realized how many things we used water for, besides showering and laundry. Let's just say we had Chinese food for dinner and ate tons of fruit to make up for our lack of water.

Finally, feeling parched, especially after being part of the recycling brigade (see below), I decided to head to the local pulperia to see if they had any water bottles. The first one was a no. But the second one had just a few left..ice cold. I excitedly bought two and downed half of one before I got home. I didn't realize how I missed water. See earlier blog post about a similar experience in Honduras: Sin Agua.

Megan's Birthday Party
The AMCA leader calls me during the middle of dinner to tell me she wants to make a delivery of avocados. Avocados? Yes, one of your AMCA students gave them to you as a gift. New term: Drive by-avocado-ing.
So then, when the time comes to sing "happy birthday" to Megan, I realize we don't have a cake or candles. So I whip out the avocado, stick a toothpick in the center, and oila! avocado birthday cake. Later, we made up for it in buying her coffee.

(Left: Heredia with Chelsea and Traci during Semana Santa)

One Weekend, End of March:
*Friday:
-Amazing dinner at an missionary family's house with ILE friends
-Went to worship practice, which was canceled, but went to coffee instead with the church pastor and all the elders. We ended up sharing testimonies. So cool.
-There is a huge Day of Sports Festival in our neighborhood so I went with my Tico dad. We listened to old Spanish songs, a newer band (with flute, violin, and bagpipe), watched a Lucha Libre fight, and listened to a Christian song with dancing and people singing karaoke. Plus, there were volleyball nets set up all over the park for people to play and a little area quartered off to kick soccer balls around. Like no festival I had ever been to!

(Left: At a Lebanese Restaurant, the smallest cup of coffee I've ever seen, next to a sugar spoon)

*Saturday:
-My friends and I decided to ride one of the local buses (Periferica) the entire route just to see where it went. It was a good 2.5 hr ride, but we saw so much! A patient Tica even sat next to Traci and explained to us more about the area and named the sites we were seeing. We got off at Walmart to look for a church Traci wanted to find. Her directions: "Green roof. Large church. Over by Walmart." Okay..so we'll just walk until we see it then?
Well, we walked, stopped and asked a few people for directions, and sure enough, found it!! Then we decided, hey, why don't we walk the entire way back..Yeah! We all agreed, wanting to walk. But boy were we relieved when we saw Parque Bosque, a familiar sight! I slept really well that night.

Left: Heredia, Iglesia de Imaculada Concepcion
Middle: Heredia Fort
Right: Look what I found! This is an icecream store, believe it or not!













*Sunday. After church, around 2p, I met up with the church college/post college group and went around the entire neighborhood collecting recycling. We piled it into wheelbarrows and then dumped it in a big pick up truck to bring back to the church and sort.


This was four-fold awesome:
1. Great Spanish Practice! (nadie supe ingles)
2. Exciting to see Costa Ricans care about the environment.
We actually picked up trash along the way. Plus, this was an opportunity for ministry, as we offered our collection service for free.
3. Amazing to meet my neighbors or at least see their faces. I'm pretty sure I would have never met so many of them had I not gone on this venture.
4. An incredible chance to invite the neighbors to church and express Christ's love in a tangible way to them!
Making Empanadas
Tuesday night, my Tica mom taught me how to make empanadas, with cheese and beans inside. I may have gotten a little carried away in my excitement when I finally mastered the process. My Tica mom came over and pointed to the dough and explained in Spanish. "Um, we probably won't eat twelve." Whoops. I stopped assembling the empanadas and focused on the cooking part. They turned out great! Que rico!






Tican Clothing Stores

I went on errands with my Tica mom and sister on Tuesday. It was my first time in a real clothing store here, and it was fascinating. Basically, if you don't like the color of a shirt, you
have 7 other brilliant colors to choose from: bright pink, lime green, turquoise, school bus yellow, orange, purple or red (think Howard from BBT). Every color looks great with tan skin. Now, if I can only find my size. Yeah, their pants are my capris.

Semana Santa, April:
I ask several Ticos where to go to see the Semana Santa processions. Everyone says: Heredia. So my friends and I go there on Holy Thursday, and it turns out the only procession that day is at 10pm at night. We enjoy exploring the area anyway, even though almost all the shops are closed. But, when we arrive back in San Jose, it is deserted. Everyone has left for the beach. But we are just in time to see a procession that la policia tells us will start in 20 min. Tico time. Entonces, an hour later, we witness a short but interesting procession for the Procesión del Silencio, where they carry an angel (some unfortunate teenage boy) standing on a platform surrounded by
calla
lilies.


Preceded by rows of Roman soldiers, the angel speaks to Jesus. Heavy drums beat, as the people slowly march down the street. This is followed by more statues, incense, priests, nuns, and several people wearing purple sashes, which I found out later were all the parade staff.

It's hard to believe that I only have three weeks left in Costa Rica!
It's been a great adventure!