Semana Santa

I’d like to share my experience of Semana Santa(Holy Week) with you. Semana Santa is a huge deal in Costa Rica, especially because of the large Catholic population. Growing up Catholic, I understand the importance of the days leading up to Easter, and was looking forward to experiencing Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter down here in San Joaquín. Semana Santa is also the spring break down here, so it was nice to relax and not have to worry about classes for a week.

Processions are very popular in San Joaquín. As it turns out, SJF is famous for their processions, along with Cartago and Belen. Hundreds of people come to watch, and many of the local people participate. The dedication of the residents is incredible. The Roman soldiers must have marched and played drums for 4 hours a day.

The longest procession was on Friday, which started 2 km away from the main plaza and included the Stations of the Cross. The final stations were in the plaza. It was VERY powerful watching the Roman guards whip Jesus. The processions helped remind me what Easter and Holy Week is all about.

Here are some pictures:

 

One last thing, there is no Easter bunny down here! This is the first year I haven’t had an Easter basket, or listened to my traditional Easter story (The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes). I did eat a lot of chivere empanadas, however. It is a dangerous thing when your host mom makes and sells bread and desserts from her house! Families do gather together, but it feels more like a small holiday. In the United States it seems to be a bigger effort to get families together – here, not so much.

I know this is a small blog post, but I just wanted to give you all a little taste of Easter...Costa Rican style.

Adventures with my mom part II

Happy Saturday, everyone! At this moment, I am sitting on my bed listening to different music styles to prepare for my music final, listening to the thunder, watching the rain, and thinking how am two weeks away from returning to the USA. I have so much I want to share with all of you, but I realized I fell into the trap: I let too much time go by and now I’m going to try to cram everything into a few blog posts. My last post was about the first weekend with my mom. Here is what we did the second weekend:

Wednesday: We headed back out towards the Pacific and drove to Quepos. It was about a three hour drive, but there was no traffic and we had fun talking. We stayed at Hotel Sirena in Quepos and the best part was the air conditioning and the pool! Quepos and Manuel Antonio are very, very, very warm and humid. We walked around Quepos in the evening and bought 3 small cartons of strawberries, 2 mangos and 2 bananas for 3 dollars. I love how fruit is so cheap here in Costa Rica! We enjoyed the strawberries, ate dinner and went to bed.
 

Thursday: I woke up not feeling well, so I spent all morning in the air-conditioned hotel room. I wanted my mom to see Manuel Antonio, so she joined a tour group and explored the national park on her own. She met some very nice people and enjoyed herself, except she lost her flip-flops and sunglasses on the beach! whoops! She got back around 12 and we both jumped in the pool to cool off. I was slowly getting better, so we took the bus to Manuel Antonio. At a souvenir shop I found the towel I have been wanting to buy! The only other place I have found it was in Arenal, so I was super excited. My mom and I walked along the beach for a while and then walked to a restaurant I had found earlier on the internet and wanted to try. We found Café Milagro after a 2km walk, all of it uphill! It was not the smartest thing for me to do after being sick that morning, but the blackberry lemonade was worth it. The food was also delicious. It was basically a yummy Costa Rican bistro. I loved it! We caught a taxi back to Quepos and after a quick dip in the pool to cool off, I was ready for bed.

Friday: We got up and had breakfast, checked out, and headed to our tour of Villa Vanilla, a local spice and vanilla farm about 10 miles from Quepos. The tour guides were on vacation, so the owner gave us the tour himself. He is an expat and moved to Costa Rica around the 1960’s. He definitely has the “tranquila” lifestyle down. We moved slowly through the farm and saw the harvest process and drying process. I loved sampling the cinnamon trees. yummy! We were treated to mango cheesecake, cookies, chocolate, and other food made with products from the farm. My mom and I bought vanilla beans and real cinnamon at the farm’s shop. We ended around noon and the heat was incredible! We cranked the air conditioning in our car and started the drive to Monteverde and the cloud forest.
 

After 4 hours, and about 10 miles of dirt roads, we arrived in Santa Elena/Monteverde. It was so cool – a big difference from the heat and humidity of Manuel Antonio! We stayed at Camino Verde/Tina’s Cabinas. It’s a small bed and breakfast and I HIGHLY recommend people stay there! Andres speaks perfect English and was very, very helpful when we wanted to plan our day. They also have super fast internet (for Costa Rica) and that was definitely a treat. The rooms were clean, smelled wonderful, there was hot water and a great family atmosphere. My mom and I ate dinner at the soda next door and then hit the hay.

Saturday: We started our day nice and early. We got up at 7 and had a breakfast of eggs and pancakes. Andres, the host, was very surprised when I put peanut butter on my pancakes. He said he’s never seen that before! Peanut butter is just not that common here in Costa Rica. After finishing our breakfast my mom and I headed to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. It is your stereotypical rainforest! We walked the trails under the very, very green canopy and the mist from the clouds made us feel like we had the whole reserve to ourselves. It was a very good morning, and we ended up walking about 3 miles on the trails. The gift shop also had very good prices, so we bought some souvenirs including a poster of local Costa Rican fruits. Hopefully my roommate next semester will let me put it up in our dining room (hint hint) We quickly stopped at the humming bird house then headed back into the town of Monteverde/Santa Elena. We had lunch at my now favorite restaurant in Costa Rica – Choco-Café de Don Juan. The barista was phenomenal! I got a swan in my coffee and my mom got a rabbit. The food was also wonderful and fairly priced. After eating I went to pay and told my mom I would meet her in the car. I bought her a display of a Blue Morpho butterfly and a small packet of the local coffee for a surprise. We had to be back at our hotel by 12:30 to be picked up for our next adventure – zip lining!

            It is essential to go zip lining in Costa Rica, and my mom and I picked a good place to go! We soared on 12 zip lines, 2 Superman lines, and one Tarzan swing. I have never seen my mom smile more! She loved the zip lines! The Supermans were my favorite because it felt like I was flying. My least favorite was the Tarzan swing. Originally I was not going to, but my mom did it, so I had to do it. The concept is very simple. You are attached to a bungee rope and you stand on a platform and jump off, causing you to swing out over the canopy. I did not like it! I told the guide he would have to push me off, and I think he helped push me a little. After a blood-curdling scream and about 30 seconds of swinging, I was never more thankful to be back on solid ground. I have done the swing, but never again! My mom and I can check that off our bucket list.

            We returned to our hotel around 3:30, and headed off horse back riding at 4. Our guide was a hoot! He was so funny and a real jokester. My horse was named Muñeco and he just wanted to run! The guide let me gallop for a small part of the trip – that was very fun! We rode up into the mountains and watched the sunset before heading down. My mom and I walked into Santa Elena after being dropped of at our hotel. We had dinner at an “Italian” place. My  mom loved her pizza with pineapple, ham, and coconut. We were so tired when we returned from dinner that we just went straight to bed.

Sunday: When I woke up I discovered something: zip lining makes my back sore! Between my back, and my legs from horse-back riding, it was slow going in the morning. My mom and I slept in and missed breakfast, so we headed back to our favorite café. After a relaxing breakfast we got in the car and started the drive back to San Joaquín. We wanted to get an early start to avoid the traffic jam we experienced last week. I am happy to say we had no traffic the entire way! We made it back to my mom’s B&B safely. I took her to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant and showed her the local church. We packed up her suitcases in my room and I sent many of my souvenirs home with her. We exchanged pictures and said goodbye three times – she kept driving back down to give me some things that had gotten mixed up in our suitcases. It was sad seeing her drive away for the last time, but I was ready to get back into my routine and I knew that I would be seeing her in a little over a month. Having my mom come down and be my 'adventure buddy' was wonderful, and definitely a highlight of my adventure here in Costa Rica.
 

Monday: Back to school! My mom made it safely to the airport at 6am, and I kept tabs on her as she made it safely to Seattle where my dad was waiting to pick her up. I worked on homework and projects. Being back in my routine has its advantages, but it also means I have to focus on school again.

Next post will be about Semana Santa (hopefully!) I can’t wait to see everyone soon! Hasta luego!

Adventures with mom, Part 1

Alright, time to update you all! I have had a wonderful 12 days with my mom down here in Costa Rica! Here are the adventures we have been up to: (This will be part 1)

The arrival!! I took the public bus to the airport and I have to say, I timed it perfectly! I only had to wait five minutes for my mom to come out of the customs area. It was so wonderful seeing her face…not to mention I got my first real hug in over three months. No matter how old I am, my mom’s hugs can’t be beat, especially when I am spending time in a foreign country. The Bed & Breakfast owner was there to meet us and drove us to the B&B. We had a wonderful room! After she settled in a bit, we walked to my house where my Tica momma had prepared a little “sopita” – turns out, there was nothing little about it!! My mom was able to try all the traditional Costa Rican foods and I had my work cut out for me with translating. My tica momma really went over the top – she even made two desserts! My mom was stuffed by the end, to say the least. After the “sopita”, I grabbed my overnight things and headed to the B&B to stay with my mom.

The next morning I arose bright and early to go to grammar class – my mom was able to sleep in. I had breakfast with Flor, and packed for the weekend, before going to class. Once I was done, I trekked back to the B&B and my mom and I went to pick up our rental car. Once we had that all settled, we took off for Liberia and the Nicoya Peninsula!

Liberia and Rincon de Vieja

I’ll be honest – this area was hot! We really enjoyed the air conditioning we had in our room. The first morning we got up early and headed to the Rincon de Vieja National Park. The roads turned to gravel quite quickly, and we rattled our way up the mountain. We took on the challenge of a 6 mile hike followed by a 2 mile loop of mud pits and volcanic vents. We made it, and saw wonderful waterfalls, iguanas, huge ants (icky!), birds, mud, and anything else you could think of. We were thankful we started early because the temperature got hotter really fast. We had left our hotel around 7am and came back at 3pm. Thank goodness for whoever invented the shower and air conditioning! After recollecting ourselves we took a tour of the farm where our B&B is located. It was interesting and reminded me of home. We headed back into Liberia, filled the car with gas, walked around (my mom got a tico’s phone number!) and found a wonderful little dinner café. It was a full day and we were happy to climb into our beds and get a good night's sleep.

Santa Rosa and Playa Conchal          

 The next day we drove to Santa Rosa National Park and visited the Casona. The Casona is now a museum and tells visitors about the wars Costa Rica went through, the history of William Walker (he was a jerk), and a bit about the development of the land. We didn’t go on any hikes, because the heat was coming and we wanted to go to the beach!!!!
 

 We drove back down to Liberia and headed west toward Playa Conchal. We did stop at a café – we were Americans, drinking costa Rican coffee in a European style café. Quite the experience! After an hour of driving we checked into our hotel, Hotel Conchal, and cranked the AC in our room. The hotel was very nice, and the staff is completely fluent in English. The owners are from England and New York, so there was no problem with communication. Later, my mom and I walked to Playa Conchal in the evening to catch the sunset. I believe I have found my favorite beach in all of Costa Rica. It is spectacular!!!! The beach itself is a mixture of white sand and crushed up seashells with every color possible. The bay is very sheltered, so there are no big waves to worry about, and the beach has a very calm atmosphere. I would go back to Playa Conchal in a heartbeat!

            Once the sun had set we walked back into town and ate at a local soda. The food was excellent! To finish our wonderful day, we stopped at a minimart and I bought my mom an Imperial beer, the Costa Rican favorite. We sat by the pool and enjoyed the cool evening, while sharing the beer and using the wifi.
 

            The only problem with the day – my mom accidently deleted all her photos!! Luckily, she is not the first person to experience this. Our cameras use the same memory card, so we saved her card and used a recovery program to get the pictures after we returned to San Joaquin. All the pictures are safe and sound!

            Saturday came bright and early! My mom and I were feeling very lazy, but I convinced her to sign us up for a catamaran tour. The tour started at 1:30pm, so we had time to drive to Playa Grande and explore a new beach. Playa Grande had wonderful spiral shells, so we gathered enough for all her second graders to have one. We drove back to the hotel and waited for our shuttle. After a quick ride, we arrived at Playa Flamingo where we boarded our catamaran, the Lazy Lizard! There was a group of about 20 people on the boat and we all enjoyed the ocean breeze, the free drinks, and the views of the shoreline. The captain took us to a sheltered bay where we went snorkeling to see brightly colored fish. Most of us headed to shore and relaxed on the sand and watched the little hermit crabs scuttle back and forth. Once it was time to go back, I watched people struggle to walk into the water with their fins. I decided to share a secret with them – it is easier if you walk backwards! Within two minutes everyone was walking backwards into the waves. I wanted to laugh and say they were all gullible, but it really is the easiest way to walk with flippers. I found that lesson out during scuba diving class. Once back on the boat, we sailed out to watch the sunset. We were in luck, and dolphins swam up to the boat and played with us!!!! It was a perfect end to the tour. We sailed back and after being dropped off at our hotel, we gratefully hit the hay.
 

Driving Back            

Sunday was bittersweet. We didn’t want to leave, but we knew we had to. It was time to make the drive back to San Joaquin de Flores. We took our time and stopped in Guatil, a village known for its traditional pottery. We watched a demonstration and bought a couple pieces. We explored the town of Nicoya, saw the oldest church in Costa Rica (built in the 1600’s) and crossed the Taiwanese Friendship Bridge. We kept on driving until we hit Highway 27, the main road into San Jose. I have said it before, and I will say it again – Costa Ricans are not nice drivers!!! We got so fed up with the traffic that we 'asked' Garmin for a detour. We took the next exit and detoured on Highway 3, the old highway, way up into the mountains. The views were spectacular and the traffic not as bad. We enjoyed the less stressful driving and got back to SJF around 6:30. After a quick stop at my house to switch clothes and pick up homework, we went back to our B&B for a restful night. Of course, it was slightly more restful for my mom than me – I was working on a grammar presentation for the next day!

Our first weekend in Costa Rica was full of adventures – I am sorry I can’t tell you everything we did, but I would need about 10 pages and a longer attention span! I will write about our second weekend and hopefully post it soon. Overall, I have really enjoyed having my mom visit me, and its been so nice getting to experience Costa Rica with her.