el desfile fue estupendo!

The title is for you, Jeff. It's Kristen, adding just a tiny bit to Ben's recent post. I know, I know, it certainly doesn't need any more length, but Ben wants me to put in something about this last weekend, (apparently his creative juices have been drained,) so I will fill you in as concise a manner as possible.

Sam came to San Ramon to spend the weekend with us, which was great, except for my being under the weather. Our Mama Tica took very good care of me, although when she offered to make me a tea of "la buena herba" (the good herb) I had images of a drug-induced trip to fantasy land. Alas, buena herba doesn't quite have the magical properties I was hoping for, but I did get better quickly. We explored the city a little, went to the neighboring town of Zarcero for an afternoon, which is famous for it's highly unusual garden in the central square. This garden has giant bushes that have been cut into shapes. According to our guide book, these shapes included a monkey on a motorcycle, an elephant with light bulbs for eyes, and a bullfight with a matador and charging bull. This may or may not have been the case, but one would need a view from an airplane, an ability to find meaning in the abstract or a highly-active imagination to see any of these shapes. Luckily, Sam has just such an imagination, so we found all sorts of things that may or may not be what the artist intended...We'll post pictures soon.

Monday was Independence Day here in Costa Rica, which is a huge deal. The festivities started on Sunday night, and the three of us went downtown with our host family to check out the first of two parades. We missed the parade (typical Ticans) but had a good time wandering around and watching the aftermath. Monday morning was the big parade, complete with marching bands, floats, baton-twirlers and traditional Costa Rican dance. However, as this was a Tican Parade, a few things were different: 1)The people are told that the parade begins at 9:00 so that everyone will get there by around 10:00, so the parade can start by 10:30. 2)The marching bands are mostly composed of elementary-school kids who play a snare drum, cymbals or a xylophone, all with great enthusiasm. 3)The float were mostly pick-up trucks with something set up in the back. My favorite was the large truck that crawled down the street, emitting black fumes every ten seconds and boasting a display of recently-picked plants and some kids sitting in costa-rican dress, waving signs about their environmentally-focused school...4)There was anywhere from 6 feet to 600 yards of space between the participants, so the parade was rather slow going. We enjoyed the first hour and a half and walked away with our fill of parade for the next long while...

Okay, less concise than it could have been, but we really enjoyed having Sam here and being a part of the celebrations. Walking around downtown it was clear that we were accepted as a part of the community, which was a great feeling.

Hoping you are all experiencing similar great feelings- please send a line and let us know how you are!