Hey everyone! Been about a week and a half or so since my last post, so here’s another one for you to enjoy, nice and long! :) My biggest news from last time is my trip to Guanacaste this past weekend with my host family (hence in part to the delay in posting), but allow me a couple minor topics I was going to write about anyway first!
Last Tuesday I was in my economics class talking to Carlitos (one of the program directors down here), and somehow we started talking about South Dakota. Apparently he’s been to Sioux Falls, and did some traveling around the state while he was there. He seemed to be a little surprised that so much open space existed in that part of the country (I’ve learned that when you say “rural U.S.” the Ticos tend to think of Texas fairly exclusively). Eventually we started talking about some of S.D.’s highlights, including Mount Rushmore, Sturgis, and of course Wall Drug! Carlitos learned about Sturgis via lack of hotel rooms when he was traveling around the black hills. He couldn’t believe how many bikers there were, and when he started telling my professor about the whole idea behind Sturgis, the prof gave me a look as if to say, “Is it really that crazy?” I told him I’ve never gone, but if the newspapers are any indication, then yes, I told him, it’s pretty loco. Carlitos agrees with me that Wall Drug’s advertising is one the most annoying aspects of the United States in general. “I really don’t care if they have 5¢ coffee, especially when they tell me every five minutes on the highway!!” He was amused, however, by the total lack of native South Dakotans working at Wall Drug (“Yes, we did end up going..” he admitted), and instead the montage of student workers, mostly internationals.
Over the past couple weeks I’ve had a much unexpected source of Costa Rican trivia education in the form of game show television – ¿Quién quiere ser millonario? ("Who wants to be a millionaire?"), Costa Rican style! They just started showing down here, and Jessica, Erick, and Eli are way into it. For those of you who have seen the show in the States, it’s basically the same thing here; it just lacks the English language and Regis Philbin. For those of you who haven’t seen it, contestants who come on the show basically answer a series of questions of supposedly increasing difficulty, the last question being worth a million dollars in the states – here the most you can win is 25 million colones (roughly $50 thousand). For me personally, the most notable thing about the show is the fact that an enormous percentage of the questions are based on Costa Rica-specific things, including the first few questions which are usually ridiculously easy. Not for me! Questions like “Who was the first Costa Rican to be nominated for a Nobel Prize?” and “Finish the lyrics of the following traditional Costa Rican lullaby. . .” keep me interested and educated! Occasionally there are questions which are very United States-based, and of course everyone expects me to know the answers (Jessica was surprised to learn that President Obama’s middle name is Hussein, for example).
The past two weeks have been pretty insane at school – not for homework or studying reasons, but rather because February 9th was the first official day of classes for the actual university here and as such all the local students are back. Unfortunately, disorganization is currently the daily theme, as it turns out to be impossibly difficult to make schedules that include classrooms with only one class in them at a time. I would like to not be so harsh, but it has been rather ridiculous. We have to ask in the USAC office before every single class where we need to go, and in many cases we end up having to move in the middle of class to another room because a class of Ticos is scheduled to use the room. One of my professors here has even said, loosely translated (read: he used more colorful language), that the guy in charge of scheduling in the university’s facilities is a “useless idiot.” Not that we let things like not having classrooms bring us down!
So, on to this weekend. Thursday was Jessica’s graduation, which I could not attend because there is limited seating for all the graduates and their families. Nevertheless we all went out for dinner after they got home, including Jeca’s boyfriend Daniel. Jessica was having a great day, fully enjoying the formal completion of her education at the University of Costa Rica. We got home around 9:30 that evening, and Eli told me we would be leaving at 4:00 the following morning. Why does all travel start so early around here??
We actually ended up leaving around 5:30. Same thing, right? Good thing, too, because I didn’t get out of bed until about 4:10. Whoops. Originally I thought it was going to be just Eli, Luis, and myself, but we ended up picking up a sister of Luis’s, Mayra, which was completely news to me. Mayra, Luis’s elder by a few years, is an extremely soft-spoken person, and to be honest I had a little difficulty understanding her all the time because I could barely hear her! Nevertheless, she’s very sweet and made a good travel companion. After picking her up at her house and giving a ride to her son to work, we headed off for Guanacaste, and I promptly went back to sleep in the backseat of the (new) car.
When I awoke, we were in Guanacaste – a Costa Rican landscape unlike any other I have yet seen. In many ways it reminded me of central-western South Dakota, with some wide-open plains and long flowing grasses (very brown and dried due to the lack of rain in this season). In other times, some of it, including scattered mountain “micro-ranges,” oddly shaped trees, and other interesting vegetation, reminded me of landscapes I’d only seen on TV in programs about Africa. Dakota, Africa…a strange combination, I realize, but you’d just have to see it. Eli of course was very excited the whole time, very happy to be in her home country. Although she’s been in the Heredia San Rafael-San Pablo area for many years now, she still considers Guanacaste home. The whole weekend was very much a nostalgia-fest for her, and she was all too eager to explain to me the intricacies of each and every plant, animal, building, and basically everything else in sight of which she had any knowledge.
After stopping in the city of Nicoya to pick up some groceries for the weekend, we headed to Eli’s sister Flor’s house, way out in the middle of nowhere between a few hills that separate civilization from, well, Flor (flor is the Spanish word for “flower”). Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that in a pejorative way, but it is just very separated from all things modern. This of course did not bother me in the least, as I had brought a few good books and a healthy curiosity in the campesino (rural folk) lifestyle and landscape. The toilet and shower, for example, are in separate shacks behind the house and the shower actually has no door but rather a piece of sheet metal that one simply places in the “doorway” when bathing. Eli and her sister were of course sincerely worried that I would be bored in Flor’s quaint home for the next few days, and after the second time Eli asked me if this was the case I very frankly told her (in order to avoid a four-day barrage of the same concern) that I do not bore easily and I was perfectly content to spend a tranquil weekend without internet or television in the beautiful land of her childhood; she did not ask again.
The weekend did in fact play out very quietly. I spent many hours in the shade in front of Flor’s house reading either my Bible or Les Misérables (which I finished on Monday – best book I’ve ever read; I highly recommend it to everyone reading this blog!). Though of course the human company I kept was more than sufficient (including much more extended family of Eli’s), I also had quite a zoo to keep me company, as roosters, cats, dogs, and a small parrot that never shut up roam freely about the property. Their dog in particular, Oso (“bear”), befriended me quickly and I spent about half the weekend petting him. The family that I met over the course of the weekend was innumerable – Eli’s mother had 15 children, and as such Eli herself has roughly 87 nieces and nephews, most with children of their own. Having met only a fraction of these, I was fairly confused most of the weekend and could never quite keep straight whose sister was the mother of whose cousin, etc etc. At the very least, I got plenty of names down, and pretty much everyone I met this weekend was extremely nice. I suppose my only complaint would be that a combination of culture (which is indifferent regarding speaking in third person about someone in the room) and my being a North American (which leads to assumptions that I don’t speak Spanish) gave way to many situations in which people asked Luis, Eli, or Mayra about me even if I were right in front of them. I more or less got used to it, though, so no worries.
On Saturday Luis and I hiked up a large hill near Flor’s place which has many fields (mostly for grazing) strewn about it and is where Eli was born and raised. Eli herself was visiting more family and friends at the time and didn’t feel up to the climb anyway. I’ve very rarely spent any time at all with Luis alone, and so this was a good experience. He showed me many things along the way, including a few birds I’d never seen before and some fruits which were even more foreign (some of which we ate along the trail). When we reached the summit, we sat down for a half hour or so on the hillside, predominantly in silence, and simply enjoyed the view towards the other side (opposite Flor’s) of the hill/mountain. After hiking back down we joined Eli at an old friend’s house and chatted about all that had happened in the lives of everyone since Eli had last traveled to this area (six years ago).
Saturday was actually Eli’s 51st birthday, although between the two of us we continue maintaining the idea that she is half that old. We had a cake that evening, and many of the nieces, nephews, and I’m not sure how the others were related came over to help us celebrate (and eat the cake). The following morning we went to church around 10:30, joining Flor’s very small, friendly, and rural congregation for a very long, hot, yet enjoyable service. That afternoon we left for the town of Dulce Nombre (“Sweet Name,” which Luis and I had seen from the hilltop the day before) where more of Eli’s family lives. More family catching up, more friendly people to meet. Monday morning we had a good breakfast, spent some more time at Eli’s nephew Marvin’s house, including riding their horses, and then left to head back to Heredia. Luis repeated a few times how nice it was that I didn’t have classes Monday, because this was the last weekend before classes started at most elementary and high schools nationwide, and as such many families were spending it in Guanacaste and driving back in the general direction of San José Sunday afternoon would have been a nightmare.
And so here I am, back in the city after an immensely refreshing weekend el puro campo (“the pure country,” or rather, “the truly rural land”). After only three days of classes I’ll be heading out this Friday (wow, that came fast!!) for Nicaragua with Ashley and Ashley. Please excuse in advance the lack of blog post for at least two weeks, because I won’t be back in Heredia after Friday until Monday the 2nd. Please pray for our safe travels as we explore the lands of our northern neighbors! I’ll give you a full report when I get back, I promise. Thanks so much for keeping up with me. As always, I’d love to hear from you all. I realize that the pictures at the top of the blog have not changed in ages, and if they are not new by the time you read this blog they should be soon.
God bless!
Tuesday, February 17
Friday, February 6
At the beach with comrade Atriskov, and other minor updates...
Last Saturday was a great day at the beach. Jessica and I went to Esterillos, a beach on the pacific side of the country south of Jacó. It was just a day trip, so we left extremely early. After crawling out of bed at 3:20 in the morning, we headed over to her church around 4:00 and left about an hour later. I got to know many of Jessica’s friends from church better, though I spent most of the day with her and Daniel (her boyfriend). On the bus, a few of them decided a bus ride to the pacific provided the perfect opportunity to try out conversations in English, which turned out to be hysterical, not because they were bad at English but rather because of what they decided to talk about. I wasn’t really even paying attention until Carlos (one of the youth leaders) started making up a story (in slightly fragmented English) about a man who was stranded on an island and later was carried home by two dolphins. Totally random, but totally funny. He asked me now and then for vocabulary help. When I translated the phrase “at risk of,” they all thought it was hilarious and sounded like a Russian name (“Buenos días, compañero Atriskov!” they said with great Russian accents).
At the beach we spent our day at a hotel in which we paid for a sort of day pass for use of facilities (pool, etc). Jessica, Daniel and I spent our first hour or so there just walking along the beach. I felt pretty third wheel, but they didn’t seem to mind at all. Afterwards I played a few games of pool with Daniel, who beat me twice in a row, and I won the third game only when Jessica showed up to play for Daniel and scratched on the 8-ball. After lunch we just hung around in the shade, and I spent some time reading my book and listening to my iPod. One interesting aspect of the particular beach we were on was the fact that even though it’s on the Pacific side it faces northeast in such a way that the sun rises on the water and sets behind you, making you think you’re on the Caribbean. Overall it was a very fun day. We left the hotel at about 4:00 and got back to San Rafael (where the church is) at 7:30/8ish. On the ride back I spoke with Julio, a member of the pastoral team who had gone on the trip with his wife and three girls, which was an interesting conversation about how he had moved to Costa Rica from Panama and lived here in San Rafael with his new Tica wife.
Angie left! She’ll be taking her tests this coming Monday back at her school in Limón. She left this past Tuesday, and much to my disappointment I didn’t really get a good chance to say good-bye. I had come home for lunch and told her ciao before going back to classes, but when I got back she had left for Limón. The good news is that I will in fact see her again – Eli told me that we’ll be going out to Limón sometime in the next couple months to visit their family. I need to at least get a picture with her!
In other exciting news, Jessica had a job interview this week! She had been waiting for some time after having finished classes to get a call from the Proctor & Gamble branch here in Costa Rica to which she had applied. They called her a few days ago and asked if she’d still like to come in for an interview, to which she of course elatedly said yes. They ended up calling her only a few hours later and said “How about Wednesday?” Because they ask their interviewees a few questions in English, she practiced a little bit with me the night before. The day of the interview I think she was a little nervous, but said afterward that she felt it went really well and she’ll be hearing from them next week. Her graduation ceremony is also next Thursday, so it’s been a pretty exciting couple weeks for her.
The weather here has been pretty crazy, with two things I’d like to highlight. The first is the rain – even though we’ve been done with the rainy season for some time now, it still drizzles extraordinarily lightly every other day or so, or at least has been doing so for the past week and some. Because it’s so light, it’s very common for the sun to be brightly shining all the while. This has provided the largest and most beautiful rainbows I’ve ever seen – every day of the week. It’s really incredible – I walk outside and as soon as I notice one I want to tell the nearest person to me to look. I wish you could all see them. The other weather factor we’re experiencing is wind – it’s picked up quite a bit, and it really is worthy of South Dakota comparison at this point! It’s driving my host family nuts because a) it’s really noisy and b) it makes for pretty cold days (again, relatively speaking), particularly when one is outside. The bad part is that the wind pretty easily messes with the power lines, and we’ve had more than a couple power outages in the area that last for an hour or two.
Yesterday (Thursday) a group of six of us got together at Brook’s (one of those of us who went to the megachurch) house for the first of hopefully many small group Bible studies. There were at least two people who are going to come next week for sure but couldn’t make it yesterday. We talked a little bit about our faith lives/stories and then started on the gospel of John. Next week we’ll be meeting again, and judging by how well it went this past time I’m sure it’s going to be a good group. Seems to be a pretty interesting mix of people, theological perspective-wise, so we’ll see how it goes.
This weekend I’m laying low, making some more plans for upcoming travels and catching up on homework. If you’re reading this, let me know how YOU are! I’d love to hear from you. =)
As always, thanks for prayers and support. God bless!
At the beach we spent our day at a hotel in which we paid for a sort of day pass for use of facilities (pool, etc). Jessica, Daniel and I spent our first hour or so there just walking along the beach. I felt pretty third wheel, but they didn’t seem to mind at all. Afterwards I played a few games of pool with Daniel, who beat me twice in a row, and I won the third game only when Jessica showed up to play for Daniel and scratched on the 8-ball. After lunch we just hung around in the shade, and I spent some time reading my book and listening to my iPod. One interesting aspect of the particular beach we were on was the fact that even though it’s on the Pacific side it faces northeast in such a way that the sun rises on the water and sets behind you, making you think you’re on the Caribbean. Overall it was a very fun day. We left the hotel at about 4:00 and got back to San Rafael (where the church is) at 7:30/8ish. On the ride back I spoke with Julio, a member of the pastoral team who had gone on the trip with his wife and three girls, which was an interesting conversation about how he had moved to Costa Rica from Panama and lived here in San Rafael with his new Tica wife.
Angie left! She’ll be taking her tests this coming Monday back at her school in Limón. She left this past Tuesday, and much to my disappointment I didn’t really get a good chance to say good-bye. I had come home for lunch and told her ciao before going back to classes, but when I got back she had left for Limón. The good news is that I will in fact see her again – Eli told me that we’ll be going out to Limón sometime in the next couple months to visit their family. I need to at least get a picture with her!
In other exciting news, Jessica had a job interview this week! She had been waiting for some time after having finished classes to get a call from the Proctor & Gamble branch here in Costa Rica to which she had applied. They called her a few days ago and asked if she’d still like to come in for an interview, to which she of course elatedly said yes. They ended up calling her only a few hours later and said “How about Wednesday?” Because they ask their interviewees a few questions in English, she practiced a little bit with me the night before. The day of the interview I think she was a little nervous, but said afterward that she felt it went really well and she’ll be hearing from them next week. Her graduation ceremony is also next Thursday, so it’s been a pretty exciting couple weeks for her.
The weather here has been pretty crazy, with two things I’d like to highlight. The first is the rain – even though we’ve been done with the rainy season for some time now, it still drizzles extraordinarily lightly every other day or so, or at least has been doing so for the past week and some. Because it’s so light, it’s very common for the sun to be brightly shining all the while. This has provided the largest and most beautiful rainbows I’ve ever seen – every day of the week. It’s really incredible – I walk outside and as soon as I notice one I want to tell the nearest person to me to look. I wish you could all see them. The other weather factor we’re experiencing is wind – it’s picked up quite a bit, and it really is worthy of South Dakota comparison at this point! It’s driving my host family nuts because a) it’s really noisy and b) it makes for pretty cold days (again, relatively speaking), particularly when one is outside. The bad part is that the wind pretty easily messes with the power lines, and we’ve had more than a couple power outages in the area that last for an hour or two.
Yesterday (Thursday) a group of six of us got together at Brook’s (one of those of us who went to the megachurch) house for the first of hopefully many small group Bible studies. There were at least two people who are going to come next week for sure but couldn’t make it yesterday. We talked a little bit about our faith lives/stories and then started on the gospel of John. Next week we’ll be meeting again, and judging by how well it went this past time I’m sure it’s going to be a good group. Seems to be a pretty interesting mix of people, theological perspective-wise, so we’ll see how it goes.
This weekend I’m laying low, making some more plans for upcoming travels and catching up on homework. If you’re reading this, let me know how YOU are! I’d love to hear from you. =)
As always, thanks for prayers and support. God bless!
Sunday, February 1
Mega-fiesta, MEGA-church, and MEGA travel plans!
*note* - This post was written on Friday, but due to technical difficulties I couldn't get it up on the blog. As such, all the "tomorrows" and "todays" should be read accordingly. ;)
Hey everyone! Life down here is picking up speed again. I’m starting to stay up late doing homework, and my classes are all pretty good so far. Every week I feel more and more like this is going to be a great semester. That having been said, I’ve been here for a good three weeks. Before I know it, I’ll be at the three months left point. I know that’s a ridiculously glass-is-half-empty perspective, but I just had the thought the other day. Time is flying!
Palmares last Friday was pretty fun. Many of the ticos that I met last semester who found out I was going to be around in January told me that I just HAD to come out to Palmares. It’s more or less like a state fair in the states, but the whole country comes to celebrate (and a few foreigners show up, I imagine). They had a rodeo arena, a couple mobile clubs set up (just elaborate scaffolding with TVs and lights all over), amusement park-style rides, and of course, carnie food! Our group got there at about 5:15, which was probably a mistake because a) most ticos weren’t getting off work until then, which meant most people weren’t going to show up for an hour or so, and b) there was a soccer game that night between the Costa Rica national team and Panama, which didn’t get over until about 9:30. So. . .basically we did a lot of not a whole lot for the first few hours we were there. One thing I do regret there was riding a rickety old roller coaster that looked like it took two hours to build and ten minutes to design. Why did I ride it? Because it was there. Why do I regret it? I’ve never had a stiffer neck (and for like four days straight!)
I would say the best part of Palmares for me was much like my Café Britt trip – I got to meet a bunch of new people who I hadn’t before, and made some good friends (and strengthened friendships I had already made). In some ways I think it helped that I was the only yearlong student in the group that went (not that I don’t like my fellow “veterans” – love you guys!). Ironically, amidst the insanity (and I think it would be fair were I to say debauchery) of a Costa Rican Mardi Gras type party a few of us started talking about our faith lives and how that fit in to a life studying abroad. Two of the girls I met had a friend back home who was in the USAC-Heredia program last year (as in before I was here) and told them about a church near Heredia that she loved. Ok, let’s try that! we said.
The church is called “Oasis de la Esperanza” (Oasis of Hope). I asked Jessica about it Saturday night, and she told me a little bit about it, mostly that it was BIG. She was right. So, Sunday afternoon about seven of us met up at our university to head over to the church. Turns out I should have asked Jessica where it is, because the girls who had heard about it only knew the name. We were going to get a cab, but then they said the remembered it was in San José, so we took a bus to San José and figured we’d take a cab from there. Turns out the church is actually in Moravia, which is physically closer to Heredia but one must go practically through San José to get there (you can google map it, if you’re really that curious). Long story short, we ended up spending a lot on transportation that night.
Anyway, the church itself was interesting. I’d never been to a megachurch before, but this certainly constituted as one. Apparently they have their own elementary and high schools, and nine sanctuaries the size of the one I’m used to in Jessica’s church in San Rafael. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really enjoy the service that much. As I suspected, the sheer size of it made it feel a bit impersonal. It was so packed when we got there that we had to go upstairs and sit on some balcony level bleacher seats. The music was very overwhelming (in a “turn it down!!” sort of way – I like to hear myself and my neighbor singing), and the grand majority of the songs didn’t have the words posted on their giant projector screens so we couldn’t really sing them anyway. The scripture reading took a very long time, thanks to the pastor’s astronomically energetic articulation of each and every word – three times. After reading the passage (the woman who is cured after touching Jesus’ cloak), the pastor launched into a spirited discourse on how the physical healing power of Jesus is yours to reach out and seize. Then he invited all who wished to receive God’s healing power to come forward (about half the church did!), for which an army of prayers (as in praying people) came into the sanctuary to embrace and pray with each and every person who had come forward. The pastor began directing those praying to those waiting, and even started some Benny Hinn-style K.O.s including some violently convulsing people on the floor – all that stuff that makes us Lutherans feel right at home!
Our group overall felt pretty good about the service, although ultimately they decided to do some more exploring for other church homes (if nothing else for the commute). Some said they’d like to check out “my” church (Jessica’s in San Rafael). On a side note, I learned one of the girls in our program (who was not with us that day) has a host family that takes her to a Lutheran church every weekend somewhere here in Heredia! I asked her about it when I saw her this week, and she said she could see if she could get me directions to it. Apparently it’s a daughter church of the one in San José. Either way, I hopefully will have visited that church within a couple weeks and let you all know how it is. Also, some of us USAC students are going to start a small group Bible study this coming week, so hopefully that will turn out well!
On the home front, the paint is looking good. Luis has got most of downstairs done, and is currently working on Jessica’s room upstairs. Our living room is now a mix of pink and beige, while our laundry room is like a mix of two shades of pale green. Eli is very satisfied and sporadically exclaims something along the lines of “Oh, what a beautiful living room we have!” She got a little upset with me this week when I revealed to her that I refer to her as “Eli” when skyping with my parents. She interrupted midsentence: “Who?” “Eli,” I said. “I don’t know an Eli who lives here – I only know mami!” I gently let her know that I don’t call her mami (“mommy,” which is used here in parent-child relationships forever) when talking to my parents because my REAL mom would get jealous. She forgives me (*whew!*).
This past week Jessica put on a DVD to watch with me of a Colombian comedian whom she and Eric absolutely love. He was certainly funny, but oh – my – gosh he spoke SO FAST. It’s more than a little frustrating to watch a comedian deliver a punch line, hear Angie and Jessica burst out laughing, and afterwards have Jessica pause it to explain what was just said. I did understand a good deal of it, but it was extremely difficult to keep up with him. We’ve only got through an hour of the show, which is apparently three hours long, and there’s a whole other DVD after that one. Wish me luck!
I’ve got one more piece of exciting news before I’m off, so bear with me (this really turned out to be a longer post than I thought it would be). This past Wednesday, the two Ashleys from last semester and I went to San José to get bus tickets for some traveling! I’m now officially going to be in Nicaragua with both of them from February 20th to March 1st (we have yet to plan what we’ll be up to). Also, even more exciting, two of us (the other has a beach trip planned with her host family) will be heading up to Guatemala on April 4th (with two overnight stops in Managua, Nicaragua and San Salvador, El Salvador) and coming back the 15th. In Guatemala we’ll be staying in Antigua, the home to one of the most flamboyant and exciting cultural celebrations over holy week in the entire world. I’ll be updating you on details when I find out more, but for now go ahead and Google holy week in Antigua, Guatemala and I’m sure you’ll find some cool stuff. These trips are not going to do much for allowing me a lucrative daily budget while I’m here in Heredia (or for when I get back home, for that matter!), but I am highly anticipating both of them and I’m sure they’ll both leave those of us traveling with life-long memories!
Ok, I’ll hang it up for today. Tomorrow morning Jessica and I are going to Guanacaste for the day with a group from her church. I know how awful you all feel back home about me not having been to a beach yet while I’ve been down here, but I certainly think it’s about time! =)
Have a wonderful week. Thanks as always for your prayers and support. ¡Pura Vida!
Hey everyone! Life down here is picking up speed again. I’m starting to stay up late doing homework, and my classes are all pretty good so far. Every week I feel more and more like this is going to be a great semester. That having been said, I’ve been here for a good three weeks. Before I know it, I’ll be at the three months left point. I know that’s a ridiculously glass-is-half-empty perspective, but I just had the thought the other day. Time is flying!
Palmares last Friday was pretty fun. Many of the ticos that I met last semester who found out I was going to be around in January told me that I just HAD to come out to Palmares. It’s more or less like a state fair in the states, but the whole country comes to celebrate (and a few foreigners show up, I imagine). They had a rodeo arena, a couple mobile clubs set up (just elaborate scaffolding with TVs and lights all over), amusement park-style rides, and of course, carnie food! Our group got there at about 5:15, which was probably a mistake because a) most ticos weren’t getting off work until then, which meant most people weren’t going to show up for an hour or so, and b) there was a soccer game that night between the Costa Rica national team and Panama, which didn’t get over until about 9:30. So. . .basically we did a lot of not a whole lot for the first few hours we were there. One thing I do regret there was riding a rickety old roller coaster that looked like it took two hours to build and ten minutes to design. Why did I ride it? Because it was there. Why do I regret it? I’ve never had a stiffer neck (and for like four days straight!)
I would say the best part of Palmares for me was much like my Café Britt trip – I got to meet a bunch of new people who I hadn’t before, and made some good friends (and strengthened friendships I had already made). In some ways I think it helped that I was the only yearlong student in the group that went (not that I don’t like my fellow “veterans” – love you guys!). Ironically, amidst the insanity (and I think it would be fair were I to say debauchery) of a Costa Rican Mardi Gras type party a few of us started talking about our faith lives and how that fit in to a life studying abroad. Two of the girls I met had a friend back home who was in the USAC-Heredia program last year (as in before I was here) and told them about a church near Heredia that she loved. Ok, let’s try that! we said.
The church is called “Oasis de la Esperanza” (Oasis of Hope). I asked Jessica about it Saturday night, and she told me a little bit about it, mostly that it was BIG. She was right. So, Sunday afternoon about seven of us met up at our university to head over to the church. Turns out I should have asked Jessica where it is, because the girls who had heard about it only knew the name. We were going to get a cab, but then they said the remembered it was in San José, so we took a bus to San José and figured we’d take a cab from there. Turns out the church is actually in Moravia, which is physically closer to Heredia but one must go practically through San José to get there (you can google map it, if you’re really that curious). Long story short, we ended up spending a lot on transportation that night.
Anyway, the church itself was interesting. I’d never been to a megachurch before, but this certainly constituted as one. Apparently they have their own elementary and high schools, and nine sanctuaries the size of the one I’m used to in Jessica’s church in San Rafael. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really enjoy the service that much. As I suspected, the sheer size of it made it feel a bit impersonal. It was so packed when we got there that we had to go upstairs and sit on some balcony level bleacher seats. The music was very overwhelming (in a “turn it down!!” sort of way – I like to hear myself and my neighbor singing), and the grand majority of the songs didn’t have the words posted on their giant projector screens so we couldn’t really sing them anyway. The scripture reading took a very long time, thanks to the pastor’s astronomically energetic articulation of each and every word – three times. After reading the passage (the woman who is cured after touching Jesus’ cloak), the pastor launched into a spirited discourse on how the physical healing power of Jesus is yours to reach out and seize. Then he invited all who wished to receive God’s healing power to come forward (about half the church did!), for which an army of prayers (as in praying people) came into the sanctuary to embrace and pray with each and every person who had come forward. The pastor began directing those praying to those waiting, and even started some Benny Hinn-style K.O.s including some violently convulsing people on the floor – all that stuff that makes us Lutherans feel right at home!
Our group overall felt pretty good about the service, although ultimately they decided to do some more exploring for other church homes (if nothing else for the commute). Some said they’d like to check out “my” church (Jessica’s in San Rafael). On a side note, I learned one of the girls in our program (who was not with us that day) has a host family that takes her to a Lutheran church every weekend somewhere here in Heredia! I asked her about it when I saw her this week, and she said she could see if she could get me directions to it. Apparently it’s a daughter church of the one in San José. Either way, I hopefully will have visited that church within a couple weeks and let you all know how it is. Also, some of us USAC students are going to start a small group Bible study this coming week, so hopefully that will turn out well!
On the home front, the paint is looking good. Luis has got most of downstairs done, and is currently working on Jessica’s room upstairs. Our living room is now a mix of pink and beige, while our laundry room is like a mix of two shades of pale green. Eli is very satisfied and sporadically exclaims something along the lines of “Oh, what a beautiful living room we have!” She got a little upset with me this week when I revealed to her that I refer to her as “Eli” when skyping with my parents. She interrupted midsentence: “Who?” “Eli,” I said. “I don’t know an Eli who lives here – I only know mami!” I gently let her know that I don’t call her mami (“mommy,” which is used here in parent-child relationships forever) when talking to my parents because my REAL mom would get jealous. She forgives me (*whew!*).
This past week Jessica put on a DVD to watch with me of a Colombian comedian whom she and Eric absolutely love. He was certainly funny, but oh – my – gosh he spoke SO FAST. It’s more than a little frustrating to watch a comedian deliver a punch line, hear Angie and Jessica burst out laughing, and afterwards have Jessica pause it to explain what was just said. I did understand a good deal of it, but it was extremely difficult to keep up with him. We’ve only got through an hour of the show, which is apparently three hours long, and there’s a whole other DVD after that one. Wish me luck!
I’ve got one more piece of exciting news before I’m off, so bear with me (this really turned out to be a longer post than I thought it would be). This past Wednesday, the two Ashleys from last semester and I went to San José to get bus tickets for some traveling! I’m now officially going to be in Nicaragua with both of them from February 20th to March 1st (we have yet to plan what we’ll be up to). Also, even more exciting, two of us (the other has a beach trip planned with her host family) will be heading up to Guatemala on April 4th (with two overnight stops in Managua, Nicaragua and San Salvador, El Salvador) and coming back the 15th. In Guatemala we’ll be staying in Antigua, the home to one of the most flamboyant and exciting cultural celebrations over holy week in the entire world. I’ll be updating you on details when I find out more, but for now go ahead and Google holy week in Antigua, Guatemala and I’m sure you’ll find some cool stuff. These trips are not going to do much for allowing me a lucrative daily budget while I’m here in Heredia (or for when I get back home, for that matter!), but I am highly anticipating both of them and I’m sure they’ll both leave those of us traveling with life-long memories!
Ok, I’ll hang it up for today. Tomorrow morning Jessica and I are going to Guanacaste for the day with a group from her church. I know how awful you all feel back home about me not having been to a beach yet while I’ve been down here, but I certainly think it’s about time! =)
Have a wonderful week. Thanks as always for your prayers and support. ¡Pura Vida!
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