Most of Costa Rica shut down - or at least slowed down - last week for Holy Week. My school was closed for the week as were the other girls sites so we kept ourselves busy!
Saturday: We had another family movie day. This time we went to Multiplaza Escazu, an enormous, upscale mall about 20 minutes outside San Jose. We went to see The Hunger Games (so good!) because we have all flown through the books in the last few weeks. (I'm team Peeta all the way!)
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| #1 Fans! |
Sunday: For Palm Sunday, I went to mass at St. Francis where we had a little procession through the campus with our palms and a really nice liturgy with Friay Jorge. He says a wonderful mass, and Palm Sunday was beautiful. All the other friars, along with members of the third order, go "on mission" for Holy Week, meaning they go to rural communities that don't have enough clergy to officiate services, so Jorge was responsible for everything in Moravia this week! Later in the afternoon, we went to another Saprissa game and stood in the craziest fan section. We escaped early, but the police literally barricade the fans who stand there in until the opossing team has left the stadium to avoid altercations. Afterwards our friend Mary led us to the original Chifrijo bar/resturant in Tibas, the town next to ours. I had my first chifrijo, which is a dish with pork, beans, and a yummy salsa served with tortilla chips. So good!
Monday: Four of our six fellow Francis Corps Volunteers came down on Monday from Syracuse where they are doing their year of service. We were really excited to spend time with the girls, whom we haven't seen since orientation but who we Skype with about once a month. We just hung out on Monday and caught up on our placements, community happenings, and what life's like in Syracuse and Moravia.
Tuesday: We hopped a bus to Puerto Viejo, a small town in the province of Limon on the Carribean coast. It was our first trip to the Carribean side of the country and the view from the bus was noticably different than going south! The landscape was distinct and we passed a lot of banana plantations and produce distribution centers. I must have seen hundred of Chiquita Banana logos! When we arrived in Puerto Viejo we walked about 20 minutes to our hostel, a spot called Rockin J's which is just that - rockin'. Literally - we slept in hammocks! When we arrived we put on our bathing suits and walked down to the beach in the rain carrying nothing since the clouds were quite forboding. It's a good thing, too, because we got stuck in a torrential downpour. Margie and I actually played outside in it for a while - I mean, when else do you just happen to be in a bathing suit when it's raining and it's warm out! It was so fun :)
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| Margie's bed |
Wednesday: We spent Wednesday on the beach, which was very different from the beach on the Pacific coast. The shore itself was narrower and the sand was a very different texture. The waves were great, though, and there were a lot of surfers. The sun wasn't out all day which made the heat bareable and saved our skin from getting burned. Later that evening we enjoyed happy hour and a typical Limon dinner of "rice and beans" (yup, it's name is in English), which is an Afro-Carribean dish with rice and red beans cooked in coconut milk. Yum!
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| left our mark at the hostel! |
Thursday: Our bus home was on Holy Thursday since we wanted to be back in Moravia for Triduum happenings. We went to mass at St Francis in the evening. Instead of a whole-community foot washing, Fray Jorge had twelve men in the altar with him throughout the whole service, and he washed their feet. It was a nice service, but of course we were nudging each other and exchanging "where are the women??" glances. At the end of the service, he pointed out the visiting Syracuse volunteers to the congregation and proudly explained who they were and talked about how FrancisCorps is a great example of living the Gospel. It was really nice to hear and to see him so happy to have us there!
Friday: We rallied early for the Viernes Santo procession in San Jose. We arrived at the starting point and followed the whole procession for about two hours. It ended outside the Catherdral, where there was a little theatrical reenactment of the Passion and some beautiful music. There were SO many people all around, but somehow we managed to have great views of the whole event. Afterwards we went to Wendy's for an energy boost because it was literally the only place open --besides the other US based fast food chains in San Jose. Later that evening we went to church at San Vincente in Moravia and watched the beginning of the second procession "to the tomb," which was quite somber.
Saturday: On Saturday Molly and I had an adventurous day running around and exploring our neighborhood and collecting firewood from a park. We cleaned the house and did the shopping for Easter while the rest of the girls went zip-lining. When they got home we had dinner and had a little bonfire (our own versin of the Easter Vigil fire!).
Sunday: We all dressed up and went to Easter mass at St. Francis, then came home and cooked and ate away the rest of the day. First we made brunch - mimosas, gallo pinto, pancakes, potatoes, and eggs. Later in the afternoon, Friar Jorge and Yamy surprised us with a visit, so we whipped up some platanos, guacamole, and pico de gallo, to go with their chicken. Even later (after watching - and crying through - the movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) we made homemade empanadas! Overall it was a delicious day, shared with great friends.
Phew, that was long! But it was a busy and very fun week. I hope you had a blessed, beautiful, Easter!
