Getting Ubicated

Just wanted to share a quick update about this week before I start work tomorrow! Jordan and Friar Rick were with us all week and took us to our worksites and to explore Moravia and San Jose. We got to know the bus system, saw where each of us is going to work, and went out for some wonderful meals. I’m so grateful to both of them for being so attentive and helpful to us as we got oriented (or as they might say, ubicated*) this week.

*Ubicated is a made-up word in English based on the verb 'ubicar' in Spanish (to locate, find, get situated). There is a running debate on the validity of it in English among the friars...

The highlight of the week was our trip to a Tex-Mex restaurant called Lonestar. We went with Yammi, the Assistant Director of St. Francis College and our own personal “superwoman” for this year and Marta, the the Physical Education teacher at SFC. Yammi and Marta know the owner of Lonestar well, and he gave us a brief history/poli sci lesson on Costa Rica before offering us mimosas on the house. 

On Friday evening the entire FrancisCorps Costa Rica community gathered in our home for a house blessing. In attendance were the friars, Yammi, a former FC volunteer, and two secular Franciscans, Friar Rick, and Jordan. We got to know some new friends who will be part of our greater support network while here in Moravia.

On Saturday, Friar Rick and Jordan were gone not 4 hours when we had our first almost-disaster. For a brief moment (read: a few hours) we thought my key had broken in the padlock on our front gate. Not one of us could get our keys to open it! So, we marched down the high school hoping to find the friars. Instead, we found our new hero, JoseMaría, one of the guards. With his help we got in touch with the right people who eventually solved our problem with a little bit of WD-40. Disaster averted!

Today, we took off on foot for Heredia, a town north of Moravia where Nicole studied abroad. We walked to Moravia’s neighboring town, Tibas, where in true tico style we found our way to the right bus stop by asking 4-5 people we found along the way. See, in Costa Rica, the concept of street addresses is a bit foreign. So instead of saying, “Oh! That stop is on the corner of Street X and Avenue Y,” a Tico is likely to say, “Well, go down here about 300 meters til you see a park, then go down that street til you see the mural on the wall and then it will be right there.” Sometimes, it feels like we literally live ‘where the streets have no names.’  In fact, if I ever need to tell someone how to get to my house, I’d say “I live in the yellow house with the green gate behind St. Francis College.” (To answer your question, I think most mail goes to a post office. Ours goes to SFC.)

Gringas providing entertainment for the birthday party!

So once we got to Heredia, we had the chance to meet two of Nicole’s tico friends, José and Josue. Josue took us to a birthday part for his friend’s aunt up on a dairy farm in the mountains. Talk about a random sequence of events! Here we are, four gringas walking into this house expecting lunch with only a small bag of cookies as a peace offering. Luckily, like all the Ticos we met so far, the family was more than generous and welcoming. In every place we visited this week, the people offering to be of service in any way they could and were genuinely happy to have us there. Today was no different. After serving us lunch (even though everyone else had eaten hours before!) we were invited to dance and walk around the farm and chat with Josue’s friends and the family. 

First day of work tomorrow...please keep us all in your prayers as we get to know our new coworkers, students, clients, and commutes!