Beginning the Bucket List

A few weeks back, my community created a Bucket List of the things we wanted to do together before leaving Costa Rica. We wanted to get an early start since Molly is leaving us at the end of May (ack, that's next week!) for ACE. The first item on the agenda was a visit to La Capilla de la Negrita, the national Marian shrine. We went with Yamy's family, Friar Michael, who has been staying here for the past month to learn Spanish, and Marta.

The basilica, which is located in the colonial city of Cartago, was absolutely beautiful inside and out. The story of the basilica goes that a young woman, Juana, found a black statue of Mary atop a rock one day when she went to fetch firewood. She brought it home with her, only to discover it missing later. She returned to the stone and found the statue was back in it's place. She took it home again, only for the same thing to happen over and over again. Eventually when the story reached the Bishop, the church was built around this miraculous stone. Every year, people make a pilgrimage on foot from all over Costa Rica to visit the Basilica on August 2, the day the statue was first discovered. After making the walk, they enter the church on their knees bringing all sorts of offerings and bathing in the holy waters to heal their ailments. Even during mass, men and women enter the church on their knees and 'walk' from the entrance to the altar as a prayer of intercession to the Virgin. At first it stuck me a bit odd that people coming down the center aisle on their knees mid-mass, but it's an oddly beautiful devotion.

After hearing mass and exploring the grounds of the basilica, we got back on the bus that Yamy had rented for the day and headed to some beautiful miradores (look-outs). We were on and off the bus seeing ruins of old churches, breathtaking views, and even ended up in the midst of a feast day procession in the rural Valle del Orosi. We found ourselves stuck in the traffic, so the five gringas and Yamy hopped off the bus to see what was going on. We landed ourselves in the line for a spalsh of holy water from the parish priest. He was actively yelling at us to get out of the way, but his right hand man implored him to "Echele a la gringa, Padre" (Get the gringa, Father!), so we ended up with a blessing after all.

Echele!

the girls :)

Later last week, we threw another despedida (goodbye party) for some of our gringo student teacher friends whose time is up here in CR. We're sad to see them go, but grateful that we have such a beautiful house and yart to host a fun little sendoff for them.


At school last week we celebrated Dia del agricultor (Agruculture Day). My group and our neighborhing class were responsible for coordinating the assembly for the whole department. After the traditional flag salute and singing of the national anthem, two of our students put on a puppet show about farming; they did a great job! Afterwards we had a little "feria" where students went around to different tables tasting fruits and veggies. I must say, the moms outdid themselves and provided an incredible spread of fruits. The day was certainly a success, and we all looked the part in our "campesino" costumes!

The set and trees we gave away to all the students

Puppet show!

This past weekend the four of us were super busy painting a mural at the daycare where Margie works. Nicole comissioned some students from St. Francis to volunteer their time and talents to plan and paint two walls in the daycare - one of an underwater scene and the other of a Costa Rican jungle. Though they took care of the preparations drawing of the scenes, we all helped paint. I must say, they turned out great! Even though painting is not one of my strongest suits, I realized that two years of doing daily arts and crafts has certainly paid off!


Last night, we checked off another item on our Bucket List - "wine and chocolate night" came after dinner and while we watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. We talked about the biblical symbols and allegory as we watched and enjoyed some guilty pleasure treats after two longs days of painting. We've still got a few more items to go before Molly ships off to Notre Dame next week, so we better get moving!

One last thing...do you know what this is? I sure didn't before coming to Costa Rica. This fruit is called granadilla. You eat that slimy white part and black seeds on the inside. It's a bit tart but tastes delicious as juice (with lots of sugar, of course, as all the "natural frescos" are prepared). Friar Michael's first reaction to this was that it looked less like fruit and more like space food...I can't say I disagree!

Til next time...thanks for following along as always!