Grecia and Sarchi

Today I went to Sarchi to purchase my two main souvenirs of my trip.  I've been wanting the traditional Costa Rican rocking chairs that I've seen around.  They are extremely comfortable and I thought they'd be the perfect purchase to remind me of my trip here. Sarchi is a town known for it's furniture.  It's where the traditional oxcarts are made and hand painted.  I wanted to purchase two of the awesome rocking chairs (who wants to rock alone, right?) and to have them shipped back to the U.S.

On the way to Sarchi we passed through Grecia and saw this amazing church, Iglesia de la Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercy), made entirely of pieces of red sheet metal. It has been a landmark in Grecia for many years and any directions given in this community always start with, "From the red church...."

 

Our guide (Layne's Costa Rican cousin, Rafa) told us that this church houses the oldest organ in Central America.  It was a beautiful church and after researching it, I found that the red sheet metal and  ironwork was shipped to Costa Rica from Belgium.  To me, it does have an European "flair" to it.

Once we arrived in Sarchi, Rafa went into the store to negotiate the price of the chairs for me.  We didn't want the store to see a gringa coming and think they could overcharge.  He was able to work it out and I was so excited to be able to buy my chairs AND have them shipped to Atlanta AND still stay about $50 under budget.  I am super excited to have these and cannot wait for them to arrive at my home so I can start using them.  Now I just to figure out where I'll put them.

After our purchase, we ate lunch at a really great restaurant.  The family has been so good to us...it was going to cost me $80 to hire someone to drive us to Sarchi and back, but having family in the area really helped out.  They offered to take us and we had an amazing day with them.  The conversation was always so easy and we laughed a lot. 

We learned a lot of interesting things about Luke and Layne's heritage through these conversations.  We learned that their Great-Grandfather, Rodrigo, was a terrible alcoholic.  Once he realized what he was doing to himself, he started Alcoholics Anonymous in Costa Rica.  Wait...what?  Yes, that's what we learned.  That Rodrigo was one of the first to get AA going here in Costa Rica.  Kudos to him! We wished we would have been able to meet him, but he lives a couple of hours away and we didn't plan to travel that far today.  I am very frustrated that we didn't have this information sooner because it would have been amazing to take Luke and Layne to meet their Great-Grandfather who is still alive and well in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, although he has suffered a leg amputation and is in a wheelchair.  Which brings me to my next point...I spent several months in a wheel chair when I broke my leg.  I cannot even imagine what life in a wheel chair must be like for someone in a developing country.  The sidewalks, when there are any, are completely uneven with holes and obstacles all over the place.  Lupe (Luke and Layne's grandfather's sister) sells real estate, but also has a degree in architecture AND in political science.  She also has the desire to build residences for the elderly here in Costa Rica and has already drawn up architectural plans.  We talked a lot about this project, and I hope to be able to help them with it in the future.

After lunch, they took us to their house in Escazu where we met more family members!  It really, really saddened me that we were just meeting them and seeing their home, which was only about 1500 meters east of ours.  They were so awesome!  We have lots of contact information and really hope to build these relationships over the coming years so that Luke and Layne will have more family in their lives than they already do.  Here's a picture of Luke and Layne's second cousin, Rafa; their Uncle William (their grandfather's brother); Layne; their Aunt Lupe, and their second cousin Patricia in front of the family's house in Escazu.

This next picture shows Layne with his Uncle William, Uncle William's wife (I feel so terrible because I forgot her name), and his second cousin Carolina.  (Fun Fact:  Uncle William, his wife, his daughter, AND his son are all dentists.  Can you believe it?)

So, it was a fantastic day for us here in Costa Rica...I learned so much about the family's history...about my son's bloodlines and heritage...and I made so many new friends!  I really wish this had occurred earlier in the semester, but since it didn't....I guess that means we have to come back to Costa Rica really soon!