Today is kindof lonely for me. It's the first day in the past 20 years that I didn't do an Easter basket for my boys. That makes me very sad and I find myself wishing very strongly that I was with my family today. While in the store on our last grocery run of this trip (Wal-Mart), I thought about buying Layne some Easter goodies, but I could not find one, and I mean NOT ONE piece of evidence that it was Easter. There were no baskets, no chocolate bunnies, no egg dye kits....and very few people. I mentioned in a previous post about Semana Santa (Holy Week) and how serious the event is taken here. Even though I am sad and lonely today, I realize that being with family is what I miss most about this holiday...not the candy or the Easter baskets. I really like that Costa Rica doesn't turn every holiday into a commercial circus, but rather focuses on the true meaning of this holiday. I hope to continue that when I return to the U.S., but I can't make any promises about staying away from chocolate.
My landlady shared a site with me (http://costarica.com/culture/semana-santa/) that really goes into the culture here surrounding the holiday....I thought I'd share the article with you.....It says....
"For Costa Ricans, religious celebrations are very important, none more so than Semana Santa or Holy Week, that celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Most locals either get together with their families to participate in religious celebrations, or head out to the beaches for a vacation.
For many Costa Ricans, Semana Santa is a time for reflection and worship with family. The Catholic Church in each town organizes traditional masses and processions which take place on Holy Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Each procession is a dramatic reenactment of Jesus’ journey through Jerusalem to his crucifixion and resurrection.
The participants dress up and act like armies of Roman soldiers and others who took part in Jesus’ journey toward death. Some of the common characters seen in these parades are angels, Mary Magdalene, Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary, the apostles and, of course, Jesus. The actors perform as a promise that they have lived their last year free of sin, following all of the church’s teachings. The procession is a very serious event, and spectators line the streets to mourn and pray.
At family gatherings special meals are prepared. During Holy Week, the tradition is to eat seafood, complying with the Catholic practice of not eating meat on Fridays during Lent. Delicious dishes such as rice and shrimp, ceviche and fried fish are prepared. Various desserts such as empanadas, pudding and jelly are all made from chiverre, a big squash that looks like a watermelon and is in season during this time. The flesh is cooked with brown sugar blocks.
Most Costa Ricans that are not at home celebrating religious traditions pack up and drive to the beach. The beach towns become overcrowded, and hotels are completely booked months in advance. Travelers on roads leading to the coast can sit in traffic for hours. However, San Jose and other metropolitan areas become deserted as all government institutions, schools and banks close down from Thursday to Sunday, or for the entire week in some cases.
During Holy Week, a Dry Law is in place, meaning that at midnight on Wednesday all bars and liquor stores close. Catholics are not supposed to drink during the mourning of Jesus, not until he has resurrected on Sunday. While the majority of the population is Catholic, many stock up on liquor and beer for the upcoming weekend. At the beach it is possible to find a clandestine bar open, but no alcohol can be officially served anywhere in the city.
A stealthy drink or two aside, many locals hold strongly to religious traditions, and superstitions are alive and well. Many don’t swim in the ocean on Holy Thursday or Friday. People say you can drown because God is angry. Some of the more superstitious believe you will become a fish if you get in the water on Holy Friday. It is also thought that the earth gets hot, causing more earthquakes during this time. On the positive side, it is widely agreed upon that the best sunsets of the year happen during Holy Week.
Whether at home with family, or on vacation at the beach, Costa Ricans share a great respect and passion for the celebration of Easter and Semana Santa."
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Semana Santa
This is Holy Week in Costa Rica, the week before Easter, and it's pretty quiet around here. I'd been warned not to travel during this week as it is when everyone else in the country travels. So, Layne and I have been hanging around the house catching up on some much needed sleep.
I thought I'd take this opportunity to fill you in on some other random things...
Bus rides
I've mentioned in previous posts that the driving here is crazy. I would never, in a million years, attempt to drive in this country. This past weekend, when we were on our way back from Manuel Antonio, our seats just happened to be the front seats in the bus. Well, when we arrived in San Jose and the bus had to make a lot of turns, we literally almost hit a child. It was so scary! There was a family crossing the street and the bus was making a turn. The driver didn't even slow down to make the turn until he had to slam on his brakes from almost hitting the child. We couldn't even see the child anymore and wondered if he'd been hit. We watched as the parents grabbed the child and yanked him out from under the front bumper of the bus. It was really traumatic.
TV News
I haven't watched TV very much since I've been here, but I'll catch it from time to time if I'm in a restaurant or a waiting area somewhere. The other day I saw a report of a motorcyclist who had been hit and killed during an accident. On the news was the scene of the accident and the dead motorcyclist just lying in the street. I was caught off guard and realized how much the U.S. media shields us from images like that. I can't think of a time when a real live news report in the U.S. showed pictures of the dead body at the scene. It was kindof like a train wreck when I saw it here...I knew I shouldn't look, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.
Scams
Layne has had his fill of people "scamming" us here. I have to say that I don't think it's happened as much as I anticipated it happening, but there have been a few occasions when a taxi driver takes advantage of us. In Costa Rica, it is the law for every taxi driver to have a meter in his car. They all start at the same rate and you can watch it increase as the driver takes you to your destination. There have been a couple of times when we got into a taxi that did not have a meter. I've always asked BEFORE he starts driving...where is the meter? On a couple of occasions I've been told that he didn't have a meter, but that the charge was a set amount per kilometer. Because I knew about how far we were from our destination, I could quickly do the math in my head and know how much would be fair. Last week, though, when we were coming back from Manuel Antonio, we had to grab a cab from the bus station to our house. Before we got into the cab, I asked where his meter was. I was told that it was in the car. Hmmm...I was suspicious, but we got in anyway. As he started driving, I again asked for the meter and that's when the driver told me it was a "rate per kilometer." I secured the amount with him and put the issue to rest. About 5 minutes later (this is how Layne does things...he thinks about them for a few minutes before speaking) Layne says to the driver, "No Meter...No Scam!" I was sitting in the back seat (Layne was in the front) and the driver (who didn't speak English) asked, "Que?" Again, Layne said, "No Meter...No Scam!".....I just laughed at him...and assured him that I'd already talked with the driver about the rate. Layne was just mad. He said he's sick of people trying to take advantage of us...poor guy.
Uniformity
I love things to be even. I like routine, I like to be on time, and I like to see parallel lines. Well, here in Costa Rica, those things are very difficult to find. I was looking at a stairway the other day and I noticed that the entire set of stairs was all messed up. It was made of many different types of materials, the railings (when there were any) were at all different heights and angles, and the steps themselves had no rhyme or reason to the various heights. For my mathematical mind this is a nightmare. I very much like how things in the U.S. are built to code. There are standards and specifications that have to be met and I miss that very much.
Noise
Before I came here I read about how Costa Ricans view people from the United States as loud and rude. I was determined not to fit that stereotype so I have kept my head down and remained very timid while here. However, one day my friends and I went to the mall where we had a few drinks at Chili's, talked about our lives, and laughed a lot. As we were heading to the exit of the mall, we were still just cutting up and laughing when a lady sitting on a nearby bench shhhh'd us! We couldn't believe it. We were really just minding our own business, but were a group of girls laughing like people do in the mall. I was a little embarrassed that she shhhh'd us, but I was a little ticked off about it, too. Who is she to tell us we can't laugh and joke in the mall, of all places? Grrrr.
A desensitized Layne
One day, when we were at Jaco Beach, I saw a pair of red parrots flying. It was exciting to me and I pointed them out to Layne. He shrugged it off as no big deal. I couldn't believe he did that and I told him that I thought it was so surreal to actually see parrots flying in the wild. He complimented me when he told me that he supposed, due to the number of things I've exposed him to in his life, that he just isn't surprised by things anymore. That made me feel good because I always worked hard to share this beautiful world with my boys. I guess by exposing them to so many things, they are not shocked when they see something as unusual as parrots flying in the wild (I'm still blown away by them, though!).
Laly's
There is a local place that we go to eat from time to time called Laly's. It's just a little restaurant, but we like the typical food there and have visited it more than any other restaurant here in Escazu. When my sister was here last week, I mentioned to Layne (in front of my sister) that we should take her to Laly's. She asked, "What's Laly's?"....and Layne replied with, "it's where you go to get your adverbs." For those of you who ever watched Schoolhouse Rock, I hope you laughed as much as I did at that! He's too funny!
I thought I'd take this opportunity to fill you in on some other random things...
Bus rides
I've mentioned in previous posts that the driving here is crazy. I would never, in a million years, attempt to drive in this country. This past weekend, when we were on our way back from Manuel Antonio, our seats just happened to be the front seats in the bus. Well, when we arrived in San Jose and the bus had to make a lot of turns, we literally almost hit a child. It was so scary! There was a family crossing the street and the bus was making a turn. The driver didn't even slow down to make the turn until he had to slam on his brakes from almost hitting the child. We couldn't even see the child anymore and wondered if he'd been hit. We watched as the parents grabbed the child and yanked him out from under the front bumper of the bus. It was really traumatic.
TV News
I haven't watched TV very much since I've been here, but I'll catch it from time to time if I'm in a restaurant or a waiting area somewhere. The other day I saw a report of a motorcyclist who had been hit and killed during an accident. On the news was the scene of the accident and the dead motorcyclist just lying in the street. I was caught off guard and realized how much the U.S. media shields us from images like that. I can't think of a time when a real live news report in the U.S. showed pictures of the dead body at the scene. It was kindof like a train wreck when I saw it here...I knew I shouldn't look, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.
Scams
Layne has had his fill of people "scamming" us here. I have to say that I don't think it's happened as much as I anticipated it happening, but there have been a few occasions when a taxi driver takes advantage of us. In Costa Rica, it is the law for every taxi driver to have a meter in his car. They all start at the same rate and you can watch it increase as the driver takes you to your destination. There have been a couple of times when we got into a taxi that did not have a meter. I've always asked BEFORE he starts driving...where is the meter? On a couple of occasions I've been told that he didn't have a meter, but that the charge was a set amount per kilometer. Because I knew about how far we were from our destination, I could quickly do the math in my head and know how much would be fair. Last week, though, when we were coming back from Manuel Antonio, we had to grab a cab from the bus station to our house. Before we got into the cab, I asked where his meter was. I was told that it was in the car. Hmmm...I was suspicious, but we got in anyway. As he started driving, I again asked for the meter and that's when the driver told me it was a "rate per kilometer." I secured the amount with him and put the issue to rest. About 5 minutes later (this is how Layne does things...he thinks about them for a few minutes before speaking) Layne says to the driver, "No Meter...No Scam!" I was sitting in the back seat (Layne was in the front) and the driver (who didn't speak English) asked, "Que?" Again, Layne said, "No Meter...No Scam!".....I just laughed at him...and assured him that I'd already talked with the driver about the rate. Layne was just mad. He said he's sick of people trying to take advantage of us...poor guy.
Uniformity
I love things to be even. I like routine, I like to be on time, and I like to see parallel lines. Well, here in Costa Rica, those things are very difficult to find. I was looking at a stairway the other day and I noticed that the entire set of stairs was all messed up. It was made of many different types of materials, the railings (when there were any) were at all different heights and angles, and the steps themselves had no rhyme or reason to the various heights. For my mathematical mind this is a nightmare. I very much like how things in the U.S. are built to code. There are standards and specifications that have to be met and I miss that very much.
Noise
Before I came here I read about how Costa Ricans view people from the United States as loud and rude. I was determined not to fit that stereotype so I have kept my head down and remained very timid while here. However, one day my friends and I went to the mall where we had a few drinks at Chili's, talked about our lives, and laughed a lot. As we were heading to the exit of the mall, we were still just cutting up and laughing when a lady sitting on a nearby bench shhhh'd us! We couldn't believe it. We were really just minding our own business, but were a group of girls laughing like people do in the mall. I was a little embarrassed that she shhhh'd us, but I was a little ticked off about it, too. Who is she to tell us we can't laugh and joke in the mall, of all places? Grrrr.
A desensitized Layne
One day, when we were at Jaco Beach, I saw a pair of red parrots flying. It was exciting to me and I pointed them out to Layne. He shrugged it off as no big deal. I couldn't believe he did that and I told him that I thought it was so surreal to actually see parrots flying in the wild. He complimented me when he told me that he supposed, due to the number of things I've exposed him to in his life, that he just isn't surprised by things anymore. That made me feel good because I always worked hard to share this beautiful world with my boys. I guess by exposing them to so many things, they are not shocked when they see something as unusual as parrots flying in the wild (I'm still blown away by them, though!).
Laly's
There is a local place that we go to eat from time to time called Laly's. It's just a little restaurant, but we like the typical food there and have visited it more than any other restaurant here in Escazu. When my sister was here last week, I mentioned to Layne (in front of my sister) that we should take her to Laly's. She asked, "What's Laly's?"....and Layne replied with, "it's where you go to get your adverbs." For those of you who ever watched Schoolhouse Rock, I hope you laughed as much as I did at that! He's too funny!
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Manuel Antonio
I've been told that if you can only see one place in Costa Rica, that Manuel Antonio National Park is THE place to see. So, we finally decided to go check it out.
While we were waiting for our bus, we decided to grab a bite to eat. A lot of places serve juice with meals here, not sodas. And, it's almost always fresh fruit juice. This time, our problem was that we couldn't understand what kind of juice it was. So, they offered Layne a taste of the two options. This is the one he chose, but when a whole cup of it was served, he was very skeptical about drinking it. Even though it tasted good, he just couldn't get past these things floating in it. I can't say that I blame him. They look like fish eggs to me, but we know it's part of the fruit. Any idea what kind it was?
We took our 3 hour bus ride to Manuel Antonio and settled in for the night. The next day, we walked down to the beach and checked it out. The heat in Manuel Antonio is oppressive. In Escazu, where we've been living since January, it's a very comfortable temperature. There are no air conditioners, but a constant cool breeze and fans keep us very comfortable. This is NOT the case by the coast. I'm not even kidding when I tell you that Manuel Antonio in mid April feels like South Louisiana in mid July ON STEROIDS. For real. It was so uncomfortable, but definitely beautiful.
We reserved some spots on a boat that would take us out on a sunset cruise. I wasn't crazy about it, simply because it was crowded and they blasted loud music from the speakers, but the views of the coastline and sunset cannot be matched by any others I've ever seen.
While we were waiting for our bus, we decided to grab a bite to eat. A lot of places serve juice with meals here, not sodas. And, it's almost always fresh fruit juice. This time, our problem was that we couldn't understand what kind of juice it was. So, they offered Layne a taste of the two options. This is the one he chose, but when a whole cup of it was served, he was very skeptical about drinking it. Even though it tasted good, he just couldn't get past these things floating in it. I can't say that I blame him. They look like fish eggs to me, but we know it's part of the fruit. Any idea what kind it was?
We took our 3 hour bus ride to Manuel Antonio and settled in for the night. The next day, we walked down to the beach and checked it out. The heat in Manuel Antonio is oppressive. In Escazu, where we've been living since January, it's a very comfortable temperature. There are no air conditioners, but a constant cool breeze and fans keep us very comfortable. This is NOT the case by the coast. I'm not even kidding when I tell you that Manuel Antonio in mid April feels like South Louisiana in mid July ON STEROIDS. For real. It was so uncomfortable, but definitely beautiful.
We reserved some spots on a boat that would take us out on a sunset cruise. I wasn't crazy about it, simply because it was crowded and they blasted loud music from the speakers, but the views of the coastline and sunset cannot be matched by any others I've ever seen.
Me and my sister, Brittnay.
During the tour, we stopped to snorkel and swim in the water. The snorkeling wasn't the best. In fact, we didn't see one fish. My guess is that there were too many people because there were 3 other boats with snorkelers at the same spot, but we swam and jumped into the water from the boat. Here's Layne being brave....
He loved it so much that he decided to do it again while holding the underwater camera....here's a link to his jump.... http://youtu.be/a8AGUthtLVE
And of course, not to be outdone....I decided to jump, too....but I chose to wear a life jacket. The jump was actually pretty scary and I almost chickened out.
The evening ended with seeing several schools of dolphins...here's a link to one of the schools and you all know how I feel about schools :-)))))....
And, look at this amazing sunset (you can even see a few of the dolphins)...
The next morning, we decided to head to the national park. I'd heard amazing things about it so I was excited to actually see it. It was full of wildlife...but it was also full of people. I wasn't crazy about that part :-(
The first animals we saw when we got into the park were sloths.....
Here's a video of one of them moving around.... http://youtu.be/f-j2qBvYc9Q ...they're just a cool animal...so ugly that you can hardly tell the face from the rear end, but cool animal nonetheless. Oh, and they're a lot smaller than I imagined. These two were about the size of a regular house cat.
As we continued down the trail, we met up with this little adorable fellow and his many friends....I can just guess what he's about to say...he's thinking, "what cookies? I didn't eat any cookies!"
I'm a little afraid that this one might jump on me....
Look how cute they were scrounging for food..... http://youtu.be/i3MRN8ezJzY ...their little ears were so cute and perfect.
Lastly, after being coated with sweat, we were rewarded with these amazing views. Incidentally, this is where we stopped to snorkel the day before....
I love this pic....I think I might blow it up and frame it when we get home.
All in all, it was beautiful there. It was very, very hot so be forewarned if you decide to go. And, you can't see it in our pictures, but there were so many people there this weekend. It's the weekend before Semana Santa (Holy Week) and from what I understand, this is the time when the whole country goes to the beach, so we chose the wrong time to go. But, all in all, a beautiful place.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Arenal Volcano
I took the boys to another restaurant (Tiquicia) that had an amazing
view of San Jose…here’s a pic of them in front of the beautiful San Jose
backdrop
Here are me and the boys in front of a beautiful waterfall….
We took a day trip to Arenal Volcano. It was a LONG day, but we did so many awesome
activities! First, when we got there we
took a guided tour into the rainforest on horseback. It was Luke, Layne, me, and my sister
Brittnay. Here's a pic of me and the boys in front of Arenal Volcano. Unfortunately, clouds were covering the top of it.
We saw so many amazing things on this trip…here we are
riding our horses through the river…
Our guide thought it would be funny to have the horses stop,
then to yell to get them to run. We didn’t
think it was funny at all, because we almost fell off! But, I have to admit it was fun. He did this a LOT during our ride that day….
here's a link to the video of him doing it the first time.... http://youtu.be/d99aiUbc1bM
Our guide also stopped when he saw a poison dart frog. It’s called the “blue jean” frog because his
legs are blue. It was beautiful! Here’s a pic of our guide showing Layne where
the frog is…
And, here’s a pic of that beautiful frog.
While on the horseback ride, we came across a toucan in the
wild….watch this short video to see it…
http://youtu.be/xy0RADCiATA
After our horseback ride, we grabbed some lunch and then
headed for ziplining. Here’s a pic of
Brittnay, me, Luke, and Layne…
Here are some pics of us on the line…
And here are some links to videos of us on the line…
Trina Ziplining... http://youtu.be/QDYlrqezEhc
Luke Ziplining... http://youtu.be/2HYGjZO5YlY
Layne Ziplining... http://youtu.be/kGgRMj9vD0Q
Towards the end of the ziplining, there was rappelling down
a 130 ft cliff. I opted not to this
part, but the boys loved it…
After those strenuous activities, we rested our bones and
muscles in a natural hot spring that is heated by the volcano. There was a mixture of volcanic ash and this
spring water that we could “paint” onto our bodies. It is supposed to be full of vitamins and
minerals, and was an amazing exfoliant.
And lastly, but definitely not the least….Luke has painted
his body with volcanic ash and is hiding among the Costa Rican foliage….can you
find him in this pic?
Luke and Layne in Tortuguero
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted….I’ve had lots
going on with school and I’ve been lucky enough to have a few visitors. This post will show you some pics of the
boys. They went to Tortuguero (where
Mark and I went about a month ago) for an overnight trip. They saw some amazing things…
I’ll open it with this picture that Layne took of Luke
facing out to the Caribbean Sea…a pretty cool pic, I think. The rest of this post will include links to
videos.
Then, Luke took this video of Layne at the same place…of
course they can’t be serious.
These next two videos are kind of long…I couldn’t figure out
how to shorten them. The first one is of
them going through the village of Tortuguero (no vehicles at all on this
island)…It's kindof boring, but you can see the village and lots of people. And, of course, you can hear the narrative of Luke and Layne. If you skip to about 11 minutes on the video…they stumble
across a naturalist guide who shows them this amazing spider web that is so strong, that Luke tries to pull it down and can't. Apparently they use this web to make fishing line and nets… Oh yeah, if you're not a spider fan, you might want to skip this one...
That one really creeped me out…but I’d never seen a spider web strong enough to be made into fishing nets…so that’s kinda cool.
When they left the guide, this is what they had to say about
how awesome he was…on their way back to the boat….I thought the first part of this video was funny....the rest was kind of boring (in my opinion)
The next morning they got up really early and took a morning tour of the rainforest where they saw more monkeys…you can view them on this link....
And where they thought it was super cool that they were
getting rained on in the rain forest….
http://youtu.be/tc2HrJHeCfkOn their way back from Tortuguero, they stopped at a botanical garden. They were both very interested in tasting cocoa right off the plant...here's a video of them doing that... http://youtu.be/myDlWrteJL4
Monday, March 31, 2014
Meeting family :-)
Some of you may know that my boys are of Costa Rican heritage. Well, kindof. Their paternal grandfather was born in Panama and raised in Costa Rica. So they consider themselves to be Tico. In fact, when we went to Jaco Beach, Luke refused to wear sunscreen because, as he said, "I'm Tico! I don't need sunscreen!" And, sure enough...he got sunburned.
Well, we've been trying to hook up with some of their family who live here in Costa Rica. We were finally able to arrange a dinner so that we could meet some of them. We met Luke and Layne's second cousins, Rafa and Maria, and their Tia Lupe (Aunt Lupe). It was an awesome dinner and they were so friendly! Luke has decided he wants to try to figure out a way to move here...LOL.
Here's a pic of them....from left to right...Melissa (Rafa's wife), Rafa, Layne, Tia Lupe, Luke, me, and Maria
They said they want to try to arrange another time when we can all get together...there are about 40 family members in this area and we'd love to get to meet them all. I sure hope we can make that happen :-)
Well, we've been trying to hook up with some of their family who live here in Costa Rica. We were finally able to arrange a dinner so that we could meet some of them. We met Luke and Layne's second cousins, Rafa and Maria, and their Tia Lupe (Aunt Lupe). It was an awesome dinner and they were so friendly! Luke has decided he wants to try to figure out a way to move here...LOL.
Here's a pic of them....from left to right...Melissa (Rafa's wife), Rafa, Layne, Tia Lupe, Luke, me, and Maria
They said they want to try to arrange another time when we can all get together...there are about 40 family members in this area and we'd love to get to meet them all. I sure hope we can make that happen :-)
Surfer boys!
Luke arrived on Saturday and we headed straight for Jaco Beach. This post will have a few still shots, but mostly videos in it...they learned to surf!
First, though, I took this really tranquil pic out of my bathroom window the other morning...the colors were awesome and don't really come through in the picture, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway....
First, though, I took this really tranquil pic out of my bathroom window the other morning...the colors were awesome and don't really come through in the picture, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway....
When we first got to the beach...I took this quick video of the boys running into the water....
I love that they look so happy! (of course, it WAAASSS very hot!)
Here's a couple of still shots of them surfing...I think I'm going to blow these up and frame them when I get home. Here's Layne surfing....
And, here's Luke surfing....
I took some videos, too. Here's a link to a really short one that has both of them in it...
And, here's one of each of them where they're starting to get the hang of it...
Finally, here's one of each of them that shows they have promise :-) I was pretty impressed!
Here's a video of a little critter I followed for a bit....(I love critters!)
And, last but not least, I took a pic of Jaco Beach as the sun was going down....the colors were so amazing....
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