Cartgo -- churches and a volcano
domingo, el 7 de mayo
Today was another day of adding more sites and sights to my Costa Rican resumé. Luisa, Ibo, Gaby, Faby, and I headed out early this morning – around 7:30am, after a lovely breakfast of pan tostada con jalea de guayaba (toasted bread with guava gelly) and arroz con queso (a tasty dish of rice with pieces of tomato and soft cheese all mixed together and heated on the stove), plus a little famous Costa Rican coffee. **Two side notes to report here: 1) yes, I have started drinking coffee…occasionally. I figure it is part of the culture and the lifestyle, and a big part of the history, so I might as well take part – with equal parts of milk and coffee and a sugar packet or too, of course. 2) I am really re-adjusting quite well to “living at home,” mostly because I really don’t have to think about what I am going to eat, I get to learn how to make new dishes (and enjoy them afterward), there is always something in the cupboards and/or fridge, and what might be the number one reason….breakfast. Pretty much every morning (at least the weekdays for sure), I come down the stairs to a set table and something cooking in the kitchen. Luisa always starts off her family with a great breakfast, and since I am the adopted daughter right now, I get to benefit from this as well. I know its strange, but one of my favorite things here is the toaster that they have. Its really more like a square waffle maker for making thin waffles, but there is just something great about the way it toasts bread or makes “toasted cheese sandwiches” – it’s just great. So anyway, every morning it is either toast, breakfast “sandwiches,” pinto (rice and beans), or eggs. It is all really tasty, but maybe I am just really loving the fact that I feel like I am a kid back at home coming down the stairs ready for school and wondering what my mom has whipped up.**
Okay, back to the day’s recap. We drove about an hour to Cartago – the 6th of 7 provinces in Costa Rica that I have visited. pretty good, huh…. Our first stop was Las Ruinas de la Basilica de Cartago (the ruins of the church in Cartago), which is basically the outer walls of the church. They had tried to build it many, many years ago, but on 2 different occasions their work was destroyed by earthquakes. The people took this as a sign from God and so it still sits today in its mid-construction state.
Next on the list was the Basilica de los Angeles. This is a very important church and site because La Virgen de los Angeles is the Patron Saint of Costa Rica. There is a story that dates back to 1635 when an image of the virgin appeared to a young woman. The girl was excited about finding this mini-statue and took it home with her. The next day the statue reappeared and after taking this one home, the girl discovered that the original was gone. After experiencing the same thing for 3 days, the girl took the image to the priest, who then had the same experience. They decided to build a church in this spot, and today it is still there and there is a replica image on the stone where she first appeared and a fountain of sorts, where water pours from the same spot as well. Many people come to this spot to offer their thanks to the Virgin and/or ask for healing or help with some specific problem. Below the church there is a mini-museum where you can see all sorts of things that people have brought to the Virgin – little silver charms of body parts that needed healing or mementos of some achievement or defining moment (even trophies or awards from winning a soccer game). Every August 2 is the day to celebrate La Virgen de los Angeles and thousands of devout Catholics come to this church from all over the country, and on foot. They walk from where ever they live to bring their offerings, drink the water from her fountain or put it on their body parts that need healing, or offer their thanks to the Virgin.
Next we drove to Las Ruinas de Ujarrás (yup, that means the ruines of Ujarrás) which was the first church built in Costa Rica – 1565. What remains today are portions of the outer and a few inner walls, but you can definitely tell it was a church, a long, long time ago. It just so happened that this weekend was the first ever Feria de Chayote. Chayote is a vegetable that grows in abundance in this area and is their major crop. I had never heard of it until I ate Olla de Carne the other day, but apparently they export a lot of it to the US. So we stumbled upon the festivities of this celebration – a farmer’s market conglomeration of produce and agriculture products, handicrafts, and a judged competition of chayote recipes. We had some mango (my favorite), agua de pipa (which is basically puncturing a hole and sticking a straw into a young, green coconut and drinking the “water” before it solidifies and becomes coconut), dried pineapple and banana, and jugo de azucar (the juice extracted from the sugar cane).
After that we made a quick stop at Iglesia de Orosi, which was built in 1735. The unique thing about this church is that is not only still standing, but is still in use to this day.
Now begins the ascent up the mountain to Volcán Irazú. There are several volcanoes (many of which, like this one, are still active) in Costa Rica but this particular spot happens to be the highest volcano in the country at 3,432 meters above sea level (hmm, need to figure out what that is in feet). It was quite the view as we drove back and forth up the mountain and were able to look down at the farmland and city in the valley below. The cool part about this volcano is that the park where you get to walk around is actually in part of one of the craters. It was very foggy when we first got there but, thanks to God, the fog rolled away for enough time for us to look down into the other craters nearby and see the bright green liquid in them. It really was a remarkable sight – the bright green lake in the middle of a slate gray crater contrasted against the patches of bright blue amongst the clouds in the sky. I took a lot of pictures, so hopefully I will be able to post some of those as well. Upon our arrival at the peak I had my first moments of feeling cold since arriving in the country, and I even had to put on a little zip-up hoodie. Along with the tennis shoes I was wearing I hardly recognized myself as I have been pretty much living in skirts, flip flops, and t-shirts.
So the day in Cartago was quite a success and quite productive as well. Now I only have to hit up Guanacaste (the northern Pacific region – where I will be headed in a few weeks when Jessamy is here) and maybe a little more of Alajuela (since all I have done there is arrive at the airport or drive through parts on the way to other desitinations) and I will be well-traveled in all seven provinces. It’s great here because in the amount of driving that it would take to get around, say Colorado, I have seen a lot of dramatically different sites, landscapes, and climates of an entire country!
Today was another day of adding more sites and sights to my Costa Rican resumé. Luisa, Ibo, Gaby, Faby, and I headed out early this morning – around 7:30am, after a lovely breakfast of pan tostada con jalea de guayaba (toasted bread with guava gelly) and arroz con queso (a tasty dish of rice with pieces of tomato and soft cheese all mixed together and heated on the stove), plus a little famous Costa Rican coffee. **Two side notes to report here: 1) yes, I have started drinking coffee…occasionally. I figure it is part of the culture and the lifestyle, and a big part of the history, so I might as well take part – with equal parts of milk and coffee and a sugar packet or too, of course. 2) I am really re-adjusting quite well to “living at home,” mostly because I really don’t have to think about what I am going to eat, I get to learn how to make new dishes (and enjoy them afterward), there is always something in the cupboards and/or fridge, and what might be the number one reason….breakfast. Pretty much every morning (at least the weekdays for sure), I come down the stairs to a set table and something cooking in the kitchen. Luisa always starts off her family with a great breakfast, and since I am the adopted daughter right now, I get to benefit from this as well. I know its strange, but one of my favorite things here is the toaster that they have. Its really more like a square waffle maker for making thin waffles, but there is just something great about the way it toasts bread or makes “toasted cheese sandwiches” – it’s just great. So anyway, every morning it is either toast, breakfast “sandwiches,” pinto (rice and beans), or eggs. It is all really tasty, but maybe I am just really loving the fact that I feel like I am a kid back at home coming down the stairs ready for school and wondering what my mom has whipped up.**
Okay, back to the day’s recap. We drove about an hour to Cartago – the 6th of 7 provinces in Costa Rica that I have visited. pretty good, huh…. Our first stop was Las Ruinas de la Basilica de Cartago (the ruins of the church in Cartago), which is basically the outer walls of the church. They had tried to build it many, many years ago, but on 2 different occasions their work was destroyed by earthquakes. The people took this as a sign from God and so it still sits today in its mid-construction state.
Next on the list was the Basilica de los Angeles. This is a very important church and site because La Virgen de los Angeles is the Patron Saint of Costa Rica. There is a story that dates back to 1635 when an image of the virgin appeared to a young woman. The girl was excited about finding this mini-statue and took it home with her. The next day the statue reappeared and after taking this one home, the girl discovered that the original was gone. After experiencing the same thing for 3 days, the girl took the image to the priest, who then had the same experience. They decided to build a church in this spot, and today it is still there and there is a replica image on the stone where she first appeared and a fountain of sorts, where water pours from the same spot as well. Many people come to this spot to offer their thanks to the Virgin and/or ask for healing or help with some specific problem. Below the church there is a mini-museum where you can see all sorts of things that people have brought to the Virgin – little silver charms of body parts that needed healing or mementos of some achievement or defining moment (even trophies or awards from winning a soccer game). Every August 2 is the day to celebrate La Virgen de los Angeles and thousands of devout Catholics come to this church from all over the country, and on foot. They walk from where ever they live to bring their offerings, drink the water from her fountain or put it on their body parts that need healing, or offer their thanks to the Virgin.
Next we drove to Las Ruinas de Ujarrás (yup, that means the ruines of Ujarrás) which was the first church built in Costa Rica – 1565. What remains today are portions of the outer and a few inner walls, but you can definitely tell it was a church, a long, long time ago. It just so happened that this weekend was the first ever Feria de Chayote. Chayote is a vegetable that grows in abundance in this area and is their major crop. I had never heard of it until I ate Olla de Carne the other day, but apparently they export a lot of it to the US. So we stumbled upon the festivities of this celebration – a farmer’s market conglomeration of produce and agriculture products, handicrafts, and a judged competition of chayote recipes. We had some mango (my favorite), agua de pipa (which is basically puncturing a hole and sticking a straw into a young, green coconut and drinking the “water” before it solidifies and becomes coconut), dried pineapple and banana, and jugo de azucar (the juice extracted from the sugar cane).
After that we made a quick stop at Iglesia de Orosi, which was built in 1735. The unique thing about this church is that is not only still standing, but is still in use to this day.
Now begins the ascent up the mountain to Volcán Irazú. There are several volcanoes (many of which, like this one, are still active) in Costa Rica but this particular spot happens to be the highest volcano in the country at 3,432 meters above sea level (hmm, need to figure out what that is in feet). It was quite the view as we drove back and forth up the mountain and were able to look down at the farmland and city in the valley below. The cool part about this volcano is that the park where you get to walk around is actually in part of one of the craters. It was very foggy when we first got there but, thanks to God, the fog rolled away for enough time for us to look down into the other craters nearby and see the bright green liquid in them. It really was a remarkable sight – the bright green lake in the middle of a slate gray crater contrasted against the patches of bright blue amongst the clouds in the sky. I took a lot of pictures, so hopefully I will be able to post some of those as well. Upon our arrival at the peak I had my first moments of feeling cold since arriving in the country, and I even had to put on a little zip-up hoodie. Along with the tennis shoes I was wearing I hardly recognized myself as I have been pretty much living in skirts, flip flops, and t-shirts.
So the day in Cartago was quite a success and quite productive as well. Now I only have to hit up Guanacaste (the northern Pacific region – where I will be headed in a few weeks when Jessamy is here) and maybe a little more of Alajuela (since all I have done there is arrive at the airport or drive through parts on the way to other desitinations) and I will be well-traveled in all seven provinces. It’s great here because in the amount of driving that it would take to get around, say Colorado, I have seen a lot of dramatically different sites, landscapes, and climates of an entire country!
posted by Dynasty goes to CR at
2:46 PM
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