La Navidad...

the Costa Rican Christmas…
I guess I should more appropriately refer to it as the Christmas season, seeing how I have not been here on the 24th and 25th of December, nor will I be able to experience it this year (given the fact that my parents somehow (ha) convinced my brother, my sister, and my grandpa that a Christmas on a Mexican Riviera cruise would be a nice warm spot in the Northwest winter, and I obliged to make my way from one tropical destination to another…) But anyway… my point is that I am able to make a few comments about the Christmas atmosphere and what the people do to get ready for it. Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, a lot of things are the same. Most people put up and decorate a Christmas tree (although for a lot of them it will be outside on their front porch or patio or in the garage) with lights and ornaments and inside they pull out the box of “Christmas stuff” and put up the garland and Santa Claus and holiday candles and such.

We have a Christmas tree here at the house but it’s a little more fun and interesting because it is hanging upside down from the ceiling. The design and layout of the house leaves one struggling to find an area of unused space to clear out and put a tree where it can be seen and enjoyed, yet won’t be blocking a doorway or the tv or make you have to remove a couch. So it turns out that hanging upside down above the front door and next to the staircase works just perfectly. It makes for an easy task of putting on the lights as you can just stand in one place, hold the string of lights and spin the tree as it hangs from the rope. Putting on ornaments takes a little more work as the branches are of course now sloping downward so you have to be sure and wrap them up on the branch good and snug if you don’t want a snowman falling on your head unexpectedly.

People down here like to decorate the outside of the house with lights and blow up Santa Claus and lighted reindeer and such here, just like they do at home. And it never fails that there will be a few folks that cover every square inch with lights and décor and illuminate the whole block.

One thing that is different is that because of the strong Catholic influence, the nativity scene is likely the most important part of the decoration. Almost everyone has at least one displayed – whether big or small, wood, glass, or clay, indoors or outdoors.
Another thing is that there does not appear to be the same inundation of Christmas music as we enjoy back home. I’ve heard a few songs on the radio or when walking through a store, but it’s nothing like the pure bliss of hearing 10 versions of Silent Night as you go about your day back at home. Which brings up another point…since there are no Starbucks there are no festive red cups, nor holly, jolly Starbucks Christmas cds to be purchased and enjoyed. Ahh… I did love the days of working at the ‘bucks and hearing the same 5 Christmas cds over and over and over again for a month. :) That really is a true statement though… I was always singing along as I was whipping up the Pumpkin Spice Latte or Peppermint Mocha.

There still is the plethora of holiday ads in the newspaper and on television and the special offers in the stores, but maybe they are a tiny bit less commercialized and material-focused than we are at home during this time of year. Although the stores may be a little bit more crowded, I would like to think that the madness is not quite intense. From what I hear though, it sounds like it still gets pretty chaotic. Stay tuned for an updated report. It still is only December 4th after all….

Elections

Here in Costa Rica they had city and local elections today, December 3. The first interesting thing about this to me is that it is a Sunday. Maybe they figure that more people will come out and vote if its not a regular work day. Or maybe it works better for them to organize since they use schools and such as polling places as well. What’s more is that for election weekend they don’t sell alcohol. From midnight on Friday night until Tuesday morning the sale of alcohol is restricted by law. Trying to keep people safe and sober for their voting decision and celebration (or defeat) but it ends up that people prepare themselves and just stock up in excess on Friday. The political parties here have different colors so all around you see flags and balloons and streamers of red and black or blue and white or green and white and the like. This morning I went running and the street was blocked off to cars in front of one school and there were folks set up with tables and coffee and balloons and brochures and paraphernalia, trying to round up the votes of any folks that were still on the fence, I am guessing. When my brother and I were in Nicaragua they were also preparing for elections (held in November), and it was much worse. Every telephone pole and street sign and concrete wall was painted according to their party or candidate and every where you turned there were signs, posters, and billboards with photos of the proud candidates. I think they must have had about 12 or more different parties because everyone had a number. So you could say “Vote for Joe” or “Vote for the #6”…. My favorite was a candidate whose slogan was “El feo que quiere una Nicaragua linda”…. which is to say “The ugly one that wants a beautiful Nicaragua.” Ha! Imagine that headline – “Vote for Ugle Joe because he wants America the Beautiful!”

5 star getaway..

On Saturday the 18th, Jen (my friend from freshman year of high school, now over 10 years, yikes!) arrived in San Jose with a friend of hers from college, John. The three of us took a shuttle van out to the beach at Manuel Antonio, which is a very popular spot and home of a famous national park on the Pacific Coast. I had been out there in May, and then again just for a quick stop with my parents in September. Jen’s boss from her job in LA had recently built a house in the area that he is using as a vacation rental. Thanks to Jen’s connection with the owner, we got a pretty sweet deal on the place for 4 nights. After arriving and entering the house, it became blatantly clear that we got more than a sweet deal. The house is AMAZING. A huge open kitchen with marble countertops and brand new appliances, a living room with comfy couches and TV with satellite cable, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on the main floor, vaulted ceilings and sliding glass doors and windows along the whole back wall overlooking a lush jungle-like valley and a view of the ocean as well. There was this great open staircase leading up to the master suite that featured a fabulous bathroom and king sized bed with the same jungle/valley/ocean view. Jen and I quickly claimed it as our pad and left John to fight with himself over which of the other 2 rooms he wanted. Outside the house there was a fabulous patio/deck that wrapped around the whole back of the house, taking advantage of the great view, not to mention our own private pool and lounge chairs for sunbathing. From the minute I walked in the place I felt a bit like a spoiled princess… From Saturday afternoon until Wednesday morning we passed the time by lounging, reading, sun bathing, swimming, playing cards, cooking, making a few trips on the bus into town, rocking out to some favorites on the 80s/90s digital music channels, watching some pretty intense rainstorms, and somehow we managed to enjoy ourselves while at it.

Definitely some of my favorite moments were cooking in the kitchen… I am really getting into the chef thing, now having a bit of skill in the American food, learning the Costa Rican food, and starting to watch Rachael Ray on the Food Network occasionally. So there I am in this fancy kitchen working up some of my own “30 minute meals” that actually take a little longer and trying to chop an onion with the grace and style of Rachael. (I still need practice.) It was a joint effort in the kitchen and we whipped up some mean beef stir-fry with lots of veggies, quesadillas, fried yucca, fruit salad, and several bowls of pico de gallo with tortilla chips, among other things. (This covering the 3 days there of course, not just one meal…)

The other big highlight was when Jen decided that we should try learning to surf – right then and there. To the point that we signed ourselves up for an hour lesson, took a bus back to our house, changed, and hopped a cab back down to the beach to get our surf on before the sun went down. Now I have never in my life touched a surf board, let alone tried to stand up on one while in the ocean but had figured I would need to give it a shot at least once before leaving Costa Rica. After all, this is a country that people flock to for that one reason alone. To me surfing had always appeared to be a lot of work for a short time of enjoyment so I was kind of wondering what I was getting myself into as Jen and I were on the beach with our boards and our instructor. He claimed to have us up on the board within 15 minutes or our money back… The bulk of the instruction of the lesson came in 5 minutes on shore with the boards on the sand where he showed us how we should lie on the board, paddle, and then stand up. We practiced our technique a few times and then hit the water. Truth be told, it was more than 15 minutes but I did in fact make it on my feet on the board! Hip hip hooray! I made it up several times in fact, and a handful of those were decent and lasted a few seconds!! It was pretty good fun actually, and quite thrilling to be standing on the board and riding a wave (if I can really call it that…). Jen had a waterproof camera and we enlisted a beach bum to shoot some pics, so I am really hoping for some visual proof of the accomplishment. All in all, it definitely felt like an accomplishment for the both of us. And we agreed that it was worth the bruises (from falling where it was shallow and hitting bottom) and the skin irritation on our stomach (from the crappy rental board) and the gallons of salt water we drank. Now we can check “surfing” off on the lifetime “to do” list. Maybe I’ll even try it again someday…