warning...super long post

**Important: If I gave you my number, it has now slightly changed. You need to put a 2 before the 7 digit number. You still need the area code before it, which I think is 506 but I’m sure you can look it up. So it would be 506 (if that’s the right area code), then 2, then the 7 digit number beginning with 548. If you need the number again, just email me! It’s super cheap from skype so, CALL!**


Yesterday was our one month anniversary as PCTs. Nuts, huh? And, I’ve learned a lot. – like how to kill spiders and huge bugs on the ceiling with a broom, karaoke techniques, how to dance Cumbia and Merengue with my 66 year old host dad, and how to walk on deadly dirt hills in flip flops (without braking my ankle!). I’ve even learned how to eat rice and beans at least twice a day, every day. And the soccer skills are coming along bit by bit too…

And, I made it through my first Semana Santa, or Holy Week, here. We watched lots of Jesus movies, went to a mass where they prayed for the Jews and those that don’t believe in Jesus, and participated in a procession. But, we’ll get to that later.

Here’s a funny story before writing about Semana Santa. This happened a few Fridays ago but I haven’t gotten a chance to write since then. A few of us were determined to make it to the synagogue here after our Friday classes in San Jose. The synagogue was supposedly only a 15 minute taxi ride from where our classes were (which is about 2ish hours from where I’m living now) so we hopped in a taxi after classes to try and make it over there. We had no idea what time services started, but knew that sundown was at about 6, so we had about an hour to get there. But since there was an awful rainstorm earlier in the day, it seemed as though the city shut down. Traffic was not moving at all. We sat with this really funny taxi driver for a while but when we realized it was already dark out and had probably only gone about 2 miles, we decided to hop out and grab some dinner on La Avenida Central in downtown San Jose. So, my first Kabbalat Shabbat in Costa Rica took place in the second floor of a Quiznos in downtown San Jose. I thought some of you would like that one.

A few other things to mention: I went to this “school dance” the other weekend with my 16 year old Tica friend and about 6 or 7 other PCVs. But I wouldn’t really call it a school dance. For starters, it was at a bar. All these little kids were drinking and smoking and being pretty inappropriate, I’d say. Also, about half the party was outside of the bar, where a bunch of people was just hanging out as well. But we had a fun time dancing to reggaeton and feeling really old.

The next day, 2 of the other PCVs in my town and I joined a bunch of Ticos our age to watch the Saprissa V. La Liga soccer game. Saprissa and La Liga are the two big national games of Costa Rica. So you had to be a fan of one or the other (I randomly chose Saprissa), and cheer hard for your team. There’s this group of friends that call themselves “Grupo del Punto” (kinda like 3707, guys) – they all ride motorcycles and are really fun to hang out with. So we joined them to watch the game. They reminded me of being back at Pitt, sitting at Dawson Street, just hanging out. So it was really nice. But one interesting thing was that, even at their age, the girls were serving the food and drinks while the guys were sitting on the couch waiting for the game to start. They learn at such a young age here the gender roles, which although are adapting a little, seem to be a really solid part of everyone’s adolescence. Back to the game though, there were even fireworks at the end when Saprissa won. Just some icing on the cake! The next week, I went to one of the Tica girl’s 21st birthday party. It wasn’t like our 21st birthdays but, it was still really fun. We had cake and a piñata and had a good time.

OK, now back to Semana Santa as promised. This is really the first Holy Week I’ve ever been a part of. Sure, I’ve been around for Christine and Lauren’s huge Easter dinners but here, its much more than Easter. The whole week, kids have off from school and parents don’t have work. Starting on Thursday, everything shuts down. There are no buses running (except for the ones in between churches, which are free of course) and absolutely everything is closed. You can’t even find one pulperia (small corner stores or mini super markets) open in any town near by. Each day, starting on Palm Sunday and going to Easter Sunday, the church has a ton of activities planned from regular masses to processionals from town to town lead by a Jesus in a clear casket and a humongous wooden cross. I participated in Good Friday’s activities, including a 2 hour long mass in a town two towns away from mine. My family of course chose to sit in the very front row of the 300 person church so every single person could see me, the only gringa (American) in the church and also the only person not to get on my knees. After the service, we followed a procession around the town. It was lead by a car with music, Jesus in his casket, the cross, and 3 huge wooden statues of other important characters. Aside from the church services, Semana Santa is a time when you eat a lot of different foods with a lot of people, family and friends, that you don’t see super often. So for many of the lunches during the week, we got visitors from old friends of my host parents, some of their kids and grand kids, and so on. I also got to go to another PCV’s family party. Megan’s family is huge and they had a party at this pool near her house. So we played volleyball in the pool for a while and watched as people without bathing suits got thrown in the pool, shoes and all. She’ll probably put up some pictures so check them out at: asieslavidaencostarica.blogspot.com.
Some of the typical food of the week includes a fish soup (yup, I eat soup here), tuna and sardines (yes, both disgusting), a cold pasta salad with tuna and mayonnaise (they eat a ton of mayo here on everything from rice to pasta), a dessert similar to rice pudding and a sweet coconut thing. So, it goes without saying, that my family here always makes fun of me because I eat “como una gatita” (I ate like a cat). But I always tell them, at least I’m not eating like a bird, right?

This is getting too long so I’m going to end it. But just a heads up – our first field visit is this weekend. We leave on Satuday and will be back on Wednesday the 2nd. We are going to check out a few different sites of current volunteers for a few days, so that should be interesting. Wish me luck!