University of Costa Rica - Getting Plugged In

This weekend is the UCR Expo, three days of "getting to know your local University!"  It's something like a combination of a fiesta, feria, and open house - there are dozens of food and craft booths, sellers of all things Costa Rican, many workshops and information centers, and half a dozen stages presenting music, dancing, martial arts demonstrations, and work-out regimes.

This morning, we strolled the few blocks from our house and wandered around.  We had a few things in mind that we wanted to see, but pretty quickly found much more to do.  We had walked through the campus many times (it makes a nice short-cut to many places we go), but hadn't really stopped to find out more than a smattering of what was there.  This time, the only real purpose was to do just that - discover what the campus had to offer.

Some snapshots:

• posters touting studying science abroad (a lot of opportunities in Italy!)
• a new-to-us cafeteria (near the music building, and so we saw some musicians hanging out, playing)
• an even better short-cut :-)
• a lively soccer game
• even more sculptures

We also stopped at a few information stations.  One of these was about the Costa Rican folkloric music, and what they are doing to archive it.  While the music is not (yet?) available online, you can request digitized copies by email. (www.artesmusicales.ucr.ac.cr)

UCR is using and promoting a lot of free software, including using it as part of the coursework.  There was a room full of demonstrations, and the first one we encountered was a CD burner for Ubuntu!  Rick quickly got passed to the experts in video and audio editing, and got a nice demonstration of the free-ware available. He came away with a *lot* of information, and was *very* encouraged! (csl-tec.softwarelibrecr.org)

Well.... Since Rick had such luck, I finally screwed up my courage and approached an expositionista in the pottery/ceramics tent.  She was *lovely!*  We talked about the School of Art - what types of art are taught (painting, ceramics, wood sculpture, etc!), and - most importantly, how I could join a class here and there without being a full-time student on a career path!  I had heard that people 56 years and older could audit classes (no placement exams, could be part-time), and I knew several full-time "regular" students, but I had never heard how someone in the middle (like me) could attend a class or two.  Opportunities for getting involved at UCR is one of the main attractions for living where we do!  So, now I'm a step closer :-)

Of course, no open-house is complete without *food!*  We got  a nice big chunk of 100% pure cocoa from a woman who made it herself, on her Finca Loroco in Talamanca.  Then we got a jar of cas pulp from the executive chef of Ay, Que Rico! from Heredia.  He had several other pulps and sauces, and we had a nice foodie moment talking about how to use them :-).  Earlier, I had seen interesting items like pejibaye flour - I'll probably go back for that...

------- contact info --------
Free software sites:
www.softwarelibrecr.org
www.softwarelibre.ca
www.drupal-centroamerica.org
www.crubuntu.org
www.linuxcostarica.com
www.softwarelibre.ucr.ac.cr
www.alternativa.una.ac.cr

Escuela Artes Plásticas
www.ucr.ac.cr
http://artesplasticas.ucr.ac.cr/
Lilliana (for info on matriculation, session dates, what to do, etc)
2511.4467
2511.4031

Finca Loroco:  fincaloroco@gmail.com
Dirección 300 m hacia Carretera a las Cataratas, Volio, Talamanca.  Familia Moreno Vargas
fax:  506.2751.0283

Ay, Que Rico!
Luis Mathieu M.
Chef Ejecutivo
8829.3464, 2262.2744
ayquericocateringcr@gmail.com
www.ayquericorestaurante.es.tl
Urb. Boruca 1, Mercedes Norte, Heredia

March 13 - National Oxcart Driver Day

aka Día Nacional del Boyero, is a day to celebrate the oxcart drivers of Costa Rica.  The weekend celebration started Saturday, but having just returned from a week at the beach, we decided to just go for the parade on Sunday (with a little hope for some pre-parade music).

Plan A:
- leave at 7:30-ish, catch the San Pedro bus into San José
- catch the Sabana Cementerio bus to the Coca-Cola terminal
- catch the 8-something bus to San Antonio de Escazú
- get there in time to see the folk music at 9

Plan B:
- ask people at Coca-Cola about the best bus and stop for the fiesta; change if it make sense
- if we can't find the music, find a café and wait for the parade to find us

What Really Happened:
- left about 7:50, caught the San Pedro bus, then the Sabana Cementerio bus to Coca-Cola
- walked around a bit looking for the right Escazú bus; caught the 8:30 bus.  "looking for the right bus" included asking people in line about the fiesta (one blank look, immediately followed by a "you bet, San Antonio" from her neighbor).  Confirmed with the driver, who was a bit caught off-guard by the question.  Listened as another passenger asked the driver more specific questions about the fiesta.  Managed to mention this fact to the French couple behind us, who were also going (done in French, thank you very much!).  Watched said person like a hawk, and followed him all the way to the festivities :-).
- left the bus at 9:00, walked the 6 blocks in a few minutes to the San Antonio church area.  No folk music.  Food stalls were getting set up, but definitely not ready for us.  Had coffee and pastry at Musmanni's - now why is it that I can never tell if I'm spelling that right?  It's a bakery chain all *over* Costa Rica, and I stop in regularly!
- found a seat in the shade; waited, listened, watched
- 10:30 - heard that the parade had started (we were at the finish line).  More people start to show up.
- 12:30 - no oxen. Getting hungry.  Getting a sore behind.  Sunburnt.  Still enjoying watching the action and talking to our neighbors. 
- We wait a bit longer, then decide to eat.  Meander down to the food booths - I got a chorreada (YUM!), and some real food.  I soooo love fiesta food!
- 1:00 - finished lunch, walked around a few minutes, and lo and behold, there's the first part of the parade!
- cameras are out!
- 1:30 - look for our bus back to San José and home!

Next time:
- leave home about 10:00, wearing sunscreen
- take the San Antonio de Escazú bus to the terminus, walk 3 blocks to the church
- eat fiesta food lunch
- watch oxcarts come in, get blessed, and judged
- eat more fiesta food :-)
- bus home about 3:00

Front of the parade - brass band and giant heads, followed by.... OXEN!

At the very end of the parade, the oxen - and passengers :-) are blessed by the priest - cool water at the end of a long hot ride.

Somewhat smaller participants:

Even smaller fiesta-goer!

The After-Party Crowd

A Quiet Few Days

We just got home after a nice quiet visit with friends – just what we needed after our hectic first few weeks back!



We took several buses on the 24th, watched the fireworks that evening, spent the 25th watching the clouds flit through the blue sky,



and took more buses home again today.



We were forewarned that there would be no bus on the 25th, but completely forgot about the tope (horse parade) that would shut down Paséo Colón today – what a surprise! At least we are becoming used to surprises, and so when the bus turned the “wrong direction” in San José, we weren’t alarmed. But it did throw a monkey wrench into our “bus connection” plans :-S. We ended up walking the pedestrian boulevard instead of riding a bus for part of our return. Not a lot of fun with a guitar and two backpacks. Still, with a late lunch thrown in, we got home in 3 hours, none the worse for wear.

December 13, 2008 - Festival de la Luz

Today is for celebrating! We have an apartment with a guest room, a set of warm blankets, and a parade with a friend!

Linda drove out to our side of things (she was our guest-room guinea pig :-D) – we went out to lunch at Machu Picchu (a Peruvian restaurant near our apartment), showed her around our neighbourhood a bit, then caught the bus into San José for the Festival de la Luz!

The Festival de la Luz is an evening parade with lighted floats and bands. It starts at 6:00 with a fireworks show.



And Santa arrives on a moto!



For us, it started at 5:30 with a light drizzle :-(. By 6:00, it was raining! We were soaked, and already tired of standing – we were at the end of the parade route, and knew that the parade would last several hours. So – we took a vote and left early. We watched the fireworks as we walked back to our bus, and watched the parade on the television as we dried off at an Italian restaurant (the pizza is good, and so is the pesto fettuccini). We did have some fun tho – “look at all that rain! I think that’s sleet, isn’t it?”

One thing that was so surprising – at least until you think about the culture – is that a 9-year old girl was sitting, waiting for the parade to start, and her father said “let’s go, there is a lot of rain” – and she went! Without a *bit* of complaining! Maybe she was miserable sitting there, but she didn’t show it. And parades are such a big thing for kids. Still, you see so few spoiled kids here.

Next year, we’re thinking we’ll try for a party room on the route – do the parade thing the grown-up (spoiled?) way…

Festival de la Luz

This Saturday is the annual Festival de la Luz in San José!
Things are starting to ramp up for it - here is an article from Inside Costa Rica:
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2008/december/09/nac03.htm

The Festival is an evening parade of lights down the main drag of the city - the city center is shut down to traffic for hours before.

January 10, 2008 - Palmares Plans

We missed all the rodeos and bullfights so far this season (that’s what I get for not paying attention), but the Palmares Fiesta is coming up! (www.fiestaspalmares.com). It starts January 16, and ends the 28th. The big tope (huge parade of horses and oxcarts) is scheduled for the 17th.
I can’t wait to see how a big, well-known fiesta compares to the small one we attended in Nosara.

January 6, 2008 - Trucker’s Day

Sunday (January 6, also epiphany) was “Trucker’s Day” in Alajuela. We live right off the Calle Ancha (that’s the “wide street” that circles the central 10 blocks or so of town - it is the boundary where the one-way streets turn into 2-way streets). Calle Ancha was basically the trucker parade route. So, from quarter till eleven in the morning, for an hour and a half, we could see and *hear* the trucks - slowly and noisily honking along.

I remember as a kid, we used to give the sign (your fist grabbing an imaginary air horn in the air and pulling) to truckers whenever we saw one, and they would honk just for us - this was as if a whole town of kids was giving the sign to an *entire* factory of trucks! For *hours*!

It also reminded me of weddings - everyone used to convoy over from the wedding ceremony to the reception; we would all line up, take off, and honk like crazy the whole way. I once nearly burned out a horn doing that - it ended up making these little meee-ee-eep mee-ee-eep sounds…

I don’t know if this was a special day for Truckers only in Alajuela, or if it was all around the country. In Orosí, we encountered a similar parade, but it was right before Labor Day (May 1st).

July 12, 2007 - Orosi Celebration

Thanks to Roni, I now know
what happened in Orosi in mid-May

May 14, 2007 - Fiesta Day

There was a fiesta yesterday - I asked someone what what was going on, but she didn't know. The closest Catholic holiday per Wikipedia is the Ascension (May 17 this year)...

The festivities were down by the church and soccer field, and were announced periodically by the town cannon / fireworks-engine (two booms followed by explosions in the sky). There were several soccer games throughout the day, horses galore, horse-riding contests, a raffle, vendors, and a priest using greenery (I don't know what kind, or if there was any significance to the kind) to shower the crowd with water.

The horse riders seemed to enjoy putting little kids up on their horses and walking them around - Mariela's Joel (~4 years old) got to do this. Boy, was he happy!

Later that evening, everyone disappeared into houses and bars to watch the Costa Rican soccer finals - the Saprissas won! What a game! When the end of the game was announced you could hear people spilling into the streets, shouting, laughing, and honking horns. The will be going on to the international games, so look for purple and white (with a splash of orange) on your TVs soon.

May 01, 2007 - Labor Day, Costa Rica

Today is Labor Day in Costa Rica, and in much of the rest of the world as well. So strange that it is not celebrated today in the USA, since the event that marks it *happened* in the USA. At any rate, it is a big day off for folks here. The local swimming pool is the busiest I have seen yet - cars are parked even on the side street a block away.

On Saturday afternoon, we were surprised to hear the local cannon/fireworks go off several times, accompanied by a parade of *huge* trucks around town. They drove and honked for almost an hour. They passed our corner, and we walked to the main street to see how far it extended - at least 4 blocks down and back, bumper-to-bumper trucks. There were rock haulers, cement trucks, semis (yes! in Costa Rica!), and bulldozers. We decided they were celebrating Labor Day early. Later, we asked someone about it, and he suggested that it was the owner of the stone quarry showing off - he and the owner of a similar concern seem to be embroiled in a pissing contest. Either way, it was pretty interesting, and attracted quite a crowd.

We had planned to have our homestay "parents" over for cafecito this afternoon, but they called to say they couldn't make it. We have been thinking about how to reciprocate some of the visits we have had with others - usually over a meal of some kind. Our kitchen is *very* limited, with just enough plates, silverware, and coffee cups for us, and no good way to cook rice and beans (you *have* to have rice and beans if you invite someone for a meal). Finally, we decided to buy a couple more coffee mugs, purchase a selection of pastries, and have cafecito at the table outside. We'll see how that works.

Electricity and water report for Monday - Water was off in the morning till 8, and electricity went off at 9 (time enough to get a shower). Electricity back on at 11, back off from 3 - 5.

Weather: got a good downpour on Saturday; Sunday was beautiful - sunny and cool; clear most of Monday, with a few sprinkles in the late afternoon.

Tags: laborday, pool, cannon, celebration, fireworks, drive, friendly, cafecito, visit, electricity, water

April 13, 2007 - Juán Santamaría day, Orosi houses (part 1)

I saw a picture in the paper last night that showed a parade in Alajuela for Juán Santamaría day - apparently Alajuela *does* make a bigger deal of the day than Orosi.
The holiday was Wednesday, but usually legal holidays are the Monday following the actual holiday. So we expect to see banks, etc. closed then. We were originally told that there would be no Spanish school on Monday, but today we found out that most teachers here like to have the Saturday off, and so prefer to work on the Monday holiday. So, school on Monday! We also worked it out with our teachers so that we get tomorrow off (we were going to have school this Saturday because we had no school for two days during Semana Santa) - we´ll make up the classes later. Since we will be living here for quite a while, this presents no problem.
We looked at a house for rent yesterday, and another today. Neither was advertised - we heard of the first one from an administrator at the school, and the other from our Tico family.
The first house is "normal" sized, and fairly typical for a Tico house. It is about a 10-minute walk from the center of town. It has three bedrooms, one bath, a combination living/dining room, and a small kitchen. The bedrooms are small by USA standards. It comes fully furnished, with a telephone, kitchen utinsels, towels, etc. - basically, everything we need. The electricity, water, and telephone (etc) are bills we would have to pay separately. Asking rent is a bit over $300/month (our Tico family says that is a *lot*!!).
The second house is on the same block as our Tica family (essentially in the center of town). It is a bit fancier, with a bigger kitchen, 3 large bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms, and it has an electric gate. It also is fully furnished (but we didn't ask about towels and other similar items). The utilities and telephone (and cable) are included in the rent. We will talk to them this evening to find out what the rent is (we suspect it will be too high tho...)

April 11, 2007 - Juán Santamaría day, Spanish school, Los Ticos

4/10/07 (Tuesday)

Today was my second day of class with a new teacher (Belfort). He makes it easy to use new words and verb forms, in part because we aren't very structured, and in part because we mix English in with the Spanish. During one exercise today, I was to fill in the blanks of a sentence with a conjugated verb (pretérito – past tense!); well, each sentence took many minutes, because we would start talking about different meanings for the sentence, and how to word it other ways, then slip into an aside. Usually I learned a lot about normal, average life in Costa Rica during these side trips into chat-land.

I told him about how I finally dropped in on my neighbor of 6 years, and we had a lovely chat at her kitchen table. He said “how sad that it took so long,” then pointed to every house we could see out the window and said he knew all those who lived in them. When one person bakes a cake, the neighbor comes over for a slice. When he walks by, all wave and greet him.

We keep hearing about people who work a long way from home. The father of my Tico family has one of the easiest commutes – he leaves at 6:30 each morning, and drives perhaps an hour to Turrialba. He works for ICE (the state-owned electric and phone company). He usually returns by 7:00. His oldest son also works for ICE, but he travels all over Costa Rica, and is gone for 11 days at a time. One of the sons in law works in construction in Guanacaste (in the far North-West of the country, perhaps 5-7 hours away by car), and has the same 11-day schedule. Their wives and children live here in Orosi, and we see them quite a bit. Two other sons work in San José, 1½ to 2 hours drive away.

Five o'clock is a popular time to visit people in Orosi. On Sunday, friends of the Tico family came to visit from San José de la Montaña (this is a town of 4-5 thousand people, north of Heredia, and is on our list of towns to check out). We had coffee and sweet bread. Then a family from the USA dropped by (the son had homestayed here in the past) – more coffee and bread. On Monday, we walked with Teresita to her sister's house to see her ailing father. While there, more coffee and bread (surprised?). Many different sisters and brothers and cousins stopped by, talked, listened for the lottery results, and watched the news. The jokers in the family reminded me a *lot* of my family (ahh).

I think the rainy season is upon us – today it started raining about 2:00, and rained (with thunder and lightning, of course!) for several hours – we waited out most of it at the school, then hurried home in a drizzle.

4/11/07 - Juán Santamaría day
I asked my teacher today what Costa Ricans do on Juán Santamaría day - he said there are no big celebrations (at least in Orosi. I think Alajuela has more celebrations since he is from that province.). He said that the children in the schools put on a play that depicts the war and event that made Juán Santamaría a hero.

Weather report - Beautiful, sunny morning. 72 degrees inside at 8:00 am. 2:00 rain again, this time we had a real downpour! But it was pretty much over by 6:00.

April 07, 2007 - Semana Santa in Orosi

Hello from Orosi!
This has been an interesting week - it is nearing the end of Semana Santa. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, there are ¨processions¨ around the town - Young men from the town dress as soldiers and slow-march to drums, they are accompanied by young girls. They are followed by older men carrying a statue of Jesús carrying a cross (in some towns, a person represents Jesús and carries a cross instead). After them, older women carry a statue of Mary, followed by others carrying a statue of a man - we are currently guessing that it is St. Peter, but we haven´t asked anyone. Many people from the town walk behind and beside these. They walk very slowly, in sadness, and it takes about 2 hours to walk the town. The processions take place at different hours each day. Last night, the parents of our Tico family were walking in the procession when it started to rain. People duck out and either stay under shelter and watch, or take raincoats or umbrellas and continue.
On Sunday, the procession starts at 4 in the morning (!) - they will march much faster, with joy, and set off fireworks. I don´t think we will sleep through it. The procession will go the the ridges (I think in time for sunrise, but - again - I haven´t checked with anyone.).
Our family invited us to their finca (a farm) for dinner tonight, but then Teresita (the mother) learned that her father is not well - so she will go to him instead, and we might go on Sunday instead.
We had a couple of nights of ¨problem sleep¨ - one night an alarm went off at midnight, and stayed on for 15-20 minutes. We didn´t know if it was a house alarm, or a civic alarm (something like a tornado warning). It turned out to be someone possibly trying to break into a store. They said that hadn´t happened in 5 years. The next night, I think all the unusual and rich food got to me - I got sick in the middle of the night, and Rick and I only dozed a bit through out. I had soup the rest of the next day, and got out a bit the day after. I feel fine now, so the only real remaining problem is that I missed a couple of days of study. But, it was Semana Santa! And I already told my teacher I wasn´t going to study much...

December Bullriders

12/17/06 (Sunday)

Today is the last day of a festival near Nosara (we passed the site on our way in yesterday, and asked about it). We are determined to go! It starts at 4 and goes till about 9. We asked to get a taxi there and for it to return for us afterwards. Got a big hmmm errrr emmm tsk (apparently a difficult thing to accomplish). But, one driver agreed to take us for $10 (did we get taken? Hard to say; it was several miles away, on that *bumpy* road). When he dropped us off, we asked about returning, and he said that there would be plenty of rides back. We generally took this to mean that he didn't want to return for us...

The festival – Recorrido de Toros – was great! The arena is just raw boards hammered together to form a ring with seating. There were two types of tickets – the cheaper tickets got you on the bull ring fence or just outside it (no seats); we opted for the seats, like a stadium, and sat up at the top (there were probably 5 rows of benches total, starting above the top of the bullring fence). Before the bull riding started, we ate from the booths at the festival. There was also a midway of sorts, trampolines for the kids, and a ride (can't remember the name, but it is like a ferris wheel with enclosed cages). We finally determined that the tickets they were selling were for viewing the bull riding, not for the rides, and so we bought them ($5 each).

After we got our seats, they introduced the riders, had them draw lots for the bull they would ride, and introduced the sabaneros – cowboys (on fabulous horses) who rope the bull at the end of the ride. They all paraded around the ring to cheers.

The bulls are almost all Brahma, and have somewhat ironic names. Some translate to “dandy/sissy” and “sleepy.” They are BIG! The riders (10 of them) came from all over the country, and *all* wore red.

The first couple didn't stay on very long, but some came out riding without holding on (look Ma, no hands)! After each ride, the bull was loose, and people from the audience would run around and tease the bull – at one time, there were about a dozen men in the ring with a bull, and many more hanging on the inside of the fence. One bull was particularly ferocious, and there were a *lot* of people on the fence instead of running in front of the bull.

There was on guy who obviously does this a lot – he was an expert at attracting the attention of the bull, then running just in front (less than a foot from the horns) and leading the bull in circles.

When the bull had had enough, they opened the gate and the sabaneros would either rope him and pull him towards the gate, or he would find it on his own. You certainly see that you can't *chase* the bull towards anything.

Every once in a while, they would set off fireworks – one boom followed by two very loud bangs.

About half way through the bull riding, they had a demonstration of roping by the sabaneros – some pretty fancy stuff! The horses have an interesting gait – they prance/lope almost in place. One guy had his horse seem to dance to the beat of the music they played as he rode out of the ring.

Then they paraded the queen and her court, and also had a walk-around money-drive for the Cruz Roja.

Then – back to the bull riding!

At the end of the last ride, the stands emptied, and we headed out. Many people stayed for more rides and eats; AND they set off a bunch of fireworks!

We looked a little bit for a taxi (but not too hard) – it is hard to tell which are taxis, since they don't follow the code of “red with yellow triangle” (ours out to the festival was a beat-up blue jeep). We started walking, and there were others behind us. Someone pulled over and gave them a ride (I didn't see their trick, but assume it was a thumb). We just kept walking... Fortunately, we had our flashlight with us, and it had cooled considerably. We had walked about half way home, when someone pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride (whew!). She spends half her time in Nosara, and half in Holland. She dropped us off at the turnoff to our hotel, and we walked the rest of the way – all told, it took us about an hour.

My hair was almost completely wet (sweat and condensation) by then, so we took showers and conked out by 10:00.