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...

April 04, 2007 - Spanish school in Orosi

On Saturday, we called Montaña Linda and arranged for a taxi to the school on Sunday. We were going to go with others, but I think we had too much luggage (enough for 3 months, afterall). So, on Sunday, Luis picked us up - a bit late, but he called to say so. Since it was Sunday, we weren´t able to easily find a restaurant open, so we settled for snack bars and figured we would stop along the way for a late lunch. It took us about an hour and a half to get to Orosi - it didn´t make sense to stop when we were so very close.

When we got to the school, they took our cédula numbers and gave us books. The book has general information about Orosi and the school in the front. We were able to find out right away that there are two internet cafés ($1 per hour), a bank, and several markets in town. We have the bus schedule - buses leave Orosi nearly every half hour. We also found out that we can pay for school and the homestay on Monday (cash only).

We were assigned a family to stay with - we had requested a homestay when we signed up for the school earlier via the internet. So Luis took us to Teresita´s house, and we unloaded our many bags. When we saw that our room had bunk beds, and when Teresita saw that we were a somewhat older married couple, she moved us to her son´s room - muy tranquilo - no problem. Teresita has a large family, with 3 adult-teenage children living at home, and several grandchildren who visit daily. Her husband works for ICE (the state-owned electric and telephone company) in Turrialba, about an hour drive away. Two of her sons work in San José, about a 2 hour drive. I guess commuting is a problem wherever you live.

So far, this homestay is a bit different than our last one. Our last family had signs up, and were clear on the house rules - when dinner was, what days were for laundry, etc. Teresita is a bit more relaxed, but of course we don´t know if we are causing her any problems...

We have class from 3 till 6, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday this week - it is a special schedule because of Semana Santa. Our family here has been very busy getting ready for the long weekend. Monday, they were slow-cooking maize over a wood-buring stove outside, then on Tuesday, they ran it through a grinder (remember using the hand-cranked grinder?) to get a rough paste. This morning, we had a wonderful sort of bread-cake (sweet and moist) made from the corn paste, coconut, cheese, and sour cream.

Rick expects to be done with the ¨beginner¨ book and start on the second (intermediate-advanced) book before we are done with our 3 weeks here. I think I will still have quite a bit of the first book left. We are learning some things in a different order here than in the last school (Intercultura), so some things are a quick review, and others are brand new. We both have our own teacher - we have one-on-one sessions for 3 hours each, so the pace is set specifically for us. I am letting my teacher (Margarita) decide what I need, and Rick indicated to his teacher (Margot) exactly what he wanted to focus on. He is doing more outside of class, and I am taking it a bit slower. As my teacher says, poco a poco is how I will learn Spanish.

Orosi is a nice little town - the days are a bit cooler than in Alajuela, and the pace is definitely slower. There is no concern about getting run down by cars - many people walk in the streets (there are still sidewalks tho). We will probably at least check into staying here for most of the rest of our trip - the school has contacts for houses that are available for short-term rents. It will be nice to have a place of our own, and interesting to see how we get things done without living with a Tico family.

March 31, 2007 - Semana Santa

Well, the writing is on the wall - Semana Santa (Holy Week; Easter week) is gearing up. Relatives are getting together, and restaurants are closing. Shops are staying open a bit longer for now - all those relatives have to buy stuff to take to the beach!

Semana Santa goes this Monday through Easter Sunday. Thursday and Friday are usually business holidays, and many locals go to the beach with friends and relatives.

Our Spanish school is juggling class hours - we will have extra class time Monday - Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday off, then class on Saturday. Rick and I will be staying with a family, so I am in a pretty good position to sate my curiosity about this holiday - we'll see...