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| The Triquitraque is in 2nd period of blooming just in time for my visitors coming this week! Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Just sorry that most of my others are not blooming this week. But this is colorful! Atenas, Costa Rica |
Good Friday Silence
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| As I walked to town, the streets were empty! Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Even around Central Park Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Every store is closed except Supermarkets & the Gasolinera that will close early. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Many homes had added new, bigger decorations. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Even the Catholic Church added a similar new decoration. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| And people will be coming and going from the catholic church all day (all week!). The only activity. Atenas, Costa Rica |
And you might ask, “What about the non-religious?” Well, they are the ones filling the public beaches this week and fishing on the lakes and other “vacation” activities. One family I know is spending the whole week at the nearest beach. Semana Santa or “Holy Week” or “Easter Week” is not the best beach time for tourists, though most locals try to use different beaches and try to avoid tourists, but not totally possible, especially at Jaco, the closest big beach town to San Jose.
The smaller number of evangelicals and protestants in Costa Rica have a less dramatic emphasis on Easter and some expats, like the “new community” here at Iglesia Biblical have special activities they did back home. Ours did a Maundy Thursday Lord’s Supper or Communion Service Thursday night and some will meet at a member’s house at Sunrise Easter Morning for a Sunrise Service – which will be a good excuse for not attending the Spanish Language Easter Service at the church later.
Hotel restaurants have to be open on Easter, but not many others will and even the supermarkets will have very limited hours on Easter. But this year will not have the usual Easter pageantry in the streets by law, since the first Sunday of April is Election Day and no public activities are allowed to compete with voting (only worship inside a church building). Meaning that many people will leave their church of whatever variety and go straight to the voting places where the unqualified, anti-Gay presidential candidate (an evangelical gospel singer) is expected to narrowly win the election in this conservative Catholic country.
Read the article Holy Week the Costa Rican way
Felices Pascuas
Poner toda la carne en el asador.
¡Pura Vida!
Pre-Easter Yellow
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| And for one week only – this particular tree. Seen from my terrace as is the photo below. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Behind my “Cow Pasture Neighbors” Houses Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Even the silhouetted Chachalaca seems to be admiring the yellow flowers. In my Guarumo/Cecropia Tree Atenas, Costa Rica |
¡Pura Vida!
Atenas Homes Prepare for Easter During Lent
Just three examples of the many homes celebrating Lent in Atenas.
These I walk by almost every day – reminders of the atonement.
From the internet at:
“In the Catholic and Episcopal churches, purple is the symbol of royalty,” said the Rev. Garry White, pastor of Orangeburg Lutheran Church. “It’s also a symbol of bruising and suffering. That is the color that is used during the season of Lent. In the week immediately prior to Easter on Good Friday, a lot of churches will take the purple cloth down and put up a black cloth as a more stark reminder of Jesus’ death.”
The placement of a white cloth on the cross on Easter Sunday represents the purity and wholeness demonstrated through Christ’s resurrection, White said.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live
John 11:25
Last Day of Festival de Vida
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| When I got there the ropers from the nearby agricultural university were doing roping trick – very good! Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| FlashBack, the gringo oldies rock band played for two hours, 1-3 – Then others but I’m gone. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| The original benefactor of the food festival. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| You paid 3,000 Colones (about $5) and got to sample 20 different international food entries & vote on the best. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Individuals & restaurants donated small portions of food to taste. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
For more photos of food and other vendors, see my gallery 2018 Festival de Vida
Second Day of Festival de Vida
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| When I left at 2 PM today we were up to 30-something newly registered voters! Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Mid-day entertainment was mostly dancing today. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| We did hear the community marching band play. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| And several dance studios show off their work. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Another dance studio. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
And remember that big name bands & singers are at night, too late for this old man! 🙂
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| A food truck showed up today! (Maybe from San Jose) Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| The two most popular foods at these gatherings are Ceviche (raw seafood soup that I don’t eat!) and Granizados (Snow Cones) Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| And next most popular is grilled chicken on a stick with a tortilla of course! Or sometimes it is grilled pork. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| It is called ceramicas here and just one of many art vendors. Festival de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Including colorful candles and lots of jewelry . . . |
More photos have been added to my photo gallery on the 2018 Festival de Vida
Started Registering Voters Today at Festival of Life
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| It took 6 of us to register 12 new absentee voters this morning and hopefully the afternoon shift will do an ever better job! 🙂 Festiva de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Registering American Absentee Voters Learn more at https://www.votefromabroad.org/vote/home.htm Festiva de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| During just the first morning we had a guitar-playing singer, DJ, and this Red Cross group drumming on exercise balls and dancing. Interesting! Along with many tables selling food, arts & crafts. Festiva de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Festiva de Vida, Atenas, Costa Rica |
This is a fun fiesta in Central Park with lots of booths/tables for many purposes including the one I’m helping at to register Americans for Absentee Voting back in the states. There is live musical entertainment almost constantly all weekend and the big fundraiser is the International Food Festival on Sunday where people can taste samples of all the entries and vote on the best for only 3,000 Colones (about $5). One of the benefactors is Hogar de Vida, the local children’s home that my friends from Nashville are coming to serve in this April.
It is interesting that the Tico Times article used old photos from past year’s Chili Cook Offs which this replaces. Quite a bit different this year! I’m starting a photo gallery on the 2018 Festival de Vida to which I will add photos each day.
And those keeping up with Costa Rica might like Photos of Women’s Day March in San Jose
¡Pura Vida!
Starting a School Blog Yesterday
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| Escuela Colina Azul A Private Elementary School Nestled in the Mountains of Atenas, Costa Rica |
Belinda, the teacher in a local private school here who helped me get my Cedula renewed, talked to me about having wanted to maybe start a blog with her 6th Grade Computer Science class and asked if I would come tell the class how I started my blog and if they could do one on the same platform, blogspot.com. I was happy to help and went yesterday afternoon. With the school’s projector I showed the class my two blogs and explained the purpose and the importance of keeping posts short and simple, (though I obviously don’t always follow my own rule!).
But, instead of showing them how to blog on the Google platform that I use, my research showed a better place for both them and their teacher, designed just for schools with proper security, spam-free, advertising-free, etc. It is called
Belinda has a young student-teacher who was excited to hear about this and of course wants to set it up which is helpful for the regular teacher! 🙂 The class will have a class page the teacher can post homework on, blog assignments, messages to parents, etc. AND each student has a blog page which the teacher will have some control over, but students from other schools and countries who are on edublog can comment on their posts and visa-versa. I showed them some samples of 6th Grade blogs and read a short story written on one blog by a 7th grade boy.
I browsed through some posts of other 6th and 7th graders and it was great! At least I thought so! And if I have a little bit to do with the 6th graders at Escuela Colina Azul getting started with blogging, I’m happy! And if you work with a school at any grade level, check it out at https://www.theedublogger.com/ It is a subsidiary of WordPress, but it is free for schools and students/teachers and their teacher website has a lot of good teaching resources.
Belinda also teaches 6th Grade English, thus the blogs will be in English and a tool for both her English class and her computer science class (same students – all the 6th graders in a small school). How cool! And almost all of her students are Ticos! There is another private school that is mostly foreigners and more expensive. I really enjoy being involved in the local community like this when I can. Old people and foreigners can still contribute sometimes! 🙂
Escuela Colina Azul Website
Or go straight to the school photos
AND THIS IS COOL:
Story of a rare American 2nd Grader at Escuela Colina Azul. On Mom’s blog.
And my Spanish teachers David & Corinna have there son Nicola in 3rd grade here! It’s a new school for me and I like it!
New Graffiti in Sports Park
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| Not sure what these little colorful shapes are, but they are new on Sports Park retaining wall. Atenas, Costa Rica |
See also my photo gallery: Public Art & Graffiti – Atenas
Costa Rica Invests Over $100 Million In Environmental Protection English online news article
And I just discovered a little 4 minute video about Costa Rica by NatGeoTV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=M0AqiF_pmxc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=M0AqiF_pmxc
¡Pura Vida!
Sleet or Hail – In Costa Rica !?
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| Sleet or Hail ! The fact that it was raining a second afternoon in a row is amazing in February! But ICE is unheard of in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, at any time! (only at tops of a few high mountains) I increased the contrast of photo a little – all the white spots are bits of ice – sleet or hail. (cell phone photo) Ticos were trying to photograph something they had never seen before! It melted fast! Atenas, Costa Rica |
Okay, so you have had some strange weather in the states too! Weather seems to be out of the ordinary everywhere in the world now. And there are still people who don’t believe in climate change or global warming. Wow! Saturday and Sunday afternoon were the first two rains we have had in this calendar year, unusual even without the ice! It is Dry Season here! Shocked tourists?
I was eating a late lunch of fish at Colinas del Sol Hotel Restaurant near my house when it started raining with the first minute or so including ice. Above shot on concrete sidewalk outside restaurant.
¡Pura Vida!
5.2 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Costa Rica This Monday Morning This was way down south where I will be in two weeks, near Puerto Jimenez and Corcovado National Park. We did have a smaller tremor in Atenas Saturday which strangely I did not feel but “heard!” Mejor clima del mundo? 🙂