This past weekend I didn't travel too far. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all day trips to see attractions near San José. On Friday, my room mates and I decided to sign up to go to the Palmares Festival, located in the r o l l i n g hills of Costa Rica. It was about 2 hours away, and we left right after classes at 1 pm. The list of students who wanted to attend the festival grew quicker than anticipated, and we ended up having to get a separate bus to fit everyone! Palmares is one of the most anticipated traditional festivals on the Costa Rican calendar, continuing the celebration of Christmas, right into the new year. Beginning in the second week of January visitors can experience local food and drink, music, dance, parades, fireworks and of course Costa Rican bullfighting and horse parades.
The festival is known for it's high attraction rate, and mainly for it's parties. We were told not to bring anything valuable, very little money (only what you planned on spending), and to be extremely cautious and aware. After all the build up to the event, when we arrived, and for mainly the entire day, there were almost no people and an extremely c a l m environment. Although, as the night grew on, we understood what people were talking about. It seemed as though all of a sudden there was thousands of people! Thankfully, we left before it got to be too crazy!
The next day, Saturday, I packed up and left around 7 am to spend the day zip lining through the cloud forest and exploring a small town called, Sarchi, which is famous for it's Oxcarts. Sarchi is home to the largest oxcart in the world. This was a cool experience to see the large and decorated oxcart, and to learn all about how the people of Sarchi build everything with their own hands. We also visited a famous church, which was made entirely of metal sheets! There are many legends about this church, such that it was supposed to be sent to several other countries, but instead was shipped to the small town of Sarchi. None of these legends are true, and it was in fact, meant to be built in this beautiful town.
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| El Volcan Irazú |
On Sunday, we visited the tallest, active volcano in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, it was so cloudy at the top of the volcano, we were unable to see the inside of it. Volcano Irazu has 4 craters, and the main crater contains a greenish/blue pool in the middle. It's said, touching the pool would result in an imminent death. Even though we couldn't see the inside of the volcano, or even 5 feet in front of us, we all definitely made the most out of the trip!
After the volcano we went to another famous church in a small town called Cartago. This may have been the most beautiful church I have ever seen. There were so many people here, both for tourism and for Sunday mass. There is a story about why this church was placed in the spot it is in, and an interesting one at that! The Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels is consecrated to the Virgin of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, a small
representation of the Virgin Mary carrying the infant Jesus. It is said to have been discovered by a p e a s a n t girl in Cartago who was collecting wood for her family. The story goes that the little girl found the small statue on a rock and took it home. The next morning she found that the statue was not there but back at the rock. She again took the statue home, and the same thing happened. And again, once more. So she took it to the priest and he didn't believe the girl. He then locked it in a small box to find the next morning that the statue was back at the rock. During the construction, the church was destroyed by earthquakes so many times, it was finally decided to move it to the location where the statue was found and then they were able to finish the construction. Many people think that the earthquakes were signs that the Lady of Los Ángeles wanted the basilica built there. This church in its current state, dates back to 1939.
This is officially my last week of my first intensive Spanish class. I'm feeling extremely proud of how far my Spanish has come the past 3 weeks. I have my patient simulation this Wednesday, and my written final this Friday! Wish me luck! After my final exam of Friday, I will be leaving the country to Bocas del Toro, Panama to reset my visa! That way I won't get deported back home ;) I'm very excited for the adventures to come!
P u r a V i d a mis amigos!
