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One of the neighbor couples, Russ & Holly, had their second Solstice Party yesterday and it was cloudy (but never rained) meaning no really good photos, but an example of expat life in Costa Rica. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
¡Feliz Navidad! — Merry Christmas!
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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 |
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| Looking out my bus’ front window at others waiting for different buses. Coca Cola Bus Station, San Jose, Costa Rica |
For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.
Robert Louis Stevenson
I’ve already mentioned that I am traveling to my next adventure destination by public bus. For fellow travelers here or you in other countries planning to travel here on a budget, let me share one more help for this kind of travel. It is a Facebook Group Costa Rica by Bus. It is a free, public group but you have to join to be notified of postings.
The Robert Lous Stevenson quote above in on that group’s heading and possibly typical of the many young adults who like to travel all over Costa Rica.
I just posted a statement of how I changed my plan for this week, learned from Juan, my new helper at the bus station here in Atenas. Here it is in case you don’t see it there:
I learned a new trick today to make my bus traveling maybe a little easier, thanks to Juan at the Atenas Bus Station. I’m going to Tenorio Volcano National Park, closest town Bijagua. The online scheduler had me going from Atenas to Orotina, then on to Baranca where I catch the pass-through bus to Upala after a layover. Juan suggested that even though “back-tracking,” it would be easier, maybe quicker, and surer to go to San Jose where the Upala Bus starts. When I’m on that bus (seat guaranteed if early) I never have to get off or worry about missing a connection or waiting for a bus or having a seat. Since the Atenas & Upala stations in San Jose are close, I’m going to try that this trip. Any comments or suggestions? Or something I or Juan didn’t think of?
And I think I already shared the site where you can plan a schedule in English online:
http://thebusschedule.com/EN/cr/ To have it show my revised schedule above, I just add in the box “By way of” the words San Jose. And we will see if anyone comments on paragraph above. You can learn a lot from fellow-travelers!
There are many bus companies in Costa Rica and we have one in Atenas: http://www.coopetransatenas.com/
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| Most Atenas buses are nice modern vehicles like this Mercedes-Benz But most are not air-conditioned which really isn’t needed here. This one is German-made, others Korean or Chinese – all imported. Buses to very rural areas are sometimes old school buses. |
And if you want something else to ride a bus to, try San Jose’s Fiesta de Gallo Pinto.
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| Any Excuse for a Fiesta! Climate Fair celebrates our reputation here for the “best weather in the world!” Mejor Clima del Mundo! Friday & Saturday is a crafts & food fair with lots of live music including big bands on the stage at night. I rarely go out at night. 🙂 Old man! |
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| Daytime boring music with the old men playing the Marimba or . . . |
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| One of the small rhythm and brass bands playing traditional music. The park is a lot livelier at night with rock, pop and lots of dancing. |
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| And midday Sunday is our famous annual Oxcart Parade which I will see and photograph again this year. This is a photo from last year. |
I can hear the high school marching band practicing tonight, so I guess they will be in the parade Sunday. And I can hear the lively pop music from the Central Park stage that attracts the young people and those who love to dance. There are lots of “happy sounds” around here most weekend nights and occasionally on a weeknight.
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| Audience and Dancers Mingle in Portico of St. Rafael Church |
The Masquerade Dance at End of the St. Rafael Week of Celebration & Worship honoring the patron saint of Atenas. It was a colorful, musical bit of chaos. The band played and the teens and children in costumes or paper mache masks “danced” or jumped around during the music. The audience walked in and out of the dancers and sometimes danced with them or talked with them.There was no organization or dancing talent demonstrated, though the brass and drum band was pretty good. It all took place under a portico of the St. Rafael Catholic Church in center of town as one of many events during the last full day of the Patron Saint Celebration. I went for the colorful photo possibilities and here they are!
I missed the Mass and children’s choir and the line was too long to eat at the church, so afterwards I went to La Carreta and ate Arroz con Pollo or chicken and rice for lunch with a Lemucha rice milkshake, like a Horchata but with ice cream instead of just milk! Really good!
(I’m assuming you know that if a site I link to, like the two above, are in the Spanish language you can right-click on the site page and get an English translation of the site in just seconds.)
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| Brass Band with Drums – A lot of these in town! |
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| Lunch was served cafeteria style in church fellowship hall with good homemade Tico food, but line was too long for me! |
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| St. Rafael |
In case you did not see my 18 October Post on the carnival part of this patron saint celebration, you can see it at this link: Atenas Celebrates Patron Saint There have been activities going on all day every day and many announced with loud fireworks and the ringing of church bells. Interesting! There is a statue of St. Rafael in the church surrounded by smaller statues of other saints as if honoring him. Here’s a not very good photo of the statue of St. Rafael the Archangel.
“The closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped.”~Cesare Pavese
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| In October every year Atenas Catholics celebrate the city’s Patron Saint San Rafael Arcángel or Saint Rafael the Archangel (link gives details) It began Friday night with dancing and the carnival on church lawn below and continues through Mass on 25 October. I hope I haven’t already missed the masquerade dance which is usually part of it. Last night was just carnival. I’m guessing next Friday and Saturday nights will be bigger, especially 24th. |
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| Lots of food booths and kiddie rides like these little cars on street by church |
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| Tilt-a-whirl and Ferris-wheel of course for older kids & trampoline for smaller |
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| algodón de azúcar or Cotton Candy at most fiestas along with many kinds of pastries including meat-filled |
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| And of course a merry-go-round with cute horses is necessary! Everything here is very family-oriented, conservative and inexpensive. |
You guys at First Baptist Nashville can just think of this as their version of your “Fall Festival” for the children. It just lasts longer here! I don’t often go downtown at night much, but hope to go again and maybe catch the masquerade dance, probably next Friday or Saturday night.
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| Architect’s Drawing of Main Entrance A 45 minute bus ride away for me. |
in November, the largest mall in Costa Rica and 2nd largest in Central America! And Alajuela is already where I go to shop, so I’m ready! While my rich friends drive to San Jose or Escazu shopping where it is more difficult for me on the bus. City Mall already has a Facebook Page, You Tube Videos, and a bunch of pictures plus lots of articles online and in local papers and magazines. It will have a parking garage for 2,600 cars and is the largest mall ever built in Central America in one stage. Panama has one that was later enlarged that is now larger. Our current largest mall is in the Escazu area of San Jose and will really have a lot of competition now. Alajuela is closer to me and easier to get to by bus than San Jose, so I’m glad, though . . . I am really not a mall shopper where everything is more expensive and even more so here. But I may go to their cinema! 🙂 Or to look for a hard-to-find item. Or to eat in one of their restaurants!
A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.~Mahatma Gandhi
