wholladay – Page 4 – A Year in Costa Rica

Ward Christmas Party

We had our "ward" (really a branch) Christmas Party today. President Roberts killed one of his cows and one of his pigs and provided steaks and chincharones for everyone. Beyond that, everyone brought a bottle of pop and either tortillas or a salad to share. Karen made a big batch of potato salad. They don't eat much potatoes here. Instead they have something called Yuca. It is a starchy root like a potato, but it is more fibrous and dry.

The highlight of the day was a talent show. There was singing and musical instruments and skits. All in all it was a big success.

I posted some photos to flickr that can be found here: flickr Christmas Party

Back in the USA

Since we only have a tourist Visa, the law requires us to leave every 90 days for at least 72 hours. Since we've been in CR for nearly 90 days it was time to go. Spirit Air was having a $9 sale to Fort Lauderdale. Continue reading Back in the USA

Elly Goes Horseback Riding

One of our new friends here in Costa Rica has a big piece of land with several horses. One of her horses is being trained as a show horse. She has a trainer come twice a week to work with this horse. She invited our kids to come over to watch and maybe even ride the horse. Continue reading Elly Goes Horseback Riding

Primary Program

We had the yearly primary program today. You know, the one where every child in the primary has a few lines to say and they all take turns reading or saying them. In between the little talks there is always lots of singing. Well, it’s pretty much the same here as it is in the US. Continue reading Primary Program

Wedding Traditions

As I sit here writing this blog there is loud music blasting next door. The sister of our next door neighbor is getting married. The event does not happen for another two weeks. However, here in Costa Rica they have several parties before and after the wedding. Our neighbor invited us over for a few minutes to enjoy the festivities. They had a full mariachi band playing (I had no idea that they had mariachi bands in Costa Rica). Anyway, for this particular party, all the women stay inside the house with the lights turned off. All the men are outside the house. As the mariachi band plays, the fiance goes to the door with a boquet of flowers. He knocks on the door. The bride comes to the door and they kiss. The lights in the house are then turned on and the women come out to enjoy the mariachi band.

It was kind of fun to watch. I think traditions such as this are a wonderful thing.

Thankfulness

We just got back from celebrating Thanksgiving with the other gringo members of the church in Puriscal. It was wonderful; the food, the company, the food! The only thing lacking was three of my children. As I think about it, this may be the first time celebrating Thanksgiving without all of our children with us. I suppose that is inevitable as children grow. However, this time it is my fault. Anyway, since it is Thanksgiving, I'd like to make a short list of the things I'm thankful for:

Family
Atonement
Health
Beauty all around

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Arribada

There is a very unique occurrence here in Costa Rica. Locally it is known as an “arribada” which means “arrival.” In this case it is used when turtles come on the beach by the thousands to lay their eggs. These particular turtles are called Olive Ridley sea turtles. There are only a couple of places in the world where this occurs.

Continue reading Arribada

Bridge of Doom!

On the road between Puriscal and the beach was a very old suspension bridge. Here is what it looked like when we first arrived in Costa Rica. We drove over it a few times going down to the beach. It was quite the experience. Continue reading Bridge of Doom!

We Were Robbed

I went to a meeting Tuesday night at the stake center. There were two meetings that evening. My meeting started at 5:30 and the second meeting started at 6:30. The stake center is in San Jose (the big city) and just like most buildings in the big city, it has fences with barbed wire all around it.

Continue reading We Were Robbed

Attack of the Shower Spider

This morning as I was taking a refreshing suicide shower, I casually glanced down to see a ginormous spider rapidly crawling up my leg. When I say ginormous, I mean ginormous! So he wasn’t quite as big a tarantula, but he must have been a close cousin. Continue reading Attack of the Shower Spider