Christmas Costa Rican Style

This Christmas provided us with many new experiences.  

We didn't quite feel like it was Christmas, and we missed our family deeply.  

However,  it was a grand party here in San Francisco de Dos Rios that felt much more like a 4th of July celebration back home.

The party started the first weekend in December with a street fair in the park located one block from our apartment.  There were people selling crafts, food, and live music all afternoon and evening.  With a cool breeze wafting through the open windows, we enjoyed listening to the music each evening.  The festivities ended on Sunday night with a grand fireworks show.  

No matter where you go in San Jose, you will find manger scenes in all the public places.  The grocery store near our house has a big manger scene right in front of the giant Christmas tree.  

One interesting fact - Baby Jesus isn't placed in the manger scene until Christmas Eve, so up until Christmas Eve the mangers are usually empty.  

Making tamales is another Costa Rican Christmas tradition.  Jim along with our new teammates, Dave  and Angie, were invited to a Tico family tamal-making evening (I was with the girls and grandbaby in AL).  Tamales here are a bit different in that they are square and wrapped in plantain leaves.

After attending services at our church, Christmas Eve was spent with just the two of us in our apartment.  I'm sure you are picturing the two of us celebrating quietly at home, but your picture isn't correct.  Nope, we were introduced to another Latin American tradition - fireworks to celebrate Christmas Eve.  We're not talking about a few sparklers and black cats in the backyard, but real honest-to-goodness fireworks.  After eating with the family on Christmas Eve, the Costa Rican families celebrate with their own fireworks shows.  It started about 8:00 p.m. and lasted until well after midnight.  In addition to fireworks, we experienced dogs barking at the fireworks, and car alarms being set off by the fireworks. 

Our new experiences continued Christmas Day.  A fellow ReachGlobal missionary, Judy, invited Dave, Angie, Jim  and me to Christmas dinner.  We had delicious grilled pork with mango salsa along with other great food on the patio in 70 degree weather. 

Need to wash your hands?  Here you go!

Our celebration culminated with a trip to the fiesta in Zapote - another Christmas tradition here.  Many families spend the evening of Christmas Day at the opening of the fiesta.  Again, it felt more like the 4th of July with tons of carnival rides, food venders, and carnival games.  The highlight of this fiesta is the bull fighting that takes place throughout the entire week between Christmas and New Years Day. We didn't go inside the ring to watch, but we were able to watch all the action on a giant TV screen outside the bullring.

Christmas is a celebration here, and we look forward to having friends and family come celebrate with us next year.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!