¡Feliz Pascua! (Happy Easter)

I had no idea what to expect celebrating Easter in another country, especially as a non-Catholic in a  country who's official religion is Catholicism.

The night of Good Friday, my host family took me to see the processionals. For those of you who've never seen one, it's basically a giant funeral for Jesus. All the participants are dressed in fancy clothes, and the participants include musicians, Mary Magdalene and the women at the tomb (women dressed in elaborate mourning outfits, holding spices for the body), angels (usually small children in costume), Jesus' body (dead, with blood, in a see-through coffin, covered with flowers) who is carried by 8-16 men, depending on the size of the procession, followed by Mary (the virgin, mother of Jesus), and John and Peter (the disciples). The procession can take hours, and as it passes, viewers on the side of the road join in and walk with Jesus to the church, it's actually kind of cool. We ended up going to three different processions, each from different neighborhoods, and each one was a little bit different. It was pretty powerful to watch my host brother carry Jesus' body up a hill, and the whole experience was reverent, sad and joyful all at the same time.

Saturday night is apparently one of the most dangerous nights of the year to leave the house. All over town people take to the streets to burn the body of Judas, and it kind of turns into mini-riots...this I don't really understand, and it kind of frightens me, I saw a few of the fires myself, and it was really easy for things to get out of control. I'm also not really sure how this contributes to the spirit of Easter, since not even Jesus tried to kill Judas, but I guess our traditions of easter eggs and bunnies don't make much more sense either.

Speaking of which, there are no bunnies or eggs on Sunday morning, there's no pastel candies or animal shaped chocolate, no egg hunt, and definitely no Peeps (how I missed them). In fact, it's just kind of a normal day...a lot of people don't even go to church...but it is one day that no one has to work.

We celebrated Easter morning with a family trip to the mountains. About ten minutes north of where I live are some beautiful, open, green mountains, with lakes for fishing, so my family brought a picnic (with a grill, folding chairs, and a coffee maker), and we spent the morning and afternoon lounging by the lake, fishing, and eating together. My WHOLE family went, host parents, brothers, sisters, brother's girlfriends, cousins, aunts, children of cousins, and it turned out to be quite the party.

The lake and fields where we were

My host brother, Joshua, with his first catch of the day!

My "Gringa sister", Danica, and our host cousin, José, eating watermelon

Sisters!!! Me, my host sister, Natalia, and Danica, the other student who lives in our house (aka my "gringa sister")

My host family! Danica, Natalia, my host mom-Ana, me, my host dad-Ronald, and in the back my host brothers Juan Pablo (left) and Joshua (right).

We ended the day as all good Easters should end, with the Heredia/Alajuela soccer game (it's the semi-finals, and my family is split between the two teams) Heredia, the team that Juan Pablo and I like, and the city where we live, won, so next Sunday is the final game! Juan set off fireworks to celebrate and we ate some chinese food (since apparently that's still open on Easter). So not exactly your typical Easter celebration, but still filled with the family and love that I was missing back home (the fishing and fireworks added a little bit more familiarity to the day as well).

So, a day late, Happy Easter, or ¡Feliz Pascua! from Costa Rica!

Semana Santa

In Central America, Semana Santa (aka Holy Week) is the equivalent to Spring Break in the US, except everyone gets a vacation, not just students. Everyone has the whole week off to be with friends, family, travel, and relax. My friends and I jumped on this extra vacation time by heading somewhere that would be impossible to get to over a weekend...Panama.

Now most of you are probably thinking...Panama...canal...and that's about it. Little did you know that Panama is home to what I now believe is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Just think Hawaii...but with fewer people and not as developed, and you'll have Bocas del Toro, the archipelago/national park/small town where we spent our week.

It's much easier to do the rest of this with photos:

First Stop: Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. The trip to Panama is pretty long, so we broke it up with a few beautiful days on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. This beach, Playa Cochles, is a national park, so it's beach/jungle wilderness beauty is still well preserved!

My Traveling Buddies! Sarah, Lizzie and Kaelyn! Our second day in Puerto Viejo we rented bikes and went exploring along the coast. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun!

The Panama Border Crossing: You get out of your bus and walk across this very rickety old bridge.  And if you fall into the river below...there's crocodiles, so be careful. On the other side, we waited in a long line for our passport stamps, it was fun to mark another country off the list!

Our Hostel/Hotel: Casa Max. I would HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone traveling to Bocas del Toro, it was cheap, clean, cute, and we had our own room, bathroom and balcony (with hammock!) You can see our room there in the top right, with the towels hanging off the side. 

This restaurant kind of sums up the feeling of Bocas, it's a bunch of tiny islands, and so many of them just have small restaurants or hotels on stilts painted pretty colors. We also went snorkeling with the fish right below the restaurant!

The Golden Grill: Cheap diner food, we went so often during the week that the waitstaff knew who we were...but really who can resist 85 cent ice cream?

Me at Red Frog Beach. On our first full day in Bocas, we went on an all-day island-hopping tour. Red Frog was a beautiful beach that is home to little red frogs! We didn't see any hopping around, but a small Panamanian child did show us one she had caught in a leaf...in exchange for a quarter and a cookie. 

Playa Bluff: a beautiful beach on the main island that is better for surfing than swimming (we learned this the hard way). As you can see, this place was DESERTED, we had this entire beautiful beach to ourselves!

Wizard Beach: this one is on Isla Bastamientos, which is a national park, which means that the jungle comes right up to the sand, and the ocean is pure, transparent blue water perfect for swimming! This beach was also deserted, leaving us to create our own "Pirates of the Caribbean" adventures :)

And that was our trip! We met some amazing people, had a great time relaxing on the beach, and got a much needed break from our school work (I do actually go to school here)...all in all, a success!

Where are you from?

I cannot even count how many times I get asked that question...

Sometimes they just assume an answer, "you're from the US, right?" or "What part of the US are you from?". Other times it's a little more hesitant, as if maybe I could be Canadian or German, or maybe a "blonde" Tica (wishfull thinking). But without a doubt, every person I meet here asks me some version of this question. 

My first answer is always, "From the US, from Texas!" and sometimes that's enough. Other times it's the long version "Well, I'm from Texas, Austin actually, but I go to school in Washington, DC. I'm here for six months with an exchange program, so right now I live in San Rafael and go to UNA". That's usually a little confusing for them, and honestly for me too, especially in Spanish. 

But this all got me thinking, as someone who has moved around a lot in the past 21 years, where am I really from? I mean, I have had 12 different bedrooms, all of which were "my home" at the time, and which I still remember fondly and call my own. At the moment, I have roots in three different cities, all of which I love and feel at home in. That kind of feeling isn't summed up in an answer as simple as "I'm from Texas". 

And really, when I think about it, each place had an effect on me, something different to teach me, something to add to my life...

Dallas, I can't speak much for, since I was two when we left, but it did ensure that I knew from the very beginning that I was a Texan, and that that would always be home and where my family was. Japan doesn't really merit much of an influence either, since I was only there for about 2 months, however it was there that I made my first friend who didn't speak my language. 

Singapore, taught me about acceptance, adventure, and the importance of good friends. At age 7 I knew about Ramadan, Diwali, and the Moon Cake festival.  It was normal for kids to come and go from school, to live in every part of the world, and to speak other languages.  It taught me that the world was huge, and diverse, but that it was also accessible and open for me to explore. I also learned that family can be people you're not related to by blood. Sometimes friendships can be so strong and survive so much that they become your support structure, and really, if you can find this community, you'll always have a home. 

Connecticut, whether the place or the timing in my life (4th grade girls are pretty tough everywhere), taught me about defining myself. I spent a lot of time learning to discern what was and what wasn't something I was, supported, or agreed with, and what I wanted to be like. I also learned how other people saw me, what it meant to "fit in", and whether or not that was important to me. But, this was also where I started to learn about the importance of imagination and creativity, after all, you don't really need to think "outside of the box" until you've learned how to create one for yourself. To this day, "Appleseed Farms", "Beach House" and "Dogsled" are some of my favorite memories with my brothers, and those games really gave my 9-year-old self a chance to imagine what the world and my future were going to be like. 

Then there's Austin. With about 10 years of my life, Austin holds the prize for greatest influence, and the most variety of influences in one place. Here is where I learned what it means to be a family, and how to take care of others. Texas tradition taught me the importance of loyalty, pride in yourself, being polite, and not compromising who you are. Westlake taught me how to be a leader, how to succeed in heavy competition, and that the only real way to survive a cut-throat environment is to find a group of people to help carry you through. Austin taught me how to be a little "out there", and that different can be good,  and that individuality is important and should be valued. All pretty important lessons for a teenager. 

DC, an animal all to itself, hectic and powerful, has trained me how to fight for something I believe in with all my strength. Everyone who goes to DC is passionate about something, and willing to dedicate their lives to it. Working and learning in this environment gave me the confidence and skills to actually get things done in the world, which is a pretty wonderful feeling, but it also showed me that all that fighting can be exhausting and alienating, and while I know I'll always have a strong social justice streak, there may be other things in life that are also important. 

And now Costa Rica, the laid-back, pure opposite of ambition-driven DC, is teaching me everyday how to enjoy the journey and to let life happen. Sometimes you just have to relax and enjoy the experience instead of planning and controlling. When I get just the littlest bit stressed, over a project, or a trip, or something else, without a doubt someone tells me "Tranquila!" (litterally, "be tranquil", but used more like "don't worry about it") and I realize, that my stress and worry are not worth it, that my time here is too precious to waste it on that. Maybe that's another lesson, appreciating what you have and savoring every moment, because you know it's not going to last forever, and finding beauty, community, and joy in little, everyday experiences. I cannot count the times I have thought to myself "Of course I'm (fill in the blank...playing music on a beach at sunset, having a conversation about "typical Americans" with two French education majors (in Spanish), singing one of the few Spanish songs I know on a bus with a group of people I love being around, trying to convince my 4th grade student that it is not a good idea for her 12-year-old brother to be my boyfriend, etc., etc.). These experiences have been full and wonderful and rich, and I had nothing to do with making them happen, I just accepted where I was and what was happening instead of trying to control every detail, and they turned out better than I could have imagined them. 

So, here I am...12 bedrooms, 3 continents, 7 cities, 5 languages attempted, (only 2 successfully), a city girl, who likes being outside, music, bright colors, traveling, mexican food and sundresses. Maybe if you really want to know where I'm from, you should get to know me, because where I've lived has made me who I am, and right now, I'm really happy with who that person is, where she's been, and where she's going.