Arriving

19 Goshen SSTers arrived in Costa Rica at 9:30 pm on January 3. They spent the first night and the next day in the town of Alajuela, only minutes from the airport.

Alajuela

At the municipal market, the students started the day with a hearty breakfast of gallo pinto (fried rice and beans). A good omen: all enjoyed this Tico staple! And at the noon meal, It was rice and beans again, this time accompanied by fried platanos! Shayne (at left) couldn't have asked for anything more tasty! (You may click on this or any bordered photo for a larger image.)

During the day in Alajuela students were sent out individually on tasks, to sit and observe, to move around and begin to use Spanish. In between tasks they returned to the hotel lobby to debrief (Christine, Marc, Ladda, Jill and Josih).

Meeting host families

In the late afternoon, the group left for the 45 minute bus ride to Casa Goshen (the house where Rosemary and Gerhard live) in San JosŽ. And the anxious time for awaiting the host families to come and pick them up had arrived. With roses in hand, Mary, Tamara, Christine, Mindy and Jill are waiting to greet their new Tico families. (Tico is the nicknames Costa Ricans give themselves.)

Amanda's host mom arrives and gives her a big warm hug. Amanda will live in Santa Ana, outside of San JosŽ, and will ride the bus for about 8 kms. morning and evening.

National Museum

On the day before Epiphany, the group's second day here, we visited the Museo Nacional, where the inner courtyard was graced with this contextualized manger scene: Joseph, a coffee farmer, dark baby Jesus, asleep in a typical coffee-bean-filled oxcart, and mother Mary, a recent bride, dressed in Tico costume. On epiphany Day all manger scenes all over the country were taken down.

Here the group is posing around one of those mysterious round stones left by the preconquest indigenous groups on Costa Rica's west coast.These balls may range in size from that of a grapefruit to 16 tons and are always perfectly round.

The Chorotegas, a preconquest group left many stone figures. They had a highly developed culture: they already developed towns with a main plaza, raised beans, corn, squash and other vegetables common in Costa Rica today, wrote books on deerskin parchment and had a calendar.

This "group picture", life-size cardboard-mounted stand-up photos, is the museum's attempt to demonstrate the racial and cultural diversity of Costa Rica's present population.

Cartago and the Orosi valley

After a busy Friday--Spanish classes all morning, health briefing at Cl’nica B’blica in the early afternoon, and the museum visit in the afternoon, the students boarded the bus for a day trip to Cartago, and the beautiful Orosi valley.

Matt and Jill are pictured in front of the Bas’lica de Nuestra Se–ora de los Angeles. This gleaming blue and white basilica is Costa Rica's most significant religious center. Many people also come here from far and wide seeking cures for afflictions.

Close to Cartago we visited Jardin Lankester, one of the most valuable botanical centers in the Americas, which has a collection of over 700 varieties of orchids. No wonder that this orchid, the guaria morada, was chosen as the country's national flower!

The Orosi valley is characterized by awesome chasms and steep mountains. Here Rachel is on a bridge at Cach’, with a drop of way over a hundred feet to the R’o Reventaz—n below.

The group enjoyed a meal at Sanchir’ with a spectacular view of the Orosi valley again. And again a tasty meal with rice and beans at the center! The friendly efficient service adds to the enjoyment! And now the students will return to San JosŽ for their first full day with their families, and hearing nothing but Spanish all day long!