Tamales

Lucas got in Friday evening. At first he was going to take a shuttle bus but they were full when we tried to make the reservations then he was going to take the public bus but Lucas’s mom called me Friday morning to tell me that his flight was delayed so he may not be able make the last bus from Alajuela so we called Freddy, a taxi driver that we always use, and I rode with him to the airport to pick up Lucas. We got “home” at around 6:30pm we ate dinner at my house, we stayed there for a little while talking, then walked to Eduardito’s house, where Lucas is staying. The first day he was here, I pretty much followed my usual morning schedule and at about 10:00 Eduardito and Lucas met me at the farm. We ate lunch together at Eduardito’s house while we watched one of the world cup games. After the game, we came down to the eco-lodge so that Lucas could check it out then we walked to Virginia’s house. We ended up spending quite a while there talking with her and one of my ex-professors who is friends with Virginia. We were there long enough for it to start raining hard, for the rain to let up and for it to become clear again. We sipped coffee, talked and looked out the window at the view until the sun started to set.
Yesterday was el Día de San Luis, the patron saint day of the town. Eduardito, Lucas and I all headed down a little before 11:00. It is about a 45 minute walk down but isn’t bad because it is entirely down hill. We ended up staying until almost 9:00 at night….. There was a lot of just enjoying the atmosphere of the community. There were “Carreras de Cinta” where people on horses had to get a pencil through a little ring that was hanging on a rope at a full run. There was a lot of homemade traditional food, a cattle auction, a little kid pageant, bingo… and of course mass at the Church. Attending mass was pretty neat. I was surprised at how much I understood and I didn’t really feel out of place because I knew so many people there and all of them smiled and waved when we saw each other. The whole day was a neat experience but it was a long day.