Museo de Arte Costarricense

After watching all the ox carts lumber out of Parque La Sabana and down Paseo Colon today, we spent some time in the park at the booths of the annual Rural Tourism Fair. A lot of interesting businesses were represented, with some good ideas for future trips around the country. The booths were spread out behind the Museum in the sculpture garden, one of the really neat places in San Jose.

The beautiful building on the east side of Parque La Sabana which now houses the Museo de Arte Costarricense (Museum of Costa Rican Art) was originally the terminal for the San Jose international airport. Opened in 1940 and closed in 1955 when the new airport was built in nearby Alejuela, it’s hard to envision an airport in this busy downtown location. Photos of the area on the museum’s web site, however, show an area that probably was thought of as “outside of town” at the time it was built. Today Sabana Park is a huge urban park with walking and running paths, basketball, tennis and volleyball courts, baseball diamond, soccer field and a fish-stocked lake. This in addition to the national stadium, national gymnasium, and of course the museum.
There’s a lot of impressive art inside this building. My favorites though, are outdoors, in an area called el Jardín de Esculturas (Sculpture Garden). Among many interesting sculptures are my friends Tres Mujeres Caminando (Three Women Walking).
The natural flow of their dresses, the gracefulness of their strides, the realness of their expressions fascinate me. The artist is Francisco Zúñiga. Besides the fact that they are so beautiful, maybe part of the reason I feel such an attraction to las mujeres is that they, too are recent arrivals, having only found their home in 2003, the year after our move to Costa Rica.

Desfile de Boyeros

The Christmas season is officially here. Not only is our neighborhood already being decorated with lights (including the tiny guard shack) but the house two doors down is sporting a house-sized snow man! So to celebrate the season, this morning we bussed into San Jose with our buddies Jon & Emma to view the 10th annual Desfile de Boyeros (parade of ox cart handlers). What a show!
Originally meant to haul coffee beans, the colorfully decorated carts (carretas) have become a major symbol of Costa Rica. No longer needed to take the coffee crop to the Pacific port of Puntarenas, a 10 – 15 day trek over muddy roads, the decoration of the ox carts and wheels has become a national art form.
It was a fun morning. I didn’t try to keep count, but there must have been way over a hundred carts in all sizes and colors. And the oxen, decked out in beautifully decorated yokes, were as colorful and interesting as the traditional carts.
As always in Costa Rica, the kids stole the show!

Ox Cart Parade

*****CLICK ON THE OX'S FACE FOR MORE PHOTOS*****<

Tico Time

One of the cultural differences that's hard to adjust to here is the concept of "Tico Time." I remember when we first moved here my friend Emma and I were invited by a friend to her 4 year old daughter's birthday party. "A las dos" she told us (at 2 o'clock). At two o'clock we showed up at her house. At four, just as someone arrived with the birthday cake, we apologized that we had to leave because Emma had an appointment she had to keep. The hostess was visibly surprised and disappointed and insisted that we eat a meal before we left! We had heard about "Tico Time," but we just didn't get it.
By last year, after 3 years in Costa Rica, you would think that we would have learned. We were again invited to a birthday party, this one for a gringo friend, hosted by his Costa Rican wife. We arrived at the appointed hour of six. At seven a pretty cake was set on the table to admire. At eight someone started cooking...
Yesterday I was reminded again that I'm still operating on "gringa time." A few neighbors have started getting together 3 mornings a week for an exercise session together. I am very excited to be invited to join in. Not only do I need exercise, but it's an opportunity to get to know my neighbors and to practice my Spanish. Yesterday was the third session and I finally realized that when they said to meet a las ocho (8 o'clock) that, of course means around about 8:30, or as they would say, "A las ocho, mas o menos!"

GDP or The Happiness Index?

GDP doesn't register, as Robert Kennedy put it, "the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, or the intelligence of our public debate." GDP measures everything, Kennedy concluded, "except that which makes life worthwhile."

Eric Weiner tells us in the LA Times that there is least one country in this world that takes happiness as seriously as economic growth.

Guy Fawkes Weekend

OK, so we're not British, have never played darts, tried horseshoes once at summer camp 45 years ago, haven't a clue what cricket is (some kind of bug?) and until moving to Costa Rica had never heard of Guy Fawkes...

The new experiences just never end. Our good friend Dale, who is also not British (does Kiwi count?) invited us to the big weekend party this weekend in Jaco. What a blast!

Talk about feeling like an outsider! You'd think we might be used to that, living in a foreign country and all, but on a day to day basis, this is just my home. I do not feel like an outsider. But toss me into a crowd of people who speak my own language differently than I speak it, people who actually KNOW how to play cricket, darts and horseshoes, and well, no one actually ever asked me if I was from the Colonies, but...

The whole weekend was actually one big party. And yes, the Brits certainly know how to throw one. The local was the beautiful Hotel Club del Mar at Jaco Beach. Great facility. Wonderful service. Excellent food. Right on the beach, which is where the cricket game was played. Now I have no idea if cricket is normally played on the beach, but it sure made it interesting. The darts competition, on the other hand, was held at the end of the pool, with 2 dart boards set up and probably 50 people competing. And no fatalities as far as I know!

Our group of 5 had reserved one of the 2 bedroom 2 bath cabinas. It turned out to be the one right in front of the beach. It was a beautiful little apartment, with ocean view. Go to sleep at night listening to the surf. Yes, I could live there!

Guy Fawkes

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