Celebrating a Saint, Costa Rica Style

In Costa Rica most every little pueblo has its own Catholic saint, no surprise given the number of towns with "San" or "Santa" in its name. You have our own Santa Eulalia, for example, along with dozens of San Rafael's, San Carlos', Santa Elena's, San Ramon's, Santa Cruz's and, of course, San Jose's, including the nation's capital city. Each year most all of these communities set aside a few days to honor their saint with a fiesta for the whole town and anyone else who wants to join in.

The church in San Isidro

Thus it was that most of the Santa Eulalia gang (minus Marc, who stayed home, and Eroca, who is currently back in Canada) made our way to San Isidro de Atenas last Sunday for the final day of their "saint's day" celebration in honor of Saint Isidore, the patron saint of farmers. San Isidro is a beautiful little barrio located at almost 3700' high in the mountains above downtown Atenas. Atenas is also the name of our canton, or county, so just as our barrio is Santa Eulalia de Atenas, so San Isidro needs that identifier to separate it from all the other San Isidro's in Costa Rica.

When we arrived by taxi, the church service was just finishing up and much of the town was out in force, on motorcycles, bicycles, cars and pickup trucks. Marcial and Seidy, it turned out, were acquainted with Doña Rosa, who had cooked huge pots of food for the event and we were ushered into her kitchen to tempt our palates for later.

Doña Rosa in the kitchen

As we wandered around we discovered one of the big attractions for the day was to be 4x4 mud races on a muddy track in a large open space, previously a soccer field, in the cradle of steep hills. Spectators were already perched around the sides of the basin ready for the day's action, but since we had a hike to do, we decided to return later when we were sure the races would still be on.

So with our intrepid leader Marcial in charge, we headed down the road, now bumper-to-bumper with fiesta-goers looking for parking. Marcial had spied a trail heading up the side of a hill across the way but we didn't know how to get there from here. Never fear! Having noticed what looked like a path beyond a barbed-wire fence, Marcial stopped and asked a fellow who was helping park cars across the road how we might get in. An instant amigo, the guy sent over another man to cut the fence and open a gate for us! How's that for friendly? He gave Marcial his name so if anyone stopped us as we hiked along, we could say Juan gave us permission.

Just cut the fence -- No hay problema!

Seidy and I are across, Marcial helps the others

We traipsed down the narrow path alongside the fence and soon came to the inevitable river to cross. But this one was shallow and easy so I just walked through the 3-inch water in my trusty boots. Marcial helped the others to cross safely. The trail took us up through coffee fields, shade-grown under a canopy of banana trees and other tall nameless greenery. 

Marcial and Chris far ahead, Sue coming along

Seidy picks culantro

Along the way Seidy noticed some native culantro growing on the sides of the path and began picking the tender leaves, explaining to me how good it was in frijoles or gallo pinto, the ubiquitous beans-and-rice dish so popular here. Culantro is similar in smell at least to cilantro, which Layne and I love, but I've not found the flavor to be quite the same. Still, when Seidy pulled up a small plant for me, roots and all, I put it in my backpack and have now planted it out back alongside my other herbs. 

Looks like blueberries, tastes like plum!

Marcial peeled a "potato mango," one of the many varieties here, and cut off pieces for us - delicioso! - and Seidy introduced us to tasty little berries that looked like blueberries but tasted more like a peach or plum.

On our return trip, Seidy and I stopped to look more closely at some rusted old metal and concrete structures. She described how they had been used in the past to press the juices from sugar cane, using the giant waterwheel to power the press. Then in large metal pans seated in the huge concrete bowls now filled with plants, workers had heated the syrup (miel or honey, as Seidy called it) to render granulated sugar. It was a fascinating taste of Costa Rican history.

The big rusted waterwheel

A press for the cane

What used to be concrete bowls for heating sugar cane juice

 Returning to the festivities, we found the 4x4 mud rally already underway. Chris and Sue, Marcial and Seidy and Layne all stayed to watch while I walked back to the churchyard to check on Bonnie and Stephen who had opted not to hike. They were enjoying some of the comida tipica or typical food for sale and shared a couple of tasty Chicharrones, fried pork, with me before they taxied back home.

The ever-popular 4x4 mud races

When I rejoined the others at the rally, the races were in full mud-spattered swing, with some of the cars stalling out in the deep murky pools of water and having to be towed off the tracks. But the crowd was enjoying the day with barbeques and picnics throughout the grassy hillsides.

Eventually Layne and I left the rally heading for the dance being held in the salon near the church. There we joined in the salsa dancing and even managed a waltz, which garnered us a nice compliment from a Tica, before Marcial and the gang joined the party. 

By then it was time for the entertainment to begin with dancers from San Ramón performing historical Italian dances and a group of colorfully-clad Ticas doing a spectacular full-skirted rendition of Costa Rican traditional dances. Once again we all reveled in the great opportunity to join with our Tico neighbors in a celebration of their history and culture.  

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Eating and Hiking: Calories In, Calories Out

Carmen patiently teaches the Gringos

What a busy week it's been with Thanksgiving, a festive dinner party for the Santa Eulalia gang here at home (yes, another one!) and the 1era Caminata y Paseo Recreativo La Zopilota (1st Walk and Recreational Outing of La Zopilota - at least I think that's more or less the translation) held this past Sunday the 25th. Now I'm rushing to get a blog posted before I have to stop and do my Spanish homework. Layne and I have been hosting a Spanish class on Thursday mornings in our home with friends Stephen, Bonnie and Eroca. Carmen, a delightful Guatemalan friend who has helped us with organic gardening questions in the past, is our teacher. We've all learned a lot although I must admit that I started out somewhat ahead of others in the class by virtue of two years of Spanish in college and then some dedicated effort through Rosetta Stone; more recently I expanded my knowledge on LiveMocha.com, a free online language tool. Even though my vocabulary is pretty good, the problem I face is in understanding Tico friends and neighbors. Most of them speak so fast - as do all native speakers, of course - that as soon as I grasp one word in a sentence, they are on to the next paragraph. It's one of the few frustrating things about living here. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever be able to carry on a real conversation.

Thanksgiving Dinner is served!

But I get plenty of opportunities to work on my language skills, such as at the Thanksgiving dinner party I enjoyed last Thursday evening.  Held at the spectacular hilltop home of Dennis and Gerardo, the charming proprietors of Pure Life Development real estate company, the thirty-five or so guests included many members of Gerardo's large Tico family, friendly folk who are always ready to engage in sociable banter. Dennis is an excellent cook and the juicy turkey and all the trimmings was fabulous. Although Layne stayed home because of a bit of an upset stomach, I certainly enjoyed the evening and met a few new friends as well.

Almost in the clouds

The 1era Caminata y Paseo Recreativo La Zopilota mentioned above was a challenging hike through the extensive coffee finca of El Toledo Coffee, the excellent organic brand we buy most weeks at the feria. Gabriel, whose family owns the farm, is usually staffing the booth at the feria, ready with a pleasant smile and some new Spanish phrase for me to learn. For some weeks he has been promoting the Caminata, a benefit for the San Isidro neighborhood where the farm is located. We Santa Eulalia weekend hikers were eager to put our walking skills to the test and signed on for the event. During the long and exceedingly hilly taxi ride up to the farm, I began to have trepidations. Just what had we gotten ourselves into?

Had we known exactly what "La Zopilota" referred to, we might have been better prepared for the steep inclines we faced as we confidently marched off through the quaint streets of San Isidro. 

Off we go! 

Onward!

La Zopilota is a huge rock perched at the very top of the Aquacate mountain range that separates the community of Palmares from Atenas. That peak was our destination! Getting there took us through the beautiful hillsides of El Toledo farm, covered with lush deep green coffee plants, each dripping red berries ready for harvest. 

Coffee plants and magnificent views

The incredible vistas from each turn in the trail made the day well worth the effort but it was a challenge. So much so that at the rest stop about 2 miles in, Layne and I opted for a ride the rest of the way up the mountain. Even that ride was a test for the four-wheeler we were riding in: dirt tracks deeply carved by rainfall into a jagged ruts studded with big rocks, climbing up incredible slopes and skiing down steep precipices, all the while passing the more stalwart hikers and bikers still on the trail. With my foot pressing an imaginary brake and my hands gripping the seat, I was mentally exhausted by the time we made it to the finish line at the top.

But what a view and what a rock! Rejuvenated by fresh watermelon and pineapple along with cool water, we enjoyed the Mariachi band and chatted with Stephen and Bonnie who had also taken advantage of a ride up. 

Yours Truly, leaning on La Zopilota

Stephen greets Seidy as she approaches the Finish Line

Marcial and Seidy, of course, along with their sons Daniel and Gabriel and Gabriel's wife Alou, made the whole trip on foot. Seidy looked like she hardly broke a sweat! In fact, they were still so energetic they all walked the long way back down the mountain to the partying taking place at the starting point, food and drink, beer and tequila, music, craft sales and a raffle.

Daniel and Gabriel on top of La Zopilota

One delightful surprise I enjoyed was meeting one of my blog readers at the finish line, as we were all relaxing after our strenuous walk. A vivacious redhead whose name escapes me, she had a lovely smile and some nice comments on my efforts in chronicling our lives here in Atenas. Of course, I've often come across newcomers to Atenas at the weekly feria who have discovered the blog in their research before traveling to Costa Rica, and customers of Marcial's Italian Sausage are sure to be given one of my cards with the blog address on it. (Marcial is my one-man public relations firm here.) But it was an unexpected pleasure to meet one of my fans on top of a mountain! Muchas gracias, señora!