{"id":1851,"date":"2011-01-12T10:15:14","date_gmt":"2011-01-12T17:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/?p=1851"},"modified":"2012-03-05T17:17:32","modified_gmt":"2012-03-06T00:17:32","slug":"authentic-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/authentic-costa-rica\/","title":{"rendered":"Authentic Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Day 4<\/em> of my visit to Costa Rica, I enjoyed something most vacationers will never experience: The hospitality of a Costa Rican family in their own home.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"But first, church.<\/p>\n

I attended LDS church services<\/em> for the first time in many, many years because Brandon wanted me to meet some of the wonderful friends they’ve made in Costa Rica. As a former mormon, I avoid these like the plague – but (other than the heat)<\/em> this one wasn’t bad.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Every one was so very friendly<\/em>, and everything was in Spanish (of which I understand very, very little) <\/em>so I didn’t get irritated with whatever was being preached or testified about (it was a fast and testimony meeting)<\/em>. <\/p>\n

It was fun to see that they had decorated their ‘chapel’ with a Christmas tree and garland. And I enjoyed singing the hymns<\/em> – which is probably the ONLY thing I could ever say I miss about church.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Christmas – there are nativity scenes EVERYWHERE<\/em>. It’s mid-January now and no one seems in a hurry at all to remove their decorations. I’ve seen them on roofs, in parks, in hotels, restaurants – everywhere. I’m wishing now I’d started photographing them all – I could have a post devoted just to Costa Rican nativity scenes.<\/p>\n

OK, now for the real fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After church we drove an hour to the beautiful area of Atenas, where the Bustillos family welcomed us into their home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each week, after church, the two families take turns hosting each other for lunch. This week was the Bustillos turn.<\/p>\n

Along the way we saw this waterfall.<\/p>\n

Brandon and Kincho are very similar – both in build and in their goofy personalities. They are two peas in a pod<\/em> and have become dearest friends. Kincho said to me, “Brandon es mi hermano!” (Brandon is my brother).
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Kincho proudly took us around the yard – showing us fruit trees, dogs and the absolutely HUGE leaf cutter ants marching in a row. They can devour a small tree within a day or so.<\/p>\n

Kincho speaks about as much English as I do Spanish – but we’re able to communicate with gestures and expressions<\/em> – and with the help of our bilingual counterparts. His wife, Maggie, and their darling girls Jimena and Sigrid both speak some English. And Brandon and family all speak Spanish. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I’d like to add here that Jimena is about the most photogenic person I’ve ever met. I have taken dozens of photos of her and she looks beautiful in every one of them! <\/p>\n

Not a single bad photo in the bunch.<\/p>\n

\"\"Anyway, the girls played on the computers and with the dogs while I took photos – and Brandon, Jennifer, Kincho and Maggie visited and prepared food in the kitchen. And no chauvinism in this house – Kincho jumps right in and helps with dishes and food preparation, child care and anything else that needs attending to.<\/p>\n

Maggie is an excellent cook. Dinner was delicious – a traditional Costa Rican meal of arroz con pollo <\/em>– (chicken with rice). Also a delicious salad of spinach, cucumber and the juice of lemon. So refreshing!<\/p>\n

After dinner, we all hopped in Kincho’s Landrover so he could give us a tour of the area<\/em>. Atenas is really beautiful.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Kincho taught us the local way of greeting each other <\/em>– basically with a low voiced “hup” (rhymes with pup, cut off abruptly at the end) <\/em>while raising a hand up. As we drove around town with the windows down, we took turns greeting people walking on the street to see if they’d respond in kind – and nearly every one of them did. A very friendly country.<\/p>\n

We stopped and looked at land for sale.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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We saw some cows<\/em> (cattle are abundant in Costa Rica)
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We picked and ate oranges right off the tree<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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After our drive, we went back to Bustillos for grilled cheese sandwiches and cooled off with an ice cream treat. And stopped in Maggie’s parents home for a visit. They live on the same property – about 20 feet away. Very sweet family.<\/p>\n

Costa Rica is a beautiful country. But it’s the people here that really shine<\/em>.
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P.S. It’s so hard to pick which photos to include in my blog, so I’m working on a slide show so you can see more of the scenery and people – so check back soon!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Day 4 of my visit to Costa Rica, I enjoyed something most vacationers will never experience: The hospitality of a Costa Rican family in their own home. But first, church. I attended LDS church services for the first time in many, many years because Brandon wanted me to meet some of the wonderful friends … Continue reading Authentic Costa Rica<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[213,10,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-costa-rica-travel","category-familyfriends","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1851"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2667,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions\/2667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}