Saturday was Costa Rica's Independence Day. I manage to completely miss all of the celebrations. I thought they would be in the early afternoon. So in the morning, I went to the farmer's market (where I got an excellent bag of habanero peppers). By the time I got to the central park, it was of course raining. The park was empty except for one little snack stand, where I got to eat some meat on a stick.

That evening there were supposed to be fireworks, but I'd made plans with friends to go to the National Theatre to watch a performance of Macbeth. Again, we were too late, and the tickets were sold out. Since we were all dressed up in San Jose, we decided to go out to dinner instead. We found a decent restaurant with a second floor patio. We enjoyed good food and conversation.

In the end, as always, it worked out fine.

Sunday I went to have lunch with my Tico family. It was nice to see them again. They gave me a hard time about getting old. They also gave me grief about not learning much Spanish. But, while they were picking on me, they fed me, so it was worthwhile. I could feel the love.

Honestly, they are wonderful people, and they continue to amaze me with their warmth and hospitality. They've been far too good to me. I could never repay their generosity. In a place where I've felt very isolated at times, they have given me a home and a sense of family.

Sometimes I wonder if I've been too lucky.

Labels: costa rica