I attend a church here in Costa Rica called Vida Abundante. There are several of these around the San Jose area, with the largest being in Coronado. This is an evangelical church, actually a Willow Creek affiliate church (the Chicago church pastored by Bill Hybels that pioneered the “community church” concept and has over 20,000 […]
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Sancocho, Aguardiente Antioqueño and Vallenatos are just a few things I have learned to enjoy over the last couple years. What am I talking about? C-O-L-O-M-B-I-A, that’s what I’m talking about! I have referred to the fact before in pasts posts that my girlfriend is “pura paisa” from Medellín, Colombia. Yes, that is the home […]
You’re either somebody, or you’re nobody. Growing up I always had visions of grandeur dancing in my head. I wanted to be someone important, or do something significant. This seems to be a prevailing mentality in the U.S., as if it were bred into us. The rise of media power in our everyday lives only […]
Just returned from a trip to Nicaragua with my oldest daughter, Michelle, and her boyfriend. We visited Granada and Ometepe Island and had a great time. At least until the last night when I came down with Nicaragua’s version of Montezuma’s revenge, which I have now appropriately named “Nicarao’s Revenge” (after the legendary cacique that […]
Living in Costa Rica for some time I have noticed a stark difference in the way people greet one another here as opposed to the U.S. For sure there is the tradition whereby men greet ladies with a light kiss on the cheek. That is of course noticeable within the first hour of your first […]
I have an affinity for terra cotta roofing (“teja” in Spanish). You know the rustic red clay circular roofing tiles, which when they age tend to attract black soot, or mold, that makes them appear all the more rustic. Being of Spanish colonial influence, they are widely used in Latin America. I can remember being in Medellin, Colombia […]
One of the great joys that I have adopted since living in the Latin world is música ranchera, or what we sometimes call “música corta-venas.” Well I guess not all songs of the “Mexican Ranchera” variety are what one would consider “corta-venas.” That moniker is limited to those songs that reflect a state of being […]
Sometimes it seems I am destined to suffer one relationship disaster after another here in Costa Rica. I guess I could just chalk it up to “cultural differences,” but that would be a cop-out. Sure there are a myriad of such differences, but in reality those can and should make the relationship richer and add to […]
Yes Virginia, there is crime in Costa Rica. It seems that these days you cannot get more than a page or two deep in La Nación without reading a horrifying story of another murder in San Jose, Limón, or Puntarenas. From where does all this crime originate? Usually it is due to a robbery, drug […]
When folks visit Costa Rica they often hear a phrase that may sound unfamiliar, even to those who know a little Spanish. That phrase is “Pura Vida” (pronounced as POO-rah VEE-dah) and can be viewed as the Costa Rican “national motto.” Literally translated it means “Pure Life.” Contextually, it means “Full of Life,” “Purified life,” […]
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