The Rich Culture of Costa Rica

The month of August kicked off to a wonderful start!

One of the ladies who attends the Centro Diurno (senior center) in our town lives down the street from us, and one day she invited us over for coffee hour. When we walked over, she handed us a bag and told us to pick mamones as she had a full, ripe tree in her backyard. Dona Flor reminds us so much of our own grandmothers. In true Tica (Costa Rican) fashion, she was so hospitable and generous, giving us a tour of her house, showing us pictures of her family, offering toys for the kids to play with, and setting her table full of pastries, coffee, chips, arroz con pollo, fruit, and other snacks for us to enjoy. We had a wonderful visit with her! Thank you, Jesus, for allowing us to encounter You in others.

One day, our family needed some time to reset and refocus. We decided to pack a blanket, some toys for the kids, our prayer materials, and go to a covered pavilion area in our town with a nice view of a soccer field and mountains in the background. We also really enjoy going to the Centro Diurno each week, praying the rosary, and visiting with them. This is Dona Flor, our neighbor, giving James and Eleanor hugs before leaving. Going to the senior center has allowed us to form relationships with a few of the elderly in our town, and we are hoping this will lead to more home visits in the future.

A few days after celebrating my birthday, Zach’s parents flew in to visit us for a week. We enjoyed our time together, bringing them along to our regular ministries and favorite local places. One afternoon, our friends David and Helen invited us to visit their house and dairy farm. We watched and learned with amazement as they walked us through a glimpse of the farm’s daily workload. Their family farm was the very first in the area to install automatic milking systems, where they can operate over 500 cows twice every single day. We got to feed the calves their bottles and watch the entire process of how things are cleaned and prepared for milk production. 

They even showed us the tank where the milk is stored after being collected from the cows, which holds close to 2,000 gallons. Every few days, a truck from Dos Pinos (Costa Rica’s leading company in the dairy industry) comes to collect the milk from their tank for the production of over 900 different products sold throughout Costa Rica, several Central American countries, and exported to over 70 other markets worldwide. It was SO interesting to tour and learn about their work. Their family farm has become what it is today from over 700 years of hard work and dedication. Please help us pray for the continued success of their business and for their family, who graciously hosted us. May they be blessed for their longstanding generosity!

August is also such a fun and busy month for us, as the town celebrates the feast of St. Rose of Lima, who it is named after. St. Rose of Lima’s feast day falls on August 23rd each year, but the church here begins celebrating nine days before that with a novena of prayers, Masses, events, delicious food, and carnival rides. Some of the events included bingo, karaoke, live music, traditional dancing, talent night, and presentations by various organizations. The kids especially loved getting to ride some rides and eating churros (if you’ve ever been to a Louisiana fair or festival, these are similar to a funnel-cake, but in the form of sticks!). Churros are a popular Spanish pastry of deep-fried dough, dusted with sugar and cinnamon. So yummy!

During the week of the feast, dozens of men and women from the church come together to make tamales, a staple traditional food here in Costa Rica. Tamales are made by wrapping banana leaves around corn-based masa dough, rice, vegetables (potatoes, carrots, green beans), meat, and seasonings. Once wrapped, they are tied and steamed until ready to eat. The making of tamales is no easy feat and requires many hands and hours to prepare, but they are delicious and totally worth the effort! This year, Madeleine (my teammate) and I volunteered to help with tamale­-making. On this particular day, the church made over 800 tamales to sell, so our job was to wipe clean over 7,000 banana leaves. Although it was hard work, we were happy to be a part of the process and be able to serve the church in even the smallest of ways.

You may remember the recent story we shared about our time at a butterfly farm of one of our friends, Mileidy and Miguel. We have really been enjoying getting to know their family more and more over the last few months. This month, they invited us back to their home so that they could cook us a meal and our kids could play together, and then invited us to join them for a holy hour, which they attend every Thursday. Mileidy, at 8 months pregnant, insisted on cooking us a delicious chicken lasagna beforehand. Then we took all of our kids to play at the park in their pueblo, which happens to be directly across the street from their Catholic church. Each week, the faithful in their community come together for adoration and a communion service. After playing at the park, we joined them for the holy hour, where it was beautiful to see the locals singing praises, offering petitions, and adoring our Lord.

Once the communion service ended, they introduced us to a few community members, including Miguel’s mom, who then invited us over for dinner. It was about 7:30 pm at this point (usually about the time our kids are winding down for the night), but we decided to give it a shot. The women immediately began prepping dinner—eggs, fried cheese, and homemade tortillas. Eleanor got to help with washing the mangos for juice, and each of the kids got to make their own tortilla. We are so grateful for so many opportunities to learn about the beautiful Costa Rican culture and cuisine this month. We are equally grateful for all of the friendships that the Lord has orchestrated this year. Please continue praying for Mileidy as she will be delivering their baby girl any day now, for her husband Miguel, and their two precious boys. Praise Him from Whom all blessings flow!