A new day...

Am I in...two thirds of a hospital room?

Hello everyone, happy new year! Its 2009 and, I think its official, the United States of America has a new President. What else needs to be said?

The new year is going well so far here in Victoria. But let me back up a bit to the end of December. The last part of my last entry was about La Posada, and how people gather in the town park every night in December and walk through the streets to a different house each time, singing Christmas carols and re-enacting María and José looking for a room. When all is said and done that will be one of my favorite memories here—its so unique and intimate and fun. I did that every night I was in Victoria in December but on the 23rd I left because my parents had flown to Costa Rica to do a working vacation or a volunteer vacation with a group called Global Volunteers over Christmas! They worked on a coffee farm for a week! Really!

I will not subject you all to every detail, but it was an excellent trip. We met in the mountainous region of Monteverde, spent some time there (where they had been for the coffee work), and then went to the capital, San José. By the time I arrived my folks had roughed it enough and eaten their fill of gallo pinto (a mixture of rice and beans), so they were eager to indulge in some of the luxuries of being a tourist—hot showers, meals without rice and beans, etc. I gave them a hard time, but ultimately relented. For their benefit. Here is a picture of the three of us at a nice San José restaurant their last night in town.

After they left I returned to the life of the solitary backpacker and found a hostel for a couple of nights. I figured a new year’s spent in the unknown of Costa Rica would top what I knew of Honduras. But no, I am doomed to forever experience lame New Years Eve’s. Sure hostels are a great place to meet people; unfortunately for me the only people to be met at the particular hostel where i was were middle aged German men. Ok, there was an attractive family from Puerto Rico there, too, but even then the closest girl to my age was fifteen. So I think at the exact moment that Costa Rica slipped into 2009, I was sitting in an arm chair in the living room of the hostel, watching The Notebook with said middle aged German man and adolescent Puerto Rican girl. Awesome.

But Victoria has had, and normally does have, an exciting first couple of weeks of the new year. The town’s feria just finished and EVERYONE from town comes back for this thing! Family members re-unite not for Christmas here but for the feria a few weeks later. And they’re not just coming from Tegucigalpa and San Pedro but Houston and New York, as well. Its no joke. Anyway, it is two weeks of almost non-stop events and the town is not the same for the rest of the calendar year. The church is never as filled as during the day of the patron saint, on January 15; the Salón de Actos Culturales is never as packed as later that night when a band is brought in to play live music for the fiesta!

I know I wrote about this last year but I think the only picture I had to contribute was what I referred to as an “artsy” picture—a blurred image of some lights and people. Here are some pics from this year’s event:



People leaving the church on the 15th...

...the welcome banner at one of town's entrances...

...from the side of the town's mini bull ring at a rodeo show...

...from backstage at the "Miss Victoria" competition...

Ok, and I was wrong about which dance is the most crowded. I was under the impression that it was the dance on the 15th—not so. Two nights later they have a dance for the “Viejos”; anyone 70 yrs and up gets in for free. Couples of any age pay a discounted fare and single people pay an outrageous fare. I went this year because many people had told me how popular it is and how many people go just to watch the older couples dance. But I would not have believed it if I had not seen it…amazing. Older people, sweet old ladies and men, the ones you only see go to and from church once a week, were out on the dance floor kicking up a storm! I left at 2am and they were still going!!

PS—Happy Inauguration Day! Go USA!