Recently I took two of my grandchildren, one 18 and one
21-years-old to Costa Rica with me for a vacation. The oldest, James, had
returned from a two-year mission to Costa Rica six months earlier, so I decided
he could translate and show us his mission.
Our trip was a ball. Having two young adults along helped me
feel young again. I tried very hard to keep up with them, although I am sure
that they feel I failed.
We arrived in San
Jose, the capitol city on Saturday night. One difficulty I discovered while
booking
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| James at customs |
Just to get through customs in San Jose took over an hour;
even though there were 28 incoming booths for non-residents to check through,
only four were open. I guess they have a two-day weekend for government
workers. All we did was check into our hotel and rest.
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| Jenni at church |
Sunday we took a
taxi to the local church, where James had attended while he was the Mission’s
financial secretary. It was fun for him to see local members, and we “enjoyed”
three meetings in Spanish. It was fast meeting, so we felt the spirit, even
though we didn’t understand a word. Sing in Spanish wasn’t too hard as I had
lived in Italy and sung in Italian—but I am afraid I probably sang the hymns
with an Italian accent, as I often pronounce Spanish in the Italian way—which
is different.
In Sunday School, the teacher used his tablet to play a
church video on the large flat screen TV. I was amazed at the use of technology
that as a church librarian I had tried to encourage. They certainly needed to
encouragement to use it in a “Third Country.” Right then I realized that Costa
Rica is not a third world, but as modern as the United States. Everyone
had the newest cell phones, and used them all the time.
Relief Society was fun as a sister from Texas visiting her
mother in San Jose, interpreted for me! The lesson by a member of the Relief
Society presidency was about visiting teaching and very creative. She showed us
a survival visiting teacher kit, and pulled out items and correlated them to
visiting teaching. I wrote down the very BASICS of it.
1.
Lock: Lock your mouth about anything your
sisters tell you.
2.
Soap: Always have clean thoughts
3.
Toothpaste & brush: Always have a beautiful
smile
4.
Rubber band: Be flexible & visit when your
sisters can have you come.
5.
Q-tips: Clean your ears so you can listen
carefully to their needs
6.
Cotton balls: Speak softly and have a soft heart
Who
would ever think that one of the most creative Relief Society lessons I have
ever heard was in Costa Rica?
After church we walked to several members’ houses. The first
home was a very humble one of a sister who served us baked Yucca and Gallo
pinto (their favorite food of rice and black beans). Four of the local
missionaries ate with us, and she stretch a pork roast to serve far more people
than it was designed for. Again, a very humble home with boards showing through
to the open air, but the sister’s daughter sported a cell phone.
Next we visited the ward mission leader and his huge family
that lived together in one home that had been stretched to make several homes.
All of the grown members of the family, along with their children, sported and
used NICE cell phones. They had a large flat-screen TV in the living room.
I had fasted that day and as the day went on, I began to get
a migraine! Finally, I excused myself, leaving my grandchildren there speaking
all Spanish, and took a taxi home. I hadn’t gotten used to the currency
exchange, and my head was so foggy that I watched the taxi’s price counter go
higher and higher. I began to panic because I thought it said, “60 million colones,” (about US
$120.00), and panicked because I had barely brought that much money with me.
When I gave him the money, he corrected me and told me it was only “6 million
colones” about $12.00 US money. I was so grateful that he was so honest as I
was totally a ditzy tourist. My grandchildren were still hungry, even after a
lunch and two Costa Rican traditional dinners, so we ate at the hotel
restaurant, which served the most flavorful salmon I’ve ever taste (either that
or I was starved after eating only protein bars that afternoon).
Monday I rented a car and we drove across the country to the
Pacific beaches of Guanacaste.
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| Coffee plants |
There is a way to get
to Guanacaste that is much more modern and faster than I realized, but I had
downloaded a google navigator map on my phone and we followed it. We left in a
torrential rainstorm, which added to the fun. I assume I had chosen on the app
that
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| Along side of the road |
Our hotel resort was
on the beach of Playa el Coco, and we could walk down to the beach, which was
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| Our hotel |
On Tuesday, we goofed around, bought food at the gift shop,
then body-surfed in the beautiful beach. I had reserved a snorkeling tour for
the afternoon, and it was fantastic.
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| James with pufferfish |
We first went to
some rocky islands in the bay. I hadn’t snorkeled for years, and it was
something I’d always loved to do, especially on our favorite beach of Kona, in
Hawaii and on the Baja coast of Mexico. We saw tons of beautiful fish, and the
guide showed us a pufferfish and a spiked pufferfish. I don’t swim, so I used a
life vest, but still was able to enjoy the sights. I wandered and every once in
a while, my grandson would come checking on me to make sure I wasn’t lost.
Next we went to a beautiful secluded beach and snorkeled
where the water wasn’t over our head. The guide gave us fresh Costa Rican
pineapple and part of the time I rested. I had had rotator cuff surgery two
months previous to our trip and my arm wasn’t as strong as I had liked.
One other lady was
on our snorkeling tour with us, and I enjoyed talking to her about genealogy,
of which I am a tremendous fan.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
