The Princess of Japan!

            I almost forgot.  Last Friday all the Basic I Spanish classes went to the biggest and oldest Catholic Basilica in Costa Rica.  It was about a 30 minute drive from San Jose.  It was very interesting to see people walking on their knees down the main aisle of the church to the altar.  Our professor told us that some people walk on their knees all the way from San Jose to the church.  When they get to the church their knees are all bloody and worn down to the bone.  I love Jesus but I also love my knees.  There was a natural spring too on the church grounds that people have said to seen visions at.  The water that comes out of the spring is supposed to produce miracles and heal those who drink it.  Of course, I drank some “miracle” water.  Maybe know I’ll learn Spanish over night.  The water hasn’t made me sick yet but if it does I’m blaming it on the Catholic Church. 

The Basilica in Cartago

After the church we continued our field trip and went to the market in Cartago.  There was sooo much fresh fruit and veggies as well as anything else you could think of: shoes, fish, chicken feet, candy, dog food, rice, beans… You name it and it was there.

            Yesterday ISA put on a free trip to the National Museum of Costa Rica.  Obviously, since it was free, I went.  We took the bus there and then walked around the museum some.  It was kind of small but interesting to learn more about Costa Rica and its culture and history.  The museum is actually in one of the forts that was used during the civil war/unrest period in Costa Rica.

One of the many relics at the National Museum

After the museum Kristina, Heather, and I decided not to take the bus home right away and instead opted to walk around downtown San Jose for a while.  We were passing by a park to get a picture of a statue in the park when we saw a lot of police officers and press people.  I asked a lady what was going on in Spanish and she said that the president of China was visiting.  Turns out, after asking a few other people, it wasn’t the president of China but instead it was the prince and princess of Japan visiting.  Yeah, that’s right, I saw the prince and princess of Japan!  No biggie.  Read about it here: http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/prince-akishino-wife-leave-japan-for-costa-rica

The princess of Japan

We went to the local artisans market after and I bought a Saprissa jersey which is the jersey for the local Costa Rican soccer team.  It’s purple with white strips.  It was only a cool $10 or 5 mil colones.  Later last night a few of us were planning on going to a church across town.  It’s a Christian church run by surfers.  Well… Needless to say, the directions we were given were wrong so we ended up in a residential neighborhood, a very nice one, with no church to be found.  Luckily, our taxi driver was very nice and hung around for a bit until we decided to just go back to school.  It was embarrassing but Kristina, Caroline, and I had a very good time.  It was basically a $20 car ride across San Jose last night.  Honestly though, I’d probably do it again.