Sunday, September 9, 2007 How do I get so lucky??

Sunday, September 09, 2007

I swear, everyday I am here I find myself asking myself, “Is this really happening? How do I get so lucky?” Today was yet another one of those sweet happen stance findings. Read on…

So today started out as usual. I slept in late, excercised a little, then took a shower. Olga and I ate almuerzo around 1 and after lunch I called Courtney to see if she wanted to check out some museums today. She agreed, but needed to eat with her family then make the long trek to downtown, so we decided to meet up at 4. I read for my Biblia class, then took the metro to meet up with Courtney.

We decided to go to the Museo de Artes Contemporeanos or MAC (Museum of Contempory Arts) first and if we had time go to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts) after. We walked into MAC and paid the $.80 student fee and spent the next 2 hours checking out the 4 exhibits. Courtney is an Art major (plus Biology plus Spanish, yes, that is a triple major), so I really enjoyed going to the museum with her. The 4 exhibits were 1) Mineral, a sculture exhibit, 2) a restored art from the mid 1900s, 3) Super Heroes, a series of incredible paintings of little kids in super hero costumes, and 4) a Costa Rican artist exhibit with all types of art. Each one was incredible and I really enjoyed taking my time and really admiring each piece.

When we finally finished in MAC, Bellas Artes was about to close. We decided that if we could spend 2 hours looking at only 4 exhibits, then we would need half a day to go through Bellas Artes. But we are going to do it together soon. So when we walked out of MAC, the plaza and park out front had converted into a mini circus/street market/festival! There were probably over 400 people walking around admiring the jugglers, break dancers, ribbon dancers, drummers circles, people climbing a skinny curtain looking thing hanging from a tree (like acrobats), and more. All around were people selling some very interesting things, other very sketchy purses and second hand clothes. At one point while Courtney and I were walking around a strong wind came and blew away some posters for sale. Courtney and I picked them up and the man told us to keep one of them as a gift. So the only one Courtney still had in her hand was a Bob Marley poster, so she kept it. But she goes to school in Boulder, CO so she told me she has lots of friends that will love it!

After having our fill of the festivities and figuring we should leave before we got pick pocketed, we started walking to Plaza de Armas, the awesome Plaza downtown I’ve written about before. Just as we left the MAC plaza, we came across and large crowd gathered around a cross walk. A group of performers/actors who called themselves PARE Theatro (STOP Theater) was doing hilarious one acts and skits during red lights! So we stopped and watched for about 20 while the actors ran off and on the streets, rapidly changing their outfits and getting ready for the next red light. They had music, props, and hilarious costumes and had the timing down perfectly so that they never impeded traffic. Between the impromptu festival outside of MAC and the random street performances, I again found myself once again thanking God for blessing me with so many random pleasures.

We walked to Plaza de Arrmas and meandered through the little market set up for Fiestas Patrias. We then walked down Paseo Ahumadas, the pedestrian street and bought warm, sugared peanuts to share. Around 7:30 we’d had our fill of the hustle and bustle and decided to head home, so we walked to Alameda. Courtney had to run to catch her bus, but she made it, and I walked back to the apartment.

Olga and I had once while I filled her in on the day’s adventures then I headed to my room to work. I talked to Sara on the phone for the second time in 2 months and it was great to hear from her. Then I talked to Trevor and finished up a presentation for my education class. Around 12:30 I fell asleep, exhausted after a full, exciting day.