Full weekend of awesomeness

This weekend has entertained me with several notable events: hiking in an aguacero/thunder & lightning storm, street fairs/markets, family meals, sunshine, a party, an earthquake, and fireworks.

Melinda Larson, Whitworth athletic trainer, is here visiting us at the CRC (for her third time), scouting and doing some prep work for another Jan Term she'll be leading this coming 2013 term. While she's here, she's also treated us to wonderful entertainment, friendship, and companionship.

Thursday night we watched the third game in the Thunder vs. Spurs NBA tourney, enjoying one another's company, ice cream, Chiky Blaks, and Papiolas, among other junk food treats :)  Also, channel surfing and watching (a.k.a making fun of) Combate, the Tico game show (Orange vs. Blue!).

Friday, we had dinner with one of our host families and dearest friends, Hannia (Mamá Kuki) and her two students that are currently living in the house. It was delish! And full of fun conversation, and even a Skype to her daughter who is in France right now!

Casa Kuki (left to right): Melinda, Kristina (Bean), Travis, Hannia (Kuki) in center,
me, Blaine above me (Whitworth student),
and Abbey (student at the National University in Heredia).

Saturday, after waking up at 4:30am to see off the conference group that was here all of last week, and not being able to fall back asleep after their breakfast and 5:30am departure, I had a nice morning of reading before we all took off for the Fería Verde in San José (Aranjuez). Treats as usual... this time including: a ginger yuca bevy, yuca breaded baked treats in various flavors, and perusing and purchasing the local produce, per weekly tradition.

Product (earrings), some of the merch that's sold by
vendors in the booths at the green outdoor market.

In the afternoon, Mel and I took a fantastic hike up the Monte... fully anticipating and accepting the fact that we were to be rained on. No importa. We were thoroughly soaked to the bone. Drenched. Dripping. Feijão thought we were crazy. He's a bit of a fair-weather hiking companion... scared of other dogs encountered along the way at times, likes the downhill and has problems keeping up during the uphill, doesn't like getting too wet... etc. As the 2 1/2-hour hike progressed, the trail progressively growing into larger and larger running streams and rivers, we literally were dodging lightning and hurrying back to campus (less because we were concerned about being wet--we were still enjoying the hike!--and more for the sake of not getting electrocuted!) Although after about an hour and a half, I was getting pretty chilled in the 60ºF rain, so jogging was helping to keep me warm AND get us under cover more quickly). The photo I have to document this excursion and our storm escapades, with thunder and lightning bolts cracking right overhead is this fabulous, faceless photo. Although my camera is waterproof, it didn't prevent the rain and humid steam from fogging the lens...

Photo #1: blurry, faceless, dripping wet hikers.

Not much better, (more awkward?) but a bit more in focus.

Feijão.

Upon returning to campus, thunder and lightning still right overhead, I took a ten minute, steaming shower to warm me up, as I hung my dripping garments on our drying rack. By the time I had finished showering, it had of course completely stopped. Storm had passed. Not even a semblance of thunder rolling in the distance. Clear skies. 

My view of the mountain we had just climbed not an hour before,
fully surrounded by what is typical rainy season deluge-downpour,
flooded pathways, and complete with thunder and lightning.

Today, Sunday, presented even more excitement. First, Mel and I took the bus down to the peruse the San Rafael fería. 

Mel buys a papusa.

Bananas and a backpack.

Little cowboy cabbage vendor :)

Then we walked a few blocks to go watch Travis and others play some basketball on the local courts...

...and then headed back over to Mamá Kuki's house for some gallo pinto brunch!

The rest of the day back up on campus just got more exciting, as we welcomed friends and families from our CR community at a going-away party for Bean and myself (Bean leaves June 14, so 10 days away is a lot closer than my July 4 departure date, nearly a month out. It's just that we're so busy, and this is the only weekend with time to spare that we could host a gathering to get to say goodbye to our loved ones here. The calendar is full-up until Bean leaves... until I leave, for that matter. But it was the only chance we had for a time to say goodbye together. It was good, but also not necessary for me to really say final goodbyes, as I know I'll be interacting with the majority of these people a few more times before my departure. It's hard for me to really take goodbye seriously in that regard, but I guess it's gradual, and I've been forcing myself through exercises and preparing myself for the transitional period of my life that is to come. 

After all our guests left, the rain, thunder, and lightning for the day set in. Then, around 6:45pm, I heard the window panes and ceiling beams creaking overhead and around me, feeling my world tremble and undulate around me. Pretty sure this is another earthquake. Immediately finding Mel in the office, we usgs.gov'd the earthquake, which showed up in about five minutes; it was an initally-registered 6.6 (now reported as a 6.2) off the southern pacific shore of Panama, but we felt the shuddering tremors a few minutes later, apparently. This is the third or fourth significant earthquake I've felt here, that I have not slept through or passed off as a bout of vertigo (which are not uncommon for me, and according to usgs.gov reports and logged earthquake records, I have missed a few notable tremors during my time living here).

I registered that teal, large dot near San José,
here in CR, about 540km (335mi) away.

Apparently, now as I'm researching this again as I'm writing the blogpost, there have been a few earthquakes recently in the region. I didn't feel the second, supposedly stronger earthquake that was reported three hours later (that would've been about an hour and a half ago now).

Following a nice two-hour Google+ sesh with our friends, the future TAs that will come in after Bean and I are finished here the CRC, we were graced by a 15-minute, quality, big fireworks show, set off just in the neighboring Tirol residential area... perhaps from the Hotel Tirol, or one of the wealthy neighbors' parties? Birthdays or weddings or other special events around here often warrant firework displays. Whoever it was by, for whatever reason, we were entertained. So thanks! A beautiful ending to a wonderful weekend before a busy week ahead and our next groups come in!