Salsa, Meringue, Cumbia...que mas?

Talk about a cultural induction. There's nothing like being thrown into the middle of a crowded dance floor; music blaring, people staring, with everyone around you, young and old, "salsa-ing" their hearts out, to make you find your Latin groove.

Last friday we were invited by Nathan's tutor to attend a concert at the Hotel San Jose. Her father, Ramiro Guzman is a professional musician and plays bass guitar in his own band, Gaviota. They play the most amazing romantic, latin rhythm dance music and love ballads. They have several male vocalists that are so talented, with smooth voices and classic harmonies...look out Enrique!

Usually at these sort of events it takes several songs, if not the whole evening, for people to begin to brave the dance floor. Not so...they started out with several slow songs and the floor was instantly filled with couples of all ages. After a while they livened things up with some salsa music, and the night took off! You have to realize, here they teach their babies to salsa before they can walk...ok maybe after they're potty trained...but seriously, they don't even have to think about it, they just know how to dance.

We sat at a reserved booth for the Guzman family with several of our teachers from language school and some of their spouses. Once we expressed an interest in learning some dances, we never sat down again. They had us on the dance floor learning salsa, meringue, cumbia... you'd think we were training for Dancing with the Stars!

Needless to say we had a great time and learned a lot about social dancing, such an integrated part of Latino culture. We hope to go again soon!

Click here to visit Gaviota's website!

Here's our pics with some sounds bites from that night...

Our first Cafecita

A Chorreador de Cafe --
the traditional way to brew Costa Rican coffee


Cafecita is the equivalent to the British tea time, except with coffee, of course. Every afternoon, but sometimes not until 4 or 5 o’clock, Costa Rican families gather together for coffee and sweetbread. For those of you thinking it better be decaf...nope. There is only one brand that makes decaf (the one that caters to tourists) and it is about 4 times the cost of regular.

We’ve been told that if you are ever offered coffee at cafecita, whether or not you drink or even like coffee, you take it. Even if you only take one sip, it’s better than refusing it. One of our tutors said about the only acceptable reason to refuse the coffee is if you have a severe allergy and could possibly die. I think he was kinda joking….maybe.

On the other hand, he also told us not to be disappointed if we never got invited to into a Costa Rican “Tico” home. Because all their extended family usually lives in the same neighborhood, Ticos rarely have time or room for anyone else. Actually, they are so big on being friendly, that they may invite you over, but never give directions or a time.

One of our friends at school is a single girl who helps out in Kendyl’s class and she lives with a Costa Rican host family. Last Friday, we had the honor of being invited over for dinner and coffee, and it was our first time to actually sit with a Costa Rican family at their table and share a meal. We had a fabulous time! Picture the quintessential Italian family, everyone pulling up a chair, coming and going, talking over each other at a table filled with food and no room for plates (all except the Italian part of course). Not only did we get a LOT of great spanish practice, and great homemade tortillas, our souls were filled as well. It felt so good to finally be fellowshipping in a home with the people and culture that we came here to be with.

Unfortunately we did not bring our camara (kinda felt like a lame tourist thing to do), so we have no pictures to share with you. Hopefully next time.

Back to School

Think September… all the stores are filled with backpacks, notebooks, pens and pencils. Kids get new school clothes and uniforms; and there is that feeling of looking forward to buckling down, settling into a routine, and fall weath………..um. Well, except that part.
Costa Rica’s school year is Jan-Dec so their big break is at Christmas, and now everything has that back to school feeling, but we are smack in the middle of summer weather. It’s just another one of those things our brains are adjusting to.
We are back in school too, in our second trimester of Spanish language school. Jamie is in classes part-time and part-time with a personal tutor and Nathan is in full time tutoring. He is also enrolled in a general Bible Survey course (in Spanish) at the local seminary where he hopes to teach at in the near future. We are also both serving on the institute's student counsel, Nathan as the Music Director and Jamie as the Rayitos (nursery/daycare) representative.

Here is a little taste of what our classes are like...