Sidebar #80 - La Romeria

As I wrote about in my weekly recap blog on Sunday, last week I accompanied my girlfriend Keily and her family for an event called "La Romeria". La Romeria is one of Costa Rica's most famous cultural traditions. Each year it's estimated that between 1 and 2 million Ticos make the pilgramage on foot to the city of Cartago, which lies about 15 miles east of San Jose. 1 to 2 million is a TON of people considering Costa Rica only has around 5 million citizens total. Ticos make the pilgramage to the country's most iconic church called La Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles. In the church lies a small black sculpture known as "La Negrita" or "Virgencita" which depicts the Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus. The legend states that a young girl discovered the statue during Costa Rica's early colonial history, and it's become a national symbol ever since.

The most common pilgramage path starts in San Jose and then pilgrims continue on to Cartago by foot. However, some Ticos traverse the country in order to visit "La Negrita". Even leaving from nearby San Jose the walk wasn't easy. There were some pretty steep inclines - I'm pretty sure it was net-uphill. Fortunately, roads were closed for the weekend. Scattered throughout the hike were Red Cross aid stations, various sponsors handing out food and drinks, (we were given free M&Ms and Snickers) and people outside their homes cheering on pilgrims. It was a really neat event to take part of and I'm really grateful Keily invited me to tag along. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Home for the Holidays: Christmas in MO, New Year's in CR

Image
It's been a busy couple of weeks! Normally I try to post my weekly recaps on Sundays, but I figured it may make more sense to lump everything related to the holidays together in one blog.  On Dec 23, I flew back to Southwest Missouri to be home for Christmas with my family. This was the first time I'd been back in the Ozarks since I began my Peace Corps Service a year and a half ago (roughly 18 months). I was really excited to spend time with family, get some comfort food, and enjoy some colder weather. All three of those things occurred eventually, thankfully, although the latter wasn't until the end of my trip due to a record-breaking warm Christmas Day.  My time at home, was fun and much-needed, although it wasn't particularly relaxing. We had a number of Christmas celebrations and activities, so my time back home went by pretty fast. Some highlights of the trip included celebrating my Dad's birthday sharing a tomahawk steak, eating some Springfield-style Cashew ...
Read more

Sidebar #58 - 2026 Costa Rican Presidential Election

Image
Note: These are my objective observations of Costa Rica’s upcoming election as a foreigner living here, not my personal opinions. Additionally, these observations are my own and don’t reflect those of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps. This is a big week for Costa Rica. On Sunday, February 1, Costa Ricans will cast ballots for their next President. There are other elections, namely legislative, that are also happening on Sunday, but for the purpose of this blog, I’ll keep it simple and focus on the Presidential election taking place. There are several differences between the Costa Rican presidential process and our elections in the US. One of these distinctions is the sheer number of political parties, and therefore, presidential candidates. The election is Sunday (I’m writing this on Thursday) and there are still roughly 20 candidates in the race (with varying degrees of viability). In Costa Rica, the President cannot serve consecutive terms, meaning that there will be a new Pres...
Read more

Feb 17-23: Settling in at School + a Weekend in Puerto Viejo

Image
My first three or four months at site were a bit chaotic as I finished my diagnostic report, or “CASA” report, about the community. Fortunately, counterparts at my respective academic institutions were in frequent contact and communicated to me on the onset of each week how I should divide my time between the schools. However, since classes resumed in February, a more formal schedule has begun to crystallize for me. I’ll spend Mondays and Wednesdays at the high school, or colegio , and Tuesdays and Thursdays at the escuela , or elementary school. Fridays will alternate between them so that I can ensure I split my time evenly at each institution. Although having that schedule seems like a small development, it feels like a bit of a breakthrough in my service to establish more day-to-day consistency. Being the first Peace Corps volunteer in my town’s history, all of this is still relatively new for everyone involved, so getting all parties on the same page feels like a win. And not only...
Read more