Transitarte

So I want to tell you all about the art festival that I went to yesterday, but I'm afraid I'm going to borrow someone else's words in order to give you the full picture:
"Every year the Municipality of San Jose takes on its calling to turn the city into the cultural capital of the country by organizing a series of festivals related to the arts, culture and music. This weekend is [was] the biggest festival so far this year that will be hosted by the Municipality: the Festival de Verano Transitarte. The schedule for the 3-day event is truly packed and is a great opportunity for anyone in the city to get out, enjoy some fresh air and some great entertainment, all for free!
The event will be spread out over four large plazas all within a block of each other in the center of San Jose. The Parque Morazan, home to the Templo de Musica and in front of the Holiday Inn where all the concerts will be hosted is just two blocks north of the Plaza de la Cultura where the National Theater can be found. This is the largest of all the venues and will be hosting artisans who will set up shop, as well as theater and dance performances.” - Written by Claire Saylor

Abby, Stephanie, Kathleen and I met up with our new friends Andres, Yoji and Albin downtown to enjoy the festivities. It was such a wonderful atmosphere to really experience and enjoy a different side of Latin Culture. This exhibition displaced a very non-traditional side of Costa Rican culture, in fact, as I looked around at the crowds I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, the 80's have finally hit Latin America". It was hilarious, all of the teenagers and young adults were decked out in Emo-80's punk/hardcore rock attire and the music and art fell right into place. The highlight for me was spending time with our Tico friends because they willingly provide a safe environment to practice Spanish. They are patient, and correct our mistakes, but are also willing to laugh at us when we make fools of ourselves! After about 3 hours at the park we decided to go to another Tica friend's house to watch a movie, and I was once again reminded that going anywhere, or doing anything in Costa Rica is a process. First we took a bus back to Andres's house in order to pick up the cars, then we drove to the video store to collectively choose a movie for the evening. Next we hit up the Auto-Mac (what we in the States would refer to as the McDonald's Drive-Thru) to grab some tasty BigMac's for dinner before going on the la casa de Maria Jose. It was 10:00pm by the time we all arrived at Maria's house, and instead of watching the movie we had brought (Australia - which is apparently 3 hours long), we settled down and just hung out, talking in Spanish and laughing a lot.

These are the moments that I appreciate the most about being here, and they are a reminder of why I am doing what I am doing. My heart is a relational one, and feels deeply for people. I am an extrovert that thrives on being around people, and speaking Spanish in this context allows me to relax and not worry so much about making mistakes. With school being my main focus here, and my "main" group of friends being gringos, it has been easy to forget why I'm going on the mission field at all. But then these moments of fellowship arise, and I am stirred deep within my soul. I am reminded of the way the Lord created my heart to be passionate about the Latino people. And I am glad to be exactly where I am.