High up and deep down

A heavy rain shower gives me the time to write once again, as quite a bit has happened since the 1st Advent.

Today is December 8th.

High up: Last Tuesday we went to a nearby national park and visited the Poas volcano, 45 km from here. You can only book online, which doesn’t make it easier (booking processes take a very long time here and rarely succeed on the first try). The drive there was very, very scenic. Unfortunately, the volcano, with its 2800 meters, was completely shrouded in fog, so we had no visibility and could see neither the crater nor the lagoon. But we walked through the bizarre fog forest for a while. The return trip took forever, and we were stuck in traffic for an hour. A curious reason for the traffic jam on our phone – we were using ‘waze’ for navigation – “Heavy snowfall”. No idea why. Back home I hit a real low, as the noise and much more constantly overwhelmed me. But Martin also reaches his limits time and again, which is a new experience for both of us. So we initially decided to hold out at least until the end of the year. That has provided relief for both of us; and now we are more open and are not setting a departure date for now. And we even booked a lodge in a rainforest for a few days in January as another highlight. It’s a long trip; the nature park is not far from Nicaragua. There are supposedly many bird species there.

Deep down: Yesterday morning we went into the jungle, where we traveled with the young pastor of the Iglesia luterana costaricensis to an indigenous community, where she holds a church service every two weeks and also a kind of children's service beforehand. Since our church service was scheduled for the evening, we were able to join. That was a special experience. There are still 25 reserves in all of Costa Rica where only 'indigenas' live. And twelve different indigenous tribes in total. Many still have their own language. In this community, it no longer exists, probably because it is too close to the capital. We were warmly welcomed; first by dogs and geese, then by the family where the church service was to take place. Gradually, people from the area came, mostly women with their children, but also a few men. The dwellings are very poor, unimaginable to us to have to live like that. But they know nothing else, even with all the chaos and dirt around them. After the church service, we were even offered some coffee. The pastor has a very good rapport with the people and is very happy to be there. Everything, of course, is in Spanish.

On the way back, we bought Tamales by the roadside, a rice dish with meat and cornmeal cooked in banana leaves, which is especially eaten during the Christmas season.

After four hours we were back home, completely without traffic! We then took a long lunch break. In the evening we had our evening service, this time with only a few participants. But sitting together afterwards is always very warm and makes up for a lot.