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Thursday, 05 August 2010 16:23 |
One may easily forget how a annual tradition for many Costa Rican citizens can directly impact life. After four weeks of ministry opportunities in Haiti and varied locations across the US, we were ready to return home and get back into a routine. Reintegrating into a slower-paced lifestyle punctuated with Spanish is now as familiar as the taste of a freshly baked Nestle's chocolate chip cookie or my favorite stateside craving, a Chik-fil-A chicken sandwich!
 The first sight of people walking along the highway and Calle Vieja early one Sunday morning in late July made us wonder if there were a walk benefiting a local charity, but experience confirmed that it was the early arrival of the first of several million romeros returning for the annual La Romeria from points across Costa Rica.
The faithful pass through our tiny barrio to the old capital, Cartago where they pay homage to the patron saint, La Virgen de Los Angeles (La Negrita) in la Basilica de Los Angeles.
Larger crowds had been expected this year as government officials fearing spread of H1N1 influenza cancelled the festivities in 2009.
The last time we experienced this (2008), the kids and I hunkered down at home and made trips to the local pulperias for veggies, fruit and bread until the millions passed.
But this August 1st, Brian needed to be on the other side of town, and was scheduled to preach for both Sunday services--on the day when most pilgrims walked right outside our front gate.
It looked like this Saturday on the hill past our town but by the time we returned Sunday many more crowded 100 meters from our gate where a Transito roadblock stopped us. We had made alternative plans should our access be denied, but a collective sigh of relief and a satisfied family contently remained inside our refuge for the next 20 hours...with occasional trips outside the gate for milk and snacks, for a glimpse at the swelling crowd; for as of 7 AM tomorrow, only the overflowing trash bins would indicate they had passed through.Read more: |
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Thursday, 05 August 2010 08:26 |
Cakes don't always come out the way they should, and the one for Ben's 15th birthday had a cracking problem. But no worries...the boy who wanted a car crash cake for his third birthday got an earthquake cake for his 15th ....appropriate for this land of shakes and quakes.Read more: |
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Thursday, 17 June 2010 19:41 |
Although clinical practice that includes antenatal care and prenatal education may often become routine, clinical practice with an international flair may be spiced up in some unusual ways. Several months ago, Dr. Deliana and I were deep in discussion, when the clinic receptionist posed a question that initially had us giggling. A woman had walked in off the street and asked the theoretical question, “Can someone tell me when my baby will be born? ” Most mothers know that children rarely pay attention to their due dates, so we told the receptionist to make an appointment for the next clinic, only to hear groaning from the waiting room. As much as I would have enjoyed “catching” a baby, our clinic is not set up for emergency deliveries, and after a quick assessment and a few questions, we realized that birth could be imminent…and I grabbed sterile gloves two sizes bigger than my hands, a dirty bulb syringe, and some linens in case the inevitable happened only to plod down the bumpy, pothole-laden road, behind numerous garbage trucks and buses hoping to reach the public hospital in time. I whispered words of comfort (yes, in Spanish) into this young teen’s ear, while lifting silent prayers for a safe and timely birth of a healthy infant anywhere but in the uncomfortable backseat of that car! She wasn’t under the clinic’s care for this pregnancy, but I pray that our desire to share the love of Christ in such a situation will bring her back to clinic-offered health education and parenting classes, and eventually to a Bible study planned for the mothers of La Carpio.
Pray for those involved in providing care for the people of La Carpio, for opportunities such as these, caravans to the jungle(next update), and opportunities for Reachglobal staff and healthy partnerships to reach 100 million people for Christ in the next decade.Read more: |
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