From Churches to Wizadry...

Day 12, Thursday, July 12

Today is a great day. I can just feel it when I wake up. Today is my day, and I am grateful after the week of self-doubt and travel anxiety. I am ready to be happy.

I get up, take a shower, eat some breakfast with my abuela tica... you know, the usual. I pack my bag for school and then work on some homework. Then, about five minutes before I need to leave for the bus, I rethink my packing situation. I left my guide book and camera at home yesterday to save room, and I ended up needing them. Today I am planning on not taking my computer, so I can just lug my small bag around Cartago. But at the last minute, I change my mind. For some reason, I feel like I am going to need it. So I take everything out of my small bag and repack the large. I am running a bit later than usual, yet I still get to the stop before Alicia, so I guess it is all good. :D

I get to school and pull out my computer to check my e-mail and other things you do on the internet. When the bell rings, I head to class, where we meet for Cartago. As a group, we walk down the street and load the forty minute bus. The trip is not bad: Hannah shows me how to knit. I learned once, a long time ago, but I easily forget things. She shows me how to cast on and do simple stitches, and that keeps me pleasantly occupied until we are almost to Cartago. At this point I have to stop, for I have once again underestimated my motion sickness. When we climb off the bus, I feel like I will most definitely hurl. But a few deep breaths and I am okay. But this makes me wonder: what is motion sickness? What brings it on? Why do I always burp when it attacks? And why do deep breaths settle you down?

The first thing I notice about Cartago is the size. This city is huge... and it is relatively empty. There are very few people milling about, and those who are (milling about) are concentrated in the main plaza. I love it here. It is so much nicer than San Jose. Now this could be due to the lack of people, but I think the large white basilica that stands right dab in the center plaza has something to do with it also.

Ronny takes us up to La Basílica de los Ángeles to observe la gente. We are standing around, looking at statues and the like, when a line of people approaching the altar catches my attention. It is not the line itself that has me staring; it is the way the people move. All are on their knees, shuffling along, slowly but surely drawing near their goal. I stand transfixed, unable to remove my eyes from the humble spectacle. And suddenly, I feel near tears. I have missed church. I have missed the intense devotion, the true belief I see here. It is strong and beautiful, and I feel great appreciation for the sinners.

Ronny pulls us along, and I admire the confessionals in the church, which are much more the traditional sort (with the separate rooms and screen – think The Godfather) than the chair to chair confessions we do today in the states. I think I might prefer the screen... I don’t know; sometimes confession still weirds me out. We move on to look at the statues, and I notice one with a headstone in front of it from the eighteen hundreds. What a story, to be buried inside a highly visited church. Ronny, after showing us around, has us sit and simply watch the people pray. We are to write down our reactions in order to write un ensayo when we get back to class.

I think about the facts we have learned as I watch the procession of crawlers and listen to the voices of those praying. This basilica is important as it is the spot where the Virgin Mary, the patron of CR, appeared to a little indigenous girl. She appeared in the form of a doll, and no matter how the doll was removed, it would always return to the rock where it was found. So they built a church there, and they called the city Cartago.

I listen as the prayers of the women mingle with uplifted songs. Their words are passionate and true, but I do not listen to understand, only to feel. So I am of course loath to leave. Just before we depart, I hear the bells begin to ring, and as the resonating sound mixes with the rich praise, I can do naught but smile.

The statues here reflect the beauty and the tradition of the people. There is one of the Virgin with baby Jesus: the protector of all children. And my favorite, which I run back in to take a picture of, is one of God with Jesus at his right hand. Jesus is holding his cross, and the two of them stand on clouds of angels. It seems an apt description to me, a celebration and reminder of God’s love and Jesus’ suffering. If you’re Christian that is. If not, it is still a nice statue.

We take some time to ask some locals why they are visiting the church and what their views on Mary are. This leads to an interesting discussion with an older lady who turns it back on us: What are we doing here? Isn’t that the question.

We lunch at McDonalds (why not?), where I order a Junior Pak (say it with me: hūn-yor pak), and receive a strawberry shortcake doll (at Hannah’s persuasion). Hannah and I chat with Ronny while we eat – he’s a pretty fun teacher.

After a bit more walking around, we hop the bus back to school, where we have an hour to describe our experience at the church. Before class is over, Ronny informs us that for Tuesday we have to come up with a ten minute speech... y’know, to practice for the oral part of our exam on Thursday. But, on the up side, it can be about anything we desire. Still, crap.

Alicia was supposed to have gotten our Harry Potter tickets at lunch, but that fell through, do to the insanely long lines at the mall. So she heads over after school to see what she can do. Therefore, I find that I do need my computer! What great planning. ;) I work (put blogs up, finally send a reply e-mail to the one that upset me so last week, put pics on facebook) until my computer dies. Then I finish postcards and put them in the mail; as of now, I have only two left to send.

Alicia shows up and tells us that she got tickets to the 7:00 movie at the mall. Hannah and Beth and I decide to hang out ‘til then, so we do dinner at the mall and meet the girls for the movie. NOTE: We met a girl named Heather today, who came here on her own from Miami and is looking for friends. She’s a nice girl, and we might go to church with her on Sunday. That’s all.

So... Harry Potter. AMAZING. I am very wary, because, well, I very much disliked the fourth movie, but this is phenomenal. From the beginning, it claims to be my favorite HP film (except maybe the first). The flashbacks, the old footage, the relationships, the camera angles; I am drawn in. It is beautifully directed, with wonderful cinematography, and a very interesting lack of sound. At intense moments, instead of a full orchestra, there is silence. It is so very different from the others, and for that I love it. The fifth book stands out to me as different, so it makes sense that the movie should as well. Marvelous. And the best part is that while many things are brought up, nothing is really left unexplained. Alicia says that she would have been lost had not read the book, but Jackie (who is not a book follower) says she understood it all.

After the movie, I sit there, soaking it in, per usual. But this group of kids is not the stay ‘til the end type. That upsets me a little. I don’t like to jump out of a movie; I want to savor it. In the same way, I don’t like discussing movies immediately. I know this annoys people sometimes (like it used to annoy Sean), but I want to absorb it. Yet as we take the bus home, I do talk with Alicia and Jackie and Fumi about why this one was wonderful, and how happy I am to love it.

The bus group walks me to my house (it is late, and I really don’t want to take a taxi). I think they now realize why I can’t walk that distance alone late at night – it is a long ways from the main road. I am grateful for them. And for HP! I would like to start reading the sixth book, but I won’t – I need to sleep. So instead, I pick up my knitting and try to cast again. Practice! I like knitting.

Finally, I get tired enough to try the sleep thing. Here is the funny part: I have been more and more tired everyday, but tonight, when I need to sleep, I am too riled up with excitement to shut my eyes. But sleep does come in the end, which is good. Tomorrow is Friday the thirteenth, and I’m going to raft a river.