Costa Rican social events are not for the fainthearted. They are looong. Just a few days ago on Monday I attended a local celebration for El Día del Trabajador (Labor Day) and it was from 8am-3pm.
In case you thought you had the whole day off, think again.
Local celebrations usually start with a few hours of mixing and mingling, 2-3 hours of people talking into microphones giving what feels like drawn-out unsolicited Oscar acceptance speeches and then afterwards, the sleepy audience is revived with a lunch (you guessed it, arroz con pollo) and a cafecito (coffee) and snack even before the afternoon meal is fully digested.
So when I got invited to my first wedding, I knew I had to prepare myself mentally.
Which I did not do by going to church that very same Sunday morning.
In Costa Rica, wedding ceremonies are held in the local church and the reception usually takes place at the family’s residence.
But this wedding was a little different. Continue reading
A Peace Corps Journey 