Getting into the Holiday Spirit in Heredia, Costa Rica
Getting into the Holiday Spirit in Heredia, Costa Rica
I cannot express how excited I am to see my family and celebrate the holidays with my own beautiful Christmas tree, but I have been doing my best to get into the Christmas spirit in Heredia. Here are some of the ways I’ve been celebrating the season!
Drink all of the Rompope!
What is Rompope, you ask?
Eggnog!!
This delicious holiday drink comes in these boxes or in the adorable little juice boxes as seen below. The juice boxes have been a weekly indulgence since before Thanksgiving. However, it is important to note that one must be aware of what eggnog they are buying, because the eggnog most sold in stores here is spiked.
I may or may not have originally bought alcoholic eggnog. I also may or may not have drank half of the carton before my Global Studies class one week without realizing it was alcoholic. I just assumed that Costa Rican eggnog tasted a bit off.
Oh, naïveté. You live and you learn.
And, the local ice cream chain, Pops, carries eggnog flavored ice cream this month. I have had it twice now, and it is currently the 5th of December. If you haven’t caught on by now, I’m obsessed with eggnog. I’ve got to make up for the cartons of the drink and eggnog flavored Cookout milkshakes I’m surely missing out on at home.
Bask in the glow of the Christmas lights
The Central Park of Heredia is simply beautiful this time of year as it is completely lit up with Christmas lights.
They even have the town’s name in the colors of the province and the soccer team – red and yellow.
The white gold arches are by far the most popular fixture in the park, and this adorable dog drew even more onlookers.
Jam to Holiday Songs
The holiday jams began at LIU Global during our Thanksgiving meal. I am typically a staunch believer in beginning the Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving, but I couldn’t help to give into a little “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Since then, Christmas carols have been a permanent fixture in the common areas of the school, from classics like “Let it Snow” sung by Bing Crosby to modern hits such as “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber.
We’ve also been able to sing Feliz Navidad with a new appreciation for Spanish.
I personally recommend this holiday playlist on Spotify made by my best friend, Emily, although it does have some odd picks (namely Dominick the Donkey). Some other personal favorites include the Josh Groban and Michael Buble Christmas albums, Pentatonix Christmas hits, and the Holiday Classics playlist on Spotify.
Go Christmas Shopping
It’s been a challenge to find friends and family meaningful Christmas gifts from Costa Rica that don’t cross the border into kitschy-ness, but the holiday markets and local businesses have helped.
Also in the Central Park of Heredia is a Christmas market with all kinds of handmade goods. My friend Liv picked up these little llamas at the market – when I was with her, she only had two, but she messaged me later to tell me that she was weak willed and had bought a third llama. They are pretty stinking cute.
I myself have stuck to primarily food for gifts, so don’t be surprised if you receive chocolate or coffee from me this Christmas. I’ve been told (I can’t stand the drink myself) that coffee from the States is incomparable to rich Costa Rican coffee, and I can personally attest that Costa Rican chocolate is pretty dang good. There is a huge coffee and chocolate factory only a few minutes from my house that students have been frequenting for gifts.
Eat Tamales!
No, this isn’t a U.S. tradition, but it is a tradition important to Costa Ricans, and it is important while studying abroad to embrace new ways of celebrating holidays. Not to mention tamales are amazing. Tamales are notoriously difficult to make, which is probably part of the reason why they are reserved for the holidays, but Tico families have been making the dish of seasoned meat rolled in cornmeal dough and wrapped in banana leaves for generations.
They can even be found in local restaurants such as the mom and pop soda directly next to the school, and if you’re lucky, you’re host parents will give you some for breakfast or dinner. I lucked out one morning as a member of my host mom’s church had send her home with a few tamales. Amazing. I also lucked out when our choir director’s mom made us some incredible tamales in thanks for helping him with a project. That project was worth every second of effort I put in for that tamale. I really cannot oversell them.
We will be sharing tamales with our host families at a final gathering on our last day in Costa Rica for the year. If you’d like to take a shot at making tamales yourself, this recipe seems to be pretty good.
Yeah, they look kinda funky, but I promise they are one of the best meals ever.
Enjoy Decorations, Even Those in the Weirdest of Places…
Four days before I return to the states, I had to go to immigration to endure six hours of waiting for my residency card. We all need these cards in order to ensure that we will be let into the country each time we return from the states or another Central American country. But, six hours in immigration is no more fun than six hours in the DMV. So, we had to look for little things to cheer ourselves up or distract us from the monotony.
Like this nativity scene. Notice anything odd about it?
No?
Well, it’s missing its baby Jesus.
Where is he, you ask?
Here, in this random glass box in the center of the migration facility. We have no earthly idea why, but it provided a good laugh.
UPDATE: A Costa Rican has helpfully informed me that it is a Costa Rican tradition to put baby Jesus in the nativity scene on Christmas Eve, after dinner at midnight. 🙂
There is also this nice little tree in our Costa Rica that made me so incredibly happy when it was put up. You have no idea how happy. I may have danced a little bit. And it may have been put up directly after my host mom told me that Christmas trees don’t embody the true meaning of Christmas and should not be put up, so it improved my mood just a bit. Yes, I know that Jesus is the reason for the season, but I love me some Christmas trees.
Anyways, 4 days until I get to lay beneath my own Christmas tree and celebrate with friends and family back home, but until then, I’ll continue to find little bits of holiday cheer in Costa Rica.
Happy Holidays!