Life in Costa Rica: Party two done!

The rain hasn’t been quite as bad but I did suggest to everyone they not wear fancy shoes just in case. I had Jose and Victor come and move the stepping stones to create a path down the hill to the front door. Adrian brought me 12 extra chairs and I spent the week cooking and cleaning. I did a bit of decorating in the house and the deck was all ready from when I thought the seniors were coming.

On Sunday Jeannette let me know the seniors were having a big party at La Quinta Gerardo on Friday and she might have too much to do to get ready on Thursday and might not be able to come. Turned out she and Zoila who also works at the senior center didn’t make it.

On Wednesday Jose called to say Ligia’s brother in law had just died. Poor Ligia. That is the 4th family member since April. I wasn’t sure she would make it either. She did come, early, and was a great help. She seems to understand the best what I am trying to say and she takes over in Spanish. She also led a prayer before we got settled into eating and drinking.

The group ended up being Johanna, her mother Laura, Patricia and a friend, Rosa, her two daughters, her son (Jazmin’s husband), Jazmin, their son, Ligia, Otto, Dayana, Cledy, Adriana
One problem. The music man didn’t come. I don’t know why. Mine was a short, small deal so maybe something bigger came along. I used the iPad which at least gave some background music.
Otto was here and he was great about stepping in and telling historical stories that he has memorized. He is one of the few people in the country that does this type of presentation.

Once everyone was settled we started the little game I had planned. Each woman got a number. When I called a number they got to come up and put their arm in a big garbage bag with tons of items. No looking. Then the second time they came up they got to pick between the bag and a jar of jelly. I gave away 6 jars. The third time we put everything on the table and they could pick an item. It turned out to be lots of fun.

I also handed the ladies who worked on the blanket a bag with their payment. There are still little gifts coming from Roz that Heather will bring. We also video called Roz and she was able to speak to the ladies. With me as the translator!

We had Sangria and then coffee and several kinds of cold drinks. Rosa, whose birthday we were celebrating, brought chips and a tuna carrot dip so we started with that. I made mini cream puffs and filled them with chicken salad and egg salad. I also stuffed French bread with a spinach artichoke cheese mixture and baked it. We served the cream puffs and the stuffed bread and mini cinnamon rolls for coffee. Then the desserts. A plain pound cake, an eggnog pound cake, frosted chocolate peppermint cupcakes or cake slices and chocolate vanilla ice cream. I also put out containers for people to take home the things they couldn’t eat.

Last but not least the piñata. They had brought so much candy that each person got a bag full besides what the were able to grab when the piñata was broken. There was quite a scramble.

It turned out Jazmin brought me tons of hats. One a day she said. Cledy brought several and Rosa’s daughter brought 3 as a donation. It was her own yarn, not mine. I explained to Otto about doing prayer shawls with yarn that is being donated to us and he was able to explain it to the ladies for me. We will give them to the hospital for everyone to use while having chemo. Everyone agreed.

It turned out to be a very busy week. I had to go to the clinic to order meds, go back the next day and pick them up. Wednesday morning I had to take the 6:30am bus to Paraiso to get lab work done. I did
have a strange thing happen that morning. After the clinic I stopped in the grocery store. I picked up a couple things and saw a bottle of non alcoholic Sangria. I thought it might be good to have it on hand. When I went to pay for it the clerk did his best to explain he couldn’t sell it until 8:00am. It was about 7:30. I never heard of such a thing especially since it was basically fruit juice.

The next couple weeks will be crocheting and Christmas cookie baking and before you know it Heather and Kent will be here. We have been invited to Jazmin’s house in Cervantes and Ziomara is making Casado. Hopefully by then the rain will be less. And hopefully the raccoon will be gone!