What Do the Real Costa Ricans do To Celebrate The New Year?

Ann — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:03:32 +0000

The Real Costa Ricans head to the beach to celebrate New Years. They go by car, by bus, and even by horse. They stay in the expensive hotels, modest hotels, family owned beach houses, and even in tents. The beaches all over Costa Rica belong to the all people of Costa Rica. So go to a popular beach on New Year’s eve and you may see tents pitched under palm trees. With homemade barbecue grills set up and the smell of roasted pork is in the air. And Costa Ricans love to drink their beer with pork. The local beer is called Imperial. For a reason it is given the name Imperial. Yes, you guessed it, because the Costa Ricans say even the royal families of the world love Costa Rica’s beer! And it’s gaiety and party time with the music of the Latin beat in the air and both young and old dancing salsa and meringue.

In the central valley of San Jose and Alajuela for those who choose to stay home, it’s fireworks! From a mountainside villa one can see the midnight sky light up with hundreds of colorful fireworks.

Yes, it’s family time as people travel long distances to be with their relatives, often whom they see only once a year. It’s roasted pork, home made tamales, and Costa Rica’s Imperial Beer.

Yes, Costa Ricans make New Year’s Resolutions. Could it be that one of the resolutions is to be more aware of time and get to appointments and etc. on time. Don’t think so.

But hey, life in Costa Rica is “Pura Vida” so why rock the boat in a place that “life is good”

The Colorful Oxcart, Costa Rica’s “National Symbol of Labor”

Ann — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:18:09 +0000

The Christmas season in Costa Rica is welcomed each year by the Entrada de Santos y Boyeros (the entrance of saints and oxcarts drivers) to the city of San Jose. Approximately two hundred colorful hand painted oxcarts with their bueyes (team of oxen) participate. Each oxcart carries a santo (saint) made of wood as a symbol of blessings to the oxcart, oxen, and the driver. This parade, a powerful symbol of Costa Rica’s rural heritage, is a traditional Christmas holiday event and attended by thousands of Costa Ricans as well as tourist from around the world.
Oxcarts once were the principal means of transportation, starting around 1840, carrying coffee from the central valley over the mountains to the Pacific port of Puntarenas, and today is Costa Rica’s “National Labor Symbol” portraying Costa Rica’s peaceful traditions and the arduous labor of it’s people and the simplicity and aspirations of rural Costa Ricans.

The colorful painted designs on the oxcarts we see today was the inspiration of an Italian artist who immigrated to Costa Rica. His paintings on the oxcart’s wheels quickly caught on and today the colorful geometric designs are hand painted on all the oxcarts, with no two designs exactly alike.

If you are traveling to Costa Rica be sure to visit the small hillside village of Sarchi. Stop by the Fabrica de Carrettas Sarchi (oxcart factory) and see how the Chaverri family has continued the tradition of oxcart painting. You can purchase you own miniature oxcart to take home.

Also the first week of March, the hillside town of San Antonio de Escazu hosts its own folkloric “Oxcart Parade” for the blessing of the oxen. Be sure not to miss it if you are in Costa Rica this time of the year and bring your camera! There is typical Costa Rican food, marimba music to compliment the beautiful oxcarts and their boyeros.

Around 1850 in San Jose

oxcart wheel

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What Do the Real Costa Ricans do To Celebrate The New Year?

The Colorful Oxcart, Costa Rica’s “National Symbol of Labor”