Bingo, a Birthday, and Building Plans

This weekend the Bishop and I made a pastoral visit to Santa Cruz in Guacimo, on the road to the Caribbean, for their feast day. Almost fifty people attended Eucharist. After church we gathered in the parish hall for dinner and a no-holds-barred bingo tournament.  Bishop Monterroso won an iron. The temperature was in the high nineties, humidity likewise. When I was a kid, everyone carried fans to church. In Costa Rica they bring towels and washrags. You can bet I’ll have mine with me next time!

Tuesday the 15th was Independence Day in Costa Rica. On Monday evening I went to the local school and watched the kids parade around the block. They dress up and carry boxes with lights in them, to the accompaniment of a student drum corps which pounds away like there’s no tomorrow. Add fireworks, church bells, a huge crowd of spectators, and the normal flow of traffic, all packed into the same street, and you have quiet an adventure. I had great fun.

On Tuesday I took the bus downtown to the Mother of All Celebrations. The streets were closed to traffic, and completely filled with a prodigious crowd of happy Costa Ricans. Much more marching, drumming and flag waving. We were all jammed together tighter than the passengers on a Tokyo subway train. I haven’t felt that hemmed-in since I saw Paul McCartney at RFK stadium in DC. Afterward I went home and took a nap.

I’ll be coming home to Davidson for a week on September 29th. I’m bringing the site plan and architect’s drawings for the new Hogar Escuela in Heredia. We will give a presentation on this project during adult education in the nave on Sunday, October 4th. Please come, this will be your opportunity to learn about the work St. Alban’s shares with our sisters and brothers in Heredia to provide day care and education to the children of Guarari barrio and their mothers. We’ll also discuss the cost of the project and specific ways for St. Alban’s members to participate. This will help us plan our mission trips to Heredia and our construction work. See you on the 4th!