super-contenta.

of the many wonderful things about the fast, one is getting to see the sunrise :)


these are some beautiful trees in the park where many of the art festival performances are. don't they look painted? i love them...

I know I’ve been a bit of a slacker with this blog, but tonight I feel inspired to write! I’m so happy/joyous/excited/ full of love and gratitude. Tomorrow (and today after sunset, technically) is the Bahá’í New Year, Naw-Ruz in Persian. In the Bahá’í calendar, there are 19 months of 19 days with 4 intercalary days to fill out th3 365. So, there are 18 months, then the intercalary days, called Ayyam-i-Ha, then the month of fasting, and then the new year. Today, then, was the last day of the fast and tonight and tomorrow we celebrate the new year. Tonight we went to break fast at the house of a Bahá’í couple, which was so nice! There were people from all over the place, from Costa Rica, obviously, from El Salvador, from Canada, the U.S., Iran, etc. We all gathered, said a handful of prayers, and then ate. Guess what we ate? Persian food! You don’t know how happy I was to see some Adas Polo (rice with cinnamon, lentils, and raisins), Lubia Polo (rice with tomato sauce, green beans, and ground beef), Ghormeh Sabzi (a sauce of chicken or beef with kidney beans and tons of herbs, like parsley, cilantro, mint, etc), Ash-e-Reshteh (a soup with noodles, chickpeas, meat, and tons of greens and herbs), and Persian tea too! All that was missing was some good Persian yogurt, but I guess I can’t complain. My host family came, too, which was so awesome! Turns out one of the Bahá’í ladies who I actually had met in El Salvador was a student of my host mom’s like 18 years ago, and another person there was the mother of another of my host mom’s students. It was a fun night. Tomorrow afternoon is another Naw Ruz celebration in another part of town. This time is always a bit sad because although the fast is difficult, it’s a special time. Fun times, however, are on their way!

This week there is the Festival Internacional de los Artes here in San Jose so every day there are various theatre, dance, film, and music performances. Not this week but the week after is Semana Santa, which is a week where everyone has off school and work. I’m going for a few days to go visit a Bahá’í couple in Progreso, which is in southern Costa Rica close to the Panamanian border in an indigenous reservation. After that, I’ll come back and hang out here for a few days. Also, I’m going to visit Amy noodle in Puerto Rico at the end of April!!! Deciding to visit may just be the most spontaneous thing I’ve every done, but I’m pretty excited. So, yes, good things to come. In other news, I have nothing to take next year. Really, aside from Senior Seminar and Thesis, I think I’ve taken everything. I may be mistaken, but I went over it today and I think I’m done with major and GenEd classes. What do I take?? Well, I think you guys are just about caught up. Feliz Naw-Ruz!!

lists > paragraphs

Things I miss (from home):
- pancakes! mom's pancakes in particular, made from freshly ground barley flour, whole wheat flour, coconut flour, nuts, etc. yum.
- dad's homemade yogurt
- cardigans
- freely wearing havaianas. costa ricans are serious about their shoes...old navy/havaiana flip flops just don't cut it
- not being yelled/whistled at on the street
- clean-ish air...i breathe in quite a lot of exhaust during the day
- autonomy
- driving
- Persian food
- knowing my way around
- knowing lots of people around campus
- feeling academically confident (aka. not having to read 16th century literature in spanish)
- friends and family

Things I will miss (from Costa Rica)
- the Baha'i community
- public transportation
- exploring
- speaking Spanish
- the enthusiasm of my professors
- the weather
- the view from my balcony
- pops
- coconuts
- study abroad students
- walking/ being outside
- higher level of spontaneity
- friendliness
- social/ family cohesion in the culture
- having all my meals made for me and my laundry washed for me
- mangos
- the beach



Today is the second day of the fast :) Yesterday my 4:00- 6:30 class was cancelled which was really nice because sunset is right in the middle, which will be hard next week. Thankfully, I was able to just hang out at home and be sadly unproductive. Today's been a bit more difficult because I had to walk more, but there's less than four hours left before sunset, so it shouldn't be bad. My host parents have sweetly been sincerely trying to understand more about the fast, which is nice. Essentially, we don't eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset. In Heredia, that's from around 5:50 am to 5:45 pm, but really the focus of the fast is more spiritual than physical. Here is a quotation about the perspective of fasting in the Baha'i Faith:

"It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul."




Ah, I love that (quote..and picture).

Ok, I better go start my homework! Peace.