Louisiana Night

Our mentors are from Biloxi, MS and they know a thing or to about Gumbo.  We had some good 'ol Gumbo and Beignets.  It has been kind of chilly here, so the Gumbo was perfect for the weather.

This is Mike the chef.

Rain Rain Go Away

The rainy season in Costa Rica hasn't been that bad this year.  It didn't get started until late and it hasn't rained as hard as it rained last year.  That said it still rains almost every day.  Here is a taste of a light rain on our street.  

Notice the trash sitting out.  The garbage truck didn't come by.  The ended up coming by later in the week.  One time they came by at one in the morning.  That was an interesting sound to upset your sleep.  

El Museo de Los Niños

Before Thomas was born, we were able to go to the children's museum in San Jose.  The building used to be a prison and is set up really.  Oh yea it's huge.  They have play areas, rooms that talk about the body, light, sound, and many thing that pertain to Costa Rica like the production of coffee and bananas.  We had a great time.   

Thomas Nathanael Rayburn

I posted the story about Thomas's documents and forgot that some of you may not have seen Thomas.  So here is a picture of him and one of the family after the birth.  Can you believe they let me where that sweet get up?  

Shout Out!!

This is a shout out to Brent Doriety, the most faithful blog reader in the world.  Thanks Brent you make blogging worth it. 

Certificado de Nacimiento

I would like to start this post by saying I am in no way aggravated or frustrated about the following events.  I just wanted to let our readers in on the process of obtaining documents here.  Actually, everything went a lot smoother than I thought it would.  Ok, the story: So I needed to obtain Thomas's birth certificate in order to start the process of getting his passport, SS#, and other U.S. documents.  Usually, a birth certificate won't be processed until 3 months after the baby is born.  So, first step for us is to ask them (CR government) if they can put him in the system sooner.  

So yesterday I went to the Registro Civil (Civil Registry) and waited in line to enter a office to ask that his documents get processed sooner.  The lady I spoke with typed on her computer for a moment, then asked her boss about the situation, returned asked for my documents started the request and then figured out that I needed to go to another office.  I went to the other office and the same thing happened.  The lady looked, asked her boss, typed and started to send me to another office, then decided she could do it.  She started the process, then realized Thomas was not in the system yet, so she told me to go to the hospital to get the forms that would allow her to put him in the system.  So I walked across town, maybe about 45 minutes, got to the hospital and they told me to come back tomorrow to pick up the document (single piece of paper).  So I walked 20 minutes to the bus and went home.

The following day (today) I took the bus down town, walked to the hospital, received the document from the hospital walked 45 minutes across town and handed the document to the lady at the Registro Civil.  She took it processed the request and told me I could pick up the birth certificate on the 23rd.  And so completed the first step.  

The next step is to go back to the Registro Civil, pay for a sticker that shows I paid for the documents and wait in a long line.  Step 3 US embassy followed by the final step asking the Costa Rica government if I can take Thomas out of the country.  It's really not that bad (so far).  I'm just happy they have a way to get the documents sooner than 3 months.   

Here are some pictures of the sites I passed downtown on my multiple walks through the city. 

 

This is the National Museum.  It used to be an old fort.

This is the monument in the Parque Nacional.  The Registro Civil is behind me.

This is the Teatro Nacional (National Theater).  It's really beautiful on the inside and it's next to Plaza de Cultura which is a great cut through.  

El Día de Independencia

On September 15, most of Central America celebrated its Independence Day. 

One tradition is to run the Central American Freedom Torch from Guatemala to Cartago, Costa Rica. This is "a reenactment of the messengers who brought the word of independence to the various Central American provinces belonging to Spain's Capitanía of Guatemala" (www.naturelandings.com/articles.php?article=11). The torch starts in Guatemala on September 1st and ends in Cartago on September 14th. Justin & Lilian were able to see the torch pass through San Pedro before heading onto Cartago.

After the torch passes through, students from the local schools carried their own torches, lit from the Freedom Torch, from the central park back to their schools. 

Also, at 6 p.m., all of Costa Rica sings the national anthem. 

Then start the lantern parades. Here is one of Lilian's friends from church, Isa, as she holds her lantern for the parade.

This lantern took some time to make!

Usually the lantern parades are for the kids, but our friend Gustavo decided he didn't want to be left out this year. So, he made one of his own!