Formal Affairs

Out here in the country, Kevin and I don’t have many opportunities to get dressed up. Kevin’s nice collard shirts are safely stored away in Ziplock bags in our suitcase (to keep the mold out), and my nicest dresses hang out in the back of the closet just waiting for their moment in the sun. Within the last week, however, we’ve been able to attend two formal affairs deserving of some of our nicest attire.

First, a wedding. Ever since we arrived in Costa Rica, we’ve been working hard to integrate, integrate, integrate, into our two host families and communities. It seems that all of that work paid off in the form of invitations to the wedding of a local friend. Eliza, an English teacher from our community, married a man from England, last Saturday in the nearby town of Horquetas.

While the two novios communicate easily, their families struggle to understand one another. This is where I came in; I was asked to be the official translator for the ceremony, up front with the priest repeating everything he said, word by word, into the microphone. Kevin, meanwhile, was asked to fill in for the missing photographer, and his trusty Canon S95 served him well. He was also assumed to be the groom's brother, probably because they're both the same height, balding, and white. 

Despite our responsibilities that night, we were able to relax a little and enjoy our first Costa Rican wedding. It was overall very similar to any other Christian wedding in the U.S. (minus the church), though with a certain Latino flavor. In true Tica fashion, the bride showed up almost 45 minutes late, but that was okay because most of the guests arrived late too. The main course, as always, was arroz con pollo and there was plenty of merengue and salsa dancing to keep us moving all night long.

We felt very much a part of the large extended Tica family all night long, dancing with siblings and helping the parents set up and take down. It was a wonderful and very memorable experience!

Our second formal occasion was an English-only dinner party for our community classes. The party was to celebrate the first 15 weeks of classes, during which time our students worked very hard to improve their conversational English skills. All of the students brought a dish to share, potluck-style, and a menu was written on the board for all to “order” from. Six girls volunteered to be waitresses and did a fantastic job taking everyone’s order and delivering food completely in their second language. Four students took over the kitchen, serving up food as quickly as they could, and the rest just relaxed and enjoyed the evening.

The party was a huge success and our students left feeling empowered and excited about their newfound speaking abilities. We’ve since moved on to our new unit (the house) and the second 15-week session of our classes, but everyone’s still talking about the delicious foods they enjoyed in good company on Tuesday.