One of the best parts of visiting or living in a "foreign" country is having the opportunity to see and experience the culture. Here in Costa Rica we have our own share of fairs, festivals and processions.

This morning I dragged myself out of bed at 4:00 and went down the street to the small town of Orosi. Because it’s Easter today, the whole town gathered to celebrate. I understand this tradition has been going on a very long time.

The first thing that happened is a bunch of fireworks were set off, starting at 4 am. This is to let everyone know to get their behinds out of bed and get into the street. Right at about 4:30 the procession began. It was led by children dressed in Roman soldier outfits, followed by drummers, and then men and women carrying a platform holding a statue of Jesus. Behind all of this were about 300 people.

As we processed through all the streets, more fireworks were set off at different intervals. We went through all the town, ending back in front of the church about 90 minutes after we started. One of the funniest things I saw though was whenever the Jesus statue got to an intersection, the men carrying the platform would spin Jesus around in one or two complete circles. The whole crowd would cheer.

But because this is a rather unstable Jesus statue, he did a lot of wobbling around. It sure looked to me like he was dancing. It was quite the site!

By the way, this picture of these flowers we took on our way home. They were growing wild at the house of a friend, Jimmy. Not only are they gorgeous, but they smell incredible! If you’re ever in Costa Rica during Semana Santa (Holy Week), you should really check out some of the many processions and celebrations. They are a site to see!