CR Mother's Day

August 15th was Mother's Day in Costa Rica (Happy Mother's day Mom! You get Mother's Day three times this year...) since it is the holiday of the Assumption of Mary celebrated by the Catholic Church. This holiday brought out some different perspectives of women in the culture.

For many mother's, this day is filled with a lot of work: they must clean and cook a lot of food to feed visiting family members with special fare. A typical lunch served to a crowd would be arroz con pollo: a mix of rice (obviously), pieces of chicken, a few vegetables like carrots and maybe some greenbeans and culantro and some other spices. This is usually served with potato chips and some fresh juice. An hour or two later cafecito will be served with very sweet coffee and something to eat (this can be a substantial amount of food) Not only will the mother be responsible for cooking but she will most likely serve the food and wait upon her family.

But on the other side, this holiday is an expression of the loyalty and honor that mothers have in Costa Rican society. Mother's receive gifts from their children and grandchildren (if they have any) and many women give each other gifts (but only if you are actually a mother, being a woman doesn't count) Sons and daughters see it as an obligation to visit their mother on this day no matter where in the country they are (cards or phone calls are NOT enough) The school hosts a party (usually on the following day) where they feed all the mother's, give them gifts, have a mariachi... Mother's are treated very special and are very highly considered while the woman's role is still strictly maintained.


If anyone has a burning desire to send me a letter or a package (actually, even just an inkling) please email me and I'll give you my home address (I'm not allowed to post it online for security reasons) Please, I don't want anyone to feel pushed to send me anything, but I promise to jump around the house in excitement making my host family laugh at me (as I've done once before) if I get anything and I can always give you ideas if that is the problem. =P


Miss you all more than you can imagine!