“Yesterday, our first Saturday here in Costa Rica, the Valpo group met up bright and early for a tour of the National Monument.  Thus, we loaded up a van and took a trip to Guayabo de Turrialba, which is an archaeological site.

Once there, we decided to take the tour in Spanish even though they offered to do it in English.  What would you have done? 😉

A mini re-creation of how the village would have likely looked.

What is actually present – only the raised bases of the homes, which are actually taller than you think.

After touring Guayabo, we visited the Iglesia de San José de Orosi, which is the oldest church in Costa Rica still used for worship.  A larger, more modern church is under construction next door.
The final stop was the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, which is dedicated to the “Lady of Angels.”  She has a very unique back-story, in case any readers have a taste for the unusual.
We made a quick coffee stop between church visits, briefly watched a soccer match, and finally worked our way back into San José.

The garden outside the Iglesia de San José de Orosi. ¡Qué lindo!

This weekend trip was the first time I truly felt like a tourist, whipping out my camera at every place we stopped and several times in the van too.  However, it was completely worth the while because being a tourist meant learning more about how the history shaped modern culture, and thus how to better understand life here.
There are more weekend adventures to come…beware! :)” -Nola