Semana Santa, also known as Holy Week, is the week leading up to Easter Sunday. It is rooted in Catholic traditions and it is observed nationwide in Costa Rica. During this time, many cities hold their own parades. During this week, I visited the province (like a state) that my host dad is from, Guanacaste. Since he is from a small town in this province, I didn't get to see any big parades. However, the church in town did hold a mini event where they fed everyone in town. I personally didn't go to it, but a lot of my host dad's family members went. I talked to the sister of my host dad and she told me how people typically stay in the house and spend time with family. There are many different movies that people can watch on TV that seem to be part of the tradition.
I spent Semana Santa learning more about the part of Costa Rica that my host dad is from. Surprisingly, Guanacaste reminded me a lot of Las Vegas. It is super hot in Guanacaste and is known for their "drier" weather. However, Las Vegas is still hotter than Guanacaste, so the heat did not bother me. I spent a total of 5 days in this area. We left Tuesday (3/31) at 7 pm. To get there, we took the public bus which took around 6 hours; I got to my dad's ranch house close to 1 am.
