La Pura Vida

Deep Purple dreams, rapture, magic of conocer

Whew tengo sueño. The thought of comprehensively trying to update on life since the last post is not appealing – so taking the let the spirit move me thought recording approach instead.

Many times here lately I´ve felt painfully alive, that state-to-strive-for mentioned in both The Secret Life of Bees and now Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Can´t stop smiling and singing...what a feeling! Most recently the song of choice has been this one, mentioned in Ya-Ya.

When the Deep Purple falls
Over sleepy garden walls,
And the stars begin to flicker in the sky,
Thru the mist of a memory
You wander back to me,
Breathing my name with a sigh.

In the still of the night,
Once again I hold you tight,
Tho´ you´re gone, your love lives on
When moonlight beams.
And as long as my heart will beat
Lover, we´ll always meet
Here in my Deep Purple dreams.

Vaguely remembered the lyrics when I read them but all of a sudden the tune and that clear voice came back to me...think I heard it often in Ohio.

Am realizing how exciting the consciousness-raising (term for me from this year´s feminist history) can be. So proud of my mom conquering fears and giving a talk tomorrow on women´s international affairs. Have gotten more of a sense here of who I am and what I share with my family: phrase ¨mighty capacity for rapture¨ is in my head (also read this in Ya-Ya).

As for experiences lately – have on special occasions had liminal ones (yet another term from Ya-Ya, that book is chock full of gems!) – meaning experiences where I ceased to think of anything but what I was immediately involved in. Granted this isn´t the norm but continuing to search for ways and places to enter this state of being is exciting...

Erlinda has graciously and enthusiastically taken me or set up visits to different places in Guacimo and Guapiles, para conocer. Magical days of exploration, my intimate knowledge of this area is growing. Nursing home (peaceful atmosphere and very interesting, only had 15 from this whole area as usually families stick together), government building she works in (amazing company as walking with her is like a golden ticket to otherwise barred doors – no lie that one day last week she was stopped for pictures twice and once had to sit down for an interview), churches in Guacimo and Guapiles. Lit a candle at the church in Guapiles and felt a sense of solidarity with the world... Met with the women there who are working to raise money for social justice projects – soda (basically café) and used clothes store. Incredibly journey one afternoon and evening last week when I accompanied Father Juan of the Guacimo Catholic church (and his cute elderly mother now lives alone in Heredia, who I held hands with during the services, and who reminds me of my marvelous great aunt Bebop) on his visits to 2 tiny rural communities: La Aurora and Lomas. That day on our way out he called ¨Let´s take the big one!¨ to his mom (good idea given the treacherous obstacle course like rocky roads), meaning a big truck with a closed in flatbed. There were only 2 seats up front so Juan handed me a sunflower cushion and I got comfortable in the back. Laughed to myself as I bounced along back there at the scene I was a part of. Really neat to see those Masses: these communities are way out there in the mountains (one only got light a month ago) and as a result only have Mass once a month. Impressive work that Juan undertakes – he does 1, 2, 3 of these visits daily.

Other experiences:
First motorcycle ride. Drove it too! Visited a prison (has paradise like aspects..some men commit crimes to end up back in their thatched hut complete with hammock and palm trees). Interesting conversations about machismo and gender relations. Sad realizations about frequency of infidelity.

Traveled this weekend with Jenny, the lawyer daughter in my family, and her fiance Jóse. First stayed in Heredia with Jóse´s brother (loved the adorable chihuahua Paulina, complete with a wardrobe and doggy perfume, and the way she needed to be held to stop the shivers...the Spanish music videos...the food) and then went to San Marcos to stay with the parents. What a change of pace! This region in the mountains is very different from everywhere else I´ve been here. Felt lucky to have Jóse as my friendly tour guide, who better to explain the intricacies of the region than someone who grew up there. San Marcos in a nutshell: coffee everywhere, no tourists, hard workers, strong Catholicism and family bonds, more conservative, in general better off financially, no bars on windows – more tranquilo, superstitious (saw the place where a girl´s ghost appears to solo travelers at night). A hidden underside: high suicide rate due to the insulated feel caused by the surrounding mountains.

Really enjoyed the weekend as it was my first time simply relaxing for that long with Ticos...loved the long girl talk with Jenny in the room we shared, the Abba we listened to in Spanish (Reina del Baile!), the thoughts on American culture we talked about during E!s Top 100 Most Extreme TV moments, the way we peacefully relaxed at the house looking at old pictures and listening to music because it was raining too hard to leave, the food we ate from the mom´s old-fashioned wood burning stove, the tidbits I picked up (cool phrase: Cuando llena, corazón contenta. Also - bananas, like Amanda told me in the past, really do help with stress and sadness)...

Ok, time to re-enter my life here... seems to start on the outside steps of this internet cafe.
Next few days hold my pilgrimage to Cartago (possibly alone), more community meetings, possibly helping to film a documentary over pineapple abuses, and other surprises tbd. May we all experience moments of rapture, and happy connections, in these days we have.

Happy birthday Adam!

posted by Colleen @ 4:35 PM