out of 22 volutneers in group 75, the 6 jews got together to observe yom kippur. friday afternoon we took off in what should have been a 4 hour van ride to jaco beach. unfortunately, it took us a much longer time to get there and we missed pre-fast shabbat dinner. we knew we were in the right place when, on the sign, underneath the hotel's name it said "bruchim habaim." the hotel is run by israelis, who led us to services taking place at a different hotel.
saturday was a very lonely yom kippur for me, being my first away from home. i didn't really feel homesick until i thought about the whole family rocking out at moriah and breaking fast together. also, it my first time praying with a 'michitzah' (seperation between the men and women). its just not my style.
we learned there's a huge population of israelis in jaco beach that ocassionally gets together. they were all very welcoming and unexpectedly comforting. everything this past week has been so foreign to me that being surrounded by jews and hearing hebrew just felt gooooood.
rachel, phil and i walked over to the beach to do 'tashlich' right at sunset.
it was not just beautiful, it was powerful. don't laugh. it was.
we spent all day sunday at the beach, hanging out with the chabbad boys from services. turns out i'm far too clumsy to surf. we were in a really tourist-y part of jaco beach, which was a fun way to spend the weekend but definately made us all grateful that we're seeing the real costa rica.
on the van ride home, our driver pulled over right before a bridge. he told us to get out and look around at the beautiful sight. it was gorgeous. postcard gorgeous. and there were crocs in the lake under the bridge! i was pretty grateful for the distance between us and them, they're scary lookin.
3 comments:
Becky, we've got friends in CR. in the mountains somewhere -- in the "cloud forest." Oldish folks, by now, but very interesting. I don't know how long you're going to be there, but if you have time contact me and I'll put you in touch with them. They will undoubtedly put you onto some cool things in CR you would not otherwise find out about.
PS. you're not too clumsy to surf -- it's just not the kind of thing anybody can just get up and do the first time. I think you have to fall off about as many times as a little kid trying to walk falls down before you get it.
Aunt Annie
bex that sounds awesome, I'm not laughing, i'm just jealous...
Hi all
I'm new to this , but I guess I shall be spending quite a bit of time here as there seems to be so much going on! I'm hoping to make some new friends
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