COSI-Costa Rica Spanish Institute

Mother’s Day in Costa Rica

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Tan diversos son los orígenes de esta celebración como las fechas en que se festeja en el mundo. En los países de habla hispana, por ejemplo, aunque la mayoría festeja el Día de las Madres el segundo domingo de mayo, en Bolivia lo hacen el 9 de octubre; en República Dominicana, el primer domingo de mayo; en Costa Rica, el 15 de agosto; en Nicaragua el 3 de mayo; Argentina, el segundo o tercer domingo de octubre, y en Panamá, el 9 de diciembre.

En Costa Rica se celebra el 15 de agosto debido a que La Iglesia Católica Apostólica Romana celebra en este día la Festividad de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora La Virgen María, a los cielos.

Aunque muchos consideran que el Día de las Madres es una celebración totalmente consumista, para otros es solo una oportunidad más para celebrar a esa mujer especial que todos tenemos en nuestra vida y a la que la complejidad socio cultural y económica le suma continuamente nuevos retos en su tarea de formar a los hombres y mujeres del mañana. Generalmente se celebra con una comida en familia, ya sea en una casa o en algún restaurante.

Todos los años COSI acostumbra celebrar el día de las madres para todas la Mamás Ticas. Ellas tienen una actividad muy especial, donde se les obsequia una cena, regalos, y se les lleva mariachi, e incluso se realizan diferentes juegos de motivación agradeciéndoles de antemano por la gran colaboración y hospitalidad que nos han brindado durante tanto tiempo con el hospedaje de los estudiantes.

En el Instituto COSI, este año se va a realizar un desayuno para celebrar dicho motivo y de igual forma dándoles un obsequio a todas las mamás.

Virgen de Los Angeles Day

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August 2

Virgen de Los Angeles—National holiday celebrating the patron saint of Costa Rica, La Negrita. Special masses and a religious procession from San José to La Basilica de Cartago. Pilgrims come from all over the country, many on foot to celebrate the mass at Cartago.

La Negrita is a statue of the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus in her arms. The statue is carved in dark wood, which is how La Negrita (“little dark one”) earned its name. The statue is housed in the Basilica Virgen de Los Angeles in Cartago, next to a small stream. Many Costa Ricans believe both the statue and the stream have curative powers. A legend about the statue dates back to August 2, 1635, when a local woman found the statue in the woods and took it more than once to her home, but the statue kept returning to the spot where she first saw it.

People from all over the country come to Cartago on August 2 to celebrate the mass at the Basilica, pray to Little Negrita, and collect water from the stream. Many pilgrims come on foot, after journeys of several days. Celebrations of the holiday include street fairs, live music, and feasts throughout Costa Rica.

The annexation of the “Partido de Nicoya” (Guanacaste Day)

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July 25th

Annexation of Guanacaste Day is a Costa Rican National Holiday also known as Guanacaste Day, or Día de Guanacaste in Spanish. It Marks the annexation of Guanacaste, the northern part of the Nicoya Peninsula, from Nicaragua. The inhabitants of Guanacaste voted to join the state of Costa Rica on July 25, 1824.

The holiday is celebrated with street parades, folk dancing, horse parades, and cattle shows. There are organized activities in major parks. Bullfights are a traditional part of the celebration in the Nicoya peninsula, where the holiday festivities typically last for several days.

The annexation of the “Partido de Nicoya”: Anexión del partido de Nicoya a Guanacaste

Have you ever enjoy a Guanacaste day in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica Father’s Day

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“Father’s Day is a day honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. It is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in 55 of the world’s countries and on other days elsewhere. In Costa Rica we celebrate this day on Sunday 20th June. Father’s Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting. It is also celebrated to honor and commemorate our forefathers. Father’s Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, special dinners to fathers, and family-oriented activities.”

Visit to Moravia City

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Visitors to our country usually go home with quite a few purchases, a member of COSI staff will take you this Thursday April 22nd at 1:15pm to buy handcrafts and souvenirs in Moravia City; just 6 km Northeast of San José. This city remains in the spotlight as a famous production center for handcrafts, including: leather, ceramics, jewelry and wood.

Lecture on Costarican Culture

Posted by admin | Filed under COSI Activity

We invite you to come to COSI San Jose at 2pm this Wednesday April 21st and learn more about our costumes, food, family and religion.

Celebration of the National Hero of CR!

Posted by admin | Filed under Actividades, COSI Activity, Costa Rica Happenings, Ejercicio de español, Holiday

Hello COSI friends,

We invite you to come to COSI´s Culture Night tonight at 6pm. We’ll celebrate Juan Santamaría’s Day, he is officially recognized as the national hero of the Republic of Costa Rica.
Below you can find more information in Spanish about “La Batalla de Rivas” and how Juan Santamaría become our national hero. When you finish you can try a true or false exercise.

La Batalla de Rivas (11 de abril de 1856)

En esta fecha se conmemora el día en que Juan Santamaría quemó el llamado Mesón de Guerra, acto que permitió a los costarricenses vencer a los filibusteros de William Walker y quedarse con la ciudad de Rivas en su poder.

Se conoce con el nombre de Batalla de Rivas a una batalla que se dio durante la Guerra de 1856, entre las fuerzas del ejército de Costa Rica, dirigidas personalmente por el Presidente Juan Rafael Mora Porras, y el ejército filibustero estadounidense dirigido por William Walker, en la ciudad de Rivas, Nicaragua.

Con toda esta motivación los costarricenses tomaron la ofensiva y en pleno combate el General Cañas exclamó: – “Muchachos, ¿No habría entre tantos valientes alguno que quiera arriesgar la vida, incendiando el Mesón para salvar a los compatriotas?” El soldado Juan Santamaría contestó en el acto: – “Yo iré, pero les encargo a mi madre” De inmediato se le improvisa una tea, partió a la carrera y la aplicó al alero suroeste del Mesón, fue herido en el brazo derecho, pero siempre tuvo oportunidad de quemar el mesón, cayó en tierra mirando al cielo, con el convencimiento de que su obra había sido consumada.

Fue así como los filibusteros no lograron su objetivo y huyeron del mesón. Posterior a la toma de la ciudad, el ejército costarricense tenía planeado asegurar primero el control sobre Rivas y los puertos de La Virgen y San Juan del Sur y posteriormente, atacar Granada. Sin embargo, estos planes se frustraron por la llegada de una epidemia de cólera.

Falso o Verdadero. Marque con una “F” si el enunciado es falso o con una “V” si el enunciado es verdadero.
( ) Durante la Batalla de Rivas Juan Rafael Mora Porras diría el ejército costarricense.
( ) Esta Batalla se dio en el año 1865.
( ) William Jackson dirigía a los Filibusteros.
( ) El ejército de los Filibusteros era de Estados Unidos.
( ) “Yo iré pero les encargo a mi madre” Esto lo dijo William Walker.
Juan Santamaría fue herido en el brazo derecho.
( ) Juan Santamaría se convirtió en un héroe Nacional por haber quemado el Mesón el día 11 de Abril de 1856.
( ) William Walker tuvo éxito y logró apoderarse de la ciudad de Rivas tal como lo planeó.
( ) Los planes de los costarricenses se vieron frustrados por una epidemia de cólera.
( ) Juan Rafael Mora Porras aparte de dirigir el ejército costarricense también era el presidente de Costa Rica en ese momento.

Visit to San José

Posted by admin | Filed under Actividades, Student Trip, Wonderful Costa Rica

Today our students will visit some cultural and historical sites of San José, like the Parliament, National Museum, Parque Morazán, Plaza de la Cultura, afterwards they will visit the National Theater (Completed in 1897, the theater is a masterpiece in art and architecture) and a brief stop will be made in Mercado Central.

Semana Santa en Costa Rica (Easter Week)

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Semana Santa, or Holy Week or Easter Week is something that should not be missed in Costa Rica. This is a great time to experience some of the rich Costa Rican culture as each province in town holds processions, bullfights, and fiestas patronales .

Semana Santa, begins in Costa Rica on Palm Sunday with masses and processions marking Jesus’ entrance into Bethlehem before his execution and subsequent resurrection. Considered the most important holiday on the Catholic calendar, Easter in Costa Rica is a time for religious traditions as families gather to share their faith and enjoy time together.

To promote this, Thursday and Friday (April, 1st and 2nd, 2010) of Holy Week are official holidays on the Costa Rican calendar, while many government employees enjoy the entire week off.

Most Costa Ricans go home to celebrate their town’s patron saint with bullfights and processions while nearly a million Costa Ricans take advantage of their time off not to head to church, but rather to head to the beach. In fact, the entire city of San Jose is usually empty as everyone goes to the beach.

Easter preparations usually begin a week in advance inside the family, with traditions varying from region to region. In Guanacaste, for example March and April mark mango season, and the youngest generations of the families can be found gathering mangos from around the neighborhood so that the matriarch of the family can make a mango marmalade that will show up in almost every dessert during Semana Santa.

The television stations do their part to set the tone by playing classic religious films like the 10 Commandments, Spartacus, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Christ and even the DreamWorks animated classic, The Prince of Egypt for the little ones in the family.

Preparation for the processions includes decorating and cleaning the religious effigies that are stored away the remainder of the year, and many of which will take part in up to 10 processions, using different colored clothing for each one.

The processions will depict different moments in the last week of Jesus’ life up to when he is crucified and subsequently resurrected. One of the most dramatic depictions takes place in Tres Rios, Cartago where live actors take the place of the effigies. The procession in San Joaquin de Flores de Heredia is usually covered by local television stations and includes an actor for every person that was present at the scene of Christ’s death. Most small towns will hold smaller processions where everyone is welcome to participate.

Festival Internacional de las Artes

Posted by admin | Filed under Actividades, Arts, Costa Rica Happenings, Uncategorized, Wonderful Costa Rica

Hello COSI friends!

This is the time to enjoy international art in Costa Rica at the most important cultural event starting March 18th and running until April 1st.

The International Arts Festival (FIA) is a program organized by the Ministry of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica. It is celebrated every two years. It gets together national and international groups of artists, from 20 countries in Europe, Africa and America.

This year, the traditional Festival will have three locations: San Jose (Parque Metropolitano La Sabana, public spaces and various theaters), Alajuela and Limón.

The FIA program includes 115 presentations by 53 foreign artists and groups. We can count on the National Ballet of Spain, Argentinian singer-songwriter Fito Páez, Iberian singers Ismael Serrano, Rosario Flores and Luis Eduardo Aute, the Peter Brook Company of Switzerland, the renowned Catalan singer Buika, the Odin Theatre in Denmark and the Puerto Rican salsa star Gilberto Santa Rosa. 62 Costa Rican artists will also take part in this event, including Son de Tikizia and the National Symphony Orchestra.

On March 18th the National Ballet of Spain will be performing at the inauguration ceremonies. Also the renowned dancer María Pages will dance Flamenco.

On March 19th Ismael Serrano, Luis Eduardo Aute and Rosario Flores will be performing. The National Symphony Orchestra will honor the legendary Star Wars movies with music, presentations and special effects.

A long-awaited concert will be performed by Argentinian singer Fito Páez on Saturday the 27th . The big finale to be held on the 28th will feature Salsa Sinfónica by Gilberto Santa Rosa and the Youth Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, you will have the pleasure of watching theatre plays by Dualia and The Legend.

This festival will also be presented in the provinces: In Alajuela from the 18th until the 28th of March. In Limón FIA will present concerts from the 25th untill the 28th of March.

This is the link with the list of artists and programmed events: http://www.festivaldelasartes.go.cr/imagenes/sala_prensa/Programacion%20SJO.pdf

Come and join this international festival!