Hi all!

Today was our first day out and about in Costa Rica and we spent it in the old capital, Cartago!

Cartago is about an hour away from our home base and the drive is beautiful. We got to see great views of the mountains as the Glimpsers got to know each other better with games and chats on the bus. Once we got to the city we met with our tour guide Deigo and we were off.

Our first stop was at the oldest attempted church in Costa Rica, it´s attempted because earthquakes and a curse prevented it from ever getting a roof. This made for a really beautiful park and a great story about a headless priest.

Afterwards, we visited Casa Jimenez Sancho. It was once a house just for one European family but is now an open community center for distance learning, meeting spaces, and more. The Glimpsers couldn’t believe the house was brought over in pieces by ship.

Next, we were off to the Basilica de Los Angeles. There we got to see inside a beautiful and HUGE church, see a little bit of the service, and learn the story behind Costa Rica´s Virgen – one of the only brown-skinned Marys in Central America. The Glimpsers were very respectful of the service and impressed by the size of the Basilica.

Along the walk to our next stop, we learned more about Costa Rica´s history. One fun fact was that Costa Ricans had an influence on the United States Civil War. The Glimpsers (and I) were surprised to hear about this connection between our countries and we reflected on the importance of learning history from many perspectives.  Our last stop was at a military garrison turned museum. Costa Rica does not have a standing army – choosing instead to invest in education and health care – and their museum was beautiful. There we saw a mural summarizing our history tour and Memo, one of our in-country PCs, gave us more Costa Rican history and clarified some of the Glimpsers questions.

We wrapped up our Cartago adventure with souvenirs – get ready families they bought the whole store! Then lunch. It was buffet style with some of the biggest portions you could imagine. Everything was delicious.

The long walk and itis made it a quiet bus ride until we saw our friend the sloth and stopped to say hi.

Once back at home base, some Glimpsers relaxed at home while others went to the mini mart and made a horse friend.

Overall, it was a great day and I have to give big love to all the Glimpsers, they were so engaged and respectful I know they made us all look great! I wish tons of luck to tomorrow´s Lideres, Clive and Daran!

Global Gimpse love – Maryanne