Costa Rica’s First Official St. Patrick’s Day Party

Due to a number of confusing bills our internet connection was disconnected, not by our ISP, but by the government! It took a while to get back, but here we are.

Well, this week Sharon and Niall arrived, and we had a great St. Patrick’s Day, twice.

Sharon and Niall
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Sharon and Niall arrived after a long day’s travelling on Wednesday night. They were delayed, so it was after 11pm that we arrived back home. They arrived into a few hectic days of partying because of St. Patrick’s Day, but they’re now in La Fortuna to visit the hot springs and the Arenal volcano.

St. Patrick’s night 1
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Our first celebration of St. Patrick’s was in school on Wednesday. I had one class showing an Irish film, Intermission. It was enjoyable, but I’d forgotten how strong the language and content was, and was relieved that all the swearing was translated as ‘damn’ in the Spanish subtitles. Then we had a cookery class for Bread and Butter Pudding. All teachers had dressed in green, and Sharon and Niall had brought green, white and orange face paint and green hair spray. I had a green shamrock cut into my hair. We had a pub crawl after school visiting many of the bars around Heredia. It was like a treasure hunt, but only two teams completed the course and handed in their results.

St. Patrick’s night 2
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We went to what was billed as ‘Costa Rica’s first official St. Patrick’s Day party’ in Tica Irlanda in San José. None of the other teachers came, because they were too wrecked following the pub crawl the previous night, so it was just myself and Jack, and Sharon and Niall. I really enjoyed it. The bar was packed. There were free Baileys cocktails and some Guinness ones too. There was only Guinness in bottles, so we stuck to our regular beer, Pilsen. Until it ran out, and we had to switch to Imperial. Until it ran out and we had to switch to Bavaria!

There was live Irish music, provided, as I said, by ‘Fast’ Eddie McAteer. Who it turns out is from Derry. We laughed and sang. There were a lot of ticos and Americans, but only a few Irish. We met one couple from Kildare and Meath who are en route to Nepal, but that was about it. They issued everyone with green hats, and they were very sought after later. They’re now decorating our apartment.

We left after the disco started, because Sharon and Niall were travelling to La Fortuna on Saturday, and I was teaching at 9am.

Bandera Irlandés
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Sharon and Niall also brought out a little Irish flag, which we now have fluttering on our window. It’s funny, but all of the shamrockery I’d avoid like the plague at home is exactly what I love about St. Patrick’s Day out here.
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So that was some week. Sharon and Niall arrive back this (Tuesday) evening. And then tomorrow we’re heading for a few days to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific. I have a few days off and have swapped a Saturday, so we’ll have a nice long break.

Pura Vida,

Éamon