Hello all, thought it might be time to drop a note about some interesting stuff here in Costa Rica. A lot of people know that Costa Rica is quite an eco-tourism destination, and they assume that since it’s a Central American republic, it must be underdeveloped. While it is a developing nation, it’s still a far cry from primitive. Especially here in the city, you can feel at times that you’re a part of one of the most cosmopolitan places on the planet. Well, at times. One of those times was a while back, when Chrissy and I had the opportunity to go to an opera. Yeah, where they sing all the lines, usually in a language you don’t understand, and you know it’s done when one of the ladies sings (they were few not amply blessed). This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart, and so in honor of that the production was Don Giovanni. And what a production it was! The scene was very simple, even abstract, but they did a good job with the lighting to create moods. We had a great time putting on nice clothes and getting to see the National Auditorium for the first time. It’s right next to the Children’s Museum, which was a nasty prison in times past, but has been totally redone and is truly worth going to see (you’ll need more than one visit, it’s really big). The neighborhood around it hasn’t been remodeled yet though, and so on the way we encountered some very interesting sights, sounds, and even smells. The National Auditorium isn’t very large, perhaps seating 1000? It’s where they have a lot of the beauty pageants, and Zachary & Austin have been in there to see plays on field trips from schools. The seating was comfortable, and we could see that even the cheapest seats would have a good view of the opera. The most expensive seats were in the balcony, about $50 a pop, and that includes a souvenir of the opera, and wine and cheese at intermission. We sauntered up there to check it out, but lost our nerve before we could sample any of the goodies. That wasn’t the case with the couple sitting next to us. They got right in there and seemed to be enjoying themselves well beyond the $50 cover charge. We’re pretty sure they were from some other country, perhaps France, and during the entire production he kept clearing his throat quite loudly (I’m sure you could hear him in the balcony, so at intermission I’m sure they all thought he was one of them). He also clapped quite enthusiastically after each scene, offering lusty shouts of “Bravo! Bravo!” with the conclusion of each aria. He had to know a lot about opera to be doing that, and I sure didn’t have the courage to join him, opera novice that I am. Fortunately, we had found some excellent summaries of the libretto and story online before we went. And Italian has a lot of similar words with Spanish, so we got some of the jokes. It looked from the gestures and such that it was absolutely hysterical! We laughed each timed it seemed appropriate.
Well, after a great night out at the opera and some great tacos al pastor at a local restaurant, we thought we might have reached the pinnacle of artsy fartsy, and we’re still anxious to continue our interface with “culture” within the culture of Costa Rica. There’s always live music, whether at bars, coffee shops, various theaters, or even on the street, and in every genre and style you could want. We read the review of the opera in the paper later, and according to the locals here, it was a tremendous disappointment. We learned that it’s “the only completely Costa Rican opera to be presented since the 80’s, and with good reason” they added. “It just shows how far the country has to go to really be a part of the arts, yada yada.” The whole review came as rather a surprise to us, as we don’t remember seeing anyone there who didn’t seem to enjoy it. Maybe if the critic had attended the same night we did, and heard the opera fan we sat next to, he might want to join us and other families on the long-hair bandwagon. Or maybe it was a simple case of sour grapes, not enough time spent at the wine and cheese table.
Well, that’s all for now. I hope to write again soon with some thrilling insider information from the public transportation arena.
Darrin
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