Day 2

The view out our hotel room window.

A brief rest after arriving

One thing I realized on our second day is that I am having very big challenges.  Traveling with 4 kids and no other adult is a sobering thing- it all falls on me.  Safety and danger depends on my decisions and judgements.  For example, deciding who to converse with, who to listen to when getting directions, which streets to walk down, or not, how to carry a backpack, when to head back to the hotel.....and more.  In fact, it's a constant thing here in San Jose, Costa Rica where most people do NOT speak English, and it gets dark at 6:30PM local time, and there are no street signs, and everyone tells you where to go without addresses, only landmark references...800 metres oeste de Pops de La Sabana.  These are the directions we were to follow to get to Congregacion B'nei Israel, the local Reformist temple here.  After an email exchange which resulted in our sending passport information and New Hampshire temple affiliation verification, then obtaining written permission to visit with the warning, "The security guard will make the final decision.  Bring your passports with you," we were excited to begin the trip to the temple.

Locally made ice cream chain.  Somewhere near here is the synagogue...

I left plenty of time to get there which ended up being pleeeeennnnnttty of time because I forgot all about the 2 hour time difference.  Even so, we were first stopped by the torrential rains which lasted for an hour.  We were fascinated to see the raging rivers sweeping across the roads from the sudden and drenching rains. Next we walked for 1 1/2 hours all over, looking for the synagogue which everyone knew about but no one could give directions which worked.  Really.  Even a taxi driver took us to THE temple which ended up being an Orthodox synagogue.  Before I realized that, though, 2 security guards met me outside the gated shul, studied my passport, and then kindly denied us entrance.  They had no idea who we were.  After a few names mentioned, they guessed we were not looking for the Orthodox shul.  We were wished Shabbat Shalom and left to our own devices.  Now we had to find our way back.  I had imagined that the Jews at the shul would be so friendly and generous that we would at the very least get good directions back, and at the most, maybe a ride.....it was not to be.  Back on the bus, guided by a friendly security guard from an apartment complex, we returned to our hotel and ended our day.

A very comfortable chair at our hotel

Earlier today, while on the plane flying from Florida to Costa Rica, we had what was to be our Jewish connection.  First, the gentleman sitting in front of me let me know he was Jewish by saying something Yiddish to me.  When I replied in Yiddish he told me he was visiting a Jewish Israeli friend in Costa Rica who was building a house on the side of a mountain.  My fellow passenger was a Jew from Chicago.  The next Jewish connection was during our interview with the immigration officer.  The person who directed us to the immigration process quietly said, "Shalom!" as he pointed which direction we should walk.  After the interview, he came to us and identified himself as Jewish too, and we spoke for a few minutes.  So although we didn't get to meet the Reformist Jewish community in San Jose, we still felt the connection.