Lent

One thing I wanted to observe was the difference in how people here in Costa Rica approached the season of Lent. I would say that relative to the US, the Christians here are much more intentional about their observance of the Lenten season. While Ash Wednesday seemed very equal with ashes smudged on the foreheads of church goers, the presence of Lenten decorations here has been quite different. For instance on the porches of individual homes, on street corners and from the street lights we are seeing simple crosses draped in purple fabric. Some of the crosses even have festive lights! From my perspective, it should not be surprising that people are decorating for a major religious holiday, after all we do deck the halls pretty seriously in the US for our observance of Christmas. I have also noted that on this past Sunday there seemed to be more families gathered for an evening meal, perhaps this too was in observance of the Lenten season.