Music Makes the People Come Together, Music Mix the Bourgeoisie and the Rebel

Well I've already broken one of my promises (that didn't take long, did it?) It has been way too long since my last post and I have no good excuses.  So with that said let me tell you about last week.  It was a week filled with music.

After much anticipation I was finally able to attend a Republica Fortuna concert.  Who is Republica Fortuna you ask? Well let me educate you! Republica Fortuna is 12 member, high energy, ska band from Costa Rica, who is about to release their very first  CD... oh and my co-worker/friend David is the lead singer.  No big deal!

Check out the video for my favorite song, La Cimarrona
 
The night started out like--what I've come to notice--any typical night.  I spent went to long on hold with the taxi company, only to get frustrated, walk to the main gate, attempt to hail a taxi off the street, only to crawl back with my tail between my legs to my friends at the gate, babble something indecipherable in Spanish about needing a taxi while gesturing wildly with my arms, they laugh and a taxi shows up 2 seconds later (how do they do that?! They didn't even pick up the phone!) An hour and fifteen minutes after that, Clayton, Evie (Clay's friend from college) and I arrived in Desamparados, a part of San Jose, armed with a small map showing the location of the concert.  As usual our taxi driver had no idea where the park that the concert was being held in was, but the more shocking part was that people on the street in town also had no idea.  This! should have sent up some sort of red flag.  But on we charged, lost and turning down random streets, we stupidly believed our driver when he said (after looking at the map for .2 seconds) that the concert would be just down the street, but because of traffic we'd be better off walking the short distance.  Clay jumped out, heard music and said "this must be the place!" As we watched the taxi burn rubber and speed away, it became apparently clear that the "music' we were hearing was not in fact coming from the concert, but was actually that of the zumba class taking place in the building at the corner where were had just been abandoned. Shit! Wait on second thought, no problem, Clay's a geo-spatial analyst and I love maps, this should be a piece of cake.  Wrong.. again! We walked a few blocks in each direction, asked a bus driver, asked random people on the street, but nothing.  So we caved, got in another taxi and as it turned out, we were way off. It was another 10 minutes by car before we eventually arrived at the park.  Since the concert had already started, we made our way quickly to the main stage through a rather rocky path and a pretty sad looking local fair.  But wait, did I just smell funnel cake?

The scene that came into view was not exactly what I expected. <<Flashback>> to being 16 years old and attending my first ska show with my next door neighbor, I want to say it was Less Than Jake, but god only knows, that was a million years ago.  <<End of flashback>> I'm talking full on most pit,  young boys with long chains hanging from their jeans, pushing one another around, and here comes a tall blond American girl making her way to the front to get a glimpse of her new musical idol.

Thank God I had Evie with me because moments later we were both swallowed up by said mosh pit, but thankfully we only suffered mild bruising.

The show ended, but I was hooked.  Goal update: Learn Spanish so I can sing along to all the songs by Repulica Fortuna.  It wasn't long before we were hanging out with the band "backstage" as we made plans to go out for drinks.  Uno problemo, we don't have a car.  Oh wait, it's not a problem when you are friends with the lead singer.  "Here", he says, "get in the back seat of this random car." Ok, so maybe it didn't go exactly like that, but it might as well have.

Seconds later, with the 3 of us crammed into the backseat we made our way (slowly) back down the rocky path in a low rider, seriously, how did this car get up here?!  After quick introductions it was silence for much of the way, to where, we still didn't know.  But after what seemed like a strangely long time, we pulled up in front of a house.  Umm, I thought we were going to a bar? But there was David, smiling, and telling Clay to get out of the car and go with him in his car, while a long, curly haired boy, we'd come to learn later was David's cousin, jumped into the backseat with us.  And off we went again, with still no idea where we were going, but this time, Evie and I sat a little closer together and I prayed we'd make it out alive.  We soon pulled onto the main strip in San Pedro, where we found out we were meeting David and Clayton at a bar.  We also found out that our car mates actually spoke very good English and clearly understood the conversation we had about being kidnapped.  We had some drinks and some good laughs, made new friends and ended the night eating giant pieces of pizza!

The next morning I was up early to get ready for Festival Imperial, a 2 day music festival with local bands and well known headliners.  I had a ticket for Day 1 and was looking forward to seeing Cypress Hill, The Flaming Lips and Maroon 5.  With the threat of spending 12 hours outdoors (mostly in the sun and being in the "most danger"), I slathered on about a pound of sunscreen, downed a few pints of H20 to hydrate and boarded the bus we rented to drive us to and from the concert.

Gross energy drink, we all kept drinking because it was cold!

Clay & Jose enjoying an Imperial, or 2 in Jose's case!

Crazy gypsy punk band: Gogol Bordello

Clay and I doing something stupid

  It turned out to be an amazing day/night.  The local bands were entertaining; We ate, we drank, we danced (a lot!), we all have a great time, but as you'd expect with any large group, we all had different interests and eventually split up into smaller groups.  As the sun set, Clay, Evie and I fought our way though the crowd to get a good spot for Cypress Hill.

 
Now, growing up in the 90's, you'd have expected me to know more than 1 song by Cypress Hill, but thankfully, I am a proud product of my hippy parents and was only familiar with the famous "Insane in the Membrane" song, still they put on a good show. Next up, The Flaming Lips, who rocked stage 2, and then it came down to Maroon 5.  At this point our small 3 man group had broken down even further and I was sadly on my own.  Having been lucky enough to see Mr. Adam Levine up close and personal two summers ago thanks to a very friendly usher at the BOA Pavilion, not to mention the pain of standing for 9 hours, I was more than happy to find a comfortable spot in the back, laying on the sheet I'd been carrying around for no reason at all at that point.

Later, as I made my way to our meeting spot-- a weird looking cactus tree somewhere near the entrance--I though of how lucky I am to be down here and how unbelievably dirty my feet were.  I came to learn this is known as "festival feet", and I need to find a way to work this phase into everyday conversation!!

My weekend ended with a trip to the Multiplaza in Escazu where I recharged my batteries by spending the day shopping and finally seeing the Hunger Games. All in all another fantastic weekend here is beautiful Costa Rica!

Pura Vida!