Within only a few days of living with our host family, my fellow early-start program roommate, Natalie, and I were invited by our Tico parents to see a very famous festival in San Ramón, which is a city within the province of Alajuela. We left early in the morning on Saturday, drove an hour or so, and arrived at the festival a few minutes before church let out. We started the day by viewing the ornate statues of saints and the intricate architecture of the church itself. Then, around 9:30 AM, we lined up behind the temporary barriers along the road. Our Tico parents explained that the most famous part of the festival was the town's "bueyes" (oxen). I imagined a "Running of the Bulls" scenario (hence the need for barriers), but it turned out a little differently. Watch the video to see the main attraction of El Festival de San Ramón.

Gabriella Cisneros is the Fall 2015 CEA MOJO in San José, Costa Rica. She is currently a sophomore film student at UW-Milwaukee.