Sunday, May 31, 2015

Hoy en La Feria...Today at the Farmer's Market

Hoy en La Feria….Today at the Farmer’s Market (well, yesterday!)

1 lemon tree (lemons to make lemonade)
1 HUGE papaya
2 pineapples
1 HUGE watermelon
6 maracuyas (the fruit that makes my favorite juice in the whole wide world!)
12 sweet lemons (taste like oranges)
5 large mangos

          I have decided that you have not experienced a true feria (the equivalent to “farmer’s market” in Spanish) until you have carried everything you bought through the streets in 90 degree weather with beating sun. I went to the feria with my host mom yesterday. We bought tons of fresh food. After adventuring to the hospital (I have never seen the hospital here, thank goodness!) and through the 8 blocks of the feria, we decided we should take a taxi home. We journeyed to find a taxi since it would be a long walk carrying pounds and pounds of fresh fruit and a tree! As we struggled to walk, four taxis flew by us while we desperately waved our hands at them to stop for us! We couldn't help but to laugh hysterically, stop every few minutes to take a break, and continue until we finally found a taxi to drive us home!

        Once we got home, we planted the lemon tree together. My favorite part of my house is still our garden. I am glad I am not the one doing the gardening! But, I did enjoy being a part of shopping for the tree and then planting it! Yesterday was the perfect Saturday morning! 

Welcome to La Feria!

Before our shopping



This manga (mangas are big mangos) was HUGE!

Mami Tica picking out mangos (she knows they are my favorite)


Use of umbrellas as protection from the sun is very popular here.

Platanos, Plantains...yum yum yum

Yuca is in the top right hand corner....yuca looks like a tree!

Maracuyas....the fruit of my favorite juice...fresco de maracuya!

Our bags in front of the tree stand.


After shopping...Mami carried a bag on her shoulder and two bags in her hands (one of which was the tree!). I carried two bags in my hands.

A random photo, but this is the view from my bus stop. AM/PM is a small, nice grocery store. MusManni is the famous bakery chain of Costa Rica.

Digging the hole for our new lemon tree.


Hospital of Heredia

A statue outside of the hospital.

Last weekend in the waves of Tamarindo during sunset.


Exploring in Tamarindo last weekend.

I love the waves!



Monday, May 18, 2015

Importance of Second (and Third and Fourth) Families: "Political Cousins"

Importance of Second (and Third and Fourth) Families: “Political Cousins”

               My weekend was full of adventure and realizations. I was reminded of how much I miss my family in Ohio but also how lucky I am to have multiple families throughout the United States and Costa Rica.

                On Thursday, Isa, our eight year old neighbor, helped me with my Spanish homework. I was amazed how she automatically used the correct grammar without even knowing that she was using specific grammar. Isa is my ray of sunshine! She likes to practice English phrases with me and I love talking to her. She talks very quickly so when I first met her, I hardly ever understood what she was saying. Now, I almost always understand what she says even though sometimes she purposely speaks quickly. Isa is my family J

                On Friday, my friend Drew and I adventured to the mall. It was an adventure because it was spur of the moment. We walked around Heredia (I shopped, of course) and then spent time at the nice air-conditioned mall that happens to have couches where we lounged for a while! Friends like Drew are family!

                Friday, I ventured to San Jose de la Montana. This is a small mountain town with much cooler temperatures. I enjoyed waiting on my friend Alejandro because I had time to sit and people-watch. San Jose de la Montana is a quaint town where it appears that everyone knows each other. Once my friend Alejandro arrived, we took a taxi to Canopy Costa Rica. Canopy Costa Rica is a family-run business and we were lucky enough to canopy with the owner, his son and his son’s friends (all of whom were from different places and spoke different languages with Spanish and English being the common thread). The canopy (ziplining) trip was awesome! We were in the famous Cloud Forest and did a total of 8 lines. The guides were awesome and I understood all but a few of the directions that they said in Spanish! No worries….I told them I needed instructions regarding critical safety repeated in English just to be sure I understood!

                By the time I returned home on Saturday afternoon, I was frozen! It was a whopping 68 degrees Farenheit and raining and that was enough for me! I changed into long sleeves and a scarf and left for my tica friend’s house for the remainder of the weekend. My tica friend, Nicole, is the same girl I have referred to in previous posts. I met her and her sister and her sister’s friend and we all hung out for a while. Saturday night we hung out with her group of friends. I was happy to experience a typical Saturday night! I thoroughly enjoyed the evening with them. I spent the night at her house and woke up early to make breakfast with Nicole’s sister (who is a chef). Nicole and I walked to a bakery and bought bread. Then, I learned how to make gallo pinto and huevos rancheros. Gallo pinto is the typical breakfast food that I love and Sunday was my first time eating huevos rancheros and I loved them! If you are interested in either recipe, let me know! I will return home with the special sauce for gallo pinto but I am sure that it could be made with any type of sauce. I also want to cook a Costa Rican meal sometime! So, let me know if you want to be present for that J

                After a delicious and filling breakfast, we hung out at the house. I engaged with Nicole’s mom and enjoyed the amazing view from their second floor balcony. Around noon we left to go to Nicole’s grandparent’s house. I LOVED being with her whole family. Family lunch consisted of Nicole’s mom and her two sisters and their families. Some of the grandkids were there and some extra friends like me! Her grandmother cooked a big lunch for everyone and we ate outside together. After lunch, we played BINGO and we played with numbers in Spanish and in English. Almost everyone in Nicole’s family is bilingual. After lunch, Nicole’s grandmother invited me to go to her cousin’s house next week and to go back to the Castillo Country Club with them sometime. Last weekend, I discovered my second tica family.

                In the United States, I have many friends and different families that are essentially my family. We are not related by blood, but we are so close to each other that we are family. In Costa Rica, people like this are called your “political cousins.” I learned the term “political cousins” from the group of kids on our canopy tour. The little boy introduced himself as the “political cousin” of the owner’s son. I have two tica families or many “political cousins” in Costa Rica. I have my Heredia family and my Altamira family (from the one-week service trip). Now, I also have Nicole and her family. Last weekend was just what I needed. I was reminded of the importance of having second and third and fourth families. I was reminded how lucky I am to have all of the families I do in Troy and in Charlotte and now here in Costa Rica. Cheers to “political cousins” and the joy and vibrancy they bring to our lives!

Isa, the best homework helper around!

The amazing view from Nicole's second floor balcony. Those are the mountains behind San Jose and San Jose is hidden by the roofs.


My "political cousins"....trying to get the perfect selfie.

Nicole, mi amiga tica

Gallo Pinto in the big pan and the beginning of Huevos Rancheros (just the fried eggs) in the small pan.

Gallo Pinto on the right and Huevos Rancheros on the left.

Family lunch with Nicole, her mom, and her cousin.

Family lunch in Nicole's grandmother's amazing greenhouse.

BINGO time after lunch...we marked our boards with historical coins from Costa Rica and Central America (Nicole's grandfather's collection)

My first big typical breakfast....gallo pinto, huevos rancheros, Costa Rican sausage, egg and green onion, avocado, and homemade tortillas.

Family Lunch....beef cakes, ripe plantains (they are sweeter when they are ripe), red beans, salad, rice, and cas juice.

Budin....a tasty dessert made from milk and bread.

Canopy Costa Rica



Tuesday, May 12, 2015

4.....The 4s of Costa Rica

4...The 4s of Costa Rica
(a kind of silly post for y'all)

I have been here almost 4 months.

I only have 4 classes of my once-weekly classes left.

I only have 4 weekends left of my “vacation.”

4x2=8 and I rode the bus for 8 hours last Friday.

I ate 4 American meals last weekend at the beach: 2 hot dogs (Costa Rican style with fresh pineapple relish), an amazing hamburger and fries, and macaroni and cheese (not Kraft, but a delicious off-brand).

4 hours…the amount of time I assumed it would take to travel across the small country of CR and that I have learned is not the truth!

4 minutes…the walk from my house to my bus stop and the walk from my bus stop to UNA.
I go to the gym 4 days a week.

Three of my classes are once a week for 4 hours each time….4 hour classes are not meant for me!

The 4 seasons that I have not experienced here….Costa Rica has two seasons. We have winter and summer or the rainy season and not rainy season.

4 day weekends J I do not have classes on Fridays or Mondays so I have long “vacation” weekends.

4 cardinal directions…in the States I always use a GPS or my dad gives me directions based upon landmarks. While the directions in Costa Rica are given by landmarks, people are always giving directions with the cardinal directions. So, I have become a cardinal direction pro!

Two weekends ago I went to the Enrique Iglesias concert with friends. We had a wonderful time!

Pura Vida Mini Hostel, Tamarindo
If every hostel is like this one, I am MADE for hostel life. The dorm room had air conditioning, the facilities were spotless, and I made some really good friends!

First meal in Tamarindo.....homemade eggrolls and a mango, spinach, and pineapple smoothie.


I was super excited to swim through the entire sunset.

Tamarindo, my new favorite beach.

Always reppin' Queens

How am I so lucky to be in a jungle, a desert (as it feels to me!), and at a beach all at the same time?!