A New Life In Costa Rica

Let the chaos begin

 

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The chaos that is the Fiestas Civica de Palmares was in the beginning stages as we drove through the town yesterday on the way to a friends house.

Signs were being hung down the main road into town while those hoping to make a profit on the fringes of the festivities set up their parade viewing platforms and roadside restaurants. Places like this makeshift McDonalds that will be gone as soon as the festival is over.

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Today is NOT the day to visit Plamares unless you want to take part in the chaos that occurs during the annual tope, horse parade. It is something to be experienced, once.

If you want to see the event but don't want to brave the drunken crowds check local television channels 6 or 7 as it it usually televised.

 

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles

Bill and I first visited the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago on our first trip to Costa Rica, July 2005. Callista wasn't with us on that first trip so she missed it. We've vowed to take her back and have actually been through Cartago several times but haven't stopped at the Basílica. This was the main reason for our trip  to Cartago earlier in the week. The trips to Volcan Irazu and Lankester Botanical Gardens were bonuses.

 Not only is this a beautiful church it's one with a miraculous history. It is also the church millions of Costa Ricans make a pilgrimage to each year on August 2. People from all over the country visit the basilica year round to ask for miracles. I neither Catholic nor religious but I can tell you this place has a special vibration. It's worth a visit if only to admire it's beauty. 

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It's always nice discovering new things about places we've been previously. On this trip to the church we discovered the healing waters we'd somehow missed before. On one side of the basilica you follow a path around to a spiral path that leads you to what is said to be healing waters. All the people in line ahead of us had bottles to take water with them. We even saw people filling a plastic grocery sack with the water and pouring it over their golden retriever. Callista was moved seeing it. That's love! After seeing that example I wanted some water to bring home. Luckily there was a souvenir booth set up close by where we could buy trinkets as well as gallon bottles.   

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Our visit to Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles was the right destination for our last road trip of the year as we were able to give thanks in a special place for all the miracles granted to us in 2011. 

We wish you all a Happy New Year filled with wonder and blessings!

 

Christmas Tamales

The traditional food of the holidays in Costa Rica is tamales. Families gather together near Christmas and make enough for everyone to take some home. If you've never made tamales let me tell you a lot of time and effort go into making those little bundles of two you can buy for a ljust over a dollar.

Many foreigners are not fans of the typical tamale. Myself included. I didn't like tamales in Arizona either. I've been converted! Callista and I made tamales with friends yesterday and they are the tastiest we've ever had. These tamales were flavorful! We sampled everything during the process from the masa to the meat, both  chicken and pork tamales were finger licking good.

After round one, the first batch of masa that is we ended up with 70 piñas ( two packs) of pork tamales.  That's a hundred and forty. Next came the chicken tamales, then more pork. I don't think anyone counted after the first batch.

 We left not long after the first batch was done cooking. It had been a long day. We participated in everything, start to finish. From prepping the leaves, stirring the masa and chopping ingredients to filling the tamales and tying up the bundles. Like I said, tamale making is a lot of work. Both Callista and I were tired but happy we had a supply of Christmas tamales to enjoy when we got home. 

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The above photos show some of the ingedients in our tamales. In addition to the masa, rice, meat and carrots, we added sweet chili peppers, corn and peas. The last three photos are of the first piña of the day, the first batch ready to be sampled and the last to go onto the wood burning stove to boil.

Yes, it was nice coming home with delicious tamales but more importantly we came home with memories of a wonderful day with friends. I'm always in awe of the way this large group of brothers and sisters works harmoniously together everytime we're with them. I feel blessed to have them in our lives. Thank-you for sharing a wonderful family experience with us. 

 

I'm over it!

Black Friday, Cyber Monday... all the hype is making me sick. I admit all the ads got to me for a moment. Just a fleeting moment. We no longer live in that world. Thank God! Still our television programming is out of Miami so we are inundated with all the stateside hype. While I realize it's the job of advertisers to create a need in our minds it isn't so easy for a teenage girl to brush off.

So, like thousands of others we ventured out on Friday. Her to see what bargains she could find and me to wait for the realization to sink in for her that we live in a different world.  It didn't take long. Our first stop at the video store was enlightening.

When we walked in locals were complaining about all the fantastic deals they'd seen offered in the states and how they were offered a mere $4 off on a new computer at a local electronics store in honor of Black Friday.

At our Thanksgiving dinner another guest got Callista all worked up telling her about sales at a local shoe store. She had to get there before all the great shoes in her size were gone! He also told her about a new clothing store with all the "in" clothes from the states. Neither turned out to be all he'd built them up to be. There wasn't anything she was interested in at the shoe store and after waiting for the clothing store to open after lunch realized it wasn't worth the wait. Neither place had sales.

Walking block after block and browsing store after store, Callista was finally convinced. One last shop before we headed home gave her a bargain she was hoping for, 20 percent off on a pair of jeans. Woo hoo, success!

While we didn't come home with a car full of bargains, we did enjoy our time in town, mom and daughter together, walking, talking and getting some exercise. I'd say our day was a success!

 

Christmas trials- Lomo relleno

 

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Pork is the traditional meal at Christmastime in Costa Rica. I decided to make lomo relleno the other day to see if I want to make it for Buena Noche, Christmas Eve. Our butcher took care of the hard part by preparing the pork roast for me.

I made used traditional seasonings; salt, pepper, oregano, Lisano sauce. I let in marinate in the seasonings for 24 hours before stuffing, tying and boiling it. The roast rolls were then sliced and fried before serving.

Some friends stopped by and sampled the finished product. My lomo relleno got an approval for Buena Noche. While it was good I think I may do a more "gringo" stuffing next time around.