There are a number of trees around here without any leaves, but they have these humungous blooms! These trees w/ the orange blooms are known as Poró gigante. There are hillsides filled with them; they remind me of the clusters of aspens in the mountains of Colorado!
This is an orchid blooming in our yard.
There are hibiscus everywhere, in many different colors!
This 'Communion' plant is blooming at our house and around town!
There's always some kind of interesting fruit that's in season as well. Recently we tried this granadilla, it’s got a hard but thin husk
that you peel, then suck out the gooey fruit w/ crunchy black seeds. It grows on a vine right outside our
door!
This is a 'tree tomato or Tomate Palo. You bite off the bitter top and suck out the sweet fruit.
And of course, there's my favorite, the mango, which have been on sale recently for 3 lb/$1; you don’t have to twist my arm to get me to eat them! Some people like eating them green with salt, but I think there's nothing better than a ‘just ripe’ mango!
In a previous blog, I wrote about the drink called “Aqua Dulce” that you make
from molasses and water with a squeeze of lemon. Well, our neighbors had an event this month that we
attended, called a Trapichada, which is where they make the ‘tapa de caña’, the
block of pure brown raw sugar, starting with cutting down the sugarcane.
This machine squeezes out the juice while the oxen turn it around and around.
Then they cook it in a huge cauldron over a fire and then pour it into molds when it's boiled down and just the right temperature. We talked to the ‘trapidoro’, the guy who’s in charge of this whole process, and 88 yr. old Emilio has been doing this his whole life. We were lucky to be gifted with a block of this candy into which they had added seeds and raisins! This stuff is REALLY good, and now I know where I can stock up whenever our supply runs low!
Here’s what else is
growing at our house. Jewey, the
Pug, had 4 pups 3 weeks ago, so we get the pleasure of watching them
grow too!
Speaking of watching things
grow: last weekend we helped out
the high school administration (principal, teachers, cooks; everybody was in on
this act); in preparing food for their booth at the nearby pueblo’s coffee
fair. It’s a fundraiser they
participate in every year and we were told they are going to buy a siren for
security at the front gate, an electric gate (right now a very petite security
guard has to haul a very large metal sliding gate open and closed every time someone wants
to go in or out of the school. They
also hope to remodel the library.
We got involved in every step of the process of making tamales and watched that pile of tamales grow over 2 days of preparation! I turned down an offer to help make Sopa de Mondongo (cow tripe)as well as tasting it. Normally, I will try anything, but for some reason, intestines have always been difficult for me to stomach.
We helped out at the fair too, but got volunteered to wash and dry dishes! I guess that was better than a peer PCV who had to walk in the parade w/ a huge Grandpa Smurf mask on! We also enjoyed the beautiful traditional dances and costumes from all over Central and South America, which not only performed at the fair, but the day before in the gymnasio at the high school!
We got involved in every step of the process of making tamales and watched that pile of tamales grow over 2 days of preparation! I turned down an offer to help make Sopa de Mondongo (cow tripe)as well as tasting it. Normally, I will try anything, but for some reason, intestines have always been difficult for me to stomach.
We helped out at the fair too, but got volunteered to wash and dry dishes! I guess that was better than a peer PCV who had to walk in the parade w/ a huge Grandpa Smurf mask on! We also enjoyed the beautiful traditional dances and costumes from all over Central and South America, which not only performed at the fair, but the day before in the gymnasio at the high school!
Francis and I have been
carrying out our lesson plans and finally I can say I think I can get my point
across in Spanish, by just winging it. I do like
to make sure I'm familiar with the vocabulary though, just in case there’s something new. Definitely learning new vocab every
day, and like Vilma says, it usually takes about 16 times to say something new for
it to really stick. I was part of a role play to demonstrate how to use the Negotiation Steps that we’re
teaching to 6 different groups of 4th and 5th graders. One of the steps is to generate ideas, or in this case, solutions to the problem; in
Spanish this is referred to as “lluvia de ideas” (equivalent of
brainstorm). Another term I had to
learn was how they say; “to flip a coin” (in the case of random decision
making). They say: “tirar una
moneda en aire” (to throw the coin in the air) or “escudo o corona” (shield or
crown; in the case of the Costa Rican coins).
Another custom that I really
enjoy seeing in the schools, is the kids’ and teachers’ habit of brushing their
teeth after lunch. I don’t know how that tradition got started, but it’s very common for people to be
standing around the outdoor ‘pilas’ brushing their teeth after lunch! I think it might be worthwhile to
investigate the origin of that good habit, in order to try and replicate it for
instilling other good habits!
In 2 days, Francis and I will have our first visitors from the US. Tom and Sheri are coming to visit us and we'll vacation together before they go off and work on building a house in the southern part of Costa Rica with Habitat for Humanity. We surely look forward to spending time together as we explore the northeastern shores of CR,(Tortuguero Parque Nacional) where none of us have ventured before. We'll see what's growing in that part of the country, besides turtles and we'll be thinking of all of you and will miss seeing you at our traditional Easter Brunch.
So enjoy the spring and all things that grow. I look forward to hearing from you very soon! Love to you all!!
So enjoy the spring and all things that grow. I look forward to hearing from you very soon! Love to you all!!