Costa Rican Shopping: Check Prices!

We had an enlightening shopping experience the other day on a quick turn through the aisles of AutoMercado, one of the large supermarket chains in Costa Rica that caters to the tastes of expats. We had taken the bus into San Jose, disembarking at Hospital Mexico, just outside of the city. From there we taxied a rather short distance (about a $2.00 cab ride) to Plaza Mayor, a mall where Layne and I have our eyeglass prescriptions filled. After picking up his new glasses, we headed to AutoMercado where we had recently found tomatillos available at a very good price, only about 1000 colones ($2.00) for a good size plastic container with 12 to 15 of the little green globes. I love this piquant tomato-like vegetable; it's a principle ingredient in Chili Verde, one of my specialties, and is delicious in Roasted Tomatillo Salsa. Oddly, despite being a Latin American country, Costa Ricans are unfamiliar with tomatillos, an item ubiquitous in Mexican, Guatemalan and other Latin cuisine. After treating our Santa Eulalia gang to a pot of Chili Verde last Saturday night, I wanted more, this time to freeze for a future dinner.

Also on my shopping list were pine nuts, another delicacy that is difficult to find here. We had looked all over Atenas with no luck but I suspected that AutoMercado just might have them. And indeed, as we cruised the aisle of nuts, I spied some small packages of pine nuts. Without a glance at the price since the bags were so modest, we headed to the checkout. On this particular trip, the lines we chose were so slow and we were in enough of a hurry to catch the bus back to Atenas that when we finally got to a cashier, we quickly paid our 10,000+ colones and headed for the bus stop across the street.

While waiting for the bus, however, I began to think about the purchase. 10,000 colones?? My goodness, that's about $20! How could two containers of tomatillos and two small bags of pine nuts have cost that much? I pulled out my receipt and discovered that the pine nuts were about $8.50 per bag! Back we went to the store and in my broken Spanish I explained to the woman at the Recepción booth that I wished to return the pine nuts. She was muy tranquilo about the whole thing, ringing up a refund receipt, which I took back to the cashier for a refund.

Lesson learned: Imports are expensive here. Read all price tags.

Eating and Hiking: Calories In, Calories Out

Carmen patiently teaches the Gringos

What a busy week it's been with Thanksgiving, a festive dinner party for the Santa Eulalia gang here at home (yes, another one!) and the 1era Caminata y Paseo Recreativo La Zopilota (1st Walk and Recreational Outing of La Zopilota - at least I think that's more or less the translation) held this past Sunday the 25th. Now I'm rushing to get a blog posted before I have to stop and do my Spanish homework. Layne and I have been hosting a Spanish class on Thursday mornings in our home with friends Stephen, Bonnie and Eroca. Carmen, a delightful Guatemalan friend who has helped us with organic gardening questions in the past, is our teacher. We've all learned a lot although I must admit that I started out somewhat ahead of others in the class by virtue of two years of Spanish in college and then some dedicated effort through Rosetta Stone; more recently I expanded my knowledge on LiveMocha.com, a free online language tool. Even though my vocabulary is pretty good, the problem I face is in understanding Tico friends and neighbors. Most of them speak so fast - as do all native speakers, of course - that as soon as I grasp one word in a sentence, they are on to the next paragraph. It's one of the few frustrating things about living here. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever be able to carry on a real conversation.

Thanksgiving Dinner is served!

But I get plenty of opportunities to work on my language skills, such as at the Thanksgiving dinner party I enjoyed last Thursday evening.  Held at the spectacular hilltop home of Dennis and Gerardo, the charming proprietors of Pure Life Development real estate company, the thirty-five or so guests included many members of Gerardo's large Tico family, friendly folk who are always ready to engage in sociable banter. Dennis is an excellent cook and the juicy turkey and all the trimmings was fabulous. Although Layne stayed home because of a bit of an upset stomach, I certainly enjoyed the evening and met a few new friends as well.

Almost in the clouds

The 1era Caminata y Paseo Recreativo La Zopilota mentioned above was a challenging hike through the extensive coffee finca of El Toledo Coffee, the excellent organic brand we buy most weeks at the feria. Gabriel, whose family owns the farm, is usually staffing the booth at the feria, ready with a pleasant smile and some new Spanish phrase for me to learn. For some weeks he has been promoting the Caminata, a benefit for the San Isidro neighborhood where the farm is located. We Santa Eulalia weekend hikers were eager to put our walking skills to the test and signed on for the event. During the long and exceedingly hilly taxi ride up to the farm, I began to have trepidations. Just what had we gotten ourselves into?

Had we known exactly what "La Zopilota" referred to, we might have been better prepared for the steep inclines we faced as we confidently marched off through the quaint streets of San Isidro. 

Off we go! 

Onward!

La Zopilota is a huge rock perched at the very top of the Aquacate mountain range that separates the community of Palmares from Atenas. That peak was our destination! Getting there took us through the beautiful hillsides of El Toledo farm, covered with lush deep green coffee plants, each dripping red berries ready for harvest. 

Coffee plants and magnificent views

The incredible vistas from each turn in the trail made the day well worth the effort but it was a challenge. So much so that at the rest stop about 2 miles in, Layne and I opted for a ride the rest of the way up the mountain. Even that ride was a test for the four-wheeler we were riding in: dirt tracks deeply carved by rainfall into a jagged ruts studded with big rocks, climbing up incredible slopes and skiing down steep precipices, all the while passing the more stalwart hikers and bikers still on the trail. With my foot pressing an imaginary brake and my hands gripping the seat, I was mentally exhausted by the time we made it to the finish line at the top.

But what a view and what a rock! Rejuvenated by fresh watermelon and pineapple along with cool water, we enjoyed the Mariachi band and chatted with Stephen and Bonnie who had also taken advantage of a ride up. 

Yours Truly, leaning on La Zopilota

Stephen greets Seidy as she approaches the Finish Line

Marcial and Seidy, of course, along with their sons Daniel and Gabriel and Gabriel's wife Alou, made the whole trip on foot. Seidy looked like she hardly broke a sweat! In fact, they were still so energetic they all walked the long way back down the mountain to the partying taking place at the starting point, food and drink, beer and tequila, music, craft sales and a raffle.

Daniel and Gabriel on top of La Zopilota

One delightful surprise I enjoyed was meeting one of my blog readers at the finish line, as we were all relaxing after our strenuous walk. A vivacious redhead whose name escapes me, she had a lovely smile and some nice comments on my efforts in chronicling our lives here in Atenas. Of course, I've often come across newcomers to Atenas at the weekly feria who have discovered the blog in their research before traveling to Costa Rica, and customers of Marcial's Italian Sausage are sure to be given one of my cards with the blog address on it. (Marcial is my one-man public relations firm here.) But it was an unexpected pleasure to meet one of my fans on top of a mountain! Muchas gracias, señora!

  

Hiking Palmares, Costa Rica

Eroca, Marcial, Seidy and Layne

Here it is almost time for another Sunday outing for the Santa Eulalia gang and I have yet to share last weekend's day trip with you. Compared to some of our strenuous excursions, this one was more a sightseeing trip than a hike. As unofficial leader of our hiking club (or as he likes to call it, "a drinking club with a hiking problem"), Marcial thought a bus trip up to Palmares to explore downtown might be fun. With an eye to the early Sunday bus schedule, we got our exercise by hurriedly huffing up the long hill to the Palmares intersection, or cruce, where we just made the 7:15 a.m. bus. The thirty-minute trip took us up and over the Aquacate mountain range that separates Atenas from Palmares and curved through some charming barrios, twisting along hillsides of coffee and sugarcane plantations and verdant tropical jungle. Topping the ridge we looked out over the picturesque valley of Palmares, a town that boasts perhaps the biggest two-week fiesta grande in the country. Beginning in mid-January each year, the small town is transformed into party-central with a big tope or horse parade, rodeos, dancing, concerts and fireworks. Cabelleros and their finest mounts come from all over Costa Rica to ride through the streets showing off their fancy gaits and colorful costumes.

Toros a la Tica, the Costa Rican-style of bullfighting, is one of the highlights. Unlike the Spanish tradition, these bullfights involve hundreds of Ticos who become bullfighters-for-a-day, jumping into the ring to taunt the bull but not to kill him. All it takes is a lot of nerve and a willingness to test fate by joining the rather comical event.

Our day in Palmares was less exciting than a bullfight but fun nevertheless as we wandered through the Parque Central where large iguanas lounge in the trees and reddish-brown squirrels vie with pigeons for treats left by local citizens. Like most Latin countries, the park is adjacent to the Catholic Church, which was just ending Sunday morning mass when we arrived. 

The capricious fountain 

Eroca, the juggling gringa

As the church emptied out, we were amused to watch one hapless gentleman stroll across the plaza and get showered by the fountain as it turned on in a seemingly random schedule. In another entertaining moment, Eroca showed off her juggling skills to the surprise of a Tico juggler who was suitably impressed by the bold gringa.

A squirrel enjoys a snack

Lazy iguana taking the sun

The church itself made an imposing photogenic subject for Eroca, Seidy and me. Seidy is a budding photographer taking photo lessons from Stephen, who taught photography back in the US. Although Stephen and Bonnie were not with us on this outing, having gone up to Monteverde for the weekend, Seidy was dutifully working the camera in anticipation of her Monday class. 

Seidy doing her "homework"

Eroca tries to capture stained glass

Inside the grand church

According to Marcial, each stone of the large building had been hand-hewn and lovingly installed to construct the church. Inside we photographers gazed at the vivid stained glass windows and tried to capture the dramatic colors in our cameras.

From there we ambled over to the Central Market for a coffee and some tamales, then headed out for a short exploration of the local community, enjoying beautiful flowers, lovely homes and the activities on the soccer field along the way. 

One of many nice homes

Plantain in a front yard

Community soccer field is always busy

But we soon had to mosey back to the bus stop for our return trip to Atenas and the afternoon potluck by the pool at Bonnie and Stephen's who had by then returned from their weekend trip.

Just another wonderful day in the life of pensionados, enjoying Pura Vida in Costa Rica!

  

Parties, Protests and Photo Projects

The "late crowd"

Given how close we live to a "blue zone" here in Costa Rica, one of those areas around the world where people seem to live much longer, you might think that turning seventy would be no big deal. After all, if you're likely to live to be 100 or more, seventy is practically a teenager. Nevertheless, when we learned that our good friend Marc was leaving his sixties behind, it seemed like a good excuse for a party. So on Friday the 2nd of November, Layne and I hosted a big to-do for Marc and about thirty of his friends and it turned out to be a festive event indeed. Even our favorite bus driver Johnny and his wife showed up plus several people we didn't even know were invited!

As luck would have it, just before party starting time, the heavens opened up and we were hit with the kind of downpour that only happens in the tropics. Although it did deter a few people who were coming from a distance, most locals braved the weather and made the trip up to Santa Eulalia. Unfortunately, the inclement evening made dancing on the back patio difficult since chairs were congregated on the "dance floor." 

The crowded "dance floor"

But my spaghetti -- made of course with Marcial's Italian Sausage -- Eroca's eggplant parmesan and Stephen's fabulous salad were welcome treats for the stalwart group. At the birthday boy's request, his cake was the decadent Delicious Temptation chocolate-on-chocolate-topped-with-caramel concoction made by the crew at Kay's Gringo Postre; it was definitely the star attraction of the dinner. Wow, what a cake! 

Marc with that Delicious Temptation cake

The early crowd soon made way for the late crowd and even with Eroca's invaluable help in the kitchen, Layne and I were still cleaning up as midnight came and went.

Eroca on KP

Nevertheless, the extravagance of Friday was no excuse to avoid our walk on Sunday morning but at least we all agreed to push the hour a bit later. At 9:30 a.m. Layne and I were on our way to Marcial and Seidy's, Marc and Eroca's, then on to Stephen and Bonnie's place where we hiked off cross-country toward San Jose Sur, a community up the road toward Palmares from Santa Eulalia. Along the way, we were met by a horde of racing bicyclists as they tore along the back roads, watching carefully to avoid potholes. As some of us took a break on a bridge, we noticed a huge nest in a tree hanging out over the stream, apparently home to a zillion termites. 

Bicyclists heading our way

A home for termites

Stephen under a huge Guanacaste tree

The plan was to time our walk so we could enjoy lunch at the beautiful El Mirador el Pueblo, a glass-enclosed restaurant with killer views that boasts some of the best fish around. The owner is an old friend of Marcial's, as he used to run a small bar and restaurant just around the corner from our house and thus almost across the street from Marcial and Seidy's place. Naturally, we got first-class service at El Mirador. Most of us chose a "casado," a curious Tico term that means "married" but also refers to a typical Costa Rican plate of rice, beans, salad, plantain and your choice of meat. In our case, we opted for the excellent corvina, or sea bass, browned to perfection.

After such an indulgent weekend, Layne and Bonnie and I dragged ourselves to the gym on Monday morning to work off some of the good times. At the grocery store afterwards, we happened to see our friend Eric who runs the organic market here and who informed us of a demonstration set for the next day in San Jose to protest the introduction of genetically modified seeds into Costa Rica. Since Layne and I had plans to go into San Jose anyway, we decided to put on our journalist hats and attend the event in order to write up a report for The Costa Rica News. It turned out to be well worth our time with almost 100 people standing against transgenicos, as genetically modified products are called here. You can read my article in the Eco section of TCRN tomorrow.

"Perro" protester

Our trip into San Jose was originally set up with Felipe, Marcial and Seidy's oldest son, who is interested in photography and had done some excellent wedding photos recently for his friends, using Layne's high-end camera. Layne has been helping him package the photos into a professional-looking portfolio and a wedding album for the newlyweds. This trip was to have high-quality prints made for the album. After the bus trip into town, we walked a few blocks searching for the photography shop, no easy task since, as you recall, there are no street addresses here. But with a phone call by Felipe (in Spanish, of course), we soon located the store and he and Layne gave the instructions for the print sizes. 

Layne and Felipe order prints

The finished product is terrific and today Felipe is delivering the album to his friends. It's been a very satisfying process for Layne and me to help guide this young man in developing his talent in photography. We hope this is the start of a productive and lucrative vocation for Felipe and we're very proud of his hard work. 

  

Halloween Costa Rica Style

The last dinner with Chris & Sue

So the Santa Eulalia Sunday party gang punked out on us today, can you believe it? We were all scheduled to take the 8:20 a.m. bus into Atenas and then hike down to Barrio Los Angeles to the soccer field on the off chance that we might catch a "futbol" game there. But at 8:05 this morning Marcial called to say that Bonnie and Stephen had decided not to go and that in fact, he and Seidy were still in bed as well. With Chris and Sue back in the States for a couple of months gathering the paperwork for their residency application, our Sunday hiking plans were off.

After a pretty strenuous evening for both couples last night I suppose a more generous hearted correspondent might say one could hardly blame them. Bonnie and Stephen had spent last night watching the third game of the World Series, rooting with great enthusiasm for the Giants. (Of course, we know how exhausting that can be!) Marcial and Seidy had gone with us to the Halloween party at Kay's Gringo Postre, where we danced the night away in our imaginative costumes: a Rasta couple for them and Ernest Hemingway and Mae West for Layne and me.

Ernest and Mae make a lovely couple! 

But since I am not such a generous hearted journalist, I hereby officially shame them for their slovenly ways. Layne and I are obviously the hardcore couple in this neighborhood. Since we were up and dressed, ready to catch the bus, we decided to get our exercise alone. So off we went, arriving in town to find that the Fiesta Patronales (see last week's post for more on Fiestas Patronales) was still going on in the Parque Central and along the street in front of the Catholic Church. As we wandered by the food booths we listened to the melodious sounds of some sort of xylophone, as Ticas prepared tortillas on an open burner for people waiting in line. Had it not seemed so "touristy," I would have taken a video of the scene because it was a classic look at Tico life.

Monumento de Boyero

But onward we hiked down the familiar route we used to take when we lived in Barrio Los Angeles, remembering the noisy traffic along the main road before taking the turn off at the Monumento de Boyero, which commemorates the historical route of the oxcarts and marks the entrance to the community of Los Angeles. (See this post for more on oxcart history.) After stopping for short rests at a couple of bus benches, we eventually arrived at the soccer field. A worker was mowing the grass and coach-types were just starting to put up the game paraphernalia but when we asked what time the game would start, we learned that it was still more than an hour away. So after a pleasant break, Layne and I headed back toward Atenas, stopping off for a few groceries before calling a taxi for the ride back up to Santa Eulalia.

So here we are with a Sunday afternoon to ourselves. But alas! We have no Internet! So who knows when I'll be able to post this blog? We have suffered intermittent problems with our broadband the last few days. On Thursday we thought it had been fixed after our landlord went to ICE (the electric company that handles our Internet service) to report the problem and a worker promptly came out to reprogram our modem. It seemed to be working until yesterday when once again it dropped off and we've been unable to revive it since. We're definitely experiencing withdrawal symptoms, so reliant are we on that technological connection to the world.

Of course, we feel a bit dragged out after a night of Halloween festivities ourselves. Though the crowd was much smaller than last year's event at Kay's, the zealous attendees more than made up for their low numbers with high energy as they danced to the oldies, drank wine and toasted each other's costumes. 

Seidy as da Rasta gal

Star Trek Commander Leonard and Rasta-mon Marcial

Trekkies Sally and Leonard

Hostess Kay danced every dance!

When the judges of the costume contest began their deliberations, there was little doubt of the eventual winner. Decked out in a sequined flapper dress, a lengthy strand of pearls draped round her neck and armed with a long black cigarette holder, Francis easily carried away the 10,000 colones ($20) prize. Although I missed getting a really good shot of her, this pose will give you some idea of her pizzazz. With her dedicated work rescuing animals here in Atenas, we know that prize money will be put to good use at the Lighthouse Animal Shelter. Congratulations, Francis!

Francis takes the prize!

Well, a couple of hours later and the Internet is magically alive again so I'll try to get this posted before it fades away. Pura Vida!
 

Through a Costa Rica Shot Glass, Darkly

Seidy, Marcial, Eroca and Bonnie

Sprawled out on the grass halfway through another splendid Sunday outing with the Santa Eulalia gang, our friend Eroca, newly returned to Costa Rica from Canada where it was minus four degrees, asked me: "How can you possibly describe a day like this in a blog?"

"You really can't," I replied. "Pictures help," I added, while shooting this photo, "but mere words can't really capture the magic of a day like today."

We were relaxing on the lawn after an extravagant Tico lunch of tamales, some kind of rich soup, picadillo, rice, beef loin and tortillas, now awaiting our mini-van to pick us up and haul us to our next stop in this wild tequila-fueled day. Behind us were hundreds of Ticos on the plaza in front of the Catholic Church in downtown Zarcero, a charming mountain town about forty minutes up the slope from Atenas and a few thousand feet higher elevation. They were gathered there for the Patronales Fiesta, another religious celebration in this oh-so-Catholic country, in which Ticos from local barrios parade through town carrying their community's own saint statuette into the big church, there to pay tribute to the higher level saint, in this case San(to) Rafael, patron saint of Zarcero, and by the way, of Atenas as well. Although religious in nature, for some Ticos it's a good excuse to party, with live music, food and craft vendors, caballeros on horseback, kids dressed up as angels, buxom young women in fancy clothes and high heels, carnival rides and a cattle auction. 

Little fellow awaiting his Fate

This excursion was a variation on the regular Sunday hike and after-party that we've been enjoying in recent weeks. Our fearless leader Marcial had come up with the idea to hire a mini-bus for the day and take a drive up the mountain visiting several of the surrounding cities, fitting in our mandatory trek along the way. Our first stop was Zarcero, where we arrived earlier in the day just as the parade was starting up, marchers and saints blocking our way. So we all hopped out of the van and joined the sidewalk crowd as they watched parade participants stroll by.

Besides the beautiful surrounding mountain landscapes, Zarcero's main attraction is the incredible topiary gardens of Francisco Alvarado Park. Carved continuously since the 1960's by artist Evangilisto Blanco from conifer cypress that thrive in the crisp high altitude with its foggy mornings and frequent rains, the trees have been transformed into all sorts of fantasy creatures, from dinosaurs, elephants and birds to monkey faces, turtles and two enormous Alice-in-Wonderland archways leading toward the huge church. It is quite a stunning display of landscape artistry.

Sir Layne against the Dragon

Monkey faces all in a row

Yours Truly in Wonderland

A Green Bird in the gardens

Looking back at Zarcero

We gathered for a picnic breakfast provided by Marcial and Seidy of coffee, French roll and local natilla or sour cream, at a table in the park then wandered off to take photographs, peek into the big church or shop at vendor booths. 

A hillside of farmland

But Marcial's plan for our hike was to take us further up the mountain so we soon headed up the road passing some spectacular scenery along the way: pastoral views of the bulky black-and-white dairy cattle for which the area is famous, patchwork hillsides with agricultural produce in every possible shade of green and small red-roofed Tico houses with horses, goats and chickens running around.

At my request for a bathroom, we stopped at a bar which at first glance appeared to be closed but Marcial worked his magic and we were soon inside where the barista was just setting up for business. Now since it was my need for the baño that had landed us there, I got the blame (or the credit?) for all the craziness that followed but I swear I was hardly the instigator. When I exited the bathroom, I found the whole gang bellying up to the bar for shots of whiskey or  tequila!

The 10:27 a.m. toast!

Laughing at the spontaneous display of decadence, Sue said, "I can't believe it's only 10:30 in the morning and I'm having tequila!" Her husband Chris quickly corrected her: "Oh, my dear, it's only 10:27!"

Unable to resist the mass insanity, I joined in and was soon enjoying a salt-rimmed shot of tequila followed by a pucker-inducing suck on a limón. And since one was so good, most of us had another! Soon Eroca, rather cheery on her second tequila, had dragged our tolerant (and sober) driver onto the dance floor for a little salsa and Layne and I were quick to follow.

The friendly black stallion

As you can imagine, we were all by now laughing hysterically at ourselves but the day's exercise still lay ahead so thanking our hosts for their kindness, we headed out for a leisurely hike down the mountainside through a lightly misting rain. Along the way we petted this beautiful stallion who seemed to want to join us happy humans in our freedom and indeed could have almost stepped over the low wire fence. Looking at the roadside fields in cultivation, we consulted with Seidy on the crops there: broccoli, cabbage, radishes, carrots, all abundant and lush. The operative word, we decided, was fecund -- a bountiful land producing lots of healthy foods.

After a mile or so of walking, someone said they were thirsty and within minutes we had conveniently come upon another bar where we were again welcomed by a friendly bar staff. Without delay we proceeded to add to our tequila quotient with a couple more shots, followed by a beer chaser. Does the word "festive" come to mind? Oh yeah, we were feeling mighty festive.

Boarding the bus after our visit to the cantina, we next stopped at a dairy farm where Marcial talked our way into an up-close-and-personal tour of the place, including the milking room, where poor Marcial got an unplanned spray of cow urine from one of the cows who chose that moment to relieve herself.

Chris (l) and Marcial in harm's way

Off we went once again, this time heading back to Zarcero for lunch but our first stop in town was at an unusual helado (ice cream) shop -- basically just the front step of a home -- for an unlikely but delicious appetizer before our upcoming meal. 

Yours Truly enjoying helado

The Zarcero area is known for its excellent dairy products, especially natilla, the ubiquitous sour cream served with gallo pinto, the national dish of seasoned rice and beans. The lady proprietor of the ice cream shop makes her own natilla and uses it in some of her ice cream specialties, including the fabulous strawberry version I had. Then, as if Fate had planned out our debauched day, she brought out a tray of shots of an utterly decadent homemade liqueur for all of us to try. After indulging in one more jigger of booze, Eroca and Layne demonstrated their inebriated state with this classic pose, which got an enormous laugh from everyone.

Eroca and Layne after one too many!

Following lunch at the Salon Parroquial , we headed back towards Santa Eulalia but not before one more stopover at still another bar, this time with some food to accompany our tequila or beer. Although the ceviche and nachos were less than spectacular, the joy of being in the company of our friends was wonderful. We all recognized what an amazing day it had been and none of us wanted it to end.

Unwilling to part company just yet, everyone except Eroca (who wanted to return to her sweetie Marc) got off the van at Sue and Chris' house for one last hour together. It was a very special day, one we will never forget. Fun and fellowship, laughter and happiness with good friends along with a little -- or a lot! -- of tequila thrown in for good measure sure make for a magical Pura Vida memory.
(And remember, dear readers, you can click on any photo to enlarge it and sort of join the fun!)