Gallo Pinto

Gallo Pinto is one of the most traditional dishes here in Costa Rica.  There are also other variations that are common around Central America.  It is one of the many dishes here that is made up mostly of rice and beans.  Here in Costa Rica we tend to use black beans and serve it with fried plantains (as seen above).  In Nicaragua they tend to use red beans and have a higher beans to rice ratio.

To make it...

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed with garlic press or something similar
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1tsp black pepper
• Salsa Lizano (a local condiment) to taste
• 1 lb tico cheese (the local cheese, swiss might be a good substitute, or mozzarella)
• 2 cups beans, soaked overnight, cooked 45min-1hr
• 2 cups rice cooked

Sauteé garlic, onion and pepper in large skillet until onions are translucent

Add beans and rice, stir in hot skillet

Pour on Salsa Lizano a gusto

Serve with fried plantains for lunch or dinner.

What a crazy week in Monteverde! Part 1

As usual the last week at la Creativa and elsewhere in Monteverde has been interesting.  I had one student who was suspended for cutting another student´s wrist with a rusty nail.  Luckily it was only a superficial cut, but since this was not his first problem in school he was suspended, for the second time this year.  I found out on Monday that his mother had decided to pull him out and to put him in the public school, where she works.  This was sad for me because he is a student who needs help and was making great progress, especially with learning English, and it´s sad to see him leave.

Later in the week we had a pot luck at school on Friday that was in honour of our High School Spanish teacher and her last week before going on maternity leave.  We had a baby shower that was decorated by the 5th and 6th graders!  It was the first baby shower I had ever been to.  We played a game where we had to guess how big María´s belly is by putting toilet paper around us and estimating.  I was pretty close, but someone luckily, was right on, because supposedly whoever guesses correctly will have the next baby.

After the baby shower when we got ready to leave, Gloria (the HS Social Studies and Civics teacher) got in her car and tried going up the hill from the parking lot to the exit of campus where the battery died.  It took 8 of us about 20 minutes to push her car up the hill so that she could then coast half way down the main hill and intentionally off the road until a mechanic could help her out.  (Photo to come).

Later that day we had another pot luck for some teachers to meet with a board member.  At this pot luck everyone except for my roommate Paulina and I brought leftovers from lunch´s pot luck.  Paulina had made banana bread for lunch which was quickly devoured, so I made a second one for dinner.  The dinner was great, Beth, who is a member of the board and a former teacher of my students hosted the meal so that the teachers could have their voice heard by the board.

that´s all for now, more to come later

Escazú

This school year I have had the great opportunity to spend quality time with my Uncle Tom and the newest member of the Bartlett family, my Aunt Terri.  They live in Guachipelin, Escazú, San José, Costa  Rica.  That means they are only about 50 miles (or 5 hours) away.  

Not only are my aunt and uncle extremely hospitable (hosting me and so far 3 of my friends, sometimes even when I´m not accompanying them) they are amazing chefs and know Costa Rica´s sights well as they had an 18 month jump start on me, and the means to travel more.

Also, their amazing house has beautiful views of 3 of the cities in the Central Valley

View of one of the volcanoes from their house

Also their house is beautiful.  They have what they call the "El Rancho" to hang out, read and relax, complete with a sink, electricity and a bar that overlooks the city.  I would like to say that it is a home away from home, but it´s much more modern and comfortable than the homes I´ve had since I left my parent´s house in 2004.

Unfortunately, there was a break in at their house a few weeks ago, and another attempts shortly after.  As a result they have hired a guard to watch the house whenever they are not around.  His name is Marley

Marley

Cartago

Back in December, I visited my aunt and uncle for a few days.  While in the Central Valley we took a trip to Cartago.  Cartago was one of the places in Costa Rica I had been most excited to visit, because it´s name shares roots with Cartagena (see note below).  Cartago, the former capital of Costa Rica is a beautiful city filled with stories and traditions dating back to the pre-Columbus era.

One important story about Cartago is the story of the ruins (seen above).  The ruins are the remains of several building attempts (therefor they are not actually ruins by definition) to build a cathedral on this one plot of land.  Locals will tell you about how an earthquake in 1910 and a few other earthquakes later in the 20th century each destroyed attempts to build on this site.  After a few attempts, they decided to abandon their efforts and leave the area as a park.

The other highlight of Cartago is the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles.  Every year on the 2nd of August thousands of Ticos (and I assume some foreigners) make a pilgrimage to the Basílica.  The Basílica is well known for the legend that surrounds it.  Legend has it that a young girl found a small object that looked like Mary holding baby Jesus.  She brought it home and left it at her house.  The next day she was wandering and found the same object.  Again, she brought it home and locked it in her box.  She went back to the area where she found the object a third time, and a third time it was there.  She then brought it to her pastor and explained what had happened.  Legend has it that this "Black Madonna" was repeatedly found on the spot where the Basílica now stands.

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Cartagena is a city in Spain.  It is the 2nd largest city and formerly the main city of the Autonomous Region of Murcia (where I studied in 2007).  Cartagena is a beautiful seaport city that had such a claim to be the sede of the province over Murcia that the administrative part of the government is actually in Cartagena.