In comparison to the last few weeks, this one has been pretty relaxed, which is just fine by me. I needed to recharge my batteries in order to get through the next two weeks. This post is also available in my "En Espanol" page.
This week, we had a cultural activity and an excursion. On Thursday we went to Janiva’s friend, Flor’s, house for a traditional Costa Rican cooking class. The recipes are on my “Interesting Information” page. Friday morning and afternoon were spent at Poas Volcano, and Friday night we had our Despedida (goodbye party) with our Tico friends. Catie and I also went to a fair in Heredia Centro on Saturday afternoon for a few hours, which was fun and relaxing.
In our cooking class, we learned to make five traditional dishes: gallo pinto, tortillas alineadas (cheesy tortillas), empanadas de platano y queso (cheese and plantain empanadas), chimichurry, and prestiños (a type of dessert).
Flor is an amazing cook, and has a beautiful outdoor kitchen made in the traditional way, with a wood burning stove and oven and a healthy mix of modern and cultural cooking tools. She had a tendency to do all of her mixing by hand, instead of with a tool, because it was easier to feel the texture of the dough, which to her is very important. She made us a drink out of a fruit called Cas that dyed our teeth green but tasted divine – sweet, but also a little sour – to go with our foods. And of course, halfway through the session she made us coffee using her chorreador, or traditional Costa Rican coffee maker. She never uses an electric coffee maker, apparently.
We cooked for about 3 hours, and then spent some time just chatting with Flor and her family before heading out because Anna and I had yoga at six. That yoga class really tends to get in the way of our cultural activities, but, we had our final presentation that night so we couldn’t really skip out. And, can I just say that we have more technical difficulties in that class than I have ever had in any class in my entire life? We can never seem to get the projectors or computers working in sync or correctly. It always takes around 45 minutes to get anything functioning correctly.
On Friday we left for Poas around 7 a.m. because the earlier you get there, the better chance you have of seeing the volcano. It is extremely elusive; there are always clouds rolling in and out and you basically have to wait and hope that a wind will blow them away long enough for you to see the crater. When we first arrived, it was completely clouded over and you could see nothing more than grey. So, we stood for a while and read the sign and Janiva explained that Poas is an active crater lagoon volcano, and when it erupts, it becomes the world’s largest geyser. This is because the crater has been filled in so much by lava over the years that it has formed a lake, but it is still active, so fumes are always pouring out of it and when it explodes, it spits 140F degree water along with rocks and sediment, which, you know, would be pretty cool to see.
But, since we could see NOTHING we decided to hike through the fairytale forest - Janiva calls it the Snow White forest because it seriously looks like something out of Tim Burton or Disney with its twisted trees and moss-covered rocks – up to the Botos Lagoon, which is a now extinct crater volcano right next to Poas. When we first arrived, we could see nothing there either, but we waited because we had nothing else to do, and suddenly, the wind picked up. And the clouds started to move away. Then, slowly but surely, we could make out the ridge of the crater-lake and finally all of it was visible. And it was enchanting. We had a perfectly clear view of the lake for all of 15 minutes before the clouds started to roll in again, and we ran back down the trail to Poas, hoping that this bit of luck would extend to a view of the crater.
And it did. Five minutes after our re-arrival at the volcano, the clouds moved out and we got a perfect view of the crater, with its greenish-blue lake in the middle, and ever-present column of smoke and fumes funneling out. What would otherwise been beautiful became spectacular simply because we had to wait for it to be unveiled. It was like opening a Christmas present.
After a quick stop at the visitor center to look around the museum and art gallery and have cup of coffee and some lunch, we started back towards Heredia. On our way, we visited a small soda-restaurant for some fresh strawberries and cheese and to try a seasonal fruit called guava (no it’s not a guava like the English guava, it is different; the English guava is called a guayaba in Spanish). The guava was interesting, it had a hard shell, which you broke into (like a giant peapod) and then the seeds were covered in white pulp which you sucked off of them. It didn’t have a ton of flavor, just mainly tasted like sugar, but I liked it. It was something different. We also stopped at a little souvenir shop that was right next door, but the prices were a little high – everything seems to be priced high after Nicaragua and Panama – so we didn’t buy too much.
And, to make this day even better, I got a call from the Milwaukee Brewers Community Foundation saying that I received the internship that I applied and interviewed for during my time here. Talk about a wonderful morning.
That night we had our goodbye party at La Birreria (where else?) and a lot of people showed up and we danced the night away. Even though we still have two weeks left, I don’t think we will get another chance to see everyone again before we leave so it was nice having a big get together once before we go.
Saturday Catie and I went to Heredia Centro for a small fair that was happening. It was cute, there were lots of artesian and food stands and activities for kids. We wandered around and bought a few things. I bought a coffee at Espigas, our favorite little café right next to the park, and Catie got ice cream from Testy (I know it looks strange… but “e” is pronounced like “a” in Spanish, so it is still pronounced Tasty). We also window shopped for Heredia soccer t-shirts, but couldn’t find any in adult sizes. A Heredia shirt is the last thing I want to buy before I go, so I hope I can find something that I like that isn’t too expensive.
So yeah, two more weeks, 13 days from today, actually, if you want to be exact. It is so hard to wrap my mind around it. At least now I have something to look forward to right away when I get home.
Tonight, I am going to a birthday party for my host mom’s mom. The rest of this week is pretty quiet. Tomorrow is a national holiday, so everything will be closed so I have a feeling it will be a day of relaxing. Tuesday we have our meeting with Janiva, and Wednesday I think we are going to San Jose to buy bus tickets for Puerto Viejo and so that the other girls can all finish their souvenir shopping. Thursday is our last day of volunteering and of my classes, then finally Friday we leave for Puerto Viejo until the following Tuesday. So my next blog post won’t be until the Thursday before I come home. I might just wait until I get home. I haven’t decided yet. I guess we will see.
But until then,
Pura Vida.
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