Oh what a night!

Our second weekend here has already started off with some great memories! I blogged earlier this week about how I had been feeling a little frustrated with my Spanish and how, when you don't always understand everything going on around you, it can be difficult to get to know people.  Then, I explained how incredible my new colleagues have been, patient and gracious with my developing language skills.

Well yesterday, I walked into the office and was asking one of my colleagues how hard it would be to get up to this restaurant, Baalbek Bar and Grille, that had been recommended to us from one of the waitresses at the hotel restaurant.  He said that the 30-minute cab ride would probably be $25 or more (at least 12,000 colones) and asked if we'd like to hang out with him and his wife that night! YES, please.

So instead of heading to Baalbek (still on our list for another weekend!), we headed up the mountain in the north to Club Campestre El Castillo, this private, members-only club, in the mountains outside of San Jose.  Through a friend of his, Pablo (my colleague) was able to get us passes for the night.  It was incredible!  It's in San Rafael de Heredia, and it was, as people had cautioned, surprisingly cooler just a few miles up the mountain.  The cool weather, the slight breeze, and the views from the outside of the restaurant where we sat all made for an absolutely stunning experience with our new friends, Pablo and Carla!

We had wine, chifrijo, and tres leches cake and enjoyed getting to know each other (talking in a mix of Spanish and English so Brian could keep up!).

Chifrjo: a tasty mix of rice, beans, tomatoes, spices, and chicharrónes (small pieces of fried pork)

¡The tres leches cake we had last night at Club Campestre el Castillo was increíble!

Saturday, another colleague invited us to go to church with him and his family in Coronado.  Excited to visit another church and see a new part of the city today!

PS - We had our first experience of a Costa Rican earthquake last night; not too bad! We were sitting in the car, waiting to get into the country club, and the car started rocking! When we came home, I saw that it was a 5.9 quake. Our Tico friends laughed when I told them I was a little nervous about the earthquakes here; they say it's all part of life and it's not really anything to be too concerned about. ¡Pura vida!