The Griswold home in San Jose

Every family has holiday traditions.  Ours include watching Chevy Chase in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." I know, we're so classy, right? But there's nothing better than snuggling up with my sisters and laughing so hard we start crying when we hear lines like:


"Little full, lotta sap."
"Clark, get you somethin' real nice."
"Is Rusty still in the Navy?"
"Is your house on fire, Clark?"
"Joy to the World! Take it away, Russ!"
"Hey kids, there was a Santa spotting! (Pause) Are you serious, Clark?" (Contributed by my sister, Chelcie)
"(Todd) Where do you think you're going to put a tree that big? (Clark) Bend over and I'll show ya. (Todd) You got a lot of nerve talking to me like that Griswold. (Clark) I wasn't talking to you." (Thanks, Sara!)


I could go on, but you get the point.  


Well, tonight, walking home from a few errands, Brian and I came across a house that must be the home of El Clark Griswold here in Costa Rica. Dead ringer. Check it out:

If that doesn't get you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will. And for those of you who haven't seen NLCV yet, you can watch the trailer here:

Driver's Ed in San Jose

So, a colleague down here has been generous enough to let us borrow his car while he's traveling for work (he does quite a bit of traveling throughout the year). The only problem? It's a stick shift, and only one of us in this family can drive a stick shift (and it's not me).


A few days ago, when we realized that Brian would be out of town (first round of med schools interviews next week - yippee!), Brian thought now would be a good time to give me a crash course so I could learn how to drive this car by the time he leaves next week. (How do you say "I am terrified" in Spanish?) It's terrifying.


Not only do I have to drive defensively in a new city, but I'm also trying to drive with two feet and three different pedals.  Guess how many times I've already stalled out the car. I'll give you a hint. It's definitely more than one.

Today is Day 3 of our driving lesson, and I've successfully (definition of success in this case: continued moving forward, did not crash into another person or car, and stalled out only a few times) made it around the block and *almost* to the grocery store.  However, I'm still totally freaked out when I drive! I have a pit in my stomach the entire time.  


Has anyone else ever tried to learn driving stick after they already know how to drive automatic? I mean, learning Spanish is one thing, but trying to learn a "second language" for driving is another!  However, my only other option is walking everywhere when Brian is gone (which I actually enjoy doing - great exercise and a good way to explore!) but that would include carrying our groceries back about a mile down the road.  Harrumpfh.

Happy B-Day to BB!

We celebrated Brian's 29th birthday yesterday - happy birthday, B! 

Birthday present: 

A Gerber Ripstop Multiplier Tool 

Birthday Dinner: 
La Luz in Santa Ana, Costa Rica. Conde Nast rated it "one of the best restaurants in Central America."  We each had 1-2 glasses of wine, an appetizer, entree, and dessert, and it was $90 USD.  A pretty good deal for such a high-class, highly-regarded restaurant. The food was delicious, and the restaurant has this incredible view of San Jose. We'll definitely go back!

• He had: Fiery Shrimp (appetizer), 5-Pepper Shrimp (entrée)
• I had: Avocado Crumble (appetizer), Beef Tenderloin with Strawberry-Vinegar Dressing (entrée) 
• We had: Chocolate Tart (dessert)

Birthday Cake: 
A sweet, braided coffee cake with jellied fruit and raisins from Mussani Bakery near our house.

¡El encanto de la Navidad!

This afternoon, while B was out for a bike ride, I walked over to CENAC (Centro Nacional de la Cultura) for their annual Christmas festival.  A little weird to be walking around in the sunshine and sweating while listening to Christmas music, but it was fun!


They had arts and crafts and an acapella group that sang some fun Christmas songs in Spanish (and a few in English) including:


"Rodolfo el Reno de la Nariz Roja"  (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
"Noche de Paz" (Silent Night)
"El niño del tambor" (The Little Drummer Boy)

I also bought a tamal, the most popular Christmas dish here in Costa Rica.  It's a dish made with yuca, eggs, cornmeal, chicken, vegetables, cheese, salt, sugar,  garlic and sweet cream. I'm hoping to get invited to una tamalada (a tamale-making party) to learn how to make them this year. 

We're getting ready to head out for B's birthday dinner tonight (¡Feliz cumpleaños, mi amor!) at La Luz, but I'll tell you how los tamales taste tomorrow!

Thanksgiving at Punta Leona, Costa Rica

This Thanksgiving was very different than any other Thanksgiving we've experienced in the United States.  Let me paint the picture for you:

Playa Mansa, Punta Leona, Costa Rica

Playa Blanca, Punta Leona, Costa Rica

Playa Mansa, Punta Leona, Costa Rica

 Sand, surf and sun instead of sleet and snow.

Bathing suits instead of hiking boots

Racoons and iguanas instead of squirrels and foxes

But some things were just like home, including a delicious Thanksgiving meal with turkey, potatoes (baked and sweet!), homemade stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake.

Brian cuts the turkey that we bought (pre-cooked) from the AutoMercado.  Notice the decorations: grapes, oranges, and pineapple slices.

We had a great time getting to know some new friends, but we missed our family and friends back home too! And as much as I'm enjoying the experience of Thanksgiving (and soon Christmas) in another country and culture, there are still some things that I miss from home, like the cool feeling of fall, the crunch of the leaves, football games, Starbucks cinnamon dulce lattes, and sitting around talking with my family. 

All good things must come to an end, and after a beautiful two days at the beach, we woke up on Day 3 to rain.  Time to head home!

The rainy view from the resort restaurant.

Using a banana leaf to take cover from the rain. Goodbye Punta Leona, hello San Jose!

¡Feliz Día de Gracias!

7 a.m.: Skype Spanish lesson
8 a.m.: Make oatmeal with raisins and almonds for breakfast 
9 a.m.: Watch Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade live on NBC.com
10 a.m.: Leave for the beach! 


This Thanksgiving will be a much different memory than in years past - we're spending the weekend with some new friends at a beach resort in Punta Leona! I don't think I've ever packed my bathing suit or flip-flops for a Thanksgiving vacation, so this will be a first!  I'm really looking forward to a relaxing weekend with new friends, giving thanks for the many, many blessings in our lives.

Punta Leona, Costa Rica

Psalm 107:1 - "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever." 


¡Feliz Día de Gracias!

What time are we going to "worship" the tree?

So yesterday I got an email from one of my colleagues in the office, and she said that they would be decorating the office Wednesday at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. if anyone wanted to join them. "Fun!" I thought to myself. "And another great way to get to know my colleagues!"

I confirmed with a friend early in the day that we'd start decorating at 12 p.m. and even arranged my meetings today around said decorating. (Can you tell that I LOVE Christmas?) 12 p.m. came and went, and there was no one in the meeting room working on decorations. *Sigh* I figured I must have misheard them. (Not the first time!)

Later in the afternoon, wondering if I had completely misunderstood today's activities, I went back to my friend and eagerly asked him the following question:

"A que hora vamos adorar el arbol de Navidad?" 

He looked back at me with a blank stare, and his colleague turned to me with a smile and reiterated "A las doce y a las cuatro." Ok. Great. I wasn't crazy. We were supposed to decorate the office for Christmas at noon and again at 4 p.m. Sign me up!

But when I walked back to my office, I realized that I had (in my eager-yet-still-developing Spanish) mixed up two very different words.  While I meant to ask Pablo - "What time are we going to decorate the Christmas tree?," what I actually asked him was "What time are we going to worship the Christmas tree?" Excellent.

Adorar = worship, adore (NOT "adorn")

Decorar = decorate

I told Brian later that even though I have to laugh at myself when I make these kind of mistakes, it's a great teaching tool because I never make the same mistake again! Poco a poco...

Eventually, we started decorating the tree in the office. We pulled Brian in because he was the only person tall enough to reach the top!

Feliz Navidad (Wait, we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving yet!)

Brian and my compañera, Karin, pleased with themselves after wrapping the tree in lights.

He thinks my dinner is.....sexy?

The title of this post is in honor of all of my Southern friends (who know who you are).  No, we didn't buy a tractor in Costa Rica, and I couldn't find Kenny Chesney's single in any San Jose music stores (but you know if I had found it, I would be playing it and remembering our road trips!).  But tonight, after I made this Cooking Light recipe - "Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Port Reduction and Blue Cheese" - Brian said to me:  "Yummm.  This dinner is sexy."


Definitely the first time I'd heard the words "dinner" and "sexy" in the same sentence, but I'm guessing it's a good thing? Your call. Try the recipe - it's really easy and soooo good. The key is really, really good blue cheese. ¡Buen provecho!

Just one of those weeks....

It's been one of those days weeks for me, in between work and life and learning Spanish, that just leave you feeling like you just can't do anything right. *Sigh* 


Lamentations 3:22 - 23: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."


Psalm 91: 1 - 2: "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"


After a tough couple of days, the last thing I wanted to do this morning was get out of bed, so my sweet husband offered to make me breakfast in bed.  Eggs, bagels, and coffee. Delicious! Still don't feel like getting out of bed today -- in fact, after trying to go to a new church this morning, getting lost, paying two tolls on the highway, and then getting stuck in the rain, I'm back in my PJ's! -- but it's nice to know I'm loved.

Ready or not....

Here he comes! Brian's freelance projects are starting to slow down a bit, and he's always wanted to try to train for a triathlon.  So, since he's got some extra time this year (and he probably won't have much extra time once school starts next year!), why not? 

(He's also thinking about raising money while he's training and racing through Team World Vision. Go team!)

Brian with his new gear - red, white and blue Costa Rica jersey; yellow helmet; orange and yellow sunglasses.  Hopefully, there's no way the cars on the road will miss him!

Our trip to Tierras Enamoradas

A few photos from our recent trip to Tierras Enamoradas in La Fortuna, Costa Rica.

Two-for-one Wednesday

Things have settled a bit here.  We've gotten into a routine with my job and Spanish classes twice a week in the evening, Brian has started running again, and life has settled into a bit of a rhythm.  Nice when that happens sometimes, isn't it?


Because there isn't much to talk about when it comes to grocery shopping or doing the laundry, I thought I'd give you a two-for-one by working on my Spanish homework and blogging at the same time! Bonus.


So, today, you get to learn the following new phrases along with me:


estar la culpa de ______: to take the blame for _____ 
"El esta la culpa de la cena mala."
"He is to blame for the bad dinner."


estar ganas de: to look forward to something 
"Estoy ganas del viaje por mi cumpleaños."
"I am looking forward to the trip for my birthday."


estar de pie: to be on foot 
"Cada día, estoy de pie desde mi apartamento, arriba el cerro, a mi oficina."
"Every day, I walk on foot from my apartment, up the hill, to my office."


estar de regreso: to be back 
"No puedo esperar que estar de regreso a mi casa."
"I cannot wait to be back to my home."


tener miedo: to be afraid 
"Tenía miedo de caer cuando fui rapelling sobre un puente 40 metros en al aire."
"I was afraid to fall when we went rapelling over a bridge 40 meters in the air."


tener razón: to be correct 
"El profesor tuvó razón cuando dijó que uno más dos es igual a tres."
"The professor was correct when he said one plus two equals three."


hacer bien/mal: to be upset/pleased 
"Me hace mal cuando no duermo."
"I am upset when I do not sleep."


haber que + infinitivo: to have to + verb (impersonal) 
"Hay que practicar para ponerse mejor."
"You have to practice in order to get better."


tener que + infinitivo: to have to + verb (personal) 
"La semana pasada, tuvimos que trabajar mucho."
"Last week, we had to work a lot."


And if you want any more Spanish lessons today, I'll direct you to my amiga, Dora la Exploradora. ¡Nos vemos!

And we're back!

It's been a few days since I've updated you on our life here. Let's see, last week, I started Spanish classes here in San Jose, so I now have class twice a week - once on Skype (Tuesdays) and once in person (Thursdays).  I'm loving them and really trying to be patient - and humble - as I continue to try to pursue Spanish fluency. Man, it's not easy! And I am continually humbled by the many, many people I meet here who are very fluent in at least Spanish and English, and sometimes even a third or fourth language!


In other news, we just got back from an awesome weekend getaway to a ridiculously-named-but-very-beautiful part of San Jose called Tierras Enamoradas (literally translated to "Lands in Love.").  We had a great time, awesome food, and even tried canyoning - rapelling over a 40 meter suspension bridge (more than 130 feet in the air!) and down a series of small waterfalls, climbing over rocks and through ravines, and even swinging on a "Tarzan swing" over a ravine (the most terrifying part!).  Unfortunately, because we were climbing around and in and out of the water, we couldn't bring our camera.  But we took a lot of photos of the resort itself; I'll post those soon!

The view from our room (Courtesy: LandsInLove.com)

A suspension bridge that led to an orchid garden (Courtesy: LandsInLove.com)

In case you were wondering...

Daylight Savings Time means Costa Rica is now 1 hour BEHIND New York City and 2 hours AHEAD of Los Angeles.  We're basically like the Chicago of Central America in terms of time zones.


So, for those of you who haven't connected with us for Skype dates, let us know! We'd love to catch up with each of you.

More adventures in cooking

Another night of testing recipes from Sabores magazine; tonight, pastel de papa con tomate y atún (potato casserole with tomato and tuna fish). After reading the list of ingredients (tuna fish, tomatoes, cilantro, hard-boiled eggs, salt & pepper, mayonnaise, and instant mashed potatoes), I really didn't think this was going to pass the taste test.  But this was one of the recipes that my colleague had insisted was "lo máximo!" so I figured it was worth a try.

It tasted a lot better than it looks in this picture! Promise.

Turned out to be surprisingly good! Brian aptly described it as a "tuna fish version of shepherd's pie" which is probably pretty close.  And shocker: the instant mashed potatoes were actually pretty good! No excuse for the real thing, of course, but I went back for seconds! 

Congratulations! You have the world's best coffee (or chai tea)

Woo! We woke up this morning and it had FINALLY stopped raining. I think it's been raining nearly nonstop for about three days. In fact, there was a huge landslide in Escazú (see photo #6 in the WSJ "photos of the day") (about 20-25 minute drive from our house in the suburbs of San Jose) and 20 people died.  Very sad.  One of my colleagues here lost her home, but thankfully, she and her family are safe. ¡Gracias a Dios!


Inspired by the sunny morning, we set out for some breakfast at Bagelmen's, and boy were we in for a treat!  Brian ordered a waffle and a cinnamon roll that was nearly the size of his head. I'm not joking - check it out:

PS: What do you think of the beard? 

I had the world's most amazing té chai (chai tea) - and for those of you who know my obsession with good chai tea lattes, you'll know that I'm serious.  This is the second-best chai tea latte I've ever had in my life.  The very best chai tea latte still remains the chai tea latte at Antique Cafe on W. 26th Street in New York City.  Delish!

On our walk home, we stumbled across this cool design expo with exhibits made from recycled materials like wood, plastic, and glass.  This exhibit was a cylinder suspended by metal cables and made entirely of soda bottle tops! Pretty cool.  

PS: Can anyone name the movie that I'm quoting in the title of this blog post? 

Our first homemade meals

After two months of living from home to home and in a hotel, I was SO excited to finally start cooking again! This week has been another crazy week at work, so we had very little in the kitchen to cook with until we were finally able to walk to the store last night.  


Last weekend, on the advice of a colleague of mine here who likes to cook, I picked up the local version of Cooking Light called Sabores and flagged a few recipes I wanted to try (including several that she'd recommended as "el máximo!")


This morning: a simple breakfast of fresh bread with butter and jam with a fried egg and a side of coffee.

This evening: a fritatta de zapallitos con ensalada verde (a squash fritatta with a green salad)

Rainy day

Shortly before we moved here, someone told me, "You know, you have never seen rain until you've seen rain in Costa Rica.  It's intense."  I had no idea how right he was!  


So far, the rain here isn't as intense as the downpours I've experienced at home, but it just.never.stops.  Well, maybe that's an exaggeration.  It is often sunny in the morning, and then, without warning, the dark clouds roll in, the thunder claps, and BOOM! rain, rain, and more rain.

Photo: www.sodahead.com

Over the past 24 hours, it has been raining almost nonstop. Crazy! In fact, we don't have a car yet (but are figuring out what to do about transportation) so we had to walk to the grocery store tonight for food - it's about a mile - in the rain.  I know it sounds crazy, but it was actually kind of fun!  We were so low on groceries, we basically had limes, wine and a loaf of bread for dinner - it was like communion for dinner every night!


I've been told by colleagues at the office that November is the rainiest month of the year, so I think we're in for a bit more rain this month.  However, even though it's wet, there's something really soothing about sitting in our little apartment, looking out at the green garden, and listening to the sound of the raindrops on the adobe walls. Give me a glass of wine (guess who's drinking red wine now?) and let's call it a night! Sigh...

1, 2, cha, cha, cha

If you've ever seen this scene in "Along Came Polly" with Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller, you'll understand me when I say that I've always wanted to find a hole-in-the-wall dance hall and get swept off of my feet dancing to Latin music. Right? Who doesn't want to do that? 


This weekend, I read an article in La Nacion that mentioned that one of the local dance clubs, El Tobogán, that had been around for the past 35 years was closing abruptly, with very little public explanation, and would be turned into a bank.  So sad! 


So, Saturday night, through a process of triangulating Google Maps and Google web and news articles in English and Spanish, Brian and I tried to figure out just exactly where this club was located.  I've explained before how the addresses are not exactly super helpful (Example: our current address is something like "the house 100 meters north of the police station with the green gate").  Needless to say, after a 20 minute walk, we ended up in a dimly-lit side street with no sign of El Tobogán.  So, we salvaged the night with a quick run to McDonald's nearby for a McFlurry with Oreos.  Not all was lost!

All dressed up with nowhere to go on Saturday night! I bought this brightly-colored skirt at a street fair 7 years ago in New York City, hoping that someday I'd be able to go salsa dancing in it. It's the perfect salsa-dancing skirt, isn't it?

Sunday was the very.last.day that El Tobogán would ever be open, and even though it was raining and I was tired from moving, part of me still really wanted to see it before it closed!  It was a tough sell though, considering that I had already spent half the day sucked into The Pioneer Woman's "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" love story with Marlboro Man! Phew! That stuff is G-O-O-D.

Sunday: Settling into our new place with my computer, Pioneer Woman, and our first semi-homemade meal in two months!

Well, my nostalgic side won out, and I ended up calling a friend who I knew would be up for a last-minute call to go dancing, and we hit the town! We danced with several different older men (nice, very polite, patient with my non-Latina dancing self, and not gross!), had a beer, and enjoyed the last night at El Tobogán.

1, 2, cha, cha, cha!

Me and Tere after one hour of hot, sweaty salsa dancing at El Tobogán. It's a great workout - and a great memory! Now I can finally check that off my bucket list.