One more goodbye

Goodbye to our dear friend, Flor, and her family...Que Dios les bendiga! Les queremos mucho, amigos. 

Flor, me, Martha (Flor's sister), Jefrain (Flor's son)

Flor, Sophie, me, Martha, Karen, Jefrain

The perfect Gallo Pinto recipe

Ticos love their Gallo Pinto - their version of rice and beans.  A traditional Tico breakfast here usually consists of gallo pinto, eggs, fruit, maybe some plantains, and cafe negro.  


Over the past year, I've been trying to find the perfect pinto recipe, and I've been taste-testing along the way.  Seems that every Tica has their own way of cooking the traditional dish, but our friend, Ceci, brought over her pinto the other day as a going-away present, and it was delicioso!  


Then today, she surprised us with the most thoughtful gift: an apron with the recipe on it! I really think it might be the perfect gift for me: cooking, Spanish, and new recipe to try. I LOVE it.  Muchas gracias, Cecy! Muy amable, amiga.

What could it be? 

Ceci, me and the lovely delantal

Goodbyes

No quiero decir adios, solo quiero decir: nos vemos muy pronto.  
I don't want to say goodbye; I only want to say "see you soon."  


Today was the beginning of our end here in Costa Rica.  

Steaks on the grill Thursday night

Goodbye, Marci and the rest of mis compañeros!

 

Goodbye, Vision Mundial!

Shopping with Flor. We bought matching red coral earrings at the Mercado de Artesanias.

Huddled together under my umbrella, enjoying one last conversation.

One more day

Tomorrow's my last day at work here in San Jose.  Took a few pictures as I was walking along the train tracks on my way to the office this morning.  I love this view. 

Deep thoughts

Question: If we say "No way, Jose!" in English, even though Jose is a Hispanic name, should we say "Imposible, John!" (prono: im-poh-SEE-bleh) en espanol? 

Deep thoughts.  Deep thoughts.

World's 50 Most Delicious Foods

CNN.com has a yummy article about the "World's 50 Most Delicious Foods."  Some of the foods are cheating a little bit - #13: Corn on the Cob (Global)" or #9: Ice Cream (United States) - but still fun to see how many I can check off the list! 


I think I've got about 22 covered, including one that I'm going to try tonight at Caracas Arepas: arepas! (See #20).


Here are some of my favorite food finds over the past few years (all the photos by yours truly):

Cappuccino in Rome

Homemade pasta in Rome

Parma ham, fresh tomatoes on the vine and goat's milk cheese in Rome

Pad Thai in Bangkok

Bananas in warm coconut milk in Krabi, Thailand

Som Tam (spicy mango salad) in Krabi, Thailand

Fresh fruit and coconut in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Chocolate makes me happy

And so does this song, "Chocolate," en español by the Mexico-born brother-sister duo, Jesse and Joy.  


Apparently, the entire video (directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada), took 30 days and nine people to finish.  They used cookies, sugar, milk, flour, chocolate (of course!), eggs and dough. Doesn't it make you happy?



Jesse & Joy- "Chocolate" from Carlos Lopez Estrada on Vimeo.



(Check out the behind-the-scenes shots here). 

What I learned in the school of life today

Sacramento, New Mexico, 2009 (Brian Blank)

Jesus forgave me, unconditionally. * * *
John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."


Paradoxically, there is freedom in forgiveness.  Even when it feels like the hardest thing to do.  
John 8:36 "If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed."


Jesus wants me to forgive others, conditionally.
Colossians 3:13 "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you."


I am stubborn. I don't like "giving in."  I am a work in progress.
Philippians 1:6 "And I am certain that God, who began a good work in you, will continue His work until finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."


I don't like asking for forgiveness, and I'm often even slower to forgive others. Despite what Jesus has done for me.
Matthew 18:21 - 22 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."


* * * Would you believe I learned all of this - in Spanish - from my sweet friend, Flor, over a chai tea in an upstairs break room of Bagelman's while the sun was setting over San Jose in the window behind us.  Gracias, amiga.  Te quiero mucho. Nunca yo he conocido una persona como ti, pero tu eres un gran bendicion en mi vida!

One week from today....

...we'll be wheels up SJO --> IAH --> BOS.  Hard to believe! 


There's definitely a sense of anticipation - and anxiety - about the next steps.  And sadness to say goodbye to our dear friend, Flor, and her family.  But I think we're both ready for the next part of our journey to begin.  


"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and confident of what we cannot see..." Hebrews 11:1

Our street

Avenida 9

Barrio Otoya

Grandma's spaghetti and meatballs

An attempted homage to my Grandma tonight - pasta with marinara sauce and sausage tonight for dinner. But the pasta wasn't homemade. And the marinara was Ragu.  And the meat was definitely not my grandma's incredible recipe for homemade meatballs! But it reminded me of her. Am planning on cooking up a big batch of homemade meatballs and sauce when we move back in a few weeks. Love you, Grandma!

Maria Angelina Famiano Cusumano (October 5, 1920 - July 18, 2011)

A photo from my grandmother's wedding day. She was 21 years old.

This is my beautiful grandma, Maria Angelina Famiano Cusumano, dancing with my dad at her 90th birthday last October. Doesn't she look beautiful? This evening, she passed away peacefully after a quick illness.  I bet she's already making spaghetti and meatballs in heaven! We will miss you, Grandma.

A rainy day in San Jose-town

What better way to explore this city on a rainy Sunday afternoon than a walk to El Museo Nacional de Costa Rica and a little shopping! There's a great little mercado de artesanias right near the museum, so I swung by there first because I had my eye on these beautiful fabric squares with brightly colored designs called molas.


I learned from the vendor that the molas are worn by the Kuna indigenous tribe in Panama and that these were handmade there.  They are gorgeous!  Here's an example of what they look like and how they are traditionally worn:

WikiPedia.com

   

WikiPedia.com

I thought it would be cool to frame them for my office or maybe make them into pillow covers? Even though they're made in Panama, the colors and lines remind me of Costa Rica too.  A fun souvenir!


Then onto the National Museum.  The building was the former fortress for the Costa Rican military, but when the government dissolved the national military in 1948, it became a museum.  It's full of jade and gold artifacts, a replica of what the barracks and the commander's house looked like, and an example of a home in el campo in the late 1800's or early 1900's.  

Outside the commander's home

Looking south over San Jose

The front of the museum

A government building across the street from the museum

Looking south on the pedestrian walkway

Parque Nacional, about 5 minutes from our apartment

Beautiful murals near our apartment

"Todos los hombres nacen maravillosamente diferentes." - Jorge A. Livraga
("All men are born marvelously different.")

Do you know the way to San Jose?

No, not THAT San Jose; THIS San Jose! 

Courtesy: WashJeff.edu

In the spirit of documenting our time here (see the vlog from earlier today), here are a handful of photos from our apartment, our neighborhood (Barrio Otoya) and downtown San Jose this afternoon.  


Sadly, what started as a great day for a photo shoot ended huddle together under my umbrella as the lluvias came pouring down. My fault for trying to take out the camera in the middle of rainy season. 


You can see the full album here. 

San Jose, Costa Rica, July 2011 (Photos: Laura Blank)

The Costa Rica casa

As we get ready to move, I wanted to make sure to get some photos and videos of our house and neighborhood.  Here's a video of our casa.  





Our official address: "San Jose, Barrio Otoya, Casa #1350, de la Pulperia de la Flor de Otoya (which I don't think exists anymore!), 100 metros al norte y 75 metros al oeste de la Delegacion de Policia, casa con porton de hierro verde."

The way to a man's heart....

...is through a Jello No-Bake Cheesecake.  In the midst of some of the stress of moving, starting over with friends and church and community, beginning medical school and just the general change that comes with our life in the next few weeks, we thought it'd be a nice idea to try something a friend of ours had suggested as a way to refocus our marriage on each other and the Lord, finding "100 Ways to Say I Love You." 


I loved this idea from the moment she told me about it, but you know how sometimes it takes husbands a little while longer to understand what it is you've been trying to drop hints about?


"B, wouldn't it be fun if we tried to do something like that?"


"Uh huh...." (Read: That sounds like a lot of work. Why are women so complicated?)


"I mean, it would be so romantic!"


"Yeah..." (Also known as the If-I-keep-nodding-eventually-she'll-stop-talking strategy).


All of a sudden, after a particularly stressful day last week, B turned to me and said "Hey, why don't we try that thing you wanted to do?" Nearly a year later, but hey! Better late then never, right?


Since we only have about two weeks left, we're doing the Reader's Digest version of this marriage challenge and have come up with "14 Ways to Say I Love You."


Today's "love letter" for my husband? His #1 request: Make me a dessert. 

Easy-peasy, 1, 2, 3...

...and an hour later, cherry cheesecake!

Harry Potter (en espanol)

UPDATE: I realized after looking at the picture of me as Lady Gaga that it doesn't make much sense without saying that we went to see Harry Potter in 3-D.  No, I don't normally wear 3D glasses around the city.


Harry Potter is magical.  Harry Potter with Spanish subtitles is even better. And Harry Potter when the sound goes out about halfway through the movie (during a HUGE scene!) and I have to start translating for Brian: priceless.

We got there 2 hours early to buy our tickets and had
to wait in line for 90 minutes before the show started!

Date night: movies and popcorn. Love it!

Trying to keep B from eating the entire box of popcorn before the movie started!

My Lady Gaga moment

Rental sweet rental

HowSuiteItIs.com

Here it is! Our rental-sweet-rental home in North Carolina when we get back to the U.S.  in early August.  Right now, we're still on several wait lists and things could change any time until the first day of class, but for now, we are planning to move to the Chapel Hill/Durham area in North Carolina.  And then we just have a few weeks left until medical school begins!


We found this cozy little 2-bedroom bungalow from How Suite It Is, and it's just 3 miles from the medical school (and, more importantly, 7 miles to the nearest Target! Oh how I've missed thee, Tarjay).  Who wants to come visit?