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.