Good food, good friends, good times

Over the past 24 hours, I have had three of the best meals I've ever had here in Costa Rica. Not necessarily because I ate the most amazing food but because the company, or in some cases just the experience of the meal itself, was so memorable.


Dinner (Friday)
Last night, we got our first taste of the ohnoitsalmosthereagain rainy season. I love a cozy rainstorm as much as the next gal, but you haven't experience rain until you've lived through Costa Rica's rainy season.  Take the most powerful rainstorm you've experience, multiple it by ten, and then bring it on every day from 1 - 4pm for about 8 months. Bienvenidos a Costa Rica in the rainy season. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we don't have a car so we're in for some very wet pants soon.


So, last night, it's raining, it's dark, we have no food in the house for dinner, and we're starting to get hungry.  Our first idea was to walk to the store, buy some food, and cook.  After a quick peek outside we thought, "Hey, on second thought, let's go to Hotel Amistad."  

Outside of Hotel Amistad. Courtesy: HotelAmistad.com

This place is about one block from our house and it has the most amazing burgers I've ever had this side south of the U.S. Seriously.  Medium rare with crispy bacon, fresh lettuce and tomato, and gooey queso plus a side of super salty (slightly mushy) fries. To die for.  


So we grabbed our umbrella and spent the next hour at the bar at Hotel Amistad, talking to the bartender and the chef as we waited for our food.  Turns out that the chef used to work for Mel Gibson (he owns - or used to own - a few places down here), and he told us all about working for him, meeting Shakira, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jordan, and other celebrities! Also hints to why his food is sooooo good. 

The bar at Hotel Amistad. Courtesy: HotelAmistad.com

Breakfast (Saturday)
Onto my most amazing meal #2.  Today was just one of those beautiful, sunny spring days where nothing could go wrong.  I went for a quick run this morning, and then headed down to the local feria to buy some fresh produce for the week. Bingo! I found fresh strawberries and blackberries and homemade cardamom rolls for breakfast.  Yumm-O.  Simple, fresh, organic breakfast on a lazy Saturday morning. Loved it!

Breakfast courtesy of the feria near our house. 

Lunch (Saturday)
Meal #3 could easily be one of my favorite experiences in Costa Rica so far.  My new friend, Flor, invited us over to her house to meet her husband, Orlando, and her four children, Jefrain, Orlando, Thelma, and Genesis Sophia, and have lunch together. 


She lives about 30 minutes away (walking), so we headed out with some beautiful lilies for her and her family and made our way south to her neighborhood.  This was the first time we'd ever been invited over to someone's house here, and we've heard that Ticos can be a bit shy about inviting extranjeros over to their homes, so we were flattered!  


Despite the language barrier for Brian and my still-growing language skills, we had an amazing time with Flor and her family, talking and laughing together, and enjoying her delicious ensalada con tomates, maíz, y lechuga  and a lasagna con pollo.  Gracias a Dios!

Lasaña de pollo y verduras. Courtesy: RecetasDeMicroondas.com

Let's get this Friday party started

Saw Jessie J perform on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago and have been playing her song, "Price Tag," on repeat tonight. Great way to get this Friday party started, friends. TGIF!

Thank you for being a friend...

"Traveled down the road and back again. Your heart is true.  You're a pal and a confidante." - Theme song, "Golden Girls" (Andrew Gold, 1978)

Courtesy: ReelFilm.com

Today, I was talking to B about my ultimate Spanish goal: being able to do a live news interview in Spanish during a disaster.  As we started talking, I realized that, despite the fact that language learning as an adult can often feel like slogging through mud with concrete shoes, I have made progress! God is so good when He reminds us of His faithfulness.   

As we continued talking, I remembered that I had also told my husband that my next goal was to be fluent enough to meet a friend for coffee here in San Jose and just chat.  It has been hard to meet friends here and even harder to feel confident enough to chat in Spanish (when many of them are quite fluent in English).  Then I met my new friend, Flor (Spanish for flower).  

Flor and I met at Bagelman's, the coffee shop that I love to go to on the weekends.  She works there; I go there for the worldsmostamazingchaitealattes. No exaggeration. They're amazing.  After several weeks of chit chat on Sunday mornings over my  te chai to go, I mentioned that it might be fun to hang out sometime and her face lit up with a smile. Success! I had just made my first friend here.

Two weekends ago, Flor and I met for te chais in Parque Nacional and spent nearly two hours talking about everything from our marriages to our families to our jobs and dreams for the future. Wow. Flor is nothing short of an answer to prayer, an encouragement, and a wonderful new friend! I'm so looking forward to hanging out with her again soon.  

"Thank you for being a friend..."

Good times, good times

Being silly and enjoying some Caribbean-style Tico food at Restaurante Whapin in our neighborhood with friends from the Philippines, Seattle, and San Jose on Friday night.  Good food, good friends, good times!

Dulce dessert

Tonight, I had Mexican street meat. In a word: delicioso!  Fresh beef tacos with cilantro, onions, limes, and guacamole.  And for dessert, the owner of the B&B I'm staying at gave me some of his obleas con pepitorias.  It's like a two half-circles of sweet, colored wheat wafers filled with honey and pepitas (like pumpkin seeds).  Yummm!  Here's a great blog with a recipe and the story of these delicious dulces. 

Courtesy: Puebla-Puebla.com

Courtesy: BodaClick.com

A brief history of the world (or the past 200 years) in 4 minutes

A fascinating look at the history of 200 countries...and their development (or lack thereof)...in the past 200 years.  Have been thinking a lot about this lately.  Why do some countries grow and thrive? And others continue to struggle for generations?  

Oooh Mexico, sounds so simple I just gotta go

Today's blog post comes to you from The Red Tree House in Mexico City, Mexico and is sponsored by:

The letter "L": limonada: (kind of like lemonade but a whole lot better!) 

Refreshing limonada. Courtesy: Flickr.com

The number 1: my #1 favorite house in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City: 

A classic, Mexican-style house in Colonia Condesa on Avenida Mexico. Courtesy: PBase.com

The color purple: for the beautiful jacaranda trees that blossom every year at this time:

Jacaranda trees in full bloom. Courtesy: ProSoundCommunications.com 

And the color green: for the parks all over the city, including Parque Mexico near my hotel:

Parque Mexico, Colonia Condesa, Ciudad de Mexico. Courtesy: Artelista.com
 

Mexico City, Mexico. Courtesy: BugCon.org