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The B&B
Finally, a pretty sunny week. Love the deep blue sky! I only have a few subjects to write about today, in fact, one of them I didn’t even write! To start with, I want to clear up the many inquiries I have had on what a “casado” is. I’ve reprinted an article from an online newspaper, “AM Costa Rica,” in its entirety as I think this should be the last word on the infamous “casado.”
Reprinted from AM Costa Rica (10/28/05)....
Article (and pictures) from AM Costa Rica removed due to a threatening email I received for my reprinting of their article (I did give full credit of course)! By the way, you can catch my work periodically in the Tico Times' Community Connection" section, and once in a while in other sections of the Tico Times:
www.ticotimes.net. The Tico Times' online edition is often overlooked but there is terrrific information in there, including their classified ads.
Fiesta Time!
Today Beth and I went to two parties. The first, down in Santa Ana near the airport, was basically a luncheon sponsored by “Costa Rica Living,” (http://searchportal.information.com/index.mas?epl=UVsPWVALXVUMVV8AVxYSUhNdBVYPXEEID1IbW1dZFwRqXQYFD1IKAA or http://groups.msn.com/CRLeBoard/_whatsnew.msnw) an online bulletin board, mainly for the ex-pat
View behind our home
I've failed to mention that we have nice views from the behind the house as well. That's Gringo enjoying the nice day. community.
Held at a tex-mex restaurant, several of us, including Jose, Joanna, Tom and Elsie from our community attended. For Beth and me, this was our first time meeting other ex-pats “en masse” and it was well worth the trip. Despite the fact that the restaurant had trouble making a good margherita, there were a mix of people, young and old, doing all kinds of interesting things while living here. Some had small businesses—in fact one nice man brought some used books and homemade sausages that he sells; yes, interesting combination—others were homemakers, and many of course, were retired and living the good life.
It was good for us to put faces with people we had interacted with mainly through email and to get to know some of them better. I was struck by the number of people who followed my blog here in Costa Rica. I’d say over a dozen people claimed they knew who I was and read my blog often, which was very gratifying. In fact, one man, asked, “How did your surgery go?” Another man wanted to know how our dogs were doing, and a woman said, “I want to meet Beth, the chef.”
View from above our home
I like the fact that our home is hidden in the trees--also good protection on windy days. All and all it was a good luncheon and frankly about time we got to know some other people here, outside of our small community in which we live.
In the evening, we attended a birthday party for Carol’s (our cleaning lady) husband, Ernan, at their home just about 3km south of us near San Ramon. Located in a typical Tico neighborhood, Carol and Ernan’s home is small but well kept. Carol’s mother, brother and a few of Ernan’s co-workers also attended. Even though our Spanish is limited, we were able to say at least a few words (and parts of sentences) to most everyone. Carol put out quite a spread with fish (corvina) and tartar sauce (which I actually think is better than American tartar sauce because she uses interesting spices giving it a “Latin flair”) along with the typical refried beans, rice, salsa, and more. I think Ernan really liked the red wine we gave him.
Something you notice immediately about Ticos is how friendly and welcoming they are, and even with the communication difficulties, they try their best in some English and Spanish to have a conversation with us gringos and that makes us try our best as well. Carol’s husband is such a nice person; always very glad to see us, always smiling.
During the party, Ernan set up his karaoke machine and we gave it a go. I sang an Abba song (in English) and even tried my hand at a few songs in Spanish. I gather Costa Ricans do like the United States as one song we sang praised “America,” and the other was all about New York City. Even though I could only understand a few words, it was pretty clear both songs were positive.
The next four weeks, through Thanksgiving, are going to be very busy with quite a few guests and then friends coming to visit. I’m even having a big Thanksgiving dinner for friends and neighbors (and in typical Andrew style, the neighbors are pitching in a good deal of the food—thank you, thank you, thank you!) So, I’ll try my best to keep the blog updated! Also, quite a few of you have inquired about staying here for a few days or so during the upcoming holiday season and during the U.S. winter. That would be terrific! However, reserve a room soon as it’s getting busy around here!
Pura Vida!
Andrew
andrew4cr@gmail.com
http://www.AngelValleyFarmBandB.com
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