Banana Tree? or Construction Cone?

I love Costa Rica.. and Cahuita's methods for construction...

1. Pura Vida: meaning if it happens it happens... may not happen for a while.. sooo pura vida

2. No construction equipment

3. Always holes in the streets and or the streets are not paved

4. When we do fill holes why place orange construction cones? Why not get back with nature that is every one knows when you place a banana tree in the street that cement is there.. right??

Thank goodness for modernization.. I think we may need to bring this method back to the states!!

Halloween in Cahuita

Halloween arrived in Cahuita. No one celebrates it here... however, I decided to do it up USA style. Meaning... drinking lots. Had to bring back my college days.. I was feeling a bit too old. I had no means for a costume, so I worked with the resources I had.. black and eyeliner which easily turns into a cat.

We went next door had a few drinks, there was quite the crowd. Very few of us dressed up! We had a blast taking pictures of all.. Troy came dressed with a wig, somehow this wig was passed around to everyone in the group and I took a picture with everyone wearing the wig... somehow I ended up wearing a wig the rest of the evening. Coco's was a fun time.. I remember laughing and talking a lot.. about what? who knows!!

I kept saying this would be the most drunk I have been in Costa Rica.. and the night ended proudly. I was home by midnight and fell asleep with outfit and cat make up on... while laying on top of the still made bed. If that doesn't spell good night then what does?? Definitely not a Halloween in Ames but we managed to have a good time! WOO HOO!!

Uvas del Mar

One day.. I was walking on the beach, with my only local friend named Kristela. As we are walking, she starts picking up these things off the sand.. and asks me all excitedly if I have ever seen grapes of the sea... I say the only logical answer that comes to my head which is, umm no?

She then proceeds to eat them!! I must admit.. I tried one or a few... and they are ok.. they in fact have a huge seed in the middle and not that much meat.. but hey how many times can you say you at a grape of the sea.. and off the sand???

Drinks at Atihuac

In Cahuita, there are quite a few expats and most have become very good friends. Then there are the new comers who know some and not all. So one night, Sabina (my coworker) and another woman named Dova, decided it would be a good idea to get us all together.

Atihuac are cabinas with a beautiful entertaining area, owned by two girls from Spain, as a reference we call them the Spanish girls.

They have incredible wine and sangria and this was to

be the destination of the evening. We all gathered and quickly divided into groups of men and women. I turned to the Annie (the woman next to me) and told her I couldn’t believe how drastically my life had changed. Not even a year ago, we were drinking constantly every weekend, shots were not uncommon, going to bars, dancing and somewhere along the way…. Some friends got engaged, had babies, real jobs… and now here I was talking about how to make dog food from scratch…. I was in rather disbelief at the amount of change that occurred in less then a year.

It was a wonderful night, with wine and laughs and talks. And still… no shots… maybe next time?

New Cooking Adventure

With going to the market every Sunday and there being fresh basil what a good idea then to try making fresh homemade pesto!!! This has been the adventure for the past few weeks… attempting to perfect pesto.

Seeing as how we did not have pine nuts.. we substituted with baked peanuts. The first time around, we all liked it. I must say, I love having cooking parties be my idea.. somehow I never end up doing any of the cooking... or... is that a sign??

The second and third time I made the pesto on my own…. Not so much… I did something wrong… it wasn’t exactly delicious.

My fourth time making it… turned out amazing…I followed a recipe that time… amazing how that can change it all.

SO now when I come home I can make fresh pesto for all of you!! WOO HOOO!!!!

Jenn's Birthday Party - Welcome Back

I had heard a lot about this Jenn woman. She was in fact from Minnesota as well, mom had e-mailed her regarding ideas for housing around the time I was getting ready to move to Cahuita. She had left shortly after I had arrived and I had instead met her business partner Shannon (who was also from Minnesota). They own some cabinas in town called Atlantic Surf.

After 6 months, Jenn was back and I met her for the first time. Our first encounter was her and her brother helping me change the locks of Willie’s Tours. Needless to say one night my money purse and my keys that were inside were no where to be found which is why the next day I needed to change the locks. I had called her regarding if she knew anyone who did handy work in town she trusted, when low and behold her brother, a handy man, had a few minutes to spare! It was a very lucky day for me..

A few days later I was invited to Jenn’s birthday party. We had a great time getting together and celebrating her return and bday. All in all it was great to meet her and I am happy to say I have spent my last few months getting to know her.

FUnny story!!! a few months later when Jenn's mom came to visit, I found out... ready for this?? Her mom was named Karen as well!! What are the odds???? TOO FUNNY!!!!

Kekoldi Tour

For the past few months, the Kekoldi Tour has been the new addition to the variety of tours offered at Willie’s Tours. And for the past few months I have been insisting on going on this tour. It wasn’t quite clear what the tour entailed and I needed to gather pictures and text for the website and marketing materials.

After a long wait, the tour actually happened. It was Jorge, Minor (a local guide that works for Willie’s Tours) and a couple from Spain (we lucked out and we had clients).

We set off on our tour.. It was a beautiful landscape views all around us. You actually felt as though you were immersed in the jungle. Normally, in Cahuita you aren’t so totally surrounded by jungle. Birds were everywhere, cacao plants all around.

The tour started with an hour hike to the village where we were given history about the area. We then hiked another half hour to the observatory tour where you could look all around and see the ocean and the Panamanian Mountain Range. Birds and butterfly’s migrate to the tops of the tree tops.

After the observatory, for what we thought was another 20 minutes.. was in fact another hour to reach the waterfall. Luckily the waterfall was beautiful and refreshing. The tour was more then 5 hours including around 4 hiking. Lots of work.. In the end the tour was beautiful and very exhausting!!!! We couldn't help but make jokes the entire time.. "oh yeah.. just 40 minutes to the waterfall.. umm no!!"