Gallo Pinto

SNOW PARTY. The kids didn't let the washing machine packaging go to waste. Carla (white dress) and Tanya are frequent visitors over here.

WAITING FOR THE BUS. We got into Turrialba every Saturday to go shopping and get an ice cream cone. The buseta, or the CATIE bus, is our favorite mode of transportation. The city bus costs 250 colones each! (ok, that's about 50 cents)

It's easier to herd our crew through the streets when our friend Mille comes along on Saturdays. She usually walks with one or two of the kids and shows us where the good shopping is.

POOL PARTY. The Chavez family saw us walking down the main street of Turrialba and invited us over for a swim party. The kids all ate perros calientes or salchichas, which was a little taste from home. We adults ate spaghetti. I watched as Crissia boiled the tomatoes for the sauce that she made from scratch. Delicious! No wonder I could only find 1/2 cup packets of spaghetti sauce in the store (I had to buy about 6 of them for a meal). It's so much better homemade!

LAUNDRY DAY. It may appear that I am catching up on a couple weeks' worth of laundry. Not so. This is my third laundry day this week! I love that the kids play outside more here. I don't love all the muddy clothes they bring home. Oh, and if a piece of clothing isn't worn in about 8-14 days, it'll grow mold. So some of these clothes weren't dirty, just moldy. I guess that's inevitable in the rainy season. Less sunlight + no dryer + humidity + dark closet = fungus.

LA FERIA. This is just a small part of la feria, or street market that sells fresh produce every Friday and Saturday. One of my friends here said that one only buys vegetables at the supermaket if it's an emergency.

HARD LIFE. Life here can be pretty exhausting. Chloe plays hard, and Landon's up with the birds.

THE CROSSING. Crossing the street in the city can seem like an extreme sport, especially with little kids. Just remember, the pedestrian does NOT have the right of way.

MY CONFESSION: A woman named Angela comes every Tuesday and cooks enough food to last 3 days. She used to have her own restaurant, but she let it go when she moved to Turrialba. So now I let her practice her passion in my kitchen. She has no idea what to do with brown rice, however, and botched it two weeks in a row. The first time it was dry and hard, and the second time it was like salty rice pudding. She finally told me, "Amanda, next week I will bring REAL rice. You will see. I'll bring it for you so you can see the package and know what to buy." She also wants me to buy something called achiote. When I asked her what it tastes like, she said, "No taste. It colors the food red. Pale food looks bad." I laughed and told her that I myself am pale and she could go ahead and make the arroz con pollo without it.

The other 4 days of the week we usually just eat beans, rice, tortillas, and plantains. Gallo pinto, or beans and rice, is what people eat for almost every meal here. We've followed suit because it's just about the only thing I can find in bulk and everything else is expensive. Good thing I love beans.