Cooking 101

Today I had another cooking class with my host mom.  Last weekend we made chimichurri, which was actually a lot easier than I expected.  I think chimichurri is the same as pico de gallo, which is just a fresh, flavorful, non-spicy salsa.

This week I asked to learn how to make arepas.  I mean, I know how to eat them, but what am I to do when I go home for Christmas?  I can't bring my host/ chef with me!  Well, now I know why arepas please my taste buds so much:  they are basically just a dough of sugar and flour.  Who wouldn't like them?

Although I never had the chance to cook with my Nana, I have a feeling that cooking with Nana would have been very similar to cooking with Guiselle.  No measurements.  Just eyeball it.  Or until it looks right or tastes right.  I don't know how well I will duplicate arepas once I am back in the states.

If I can get the dough right, then I know I can do the rest.  I was having trouble making my arepas flat, and they were far from round.  Guiselle is on the other side of the stove just pat-pat-patting perfectly round circles.  And so fast too!  She taught me how to work my fingers, and it turned out much easier.

The round ones are "plain," or just the cooked sugar dough.  The semi-circle ones are filled with a mixture of crumbled cheese and white sugar.

adding cheese before folding

I made this one!

The arepas turned out well and just as I was finishing cooking the last few, she made the coffee.  It's custom here to have afternoon coffee and a snack; usually a bread, empanada, etc.

So I went outside to enjoy my coffee and arepas in front of the Christmas tree.  That's right:  Christmas tree already.  I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that Costa Rica is entering into SUMMER now as the Christmas decorations are going up!

Happy Friday!

Oh and I'm going to a wedding tomorrow, so I'm pretty pumped about experiencing a Costa Rican matrimonio.

My rant about books.

I have been on this Paulo Coelho kick ever since I got my Kindle for graduation.  I was looking through the week's specials and I downloaded By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept.  The plot sounded good, and it was only $2.99 that week or something like that.

I was in the midst of several other good reads that I needed/ wanted to finish before I started this River Piedra book.  Finally I got around to reading it, and I couldn't put it down.  It was such a beautiful, and beautifully written story.  I began looking into other recommended reads and The Alchemist caught my fancy.  I didn't need to download a $10 Kindle book because I still had several waiting to be read.

Another day I stumbled upon a free download of Paulo Coelho's The Way of the Bow.  Maybe I'm just a big book nerd, but his stories are short but so symbolic.  Read between the lines, and Coelho shares some inspiring life lessons.

Several weeks later, I was in the closet at school trying to see what books, if any, I could use in my class that week.  Everything is donated, so you never know what you'll find.  Well guess what I found?  You got it:  another Paulo Coelho Book.  This one was entitled The Zahir.  It's back page summary didn't make me want to plop on the floor right then and there to start reading, but I decided I would borrow it.

I can't say The Zahir, a love story, was my favorite read, because I was at conflict with some of the view points of the main characters.  Let's just say it was a bit unrealistic of a story, but still offered a few lessons applicable to daily life.

Well, when I was home a few weeks ago, I decided to stop by the Cassleberry branch of the library to see what books they had for sale.  I was looking for my kids of course, and found a few good books for us!  Before paying, I decided just to check to see if they had any Coelho books.  Doubted it, but it must have been my lucky day because there on the shelf was not only a hard copy of By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, but also a gently used copy of....The Alchemist!  Yay.

I wanted to finish my current kindle read,  before starting to read The Alchemist.  To my disappointment, this much anticipated read of mine is only 167 pages.  I read it this weekend.  I split it into two days, just to spread the enjoyment out a bit.  I'd classify The Alchemist as an allegory, but that's asking me to think back to 11th grade AP Literature.  Anyways,  the words on each page are filled with beauty and some biblical references.

Santiago, the main character, has a prophetic dream, and this basically leads us through the whole story.  He's traveling in search of his treasure, or what Coelho calls his "Personal Legend."  Santiago is trying to get to Egypt, but has many stopping points along the way, each of which teaches him an important lesson.  Many times he questioned:  "should I just turn back now?  I don't know what I'm doing.  This is hopeless."

I saw myself in Santiago; in fact, I think there is a bit of Santiago in all of us.  I see myself on a journey right now.  Costa Rica may be my destination, but I tend to think it's only a stopping point along God's greater path for me.

I didn't intend on writing a book review, but  maybe I have done so.  I just wanted to recommend The Alchemist to anyone out there looking for a good read.  It may be among my favorite reads, second to Redeeming Love.  (If you've never read Redeeming Love, don't be intimidated by the size of the book;  it is AMAZING)

Some of my favorite quotes from The Alchemist are:

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve:  the fear of failure."

"When something (or someone) evolves, everything around that thing evolves as well."

" 'Why do we have to listen to our hearts?'  'Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure.'  "

It's me again,  here's a quote that I found to be a good reminder.  How many times do you get stuck in the monotony of routine?

"Every day was the same, and when each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."

And possibly my most favorite:

"  'My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,'  the boy told the alchemist [. . .]

'Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.  And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity'"

How wonderful to think of fear and suffering in such a positive light?!  Yes, God is always with us!


So now I need a recommendation of what to read next!  Preferably a Coelho book if any of my readers have one to recommend.  Comment with any suggestions :)

6 months!

Wow!  I have now lived in Costa Rica for 6 months.  I guess I have finally wrapped my mind around the fact that "I live in Costa Rica."  I work here and I LOVE my job.  I can't say the past six months have been peachy keen, but every day is an opportunity for me to learn and grow.  My least favorite of the past six months occurred exactly 2 months ago, on my 4 month anniversary of living here, also my Dad's Birthday.  September 5:  The 7.6 earthquake.  That's by far my least favorite part of living here:  the earthquakes and all-too-frequent aftershocks and tremors.  But enough of that.  There is more good than bad.  I have come to LOVE my students (most of the time) and am so glad that God led me this major life change 6 months ago. :)

p.s.  LOVE how this is paisley AND it has a birdie!

A moment of serenity

I haven't updated this thing in a month of Sundays, and I do have a bunch of stuff to add, like pictures and such, but for now I just want to upload one photo.  <-----That sentence is clearly a run-on sentence, and I am well-aware; I just don't care.

This is an unplanned (I guess candid would be the word) photo from yesterday morning.  I get these hugs every morning from my fifth graders as they arrive.  I believe this was just after he finished saying "I love you, Teacher."
It is moments like the one captured here where I just know I am right where God wants me.

“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,” Ephesians 1:18

Happy anniversary...

...to me! Five months ago today I moved to Costa Rica! Wow, I can hardly believe that five months have already passed since I made one of the biggest transitions of my life.

Thursday's thoughts

Watching the sunrise is beautiful and coffee is great, but it is not even 4pm and I could go to bed right now!

That is all.

more tortugas!

Yesterday I met my friend and her boyfriend downtown after school to disfrutar the playa a little bit.  We bought some coconuts from a man on the street, who whacked a hole in each coco with his machete before giving us a straw.  We sipped the agua de pipa from our coconuts as we walked down the beach.  Our stroll led us to a nice spot at playa piedra colorada where the river meets the ocean.  We hiked up the rocks and took a little dip in the river.  (Typical after school activity, right?!)  Then after our hike down, we cooled off again with a little swim in the ocean.  Our walk back into town at the end of the afternoon took us past the turtle rescue place where we saw the turtles go out to sea for the first time last week.  There were several volunteers digging, so we went to ask if more eggs had hatched.  Indeed they had!  Last night the majority of the eggs had hatched and those babies had gone out to sea, but there were a few late bloomers who were just hatching.  We were told if we could wait 30 more minutes, we could watch the remaining turtles take their first swim!

I think only about 10 baby tortugas were released, so it wasn't as dramatic of a release as last week, but beautiful, nonetheless.  Although fewer turtles, this release was so great because the sun was just going down.  Not only could we see the turtles without the red lights, but we also were able to enjoy the release with the added bonus of the sunset.

How amazing is it that now, on two separate occasions, I have seen baby turtles go out to sea!

up close and personal

how cute are their little tracks?

Also I saw a very beautiful sunrise this morning.  What?!  Morgan, the girl who typically hits "snooze" 4-6 a morning, was up before the sun?  I was indeed up and moving, and proceeded to have 4 cups of coffee by 8:30.

And then, since my fifth graders and I have been studying one of my favorite topics, weather, and also learning a bit about clouds, I enjoyed the variety of clouds I saw.  My students are currently keeping a cloud observation log, so I only thought it was fair that I join in as well:

cumulus above (altocumulus) and stratus below

cumulonimbus, with a few stratus clouds in front