Despidida

Half-way through my month-long stay in Santa Ana, two gals from Michigan arrived to live with doña Gladys for their semester of studying ecology and reforestation in Costa Rica. Sonja and Tannis brought much spunk and laughter into the home, and together we enjoyed sharing many delicious meals, exchanging stories and staying up late playing a pretty serious card game tournament of Spades. During my first weeks of dining in Costa Rica, I discovered a new favorite sound: the sound of the blender. A plethora of fresh fruits are consumed on a daily basis, not only in the form of eating juicy chunks of pineapple, papaya, melon, strawberries, etc etc, but also in the form of jugo natural, or natural juices. To make jugo natural, one simply cuts up the fresh fruit(s) of choice and plops it in the blender, adding water and then a bit of sugar to taste. Mmmmm, so refreshing!

The amount of rice that is consumed in Costa Rica is almost inconceivable. Beans, too, for that matter. If one is lucky, it is possible to consume both staples for all three meals in a day! (And, yes, I´m speaking from personal experience.) Lucky for me, I do really enjoy the national tico specialty combo of rice and beans, which is called gallo pinto (literal translation: ¨painted rooster.¨) Also lucky for me, doña Gladys is a woman who makes a mean gallo pinto! Consisting of white rice, red beans, chopped grilled onions, fresh cilantro, and red pepper, and the tico specialty secret sauce called Salsa Lizano, this dish can be doctored up countless ways and can be served for any meal, but it is most often consumed for the breakfast meal. And thus, for my final meal in the kitchen of doña Gladys , I was served a delicious gallo pinto for breakfast. As you can see below, not only was I served gallo pinto, but also eggs, toast, watermelon, fresh papaya juice (made in the blender, of course!), and a surprise treat of warm banana cake. She didn´t make it easy for me to leave!! My first experience living with a host-stay family was a wonderful one--I was blessed not only with the opportunity to live with doña Gladys and her son Cesar, but also to meet and spend time with her other three children and their children as well. I was welcomed into a family for a relatively short amount of time, and I did learn that certain boundaries realistically come with such an experience, but I left feeling like part of their extended family. On the morning of my departure, doña Gladys made sure I knew there would always be a bed for me to sleep in and food on the stove for me to enjoy whenever I am able to visit. My despidida--my goodbye-- was made complete with a kiss on the cheek and the sign of the cross made over me, sending me with the accompaniment of God.