2010--a new year, a fresh start, time to do taxes... yet another mystery to solve. One at a time I suppose.
Oh, goodness, it’s been so long since I updated. That would be due to reduced internet access, going to visit my family over Christmas, and just plain busyness before the holidays. Well, I suppose I’ll just have to make up for it with lots and lots of photos. That way I won’t have to write quite so much... you know, since one photo is supposed to be the equivalent of one thousand words.
I will say that December was definitely full. I think the week before Christmas was one social gathering (read: party) after another. A girl’s get-together, one for the American missionaries, making tamales with my host family, an annual block party, music ministry dinner... There must be more, but I can’t think of any right now. But it was all very fun, and we can’t forget that it culminated in a nonstop seven day party with my family in the States.
My visit was filled with family, my mom’s delicious cooking, spending time with my sisters, and generally having a ball! It snowed almost every day I was home. I went sledding on a hill that was pure ice with only a dusting of snow and shoveled the driveway with a broom pan (the two shovels were already in use). I played games with my family to my heart’s content. I gave in to every chocolate and carbohydrate craving that I had; after all, I was on vacation! (And I went to the gym one time and played DDR—a kick-butt dancing video game that makes you jump around like a madman—so I made up for it. *Grin*) And I spent every waking minute with people that I loved and missed over the last six months. What could be better than that!
Aside from that, many people around here are having babies. My neighbor across the street had a little girl on Dec. 26th; Amy, one of the missionaries here, is due any time in the next month (her first came early); and one of the house parents in the Children’s Homes recently found out she is expecting her third.
Also, two new interns just arrived in Costa Rica on Sunday afternoon. Their names are Abby and Rachel, and they are college kids/recent graduate like me. We had a blast this morning cleaning one of the Children’s Homes together, and they’re really nice. We will have the next four months to get to know each other better and hang out. Yay!
Making Tamales
Mixing up the Masa (cornmeal batter with lots of other flavors)
Cutting and cleaning the plantain leaves
First you add the Masa and some meat
Then you add in some veggies.
We used 2 garbanzo beans, 3 of another type of bean, a slice of red pepper, a slice of carrot, and a spoon of rice
A tamal with everything added. Time to fold!
We used two squares of leaf to wrap each tamal
Wrapping it up. Then you tie it with string
To cook tamales, you boil them for an hour in a big pot of water over an open fire. Wait til the next day to eat; they're set better then.
Block Party!
some of the gang that lives around here
Cooking 'chicharrones' to make a typical dish called 'Vigoron'
Basically, these are fried pig skin... pork rinds. You serve it with yucca, salsa, raw cabbage, and a slice of lemon
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