Storytelling in Samara

March 13, 2016
Los Ticos - Culture
Leave a comment

natural center samara

Story-teller, Carolina Quiroga, who uis from Columbia via USA, Janashared some latin tales with the children of Samara yesterday at the Natural Center.  Presented in Spanish, it was also good practice for those of us who are still earning the language.

music in samara

Jana Siimes entertained us during intermission with her soprano saxophone.

samara arts festival

Carolina was a pleasure to watch as she engaged the children with her animated expressions and brought them into the stories she told.  This event is part of the Festival International Puro Cuento and presented here by Festival Arte Samara. Events like these are precious in Samara.  We thank Festival Arte Samara, who brings something fun to town about once a month.

March 11, 2016
Nature, Que pasa? - current news
Leave a comment

In Costa Rica, Spring precedes Winter. We might be seeing right now the first signs of the coming rainy season. Rising humidity – we’ve 4 cloudy starless nights in a row – and precipitation – Tina says it rained the other day in Santo Domingo, just 4 klicks away but I didn’t feel a drop – have encouraged the trees to bloom.

sandal

The Sandal is usually the first and easily recognizable with its clumps of small salmon colored blossoms, possibly my favorite.

a- roble flor  a- roble bark   a- roble blossom

The Roble Sabana – Pink Trumpet tree – comes in white and pink with trumpet flowers on a dark striated bark. I always thought these were two different trees until I took a closer look.

a- boug flor

But a third one, quite rare, had me baffled – bright fuschia. Maybe you’ve seen it on the way to Nicoya, west side of the road.  I can’t find it in any of Steve’s books.

a- boug bloss

Closer examination solved the mystery, I think.

sandal

It’s actually a Verenero – Bougainvillea vine – wrapped around an Indio Desnudo – Naked Indian tree. Huh?!

The other surprise is that all of these trees, that usually come into flower in succession over the Spring weeks, are all blooming at once this year. Even the bright yellow Cortez Amarrillo – Yellow Cortez – and the flaming red Malinche – Poinciana – have open flowers right now. What does that portend for our coming Invierno – Winter?

Samara Clean-up

March 8, 2016
Los Ticos - Culture, Nature, Que pasa? - current news
Leave a comment

samara cleanup

It seems like everyone was involved in last Saturday’s cleanup of the village of El Torito and Playa Carrillo. Busloads of volunteers from UNA (Univerisida Nacional de Costa Rica) and Florida (our local bottler) collected trash and garbage from roadsides and yards. The idea is to eliminate places for standing water and breeding potential for mosquitos.

IMG_20160305_115232

The volunteers and staff came back on Monday to continue their work in Sámara. Garbage trucks from the Municipalidad hauled it all away. This is what a “national emergency” looks like in Costa Rica: funds for equipment, gasoline, lunch, garbage bags and gloves.

And lots of volunteers.

Thank-you to all who helped.

Cooking in my underpants or can you make a Yule Log in the tropics?

December 26, 2015
Plan B - retire or retool in Costa Rica, Que pasa? - current news
Leave a comment
Buche de Noele

Buche de Noel

My Steve was born on Christmas Day and since I love all things French, I decide long ago that his birthday cake would be a Buche de Noel – his middle name is even Noel. I don’t think I ever asked him if there was some other kind of cake he preferred or even if he liked chocolate cake. A buche it is.
When we lived up north, I had a several successful attempts. Over the years, I’ve learned to make an acceptable genoise and a pretty good ganache. Whipped cream, butter, and dark chocolate, how can you go wrong?  I’ve even carried the cake to other family members’ homes with few problems.
But baking in Costa Rica is a whole different animal.  First, there’s no such thing here as “heavy” cream for whipping. There’s only ultra-processed cream-like liquid in a tetra pak.  I don’t think it has any butter fat in it. I do my best by getting it really cold.  I even chill the metal bowl and the beaters. But it’s 85 degrees in my kitchen on Christmas Day and nothing stays cold for long.  With the oven on, I just have to take my pants off, wishing I was 25 again and that someone might appreciate this view.  Every year, as I struggle to get the mousse to firm up and the ganache to stay on the rolled cake, I beg to Steve to shoot me if I even threaten to try it again next year.

Mine didn't even look this good.

Mine didn’t even look this good.

Yesterday, we rigged up a support system of ice and wedges in the Styrofoam cooler – pre-chilled, of course – to transport what should be a simple dessert to the dinner venue.  I cringed with shame as I set the mess on the table in front of my friends. But after tasting it, they raved and begged me to make it again next year.  Really, how can you go wrong with dark chocolate, butter and cream?  Maybe I’ll just put it in a bowl next year with a dozen spoons for passing.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

December 15, 2015
Nature, Que pasa? - current news
Leave a comment

DSCF4113.JPG

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I have been keeping this Ponsettia alive in a planter for several years now.  It lives most of the year on a shady terrace.  When I move it into the sun, the leaves turn green but timing is everything.  Last year it was too hot and all the leaves fell off.  This year, with late rains and cooler weather, it’s still pretty green with only 10 days to go.  But I think it’s beautiful in all it’s variations.

Happy holidays, however you celebrate.

Peace!

Belated Bolseros

October 19, 2015
Nature
2 Comments
Hoffman's woodpecker

Hoffman’s woodpecker

The Bolseros (Orioles) were late today, beaten by the Hoffman’s Woodpecker.

Social Flycatcher

Social Flycatcher

Each morning a parade of birds stops by our bamboo to survey the neighborhood and make a plan for the day.

Read More

Eggs explained

October 15, 2015
Los Ticos - Culture, Nature
1 Comment

_mg_4765

From the Voice of Guanacaste, this is the best thing I’ve read about what all those people are doing on the beach at Ostional during a turtle Arrival (Arribada).  It says that, in a big Arribada, many of the eggs are destroyed by other turtles “over-digging”.  When 251,000 turtles try to lay their eggs on the same stretch of beach within a few days, it’s bound to happen.  So harvesting during the first 3 days doesn’t have a big impact on overall survival.  Caring for the nests and cleaning the beach, however, does have an impact, a positive one.

http://www.vozdeguanacaste.com/en/gallery/turtle-eggs-ostionals-subsidy

What the article doesn’t explain is how SINAC assesses the market and who the buyers are.  Even so, if you run the numbers, you can quickly see that a large Arribada like we saw in September produces a $40 share for each of the 230 members.  Seems like a labor of love to me.  More important, perhaps, to turtle survival is to stop polluting the oceans.