Merry Christmas from Apartamentos America!

We made a wreath this weekend! (A pretty snazzy one, if I do say so myself!) Total cost: wreath from the feria $2, ribbon $1. We're in the Christmas spirit here!

-Amber

Eewww

I was just reviewing my google stats and saw that someone viewed my blog by searching for "naked costa rica chica." That is soooo NOT ok!! Bleh, yuck, eeewwwwww, etc.

-Amber

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

This year I am thankful for having such wonderful colleagues and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with even when I am so far from home. I'm also thankful for this experience of living abroad and all of the gifts is has given me. It's hard to be away today, but I couldn't have asked for a better "family" here in Costa Rica to celebrate with. Thank you to all of my family and friends across the world as well - I could not be here without your love and constant support.

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

-Amber

Lima, Peru

Last weekend I was in Lima, Peru for work. We flew in on Friday afternoon and back out again on Monday! It was a very quick trip, but I did have time get a quick glimpse of Lima.

The Peruvians are still closely tied to their Incan ancestors. For this reason, corn is different here. They say that it is most closely related to the type of corn the Incas ate due to the fact that they have not done as much scientific alterations to corn in Peru as they have in places like the US. One interesting variation is a type of black corn that they have. Our waiter brought us some to look at. It looks rotten, but it's not! It's just black or purplish in color. They use it for a typical drink and other dishes.

Our hotel was very close to the Pacific coast of Lima. Here is a shot of it at night.

Lima is actually a desert. So, the air is very dry. However, they have a lot of green parks and beautiful spaces filled with flowers. They keep these places green by watering them using large tanker trucks full of water.

A lot of the architecture in Lima goes back to colonial times. So there are a lot of beautiful churches and squares - especially in down town Lima. There are two squares in particular that are large and surrounded by colonial style  buildings on all sides.

Plaza de Armas or Plaza Mayor is what I like to call the yellow square. This is home to the large cathedral, the governor's palace, and the municipal palace...to name a few.

The other large plaza or square was Plaza San Martin - or the white square as I liked to call it. This square was built in 1921 to mark the 100th anniversary of  the proclamation of independence in Peru.

Both squares were beautiful and full on people milling about on a Sunday afternoon. As you can see, the weather was a little hazy. Apparently, it is typically pretty cloudy in Lima, but it never rains! (Again, the whole desert thing...)

While wandering the streets, I saw this lady on her balcony above a busy street doing her laundry. The interesting thing about this lady, who was doing something so normal, was that moments after this photo was taken, she went inside and reemerged naked to pick up another piece of laundry. Just naked, on her balcony, on a busy street, on a lovely Sunday afternoon...

Llamas are big in Peru! A lot of the artisan crafts sold involve llama wool - hand knit clothes and scarves, pillow cases, tapestries, etc. I met this llama and he seemed so cool that I had to be a dorky tourist and have my photo taken with him.

 And that was Peru! On to Venezuela next weekend!

-Amber

Concha y Toro Vineyard - Chile

I was back in Chile for work two weeks ago and lucky to have some free time on Sunday afternoon. What should you do with free time when you are in Chile? Why, visit a vineyard of course!! I've always been a fan of the Casillero del Diablo wine, and now I have been to its birthplace! 

We did the tour in Spanish, so I managed to get about 50% of the information. The problem I have is that while I can understand more like 80-90% of spoken Spanish, when I am on a tour, outside, with lots of things to look at, my brain can't focus. So basically, I can't multi-task in two languages yet. Oh well, I have a hard time paying attention in English too...so what did I really expect?

We started the tour on the grounds of the vineyard. This is the old summer home of the original owners and it is beautiful! There was a big house on the grounds that now only has a few offices, which is a shame. I would move here without a second thought!

Then we walked out to the vineyard and around all the different varieties of grapes growing there.

I like to think this little guy was watching over the grapes to make sure they come out just right for my next glass of wine. 

After a little walking and talking it was finally time to taste some wine! Yummy and refreshing!

Then, on to the building where they store all of the wine. So many barrels, so little time...

                                   

And then, down into the dark cavern of the acutal Casillero del Diablo. This was a darkish cave that became pitch black dark when the turned the lights out on us and we watched a show about the legend on the far wall of the cavern. 

The story is that after creating such a yummy wine, the winemaker came down to his cellar to find that thieves had robbed him of his best creations. In order to scare them off in the future, he created a legend that the cellar was possessed by the devil. One night, when the thieves came back, he was waiting and made lots of scary devil noises to scare them away. And that's how you got the Casillero del Diablo. 

After the song and dance? Why, that would be more wine tasting of course! This is me and my manager Maria. I'm lucky to have such a fun travel partner for work!

We sprung for the extended tour which included then MORE wine tasting paired with some yummy cheeses and bread. This was with a sommelier who told us all about the wines, their flavors, colors etc. Honestly, I really like wine, but I cannot distinguish all of the flavors, smells, etc. I just know that they taste yummy!

So, after this very educational and tasty tour, I have decided that I am a big fan of Carmenere. And, thanks to Chile, we can still enjoy this type of grape/wine! It originated in France, but a plague swept through in the late 1800's that extinguished the grape variety from the European continent. Luckily for me, at some point the plant had been brought to Chile, but no one really knew that. And the Chileans did not know they had Carmenere, but thought it was more of a Merlot variety. A savvy French dude (sorry, this is the rough 50% Spanish to English translation) came to Chile and realized that the grape variety had survived! Hooray! So, today, the majority of Carmenere comes from Chile. And there's your educational lesson for the day!

-Amber

Happy

I found a teeeeeeny tiny poinsettia (pastora in Spanish) at my local grocery store this week. I had to buy it. Hopefully I have rescued it for a better life...and not a certain death (which tends to happen to most of my plants.) Either way, it makes me very happy because it is small, and cute, and Christmasey. (Yes, I am ignoring spell check and choosing to believe that "Christmasey" is a word. If it isn't, it should be.)

-Amber

Happy Halloween Y'all!

When you live in another culture, holidays can be hard. But, I am a firm believer in not only embracing new cultures and holidays, but also trying to hold on to the ones you know and love from home. Halloween is no exception, and this year I was able to find a real pumpkin here! So, Anna, Bryson, and I carved a pumpkin, roasted pumpkin seeds, and made some pumpkin guts bread to celebrate! Enjoy the pictures.

Happy Halloween from Costa Rica!

-Amber

Cauhita

After the parade in Limon, we headed about 45 minutes south to the sleepy beach town of Cauhita. We spent the night here and then got up at a reasonable hour the next morning to go into the Cauhita National Park.

The town was very laid back and very small. There were a few restaurants, a small grocery store, and a few souvenir places. And, that's about it!

The food on this side of the country has lots of Carribbean influence. Even the rice and beans are different - and super yummy with a coconut flavor! 

Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but it definitely does not require seriousness...

This is the only park in Costa Rica that I know of that does not charge at least $10 to get in. They do gladly take donations though. The park is a 3.5 kilometer trail that runs parallel to the beach and ends at a point out on the coast. The walk was easy and beautiful and the weather was perfect with a really nice breeze.

 After spending most of the day on the beach we enjoyed a yummy meal before making the 4 hour trip back to San Jose and back to reality.

-Amber

Carnavales de Limón

Last weekend I was finally able to make it to Puerto Limon and the Carribbean coast of Costa Rica. It is amazing how different this side of the country is from the other parts I have visited.

Puerto Limon is a port city and the capital of Limon Province in Costa Rica - which covers most of the Carribbean side of the country. This port city takes in a lot of the goods that are shipped to the coast of Costa Rica and then trucked in to San Jose. It is also home to Costa Rica's Afro-Carribbean community. A majority of the population here traces their roots to Jamaican laborers that were brought in in the late 1800's to work on the railroad that connected Puerto Limon to San Jose. Until 1948, the Costa Rican government did not recognize Afro-Carribbean people as citizens and therefore restricted their movement outside of Limon Province. They could not even travel to San Jose. Due to this, the community became firmly entrenched in this area of the country. While they do speak Spanish, most families also speak a creole version of English in the home. 

My friends Anna, Justin, and I went down last weekend to take part in the final parade for this year's Carnavale celebration. Think Mardi Gras, Costa Rican style. We set up shop at a small soda (restaurant) on the parade route and were able to watch much of the festivities from there. 

Our view of the parade route:

It was incredibly hot there, and, of course, the parade was late getting started. This is how we felt:

You gotta keep your head cool in the Costa Rican sun!

There were tons of people in the streets, all waiting for the big show to begin:

I am always amused when there are clear similarities to how things are done in our culture and other cultures. This parade has some definite parallels. There were lots of vendors in the streets selling balloons and little toys for the kids. There was also face painting and street food - all things we have at our parades!

Buzz and Woody made an appearance. Although, based on the double chins they were rocking, it looks like they have been spending their post Toy Story years hitting the bars here in Costa Rica...

Finally the parade began! There were bands, and dancers, and lots of high, feathered, head dressses!

 

I found this balcony full o'gringos to be amusing. I think they were scared to be down in the streets in all of the chaos.

 The parade was chaotic, loud, colorful, and all around a really good party! The culture on this side of the country is very laid back and a lot of fun. I'm glad I was able to experience it and hope to get the chance to experience it more of it soon.

-Amber