Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Black Friday

Last week, I was walking through San José on Wednesday afternoon, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I was walking down San José's central avenue, which is a pedestrian avenue for a ten-block stretch in the center of town. Walking with a guy I know from my town who had come in on the same bus and was headed the same way, I noticed that a number of the stores had advertisements up for 'viernes negro'-Black Friday-translated without any creativity. I was genuinely surprised.

I asked my friend about it, he seemed to not be fazed. He saw it as a good opportunity for the stores to advertise and celebrate a foreign holiday. I found that to be about as positive an interpretation of the phenomenon as possible, and he's a pretty positive guy. I tried to explain two things to him: one, that Black Friday is only special because it's the day after Thanksgiving, and two, that in the US most people (should be all) don't put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving, so Black Friday serves as an unofficial (or heck, official) beginning of the Christmas season. He understood and agreed that it was kind of odd that Costa Rica (and I imagine many other countries) celebrate Black Friday on it's own.

My initial reaction was, how ludicrous (and sad) it is to have Black Friday but no Thanksgiving. I'm sure some people that are better consumers than me are more into Black Friday, but I'd say it is the worst holiday we could export or have imported. Yet, on a more productive note, this conversation got me thinking about how culture is shared. Giant shopping days aren't uniquely American, yet Black Friday is. America's influence on Costa Rica is pretty significant, due to proximity, tourism, and politics (and in a small part The Peace Corps). Yet, why is it that Black Friday is the American holiday with a presence on San José's main street. Did American corporations bring it down here to increase sales? (Granted-it was the Costa Rican vendors that had the most prominent displays.) Did Costa Rican businesspeople working in both the US and Costa Rica implement it to grow sales? There are certainly more possibilities, and perhaps the real answer will surprise me. I wish that having lived abroad a few places would allow me to answer this question, but it hasn't. It is one of the more interesting things about living abroad-seeing which parts of foreign cultures (especially my own) have been adapted and which haven't. Like, why is Slayer so popular in Costa Rica? I don't know why, but it's fun and challenging to think about.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Turtle Power

I'm going to dedicate this post to my Aunt Erin and Uncle Dave. She's a great turtle lover, and the two of them keep a good crew of pet turtles in terrariums and their backyard pond/turtle zone.


Last week, I was Gchatting with Angelo, another volunteer, getting some information about my upcoming trip to Panama, as he ran the marathon there last year. It turned out to be one heck of a great decision to get in contact with him that night. He asked me if I lived anywhere near Tortuguero, I told him yes and he invited me to accompany him and another volunteer, David, on a short trip they were taking there at the end of the week. A few texts the next day, I grabbed a bus to Guápiles, then another to Cariari, waited for their bus to arrive, grabbed a tasty lunch, and we were on our way to one of Costa Rica's numerous natural treasures.


The trip to Tortuguero represents incredibly well one aspect of Costa Rica. It's a country with a plethora of beautiful and ecologically rich locations. It's a pain in the neck to get to them. As the crow flies, I'm about 40 miles (65 km) from the coast inside of Tortuguero National Park. Yet, it took three bus rides and a boat ride, (maybe 3.5 hours-not including waiting time) for me to get there. Part of this is due to the fact that the park is only accesible by boat or plane (it's all rainforest and coastal marshes). Yet, the fact that much of the only road to the only river port to Tortuguero is partially dirt road (not even gravel) says lots about the state of Costa Rica's infrastructure. Now, that wouldn't be such a big deal if Tortuguero wasn't so amazing. But, it is.


Hopefully the rest of this post will show why Tortuguero is so awesome. The national park was set up in 1975, after Archie Carr, an American professor/scientist worked with the Costa Rican government to set it up as a protected area for sea turtles to lay their eggs. Since then, it has now become the single largest nesting site for green sea turtles in the Americas. It is 312 square km (120 sq. mi) along the Caribbean Coast in NE Costa Rica.
(my camera's zoom isn't that great--we were really that close)
On the boat ride in, a friendly tour promoter (who ended up being the grandson of one of the locals that helped found the park) got us signed up for a 5:30 am tour of the canals the next day. So the first night was a quick check in at the hostel, dinner at the adjoining restaurant (amazing chicken in Caribbean sauce with rice and beans cooked in coconut oil-Caribbean style), a walk around town, and we hit the hay.


The tour was awesome. We were in a canoe with our guide, Steve, a Nicaraguan immigrant that had been in Costa Rica giving tours for over 20 years, and a young Austrian couple. The silent nature of the the wildlife tour prevented us from getting to know much more about them. There were a fair amount of other boats about, including some motorboats that the rich tourist staying at the fancy lodge took. I didn't see them scare off more than a few birds, but even that is just inexcusable. Get in a canoe! Steve paddled us through the canals, which separate the various islands in the river delta area that makes up the park. We saw three types of monkeys (howler, spider, and white headed capuchin), various types of heron, turtles basking in the sun, three grown caiman, a baby caiman (it was quite small), a sloth chilling in the tree, and so, so much foliage. Although the caiman were the best part for me, I did really enjoy canoeing around in an environment so different than anything I've been in before. It was so green, there were so many plants, I mean, it is the rainforest. The video below is of a white headed capuchin making his way across the canal-without getting wet.
(look to the upper left of the screen to find the monkey)
We passed the day with some naps to make up for the 5:30 am wake up, a delightful lunch looking over the river and a gorgeous, lush island, buying postcards, cruising around town, and then were in for an afternoon hike through the rainforest and a chance to see some baby turtles. The walk was quite interesting, if not hurried by all of hoping to escape the mosquitoes (this included Steve the guide) and our eagerness to see the baby turtles. The walk did include three sightings of the eyelash viper. Luckily all were sleeping and no one was bitten.


Our walk along the beach, hoping to see some baby turtles, was fruitless. The hatchlings, I was told, head to sea when they sense a big change in the temperature, so at sunrise or sunset. In the evening we enjoyed another great thing about Tortuguero-because so many tourists come in, it has some great food. My pasta for dinner was solid, but the nutella crepe for desert was delicious, and I seriously considered making Angelo and David stay as I ordered a second.







The sunset search failed but we had hopes for the sunrise so we headed out early (4:30 am early) which turned out to be too early, as it was still too dark to see, so hatchlings 10 feet ahead of us would've been invisible. We scouted the beach hard, for over an hour, when, as we headed back to the hostel disappointed in seeing nothing, Angelo spotted something, and we ran over. Well, something it was. About 30 green sea turtle hatchlings were making their way to the Caribbean Sea. We all watched in amazement at the tiny, cute little turtles scuttling their way to the ocean. It was awesome. We were just in time, as they had already made it down about half the beach, and we got to see them throw themselves into the calm morning waves. I was lucky that Angelo asked to take some pictures with my camera, as he got up much closer and took some great shots. The video below should give you an idea of what it was like.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Cook and eat like a Costa Rican

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm actually fortunate enough to be attending what should be a great Thanksgiving feast this year, and expect more on that later in the blog.


I've mentioned gallo pinto-one of Costa Rica's most common dishes-previously on this blog. As many of you may know, I'm not a big cooking enthusiast, although I'm not in any way against it. I just find cleaning equally exciting-so I often am engaged in you cook-I clean exchanges. Regardless, I realized the other day that I didn't know how to make gallo pinto. And that sharing how to make gallo pinto would be a great way to share about C-Rica with all of you, my friends, family, coworkers, and random netizens. Note, I think I've said this before, but gallo pinto translates to English as 'spotted rooster' and gets its name (supposedly) from its likeness to the coat of a spotted rooster.


So, I convinced Laura, a delightful and kind junior at the high school, to allow me over to her house to watch her mom cook gallo pinto. It's nothing special, her mom or she make it every morning or evening, as it's what the family eats (almost) every day for breakfast. That's pretty common among Costa Ricans. I was super excited when Laura informed me that her semi-retired dad is the guy that travels around my town in the afternoon selling pupusas, empanadas, coffee, and various other snacks to all the merchants (afternoon coffee is a big deal here). Her mom makes these snacks, meaning, she's a pro. Above is a picture of me and Laura's mom in their kitchen, and no I wasn't working hard and sweating, that's wear my rain jacket allowed in some water on the bike ride over.


On to the process. I don't have exact measurements, because a woman who's been making gallo pinto for more than twenty years doesn't need a measuring cup. This should serve 3-4 people.


Step 1: finely chop half a red or green pepper, half an onion, and about half a cup of cilantro. She used two types of cilantro, including the never before seen by me type pictured to the right. Looks like dandelion leaves, smells and tastes just like cilantro.




















Step 2: cover bottom of pan with cooking oil (maybe 1/4 or 1/3 a cup). Turn on medium/high, add chopped onion, cilantro, and pepper. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes.




Step 3: add a normal coffe mug full of yesterday's beans (do not strain). I'm guessing this was a bit over a cup, but for real, she just filled up a mug. Allow to cook for one minute.




Step 4: add about two cups of yesterday's rice (already cooked). Stir. Turn up to high. Cook for one minute.




Step 5: add a tablespoon of Salsa Lizano, more or less to taste. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This is a great time to fry eggs/scramble eggs/fry plantains/make toast/warm tortillas: one or more of these things is what is normally served with gallo pinto.)


Step 6: eat.



Note: the three ingredients that are probably most difficult for the average American family to have would be: yesterday's beans, yesterday's rice (well, not Asian-Americans), and Salsa Lizano. As Costa Ricans eat rice and beans with (almost) every lunch and dinner, it's a non-issue here. I've written previously about Salsa Lizano, which is like Costa Rica's ketchup/ranch dressing/salt and pepper. (They do use ketchup a lot--but gangster European style mixed with mayonnaise). 


I can easily say that, tied with chicharrones, gallo pinto is by far my favorite Costa Rican dish (yes, I know that neither dish is uniquely Costa Rican). I'd highly recommend trying this out. Shoot me an email if you have questions. Use the pictures instead of my measurements to guide your amounts. 

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Paso a paso

In high school, if I'm remembering correctly, my Spanish textbook series was called 'Paso a paso' (step by step). Ironically, that phrase turned out to be pretty useless here in rural Costa Rica. 


While I would argue that people in different countries, and even different regions of the same country are much more similar than they are different, differences exist. Sharing and hopefully learning from those differences is much of the Peace Corps' goal/mission. There are big differences, the ones you notice day one, like that the taxis are red here or that people eat rice and beans with every meal. Then there are the less obvious differences that come much later. Which is where the stairs come in.


While stares are often a part of me living in rural Costa Rica, stairs are not. (Bazinga!) I noticed this not because I often think about going up and down stairs, but because I've been occasionally doing some running (I have a race coming up). Now, perhaps my calves are just getting weaker with age, but I've noticed that they have been getting tired first when I run, and are much more sore than any other part of my body the  days after running (sparse running brings about this long soreness period). After some thinking, I think that it may be to a lack of use of the old calf muscle-due to a combination of lots of bike riding (working the quads and gluteals) and not going up any stairs. It's probably more the bike riding, but, isn't it crazy that there's only one building in all of my life that has me going up stairs.
(the world's longest staircase, clue: not in Sarapiquí)


I don't really know why Costa Ricans aren't building more two, three, and four story buildings. Land is pretty valuable in this country-with it being very productive for farms, much of it protected, and in some areas-flat land is hard to come by (three mountain ranges in a country one third the size of Iowa). Maybe the economically feasible building materials  make it hard to build two stories, maybe all the earthquakes discourage taller buildings, maybe Costa Ricans just don't think it's a big deal. Even San José, the capital city, is marked (in my opinion) by it's extreme lack of tall buildings. Many are now being built, but it seems like that should've happened long ago. Either way, I climb maybe 12 stairs, twice a week for my community English classes (given in the community multi-purpose building) but that's it. I guess I could do some jumping exercises, but I'll probably just deal with the sore calves. If nothing else, you can say you've learned something today: not a lot of stairs in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica.


And, I'd be remiss if I wrote about stairs and didn't reference the classic Mitch Hedberg joke about them. It's about halfway through this video. 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

MTB

Variety is the spice of life; well at least that’s what I’m told. With that in mind, I was fortunate two weekends ago to do something different, and try something new. Mountain biking. Mountain biking is a pretty big deal here in Costa Rica, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it’s always biking weather and that more than half of the country’s population lives in a valley between two mountain ranges. Or maybe it’s just one of those things, like how there was a ridiculously high amount of Johnnie (sp?) Walker in Laotian small towns based on the income in those towns. (And why only scotch and no regular whiskey?) My bet’s the former. But, back to the story, after the All Volunteer Conference I received a call from José, one of my two bosses (the conference is a three day get together of all the volunteers in country to share ideas, receive training, and engage socially (my team won trivia night!)).He called asking if I wanted to come through on my one time, off hand statement that I'd like to go mountain biking with him sometime. Because I'm a man of my word, I said yes.

So, after a ridiculously early 5:30 wake up, bus ride to the bus stop at the turn off to my county, and a pick up from José (he was coming from the other way but passing by) I was at my first mountain biking event. It was impressive. As I said, mountain biking is a big deal here, so a bunch of the various mountain biking teams have formed an organization that works with communities to put on mountain biking events. They are essentially races-except no one keeps time and there are no winners. The route is marked, there are snack/water stops, everyone has numbers, some get t-shirts, etc (aka just like a race, but not a race). It was impressive. I say that twice because Costa Rica is not exactly proficient at event planning-but everyone was on a bike, had their number tied on, had water bottles filled, tires pumped, and had checked in by nine o'clock-the official start time. Like, not 9:15, not 9:05, but 9:00. It was impressive. Unfortunately, being a race day sign-up, I didn't get a t-shirt-but I still got two energy bars, so what's there to complain about? (There is one thing, I'll get to it in a minute).

The race was awesome. I had a blast. Of course, I love riding bicycles, so that may have been part of it, but not all of it. It was advertised as the 'Hanging Bridges Route', and we did indeed cross five different hanging bridges. Being hanging bridges, they were all too narrow and unstable to ride over, so we walked that part. I walked some other parts, like up the toughest hill, and the one really technical part of the race. But I'm here to write about it, and lost my pride long ago, so I think walking was the best decision. Most of the race was on dirt roads throughout the Rio Frio district of my county (SE of where I live). It's green. It's pretty. Lots of pretty fields, some nice rainforest. Some great vistas. Some of the road was on narrow trails through the banana fields. Main object during these areas was to avoid running over rocks or hitting myself on the metal fencing and cable supports. Some of it was on dirt trails through the forest by the river. Absolutely beautiful. Main objective was to avoid rocks. A small part of the race was through what was essentially a small stream flowing down into a creek. This was the most difficult terrain of the race. Think of the muddiest road/trail you've ever seen in your life, fill it with rocks and small boulders. This is what we were riding through. Well, I wasn't riding. Unless there is some secret I'm not aware of, it was during this part that I learned that mountain biking is essentially a test of who can best grip his handlebars while continually saying 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit' to himself. Oh, and avoiding the big rocks. That's where the skill comes in: avoiding big rocks. The wonderful bike that José's brother-in-law loaned me performed beautifully, I only broke one spoke. Not bad for a first timer. Not good either.

The only thorn in an otherwise rosy ride was the fact that at one crucial turn in one of the banana fields the sign indicating for the riders to turn right had been taken down (not exactly sure by whom, or why). José and I had met up at a fruit and water break, then crossed over the bridge and ridden through the forest alongside the river. There wasn't anyone close in front of us, and the guys behind us had waited at the bridge for some other riders. So, we entered a banana field on our own. At the T-intersection it wasn't clear which way to go, as there were trails and bike tires in both directions. We chose left. We should've chosen left. We were in the bottom right hand corner of the field, but instead of cutting through this bottom right corner to get to the road, we road all the way through it to the left edge, then all the way around a giant square back to almost where we had started. As José said, the race was 45 km, but we rode 50.

I'm excited to take part in another event, and hopefully won't break anything if I'm allowed to use a borrowed bike again, and yes, I'll make sure to bring a camera next time (unless I'm again coming from a previous trip where I didn't have it). Thanks for reading! Please send grammatical corrections.