They weren't kidding

 So, they say "pura vida" in Costa Rica, about Costa Rica, when someone even THINKS Costa Rica, and I thought it was just a job well done by the tourist department. But, um, yeah, I really feel I am living the "pura vida" here. MUCH of that has to do with the freedom of getting to be a new version of myself, with none of the history of who I am at home, or the responsibilities I have weighing me down. But I am on vacation. Folks who live here also revel in Pura Vida. The grandfather of the house, Jose Luis, just brought me and the grandmother of the house, Rosa, but everyone calls her Flory, freshly squeezed orange juice from an orange that was on the tree this morning. Flory is in the kitchen singing while making "torta peresosa de manzanas." Last night during dinner, we had a great chat about my style of cooking being "peresoso" or lazy. Cooking ever part of dinner in the same pot so I don't have to wash more than one, or microwaving tostito scoops with cheese and calling it lazy nachos. 

harina de trigo, polvo para hornear y
azúcar sobre manzanas con canela

So far, NOTHING I have seen is lazy about this dish, except that it is all made in one dish, layer by layer. Peeling and coring the apples is NOT an easy or non messy task... I didn't catch a photo of the apples covered in cinnamon as the first layer, but I was able to snap a photo of the "dry" layer going in: a mix of wheat flour, baking powder, and sugar was the next layer:

Next came spooning butter over everything into little ponds of butter. Last she added the beaten eggs, turning the butter ponds in to egg and butter lakes. She poked everything with a fork to give the liquid layer some support to seep into the dry layer and put the whole dish to the side to allow the whole thing to mix.

capa de mantequilla seguida de huevo 

Now she is preparing a puree of cas with banana and we're listening to bolero music and dancing in the kitchen. Seriously, life is good in Costa Rica!

So, with my first free morning I was going to catch you all up on the various actividades (I wrote that instead of activites and decided to keep it), but clearly this has turned into a post about the family that has taken me in here in Costa Rica. I have been VERY lucky in Host Families. I had the BEST family in Georgia, who I miss so much every day. And now, I am going to have another family I will think of ALL the time when I get back to the states. It has been less than a week, but I love them all so much.

So from the top: Jose Luis and Flory (Rosa). They have a small garage/store in the front of the house. Flory is KNOWN for her incredible pan (bread) and if their store had any kind of internet presence, I would give 100 stars. Every morning the two of them prepare breakfast. It has been different every day, and they introduce something new for me every time. Today it was gallo pinto (spotted rooster, AKA rice and beans), huevos (eggs), and miel (honey) on my pan (bread). Along with various fruits it was a perfect breakfast. As every breakfast has been. They are both so welcoming and so happy in the morning, it is impossible to stay sleepy for long. Their happiness is infections, and they passed it along to their kids.

They have four children: Seidy, Marino, Dinia, y Rolando. I have not met Rolando yet, but I have seen photos of his VERY cute children with their Abuela Flory. Seidy doesn't live in the same house I am in, she lives a whole block away! I went over to her place one night to see the lights of San Jose and the surrounding mountains and it took my breath away. She lives in a block of her husband's family, as I live surrounded by houses of Flory's family. Seidy's husband's family owns an events and parties space, filled with incredible plants, flowers and trees. I keep meaning to go back and see the flowers by day, but there is always so much to see and do, I keep missing my chance. But she has promised when it comes time to harvest the mangos, she will let me know to come and help. Her daughter Milena actually is living in this house with her grandparents. Milena is in her 20s and teaches Portuguese. After my first VERY long Monday, which included an hour speaking Yiddish followed by four hours of Spanish class, she greeted me at the house in Portuguese. I am telling you, my mind about exploded from different language overload. I first met her briefly on Sunday because she was headed to the San Jose Pride March. Like I said, this is my kind of family.

Mirano and Dinia are the siblings that live in the house. Marino was the first person in the family I saw when he and Jose Luis and Flory picked me up from the airport. He is very funny. He doesn't speak much English, but he is good at modifying his Spanish to help me understand. Dinia lived in the United States for 8 years and has the strongest English in the family, but when I am confused by a word or have clearly not understood, she never reverts to English until she has tried to describe what is going on in words I am more likely to understand at least 3 or more times. I am VERY happy here.

So, I had finished writing all that and was starting to get ready to head out to the school for an afternoon of class (every school-day 1pm-5pm). I mentioned leaving around noon, and suddenly there was rapid spanish and all kinds of activity around me, which I was oblivious to until later events made me remember. Jose Luis went out, I hung out with Dinia and read her poetry in Spanish and English, and Jose Luis came back from his shopping trip. He took out cheese, tortillas, and a few dozen eggs (there are a lot of people in this house and we all love eggs, nevermind the eggs needed for Flory's bread and other wonderful creations. Then, he looked at me, and, with a HUGE grin on his face, pulled out white bread. I finally figured out WHY they wanted me to stay for lunch. As part of the program, I get breakfast and dinner from the host family, but am responsible for my own lunch. But today, we were going to have the food I had brought from my home. 

Behold, the Fluffernutter

Fluffernutters went over VERY well. There was MUCH unhappiness when they discovered that the store that imports a lot of food from the United States, doesn't import Fluff. I guess I am just going to have to come back sometime with a few jars of fluff, the same way I did this time: the jars all wrapped in 2 layers of ziplock bags and one plastic bag to be SURE any expansion does not result in a fluff filled suitcase.