The Challenge

iTunes and Canasta, Welcome to Our World

This year we have become re-acquainted with Canasta* - or Hand and Foot - a wonderful card game that has quickly become an key part of our Costa Rican life.  We sit down at the end of a "hard" day (of not doing too much), listen to some wonderful music, make sets that grow into books, practice our math and shuffle endlessly.

The Canasta journey began on a trip to Chicago when our good friends Jeremy and Kim asked us if we would like to play.  After a short explanation it was decided that it would be best to just dive in.  We dove in deeply, but then, as with a lot of things in life, it became a fond memory of good times spent with friends.

This January we dug up the rules that Jeremy and Kim had sent with us to Costa Rica and settled in for a night of card playing with our friends Megon and Kevin.  After a long day at baseball camp it was a perfect way to spend the evening.  The following weekend we were in Cahuita with other volunteers and the cards came out once again.  After two nights in one week a long standing tournament was established, one that will continue as we spend time with Megon and Kevin over the next year or so that we have left in Costa Rica (right now it's tied: Girls -1, Boys - 1).

Needless to say, those two evenings of playing with friends resulted in the development of house rules and our own in-home tournament was established.  This tournament began on February 1 and it is scheduled to end on May 21, 2012.  After about three weeks of playing, being tied 7-7 and having roughly the same score it was decided that stakes needed to be made.

And so, here they are, the Chris and Tarah Canasta Challenge 2011-2012 stakes:

• At the time of COS (Close of Service) in May 2012, the individual with the most wins will receive two 15-minute back massages per win over the other individual, to be given by the losing individual
• At the time of COS in May 2012, the individual with the most points may choose one of the following:
• To double the number of back massages received should he or she also have the most wins
• To halve the number of back massages given should he or she have fewer wins

After a thoughtful dinner the following conditions were also made:

• At the time of the Panama City International Marathon (December 4, 2011) the individual with the most wins will receive a 30-minute full body massage post-race
• At the time of the Panama City International Marathon (December 4, 2011) the individual with the most points will receive a 15-minute full body massage post-race

And so, our quiet evenings of reading and listening to podcasts have since turned into nail biting escapades with tricky plays made and cries of excitement at the draw of 22 cards exactly at the start of a hand.  There are references made to our time in Chicago with statements such as, "Kim would be so proud" or "You just pulled a Kim" (no offense to Jeremy, Kim just may be the more gutsy player).  We find ourselves glad to have a hand full of black 3s because it allows you to play more defensively and when you have the chance you complete a clean book before melding.  We're each developing our own strategies and this is how they have rewarded us thus far:

• Tarah: 10 Wins & 175,075 Points
• Chris: 7 Wins & 168.565 Points

The tables turn quickly though, don't be fooled.  Just a week ago Chris was winning 6-5 and by more than 5,000 points.  We'll be biting our nails and improving our strategies over the next year +.  Look for an update of wins and scores this coming November as we head into a visit by our parents and then the fateful trip to Panama City, Panama where the first of the winner's booty will be received!

*Note: These rules are pretty similar to how we play, however there are some differences.  If you want to start playing, do a Google search and find the rules that you like best and make your own house rules!

8 Hours + 6 Buses =

Last weekend we traveled with our host parents to Grecia for one of their grandson's 4th birthday party.  We left the house at 6AM and arrived at the party at 2PM.  We thankfully had seats on all of our buses.

We did have a couple of layovers - one in Grecia Center for an hour, during which time our host mom managed to take us through the Iron Church (made purely of metal) and squeeze in an eye exam (I took advantage of our location and bought some contact lenses) and another at our host mom's mom's house for lunch.

The party was pretty much what you would expect for a 4 year old's birthday - balloons, a clown (one of our host mom's sisters), a piñata, candy, ice cream, cake and a table full of presents.  There was classic rock playing in the background and not a whole lot of dancing going on.  The adults were there to eat and the kids were there because their parents dragged them along.

We had a great time though as is evident by the photos above!

The next morning we woke up to the cool mountain air of Cajon Arriba and enjoyed a couple of walks through the countryside while waiting for the next round of buses.

Bosque Alegre Wildlife Refuge

After a respite of more than a year, we were able to dive into a weekend adventure that included backpacking and camping, two of our favorite things!  Thanks to the planning skills of our newfound CouchSurfing friends, Matt and Megan, we were able to explore some of Costa Rica's natural beauty just outside of Cariblanco, a community north of San José.

Saturday morning we woke up not so bright, but early (two weeks in a row, I know!) and made some last minute adjustments to our packs to account for the rain that was pouring down.  Our bus was surprisingly early and did not go to the community beyond ours and so we ended up running through the rain, after the bus, hoping that we would be able to make it to town in time.  It turned out that the bus was stopped just around the corner, but it made for an exhilarating start to the weekend.

Once we made it to Cariblanco we had a 6 km hike to the Bosque Alegre Wildlife Refuge where we were going to spend our evening.  The Bosque is home to the Congo Volcano (dormant for many years) and three lagoons, Hule, Congo, and Bosque Alegre.  We were fortunate enough to spend time at both Hule and Bosque Alegre during our quick trip.

Hule Lagoon

We arrived at the overlook for Hule Lagoon shortly before the fog rolled in and were blessed with beautiful views of nature.  The lagoon in and of itself was gorgeous, but there were also great waterfalls peeking through the jungle that grew on the mountainside.  We saw a pair of toucans hopping through the trees below and were able to examine them a little more closely thanks to our last minute investment of binoculars (purchased in the weeks before coming to Costa Rica).  Their colors were amazingly brilliant, something I hadn't quite expected. With florescent green beaks, bright yellow chests, and turquoise blue feet we were shocked into awe and were left wishing that our cameras could magnify as well as binoculars!

In front of Hule Lagoon

Matt and Megan

With the fog rolling in (and quickly obscuring the amazing views from above) we decided to make the hike to the waters edge.  The hike down was pretty quick, though rocky, and required skirting some mud holes and also crossing one mountain stream.  We also had to take a break to allow for the ATVs and dirt bikes that came flying through the woods - we stepped to the side (heeding Matt's warnings to keep an eye out for snakes) and tried to not inhale too much exhaust.  When we decided that the threat of being run over no longer existed we finished our hike to the water's edge and found a crew of Ticos prepared to camp for the night and cleaning the fish that they had caught.

We ate a quick lunch and then moved on, hearing that there was another lagoon about 30 minutes away.  We didn't want to spend our night in the wilderness in the middle of a fishing party and we were unable to find trees that we thought would satisfactorily hold our hammock.

Our hike took us through the muddy trails that the ATV and dirt bike crew had followed and once again had to stop to let them pass.  We mostly avoided sinking up to our ankles in mud and didn't slip and slide too much (thank you trekking poles!) as we made our way to Bosqu Alegre Lagoon.  We were in heaven when we arrived.  The site was quiet, had a flat spot for Matt and Megan's tent and several tree options for our hammock.  We began setting up camp as a storm rolled in.

It was during this time that each member of our crew of experienced adventurers did the thing that we all knew not to do.  We set up our sleeping arrangements without ever having done so before.  Matt and Megan had a new tent that they hadn't used before, but at least it was a tent and could rely basic tent setting up knowledge to make their home for the night.  We dove into the adventure of setting up a camping hammock for the first time (aside from one quick test in NC where we only set up the hammock and our butts touched the ground when we got in it).  We knew that the hammock needed to be slid inside of the mosquito net and that the rain fly covered everything in order to stay dry - but who couldn't figure that out?  After two attempts we were satisfied with our end result and happily moved the rest of our gear out of the rain.  Then the rain stopped - good timing, right?

Success!

With the rain gone and the knowledge that darkness would soon be upon us, we decided that it was time to settle in for dinner.  We made some delicious angel hair pasta with mushroom sauce (Costa Rica has some wonderful foods that come in backpacker friendly packaging) and miso soup to fight the chill (yes, we've become accustomed to the heat that smothers the non-mountainous areas of Costa Rica).  As we were finishing up we heard a sound in the trees overhead and were able to spot a critter that seemed to have fallen from a higher branch upon waking up!  After looking around online we have been able to deduce that that critter was most likely a Mexican Mouse Opposum.  It checked us out for a while, we checked it out, and then it made its graceful escape by jumping from tree to tree and disappearing into the darkness.

Matt then went to get some water to clean with, but on his way to the lagoon let out a cry and quickly came back to camp.  His not so exact words were, "I think it was a rodent-type thing.  It looked like a frog and moved like a snake."  Megan more or less replied, "like a lizard?"  This was the most profound conversation we had with our more scientifically minded friends over the weekend.

At that we called it a night and with the exception of Chris falling out of the hammock while trying to get into it, we had a successful first night in our ENO Camping Hammock.  We stayed dry and weren't quite touching the ground when we woke up.  We had also reached Chris's goal of not dieing during the night.  We might do some things differently in the future, but even so, the adventure left us longing for our MSR Hubba Hubba (and the places it has been) which has taken up residence in North Carolina until May 2012.

Rising to the sounds of Congos and the bright sun (at roughly 5:30am) we set to breaking camp (also a learning experience) and making breakfast (opening a package of queque seco - dry cake and mixing together fruit flavored oatmeal drinks).  We were on the trail shortly after seven to be sure that we would make our bus back to Puerto.  We had been given an hour time period during which our bus would leave, so we erred on the side of safety and got to town about two hours before the bus left.

Bosque Alegre Lagoon in the Morning

Hule Lagoon in the Morning
(Notice the islands of vegetation that
were not there the afternoon before)

Work Trip?

This past weekend we had the pleasure of attending a Peace Corps meeting at the beach.  Costa Rica is divided into volunteer regions, and we are a part of the Limon region which includes a number of wonderful people, places and beaches.  We held our regional volunteer meeting in the quaint beach town of Cahuita and had a wonderful time with friends.

We left our house not so bright, but early, on Saturday morning and took the adventurous trip that had us ride four buses, get in an argument with bus terminal employees and eat some chocolate and caramel covered peanuts.  The first three of our bus rides went quite smoothly and lined up perfectly, allowing just enough time to buy tickets and grab a seat.  The fourth should have gone just as smoothly - we watched it happen with friends of ours on the same travel schedule.  

The transition to our final bus, or lack of transition depending on your point of view, led to our argument with bus terminal employees.  We got in line, the controller on duty asked us where we were going as he was getting ready to send the Cahuita bus on its way.  He stood in line with us, Chris ordered our tickets and handed over money, the controller took the slips that the woman passed through the window and we followed him to the bus.  He handed the slips to the bus driver through the window, we told the bus driver this when we got on, he looked at us like we were crazy, we got off the bus to look for the controller, Chris talked to the woman at the ticket counter who said she had never seen him or his money before and the bus took off.  We eventually found the controller again who explained that the slips he had taken were to tell the bus driver how many tickets he should have received from paid fares.  After we explained the situation he told us that the woman at the ticket counter was crazy and came with us to make sure we got our tickets and our change (since Chris had paid 5000 colones and it should have only cost 2010).  Thankfully we only had to wait 30 minutes (enough time for chocolate caramel peanuts) for the next bus and we were able to meet up with our friends in time for lunch in Cahuita.

We had a wonderful lunch of rice and beans (a dish prepared with coconut milk and a little Caribbean spice), patacones (one of our favorite items prepared with plantains) and fish.  Another group of volunteers met up with us shortly after we got our food and later we all headed to the beach to toss around a Frisbee and play some Ultimate.  It was great to catch up with people that we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving or before.

Before dinner we came together for our "business" meeting and discussed how things were going and how things could be improved in Peace Corps Costa Rica then the group split into smaller groups for more delicious food.  We went out with our friends Megon and Kevin and ate some delicious pasta full of vegetables that weren't cooked to the point of mush and then returned to the hotel to play a rousing game of Canasta (or Hand and Foot, depending on where you're from).  We had played earlier in the week and the boys had won, the girls were the champions at the beach and now we have a running tally for our remaining time in Peace Corps.  We'll see who walks away with the most wins at the end of May 2012!

We got up early Sunday morning and caught the sunrise over the Atlantic.  After it had passed the stage of beautiful colors a group of us headed to Cahuita National Park.  We walked about 3 kilometers of trail through the seaside jungle and saw Cara Blancas (White Face Monkeys) and Congos (Howler Monkeys) as we walked out to the point where we turned around.  On our return trip we ran into a guided group and the guide was nice enough to pause his tour to point out a Sloth to us and lead us down the trail a bit to see an Eyelash Viper!  Several photos later we walked out of the park and headed into town for a delicious breakfast complete with multi-grain bread (a real treat for us!).

After breakfast it was time for us to call an end to our weekend escape and we returned to the hotel for quick showers before walking to the bus terminal.  We had an uneventful trip home and as nice as it had been to be away for the weekend with friends, were glad to be back in the comforts of home.

"Summer" Camp

During the month of January we offered a series of camps for local youth to participate in.  We weren't sure what to expect as the community was really quiet starting in December.  People were using their vacation time to visit family in other parts of Costa Rica or in Nicaragua and so we crossed our fingers and hoped for a good turn out.  The first two weeks were rainy, but we had been given keys to the school so we had a classroom to work in and then for the third week we had glorious weather! 

Week One: Art Camp

Our first week of camp was quite successful.  We had an average of about ten kids a day, some days more, some days less.  We crowded in to our little classroom every day, seeking shelter from the rain and focused on our artwork.  Monday we drew, Tuesday we painted, Wednesday we made friendship bracelets, Thursday we did origami and Friday we celebrated by doing a little bit of everything.  The biggest hit of the week was coloring books.  We had gotten them so that we would have something for the little kids to do, but throughout the week kids of all ages colored and they loved it!  

Week Two: Games Camp

Our game camp was a little slower than art camp.  Actually, a lot slower.  We had more rain and we were more or less without our classroom.  While we still had the keys, all of the chairs and desks had been moved out of it for a wedding reception over the weekend and had been returned to a different classroom.  We made due though with handy foam mats that we had purchased as a teaching tool.  We used the mats as protection from the concrete floors and played away.  Each day of camp was more or less the same since we didn't have enough kids to do all of the activities that we had planned on.  Instead we played numerous games of Uno, Garbage, Left-Right-Center, and Go Fish.  The kids enjoyed the card games, but we changed things up on Friday and introduced Checkers and Can't Stop!  It was a great week even if we didn't have as many kids as we would have liked.

Week Three: Sports Camp

Sports Camp was definitely a winner, as we had thought it would be.  We had about 14 kids a day, topping out at 19 on Friday.  We had perfect weather all week, not too hot with some cloud cover - just what was needed to get kids out from in front of the TV and into the plaza.  Monday we played soccer, Tuesday we played basketball, Wednesday we played baseball, Thursday we played Frisbee and Friday we played Ultimate Frisbee for an hour and soccer for an hour.  This was a special week because on Wednesday we had a couple of friends join us to help with baseball.  Kevin is a huge baseball fan and was able to teach kids games that we wouldn't have been able to come up with!  His wife Megon joined in and we were able to break the kids into two groups for stations - Kevin and Megon working on batting and Chris and I on catching.

"Summer" is quickly coming to a close.  School starts next week and so we are in planning mode this week.  We hope to meet with school directors and get activities lined up now so that we can get started right away this year.  We have big ideas - we'll let you know which ones actually work out!

Tradition

The holidays were far from what we are used to this year, but in the midst of all of what we perceived as abnormalities we were fortunate to learn about and take part in some Costa Rican traditions.  While we both brought our own family traditions into our lives together, this year we learned some new ones that we think we will add to our repertoire.  

A couple of days before Christmas we were invited to participate in the age old tradition of making tamales.  For several weeks we had been hearing talk of making tamales and people had been asking us what we would do since tamales are traditionally made with meat.  María, our host mom, had already talked with us about the million and a half options we would have.  We could make them with a bunch of vegetables, with hearts of palm, with beans, with soy meat; she was very concerned about us having tamales that we could eat and was thus very resourceful in coming up with ways that we could participate in one of the most important parts of the Christmas holiday.  In the end we made them the traditional way, just substituting the meat with refried beans.

In reality making tamales is a day long event.  There is masa to make, banana leaves to smoke and cut (unless you buy them pre-cut), vegetables to prepare, meat (or beans) to cook, and string to cut.  Then you need to put them all together and boil/steam them for about an hour and fifteen minutes (depending on how many you are making).  We only ended up participating in the second to last step - putting all of the parts together.

Rafa, our host dad, walked us through the steps and he and his sister kept a watchful eye on us throughout the entire process.  First we had to layer two banana leaves, one small one diagonally on top of a slightly larger one.  Then we had to put some masa in the middle and spread it out a little.  The masa was followed by rice, beans, green bean, carrot, red pepper, peas, and a sprig of cilantro.  Once all of the ingredients were placed on the leaves, it was time to roll them up.  Sometimes we had too many ingredients in one tamal making it difficult to roll, but with a little help from Rafa's sister, everything came together smoothly.  Once two packets were prepared they were tied together tightly to keep all of the yummy goodness from escaping during the cooking process.

All together we made ten pairs of tamales.  María put them in a pot to boil and an hour and a half later she called us out for dinner.  They were delicious.  They were still delicious the next morning when we at them for breakfast, and they only got tastier over time.  When we finished the last ones up at dinner the other day they were spectacular.

Needless to say, tamales will be coming home with us (or at least the knowledge of how to make them!)  We are excited about sharing this new skill with our families when we return state side and are perhaps even more excited about eating them again next Christmas!  New Christmas tradition, check!

The other tradition that we will be brining back home with us is a family tradition of María.  She learned it from her mom, who learned it from her mom, who learned it from an aunt, and who knows how many generations before her did the same.

On New Year's Eve day, a plate is prepared for the coming year.  On it you will find rice, beans, salt, bread and money.  Then, on New Year's Day all of the items are placed in a small pouch and hung on the back of the door.  It is hoped that in return your family will have plenty to eat and enough money to live happily and healthfully.

At the end of the year, the old food is thrown out and the money is given to a local church or charity to help those who were not as fortunate.  It is a way to give back and to look forward.

We plan to add our own twist to this tradition when we bring it to our home, and that will be to add a locket with photos of us in it, so as to bless the year with family, friendship, and love.

The traditions may be small, but then, most are.  We look at it as a way of brining our Costa Rican life home with us and of always having the memories of our 'family' and friends here.

  

Top Ten Albums of 2010

Thanks to dropbox, I didn't lack for albums to listen to this year.  However, short of a few albums I heard on vinyl and/or a proper stereo before landing in Costa Rica, the music of 2010 has been heard via earbuds and/or laptop speakers, and that is no way to really listen to music.  Right after family and friends, I'm most looking forward to reconnecting with my vinyl collection and stereo.  I miss the smell of a brand new lp and familiar pop of the needle dropping.  I miss other things of course, but mostly I miss those other things while listening to music.  It will be nice to cook my own recipes, in our own kitchen, but it will be great to cook in a home filled with the sweet sounds of jazz/indie rock/folk/hip-hop...

Without further ado, the list:

10. Broken Bells -Broken Bells
This album is so predictably good, it almost feels like a guilty pleasure.

9. Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid
Step aside Maya.

8. Sleigh Bells - Treats
I can't decide whether this is the most abrasive pop album ever, or the poppiest noize record ever.

7. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
It's no Funeral... the same way that In Utero is no Nevermind.

6. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Replace the opener with the cut from Dark Was the Night and this album jumps 5 spots.

5. Fang Island - Fang Island
Math can be fun! (SUPER FUN!!!)

4. No Age - Everything In Between
This year's grower (give it another listen Jeremy)

3. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
The perfect mash up of Weezer (The Blue Album) and Pinkerton

2. Damien Jurardo - Saint Bartlett
2010's Bill Callahan

1. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
If I could only listen to one album from 2010, this would be it.  This collective is greater because of its parts.