Costa Rica Parte Una: McPinto and a Haunted Sanatorio

People always get super envious when I mention that we are making a trip to Costa Rica to visit Husband’s parents and brother. I am always a bit more nonchalant as I regard it as a family trip to visit the in-laws. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy going and appreciate that I have the opportunity to go more than the average person. I get that it is a cool and exotic locale that I get to go to instead of say, um… Normal, Illinois. No offense to Normal. I am sure it is a lovely little city. It just happens to be the first place that popped in my head. Probably because it is called Normal. Who came up with that one? That city was destined to get a bum rap from the get go!

However, back to my point. Think about your own family trips. It is always fun and exciting because you get to see people you don’t see that often and you are leaving your home base for new surroundings for a while. However, really THINK about what you do. You just hang out most of the time and revel in being lazy. You eat, watch TV, putz on the computer, read guilty pleasures books and magazines, visit with family and friends, sleep lots, etc. You venture out occasionally to run errands or maybe go shopping, and your hosts probably plan one or two fun excursions while you are there. I am right, aren’t I!?! It is not like when you take a getaway vacation to some place new and exciting where you: Cram. In. Everything. You. Possibly. Can. (In way too short amount of time to really see any thing). I think that is how everyone envisions our trips to Costa Rica because they are seeing it as a vacation destination and not as just Husband’s childhood home. Of course, we do manage to add some fun to our family visit so it is a vacation, too! So that it what I am going to share: the fun vacationy stuff. Cuz, let me tell you, I have done plenty of the hum drum stuff above, and boy, it has been lovely to be lazy and relax! Unfortunately, I don’t think you would find it particularly interesting reading.

First, some general impressions of Costa Rica and San Jose. I have actually spent quite a bit of time in Central America, and there is a definite look and feel to this region of the world. Part of it is the terrain (lush, green, tropical, mountainous), another part the language and the people, and the other part is just the general look of the architecture. I think the design of buildings is large part of the familiarity I have encountered in my travels. I suspect for durability (earthquakes, humid and damp climates) and cost, most homes are made of cinder blocks and are quite boxy and flat. In the city, everything is fenced, walled, and gated. There are bars on the windows and doors, and often razor wire on top of the walls. It makes you realize how naively we often take our security for granted in our own neighborhoods. Now, in actuality, I have never felt particularly unsafe in any of my Latin American travels, although I often am quite aware of my gringaness (I think I just made that word up). Get ready for more Spanglish, by the way.

This is about my sixth trip to Costa Rica, and I definitely grow to appreciate it more and more with each visit. San Jose is really like any other large city other than the differences in architecture and the signs being in a different language. I am honestly not that familiar with the city. Despite the numerous extended stays, I still do not feel like I know how to get around the city and only have a vague sense of its layout. I guess we can chalk that up to my laziness in ambition to familiarize myself, as well as a lack of need, to date. I try to pay attention when we are out in the car, but I don’t think I could get to my in-laws’ house on my own even if my life depended on it. I also realized that we spend most of our time in the equivalent of a suburb of the city so that doesn't really help either. In fact, I have only been to downtown proper on a few occasions. On my last visit, R and I did a little exploring, and he took me to a cool museum (Museo Nacional) and an historic theatre (Teatro Nacional). However, that is about it for my city explorations. When we explore, we head out of the city.

Even after all my travels here and there, I am still taken off guard when I see something familiar like a Taco Bell or Papa John’s plopped down in somewhat alien surroundings. You have such a sense of differentness when travelling that it seems odd to see something that you associate with the United States right there in front of you. I do not really find it that comforting. I enjoy the experience of being some place different, and for me, it almost seems incorrect to have it invaded by something that I regard as such American icons (or perhaps blights???). I am sure the locals are happy to be able ogle the waitresses at Hooter’s (yes, there is one), to make their McDonald’s run, and enjoy the Colonel’s chicken, but give me comida tipica!

Speaking of which, I saw the funniest thing today. See, the national dish of Costa Rica is called Gallo Pinto. It is basically a mixture of day old rice, black bean, onions, peppers, and seasonings that is fried up and served for breakfast with tortillas and a fried egg on top. Yummo! So we are driving down the street, and I am reading all the signs and billboards like I always do in a weird effort to increase my familiarity with the Spanish language. What do I see? I see a McDonald’s bulletin board advertising McPinto Deluxe. I am not even kidding. They were advertising their own offering of Gallo Pinto that they are calling McPinto. I was pretty much speechless.

Onto the first actual adventure in this blog series. The day after Christmas, R and I headed to a supposedly haunted, abandoned sanitarium as a fun get out of the house excursion with his brother and several of his friends. It is located in the outskirts of Cartago and has been used as a tuberculosis hospital called Prusia, as an insane asylum called Sanatorio Carlos Duran, and an orphanage for children. It was really out in the middle of nowhere farm land with the next closest landmark being a volcano that last erupted in the 1960’s, which apparently led to it being vacated for the last time, I think. I did not get the haunted vibe at all, but I wasn’t really looking for it, and perhaps there was too many visitors for shy ghosties. It was creepy, though, when you thought about what is was used for in the past, and the hallway with all the children’s handprints was a little unsettling. On R’s Facebook photo album, I called it a tropical Shutter Island. Along with the interesting architecture, there was tons of more current graffiti throughout the entire building. Here is a link with a few more details if you are interested, as well as someone else’s blog entry with a good picture and some creepy stories about the place. Side note: he references Louisville's Waverly Sanitarium in the same blog. How funny!

It was not quite as abandoned as we expected as they were actually charging admission, and this was not apparently an original idea given the holidays so there were quite a few visitors besides just ourselves. Despite the unexpected popularity and commercialism, it was still quite an interesting exploration. As I previously mentioned, there is definite architectural style that you encounter in most of Latin America. I will call it cement block utilitarianism. It has its own weird charm, but it is definitely unlike anything that most of us North Americans are used to encountering. This place did not fit this design mold at all. It had hard wood floors and painted plaster walls in most places and more of what I would consider a North American design style. Not really sure why it ended up being built this way, but it is obvious why you don’t see much of this style and use of materials around these parts. The wet, humid climate, along with neglect has taken its toll. Despite its unpleasant past uses, I could almost imagine that at one point it had a sort of dignified beauty about it. It was huge, and it felt like a maze with its multiple wings, floors and rooms connecting to rooms connecting to rooms.

On the way back, R’s brother took us to one of his favorite places for lunch, Posada De La Luna . It provided typical Costa Rican cuisine (comida tipica) that did not let us down, including freshly made corn tortillas, yummy plaintains (maduros), yucca frita, and this really awesome tortilla de queso. It is kind of hard to describe as it is not a quesadilla. It is more like they took masa and local salty cheese, mixed it all up into a thick tortilla and pan fried it. Soooo good! I also had my first refresco naturale, otherwise known as fresh fruit juice. I got mora (blackberry). R likes his with leche (yuk). However, I was jealous of his cool cookie on top! It was a yummy way to wrap up our adventure for the day.

Cultural End Note: Christmas is a big deal here in this majority Catholic country. Everyone gets into the spirit. Gas stations are over the top decorated with garlands and trees on top of gas pumps. Everywhere you look there are nativity scenes. Christmas Eve, in particular, is a huge celebratory night with evening masses and lots of fireworks and firecrackers. Long after we went to bed, or tried to at least, they continued on and on and on….

Husband will get all photo credits on this trip as chief camera operator. Here is a link to his facebook album. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38202&id=100000653285100&l=09e73271ea

Aunty C Returns to Middle America (AKA, Indiana and Kentucky)

I became an aunt for the first time on June 12, 2010. I am definitely a big fan of being an aunt. I feel extra cool and stuff, and I don’t have to worry about all that scary parenting! Due to the craziness that has been my life since making the decision to move to Flagstaff, I have not been able to make a trip home to meet my lovely little niece. This is definitely where technology makes distance easier, though. I have watched her grow over the last 6 months, so I have not felt completely disconnected. Again, also due the craziness that has been our life, we have not been back to Louisville or my parent’s house up the river in Indiana since last winter. Although I have a whole month off from school and work, it was not possible to find a period of time during said month when all my family would be in Indiana, if you can believe it! Anyways. I was able to find a long weekend shortly before the end of the semester where I could slip away for a visit. Of course, I naively thought I would be all done with my school work, but more on that later.

A remote location definitely makes traveling longer. I arrived at the Flagstaff airport at dawn (at least there is an airport, right?), then headed to Phoenix, then to Charlotte (where the sun was now setting), before finally landing in Louisville. My pictures from the airport make it clear I had arrived in Louisville. It has been a while since I have actually flown to Louisville, and I don’t remember these goofy things, but they are so Kentucky I just could resist a couple of quick snapshots.

Although the flying part of my journey was quite done at that point, it was still an hour and twenty minute drive to my parent’s house in Madison. We went to dinner in Louisville at one of my favorite places to eat: Café Lou Lou. R and I are addicted to the Mezze Platter. Although it is on the menu as an appetizer, we make a very good meal out of it. What is it about dips? It is so fun to pile up a little bit of this and a little bit of that onto a pita. It is definitely one of my favorite Mediterranean dishes of all time. We have attempted a couple of times to make some of the more unusual items on the platter with varying degrees of success. Here is a picture, although it is a little dark.

As referenced earlier, I was not done with my mountains of end of semester writing even though I had anticipated being done with everything by the time I travelled. So, I spent Friday morning holed up writing away. I was thrilled that my darling Callie kitty was excited to see me. It has been hit or miss with her affection since they were moved to “grandma and grandpa’s” house after R and I got married. No pets allowed in campus housing, sigh. She snuggled up with me all night and as you can see, was a great foot warmer while I was writing my papers. However, Roxie, our

Brittany spaniel, was very jealous of all the attention she was getting so, she had to get up on the bed, too. Talk about two jealous old ladies! They are not each other’s biggest fans and I think they spend a lot of time competing for who gets the most love. Callie swats at Roxie when she gets too close, but Roxie knows she has the size advantage. After a morning of writing, my mom and I headed to my Nana’s house (godmother) as I had not had a chance to see her in a long time. She is a wonderful woman who has literally known me since the day I was born, and once kindly put a roof over my head for a few months while I was in transition after college.

That evening, I met up with a high school friend, A, at one of the local wineries. Here is a link to The Thomas Family Winery. It is still sometimes referred to as “the old Greyhound station.” I met Steve and Elizabeth shortly after they moved to Madison to start the winery, gosh… wow… close to 15 years ago. Where does the time go? They make wonderful wines, have live music on the weekends, are great hosts, and provide an all around great pub like atmosphere. So A and I spent several hours gabbing and catching up over red wine and cheese. We have travelled a lot together over the years, but it has been a while. So, we are planning a trip for the fall of 2012 when I should have my diploma in hand and hopefully a new job. She always has the best ideas. We are going to do a Irish horse drawn caravan trip. Okay, I know you are going, what??? I did the same thing until she sent me a link explaining it. So here is a link that does a much better job of showing you what it is all about. I think it is gonna be way cool and an interesting way to explore the Irish country side. http://www.irishhorsedrawncaravans.com/

Saturday was our big family gathering. My sister, her husband, and my darling niece came down from Indianapolis along with my other sister who is in college there. J’s birthday happened to be on Monday, so we celebrated her birthday. I won’t overwhelm you with a bazillion pictures, but here are a few highlights of me and my crazy family. If you want to see more, you can check out my album on Facebook. As you can see most of the day was about my niece and her being the center of attention. As the first grandchild and niece of our generation, I think she had more pictures taken than the average super model on a photo shoot! She is 6 months old, so she is at that super cute age where she is aware of you, getting wiggly, rolls around a lot, and almost crawling. She has also found her voice and is starting to babble. Anyways, it was great fun, and yes, I did let other people hold her. The pictures are proof of that! After a busy day of family and food, I was headed to “the Ville,” (Louisville) or Luhvul as we like to say. If you say “Lewisville” or “Looeyville” people will know you are NOT from the area.

I get to feed my niece

Gnawing on the best toy ever, Sophie the Giraffe, that Auntie C gave her

Grandma and Grandpa!

Siblings and Darling Niece Shot with Jule's Birthday Cake

This is what happens when we try to take a picture together (it took about three)

Much better with Darling Niece

I can't remember the last time we had a picture with the whole family. And everyone actually looks good in it!

The next 24 hours was a whirlwind of meeting up with good friends from my Louisville days. Starting with a sushi dinner on Saturday with my good friend C (where I, as usual ordered too many rolls), Sunday brunch at Lynn’s Paradise Cafe for the best biscuits and gravy (why oh why is there no good biscuits and gravy out west???), on to tea and Cake Flour cupcakes (featured on Food Network's Best Thing I Ever Ate) at the Hillbilly Tea (which is a new and super cute downtown destination, and I would totally have eaten there if not stuffed from biscuits and gravy). Then I did mad more paper writing to meet my Sunday night deadline then wrapped up with a good gab fest with my host P (and bestie) and our good friend Double D. I should mention that P fosters another one of our cats, Kobi. He was a bit standoffish, but as you can see, he

couldn’t resist curling up with my netbook. After they left, I finished proofing my paper so I could email it from a local coffee shop, before heading back to Madison. It was getting pretty late in the day and the snow was sticking so I was in a hurry. This is where it gets interesting, frustrating, and embarrassing.

I load my backpack and purse into my mom’s Pathfinder, and pull out the snow scraper to brush off the snow. I had the brilliant idea to start the car so it could warm up while I was getting the snow off. A little voice in my head told me to leave the door open as I had vague recollections of it being easy to lock the keys in this car. So, this went fine, until I rounded the final corner, skidded a bit, knocked the door and it swung shut. I had that NOOOOOOO moment. Then I thought to myself that maybe I had made up that whole locking the keys in the car business, so I tried the handle. Nope, definitely locked. Tried the other three and the back, just in case. Yep. Definitely locked. Did I mention it was snowing? Did I mention the car was running? Did I mention everything, including my cell phone and AAA card were in the locked car? Did I mention that my host had already left for some evening plans? Pretty sure I used some strong expletive for a few minutes while I considered my options. Knowing that P has decent relationships with her neighbors, I went there and knocked. I introduced myself and explained my sorry situation. They very kindly let me in to use their phone and internet to look up a number for AAA. Which, by the way, is very difficult to find on their website. Humph! Called for lock service, and then called my mom to break the news about why I was going to be a bit later than I had planned. Well, then I learned that there was a key hidden for that very reason… So, called AAA back to cancel service, and was on my way about five minutes later. Stopped at Highland Coffee for a latte and to email my final paper. I really wanted a mocha with blackberry whip cream (and I always order my drinks without whip, so it is THAT good), but was in a bit of a sugar overload by the end of my day, so went for the straight latte. A very slow 45 mph drive then ensued, and I made it home almost two hours later. Sheesh! What an end to the day.

Other than a lunch date with another high school friend, the rest of my trip was pretty chill and was spent hanging out with my parents and brother, which I needed and enjoyed. Before I knew

it, it was time to head to the airport. Callie tried really hard to get me to pack her up for the return trip back. Mom treated me to a hearty breakfast at Wild Eggs, where I got the Truffled Scramble, yum. I want to learn how to make their Everything Muffin, it is sweet and savory at the same time. Then it was time to come back to Flag. I love it here, but boy, do I get homesick for Louisville and my old haunts when I am there. You just cannot beat the architecture in that area. Both Louisville and Madison just have the most beautiful architecture and green space. I was looking forward to escaping the cold, snow, and rain. However, the blue skies and fifty degree weather disappeared with my return to Flag. Has been gray, snowy, and rainy ever since. Sigh!

Swinging Pendulum of Luck

After a couple of rough weeks full of frustrations and disappointments, some positive things suddenly started happening at the end of last week. R got called on Thursday afternoon to do an interview for a part-time job that he had applied for a about a week ago. That afternoon, after I was finished with work stuff, I walked down town to meet him, and took a slightly different path. I discovered a lovely little nook of restaurants and shops. We went back that way and stopped at the Flagstaff Brewing Company, one the local breweries, for a beer and snack to celebrate his job interview. We sat outside on their patio and enjoyed local brewed beer and black bean hummus along with the late afternoon sunshine. The hummus had some unusual accompaniments with tomatoes, feta, lettuce, artichoke hearts, and roasted red pepper sprinkled over the toasted pita. It was finished off with drizzles of honey that sounded weird, but did work with the overall flavors. The beer was tasty and refreshing. I had an ESB and R had the brown ale.

We stopped at the mailbox on the way home and discovered a last paycheck for Robert that we had not been anticipating. This could be pretty helpful considering the theft of about half his bike last weekend. That is the only negative bit I will bring up as I don’t think I mentioned it yet. We discovered last Friday that someone had taken his seat and seat post. An annoyance, but could have been worse right? Wish we didn’t have to spend the money to replace it, but we can make it work… Well, two mornings later, we came out to discover both wheels gone. Just wheels, right, well they aren’t cheap and apparently there was a lot attached to them like disc brakes and gears. Poof! Just like that about half the value of his bike has been ripped off. Anyways, this check will hopefully help replace a lot of this and get him back on the road. And… now we are going to have to figure out how to squeeze two bikes into our little space. Stay tuned for that creative arranging!

So after that, I ran out to the store to pick up some wine for dinner. As I was walking past the clearance kiosk, a “picnic pack” with ketchup, mustard, and relish caught my eye. Surely, this was put there in error? But no, it had a half-off sticker on it. So, I got all three for less than $3. Sweet!!!! I know you may be rolling your eyes at my excitement over sale priced condiments, but keep in mind we have to restock our pantry after moving and we have that whole limited grad student budget thing. So this was a gold mine find in my book!

Then we had a delicious dinner with produce from the Flagstaff Farmer’s Market that included fried green tomatoes, glazed carrots, and green beans. The mac n’ cheese was from the box, but it a favorite guilty pleasure and comfort food for me. Here are some pictures of our yummy dinner.

Friday continued to look up. I confirmed that my SMU vacation payout was finally in our bank account. Robert’s job interview seemed to go well. And last but not least, my missing books FINALLY turned up. One of the advantages of being a grad student is the schedule flexibility. I decided to spend my Friday afternoon doing laundry and doing some work on my net book instead of sitting in my office. Since we are back to doing laundry in a common area, I am paranoid about not staying and keeping an eye on it. I have known too many students who have come to me about stolen laundry. So, I was sitting there soaking up the beautiful sunny afternoon and working when I noticed the post man at the mailboxes. So, I did what any normal person would do… I stalked him. After a long conversation where I explained yet again that I am struggling with the fact that 7 packages could just disappear into thin air, he agreed that this was pretty weird. He ended up breaking into the one locked parcel box package for which there seemed to be no key. Guess what was in there??? Yes, you got it… all seven packages. Finally! A happy ending.

I know my recent post was pretty whiny and a downer. In fact, my dear mother requested that I not do posts like that in the future… I will try my best, but can’t make any promises. Life happens – sometimes it is enjoyable and sometimes it sucks. Truly, though, I have felt happier in Flagstaff than I have been in a long time. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t unhappy in Dallas. I am just happier here. My stress level is consistently lower, and I am excited about my surroundings and all the opportunities to explore it is offering us. I feel at peace here. Maybe it is the new location or having less responsibilities or being outdoors more and physically active, or the excitement of taking my professional and personal life in a direction. Whatever it is, it is working for me. I am relaxed, sleeping better, and seem to find more reasons to laugh and smile. I hope it sticks.

Restaurant Review: Diablo Burger

I have always harbored a secret desire to be a food writer, so since I am trying to write about all my Flagstaff experiences, I realized I could be writing little mini restaurant reviews. So, you will have to let me know how I am doing. Do I tell you what you want to know? Am I descriptive enough? Feedback will be welcome!

Of course, I came to this realization after we had been, so I don’t have any pictures… I am sure we will go back, so next time! Diablo Burger is a well known Flagstaff destination even though it has been in business for less than two years! I don’t think they anticipated the popularity they would have, and their tiny space is really not big enough for them. First thing to know, this is a cash only joint. Second thing to know, good food takes time. I suspect we arrived at their peak dinner hour on the Saturday we went, but it still took longer than the 30 minutes they estimated to us. However, it was worth the wait. The third thing that you should know about Diablo Burger is that part of the draw is their commitment to fresh and local ingredients and made to order meals. Their kitchen is tiny, which again, is why it takes so long to get your order. This is not McDonald’s, folks, so if you are wanting fast and cheap, this is not the place for you.

On to the food! R ordered the “Vitamin B” which comes with bacon, bleu cheese, and beets. Yes, you read that right, BEETS! I thought it sounded a little weird, and I am not much of a beet fan, but the Vitamin B was given the thumb’s up, and the beet flavor came through. I went with the “Ziggy Stardust” make your own model option. I went with the simple and classic toppings of bleu cheese and grilled onions. The bleu cheese was fresh and had a nice sharp and smoky taste that went well with the rich meatiness of the burger. The grilled onion added a nice sweetness that balanced out the flavors. I appreciated that the burgers weren’t overly large. I am not sure of the weight, but I am pretty sure it was not the half pound monster that most gourmet burger places seem to like to serve these days as I was able to finish mine.

All Diablo Burgers are served on a English muffin. I love English muffins, but thought that might be a little weird. Despite my initial skepticism, it was surprisingly nice. They also brand all their muffins with a “db” which is kinda fun. All burgers come served with their “frites” (Belgian-style fries). They were not the best frites I have ever had, but I certainly didn’t have a problem finishing most of mine. They were fresh and seasoned well with their secret blend of seasonings. We tried to identify the components and came up with at least rosemary, thyme, and fennel seeds. It should also be noted that the vegetarians at the table got the Uncle Dee’s Grilled Cheese. I gotta say, it looked pretty darn tasty, and it might be my choice next time we go.

Drinkwise, they have handmade milkshakes, a small selection of craft beers and wine, and all natural Hansen’s sodas. I stuck with water which came in a carafe, but the milkshake and the sodas were enjoyed by others at the table.

I suspect we will revisit Diablo, so stay tuned for a part deux that explores more of the menu. Make sure to check out the link to their website for more information about their food and philosophy!