Costa Rica Cuatro Parte: Feliz Año Nuevo a la Playa

Okay, so I am a wee bit embarrassed that I am just NOW posting my final Costa Rica story. What can I say? This semester is keeping me hopping, and these entries are a little more time consuming since I am adding so many pictures to better illustrate my stories and commentary. I hope to be better. I don't want to lose my few readers out there in cyber space! So, this last one is what I call beach vignettes. It is more about impressions and thoughts that I had while lazing away at the beach. I hope you enjoy and perhaps it will warm you up in spirit as we wait for the last of winter to finish up for this year. And, if you make it to the end, there is a really cute picture as your reward for sticking with me.

Do you see the little hermit crab nestled in the shells?

Where we Stayed:

For the New Year and start of 2011, we headed to the beach. We stayed in a beach house borrowed from friends of my in-laws that was right on the beach. It has that rustic charm that all part-time use beach houses have. You know what I mean, right? The type of place where it is about the location, not the décor: very simply decorated, mismatched furniture, with lots of beds; mismatched dishes and silverware with random bits of cookware; piles of found treasures from the beach. We have all stayed in that beach house, no? Our location was the Playa de Esterilllo, just north of Dominical on the Pacific side. It was not a touristy type of place. It was a tico type of place. Life at the beach is always lazy. Walks on the beach. Lots of reading. Shell collecting. Eating. Drinking. Sleeping. No pressure!

Beach Life Pictures:

R's Dad Reading

Best. Reading. Spot. Ever!

Brother-in-law taking a nap with Peanut

Yes, I am reading. I am on vacation.

Our Beach Walk on Playa Hermosa:

R and his parents

Fossils!

My attempts to be artistic

R and a big @$$ tre

Could this be any more precious?

Sunsets:

I am a sucker for sunsets, and this trip did not let me down. We had two beautiful sunsets, and one cloudy one. I feel like I have become a bit of an expert since living in Flagstaff. I have realized that there are a few key elements to a good sunset. First, you have to have a good background view with minimal obstructions. Second, you need some clouds. To fully capture the gloriousness, you need to have those reflections on the clouds that show all the myriads of colors. Tonight, they looked like cotton candy at one point. Then they were this crazy pink gold color which began shifting to shades of lavender and deep shocking pink as the sun hits the horizon of the ocean. There is just something magical about watching the sun set over water or the mountains.

Feliz Año Nuevo:

Cava

We made it midnight, which, we often do not regardless of where we find ourselves that year. I find New Year’s to be one of those overrated holidays with so much pressure to make it epic every time. I think it is because we all do have one or two of those epic nights that you think you are expected to have every year, and I just don’t think it is possible. Well, perhaps, if you are filthy rich, you could make it epic every year, but the reality is that some are just going to be rather chill. And really, I am okay with that.

It took R and I about two days to even remember where and what we were doing last year, which was the first signal that it was probably not some spectacular adventure. We finally concluded that we spent it in Dallas at home fixing a nice dinner and that after watching the ball drop in Times Square, and a really bad performance of Umbrella by Rhiannon two hours before our own Central time zone midnight. I think we were in bed before midnight! Kay, enough digression! I think my bragging rights are that I have celebrated a New Year’s in every time zone in the United States, and in Costa Rica. So, that is kinda cool, right?

We have spent several at the beach in Costa Rica, hmmm, I guess this is my third? And they have definitely been of the relaxed variety. This is to be expected since we tend to be staying in a fairly remote area in a beach house. We are not in some busy little tourist town with bars to party at. I remember on my first New Year’s visit that I was the only one to make it to midnight. Happy New Year’s to me, eh? The second time, some friends came with us, so we made it to midnight. However, we were at a small isolated hotel, so it was us and a family made up of a mix of Costa Ricans and Americans from Alabama. We celebrated by the pool and did the countdown in Spanish and toasted with Imperial beer. Fun, but not epic!

This year, I was the one dragging, although I made myself stay up to ring in 2011. I should mention that part of it is that you operate on beach time. Sunrise comes early and you don’t have shades to block the sunlight as that would cut down on the needed air circulation. Most of us are up by 7 am. We spend all day in the warm sun either exploring or lying around on the beach. Tough work, I know, but the heat along with the vacation mentality zaps your energy. Most nights we are sleepy and drifting off to bed starting around 10 pm.

Beach Night Life: Skipbo and beer

What saved me and kept me distracted was the SkipBo game we found in the house. I have heard of this game but never played. It is a mindless and addictive card game, and we have played it pretty much every night.

We brought in the New Year with Cava and toasts with the sound of (come on, you can guess it) of fireworks in the background. After that, I was ready for bed. Happy New Year to me!

The Weather Report:

You always think you are prepared to make the climate change when you travel, but it is still somewhat unexpected. San Jose is at about 3000 feet. Since it is in the tropics zone, it is still quite warm. Actually, mild might be a better way to describe it. During the times of year I have been, I have also found it quite variable. Typically you can expect it to be comfortable to cool during the days, and I tend to find I need a wrap or light sweater in the evenings. Now that I think about it, it is kind of like the Flagstaff weather I experienced this summer and fall! This trip it seemed a little cooler and windier than I anticipated. I wish I had packed more socks as I hate having cold feet. I hate when I don’t get my packing quite right. Since the house is tiled, it is unavoidable, especially when the weather is cooler. However, since I mainly packed sandals, I only packed a couple of pairs of socks for wearing with my tennis shoes. So, I had to commandeer a pair of Robert’s socks once or twice as he packed plenty. Because of the tropical climate, there is always a bit of dampness no matter where you go. Once we moved to the beach, it was much warmer, and humid. Even though I grew up in a climate with a humid summer and have pretty much continued to be in humid climates, I have quickly adapted to the dryness of Arizona. As I have mentioned before, my hair does SO much better. Now I am back to frizziness and it always looks slightly oily and heavy with the product. Yay, thin curly hair… And I forgot what it feels like to feel sticky all the time, even after you get out of the shower. You can never get quite dry after showering. Despite readjusting the sensation of a humid climate, I have welcomed the warmth and sunshine. Finally!

Central American Night Time Symphony:

Since my first visit to Central America in college (El Salvador), I have associated the smaller country towns with a cacophony or symphony (you choose) of noises at night. I remember the first few nights were always the hardest, and I felt like I was kept up all night by the ongoing, changing sounds. Although we are at the beach, really we are still just in the country and the beach just happens to be the western boundary. Typically, it seems to be the dogs in the early evening. You always have a few yappers, and sometimes many, that just don’t seem to stop. Or maybe they are talking to each other? Redefining their boundaries at the end of each day? I am never really sure. It can go on for hours, and it usually seems to be one of the sounds I finally drift asleep to.

At some point, I usually wake up to the silence of intermission while all seems to be asleep or at least resting, well it is not complete silence. Now I hear the whirring white noise of the fan and much fainter under it, the crashing and booming of the waves on the beach nearby. With both, every so often, a gecko inserts its chattering, loud call. For a creature so small, it has a voice much greater. Later, as when I awake again, the sky is getting lighter as dawn is approaching and the birds start. In the country towns of other places, it has been dominated by roosters. Like the dogs, they can seem to go on forever. Here, in a more tropical location, there are more tropical birds that fill in the spaces in between. Although, it is not part of the chorus here, the cows would greet the morning as the finale and I would fully awaken to the sounds of their lows and moos.

Peanut! And he was not one of the yappy dogs!

It’s All About Exercise: Body, Mind and Soul

Whew! I was shocked to realize it has been almost a month since I last posted a blog entry AND I still have one last Costa Rica one to wrap up and post (this weekend). Sheesh! I suppose it shouldn’t be shocking that the last blog was the weekend before classes started. Yep, that is the time suck right there! Any spare time I have is spent shackled to a book or writing a response to something I am reading. It’s okay, though, that’s what I am here for. It has been a good, but weird semester start. I started out ahead, and now I am behind/barely on top of everything (dependent on the moment and your interpretation!) I am really enjoying my classes and a lot is connecting and overlapping, which is a wonderful thing as I continue working on forming a philosophy and working framework that I can try and articulate when needed and apply to the work I want to do in promoting sustainable living.

I am taking Environmental Sociology, which is fun for me. I have taken quite a few psychology classes, but never a sociology class so I am enjoying looking at the topic through a new lens. This week we are to be reading Walden, which I have never read and writing a journal for a week straight about nature in all its forms. I am also taking what we call “602.” This is the second required class for my class and its official title is: Environment, Culture, Community, Economy: An Interdisciplinary Seminar. Don’t ask me what that really means yet. I just know, that like the Sociology class, it means a ton of reading. We have started with looking at the indigenous culture, and I have enjoyed learning more about that. We were also required to go hear Winona LaDuke speak who is an amazing activist in the realm of environmental justice with a specific focus on Native people. My wild card class is a journalism class called Documenting Southwest Parks. The instructors received a grant to work with the National Park Service and have the students create documentaries that the parks can use to promote the work they are doing. I am treating this as a research methods class of sorts as I really enjoy qualitative research and see this an opportunity to explore a variation on that. For the project I selected, I will be working with 3 photojournalism (or “PhotoJ” as they are called in the biz) students. I will rely on their passion and expertise in the photography realm, although I do plan to do a bit of experimenting myself, and I will concentrate on the research and interviews. My professor was even able to locate a project proposal that ties in with some of my interests. We will be travelling to the Verde Valley to the Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot Monuments to document their efforts to get local children and young adults connected with nature and the value of stewardship through educational and restoration programs. I am super excited and hope some of this will keep building towards the ever looming thesis. And then, just for fun, I am auditing a Construction Management class called Sustainable Buildings and Assessment. It will develop my building and facilities lingo, we get to take cool field trips, and it prepares us to take a LEED Green Associate certification exam if we are so inclined. Not sure yet, if I will, but I figure it can’t hurt and could look good on the old resume…

So in addition to studying and working, my other primary focus is being “Get In Shape Girl.” I have been extremely proud of myself for drastically increasing my level of physical activity since moving to Flagstaff. Mainly this has been happening through mostly giving up driving and relying on my feet and bicycle to get me where I need to be, as well as our weekend hiking excursions, but I have realized it is still not enough. I have needed to up my cardio and strengthening quota, so one of my goals with the start of a new semester was to take advantage of some of the group exercise classes that are offered, since they are “free” (I am sure I paid for them with one of the gazillion fees I get charged). I wanted to get them incorporated into my schedule from the beginning so that I could not make excuses or feel up the open time with other stuff. These are really the best option for me. I am a bit of a fair weather working out type of person. I hate exercise machines like the treadmill or elliptical. They are mind numbing and tedious. I don’t like to run, and I don’t like to walk or bike long distances when the weather is not an optimal temperature. So, a class keeps me motivated and moving. Someone else tells me what to do, and all I really have to do is follow the directions. Following directions doesn’t require too much thinking, but the concentrating and remembering of a sequence of moves distracts me from the fact that I am hot, and sore, and out of breath!

I am happy to report, so far so good! With the exception of last weekend when our temperatures were in the negatives and I just couldn’t bear the thought of stripping off and putting back on 3 or 4 layers just to work out, I have been getting to classes regularly. I have even been getting up for 7 am yoga, okay so not this week, but I am back on track next week! I am going to some Cardio Kickboxing classes which I always love, and this week I added a Stretching and Toning class that I really liked. My final step is to add in a Step class or two. I am feeling challenged, but not overwhelmed and not too out of breath. Now, my abs might argue with me about that whole challenge thing, now that I think about it. So I am pleased with myself and now I am just focused on keeping my momentum and having it be a continued priority.

R also took me out on a trail on my bike a couple of weekends ago. We went down to Sedona and went on the Cockscomb Area Trails. It was challenging, scary, and fun. I also had a big wipe out, but it has not scared me away, despite the fact that the bruises running down my left side are still a wee bit tender and are fading slowly! Really, the actual fall didn’t hurt that bad. I was a bit dazed, but not too traumatized. If anything, I was relieved that I had conveniently fallen between the tree and the cactus instead of on one of them! I also truly appreciated my helmet for the first time. Again, I didn’t really knock my head particularly hard, but I definitely appreciated the skull protection when I landed. Here are a couple of pictures of me including one of my battle wounds from where my gears scratched my calf. I think R was afraid he scared me off, but I assured him that I am ready to go back and am determined to not have to walk up those hills quite so much and have better control as I go down the hills. I suspect I will always prefer the tame and “easy” trails, but I think I will definitely add it to my list of recreational activities. Look at me branching out!

Don't I look cool?!?

Robert leaving me in the dust

Here I am in action. Such great scenery, too!

Yep, that's really me.

One of my ouchies!

Mad Scientist Cupcakes

For R’s birthday this year, I wanted to combine everything he loves: cheesecake, chocolate, and sea salt caramel. I proposed a Friday happy hour at Mia’s, which provided an additional challenge: how to transport via bike and easily serve to the masses in a public place. After many hours of research, I mad scientisted together the perfect birthday dessert.

Note the creative use of shoelaces as no bungee cords could be found

Credit for my inspiration came from the following three locations: Annie’s Eats, Bake or Break Recipes, and Brown Eyed Baker

With these, I created…. Drum roll please!

Fudge Bottomed Cheesecake Cupcakes with a Pecan and Salted Caramel Topping

Yes, this one was a wee bit complicated, and I have to admit, I got distracted just now with starting to write this and burnt my pecans… Grrrr… gonna have to redo that bit. My first attempt at making caramel, using the recipe I found, was an absolute disaster! And silly me. I left that for last and then was rushing around at the last minute to finish things up and not be late. I swear I have made caramel before and not had it be so hard. I am not sure if it was the recipe or the high altitude or both. I had to start over because it was this awful crystallized sugar mass. I found this recipe MUCH more successful and yes, don’t touch it! I kept poking at it with my whisk and ended up with rock candy on my whisk, which even with being nonstick was a horrible pain to remove.

Fasten your seatbelts, kiddos, this one, takes some time. Set aside an afternoon, put on some fun danceable music (My selections were Vampire Weekend and Caravan Palace). It is worth it, though. They were a smashing hit and got rave reviews. I am soooo proud of my new invention!

Yield is 24 cupcake sized cheesecakes (Note: the original recipe said it would make 32. I only had enough crust mixture for 24, but I did have leftover filling.)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs (or 1 ½ cups if you don’t want to use pecans)

¼ cup ground pecans

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

For Fudge Bottom:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

¼ cup cream

½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the Cheesecake Filling:

2 lbs of cream cheese, room temperature

1 ½ cups of granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

For the topping:

24 toasted whole pecans

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp of corn syrup (whoops, just realized I used 1 Tbsp, but it didn’t hurt it)

¼ cup of water

½ cup heavy cream

1 tsp of vanilla

Sea salt

Directions:

For Crust:

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. I ground my graham crackers and pecans separately in the food processer then processed them together to combine. In a small bowl, combine the crumb mixture, melted butter and sugar. I started by melting my butter in the microwave in the bowl and then adding the rest. Stir together with a fork until well blended and all the dry ingredients are moistened. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner. (I used my bottle of vanilla, but a small drinking glass would work to easily and evenly press the crumbs down). Bake until just set, 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Not pressed

Pressing the crust

Baked golden brown

Close Up!

For Fudge Bottom:

Put chopped chocolate into a bowl with the cream. Microwave in 30 second increments until the chocolate begins to melt and stir together to combine. Add vanilla and stir. I put about 1 ½ teaspoons of the fudge into the bottom of each cheesecake and used the back of the spoon to spread it out. Let set for about 15 or 20 minutes.

NOTE: You could definitely taste the chocolate, but it wasn’t quite as prominent as I hoped. I might bump up the amount next time, which would require an increase in ingredients.

For Cheesecake Filling:

To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy. Blend in the sugar until smooth. Mix in the salt and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. To assemble, put about 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter in each liner. Bake until the filling is set, about 22 minutes. Rotate the pans about halfway through baking. They will look puffed when you remove them, but will deflate some as they cool. Set on cooling racks to cool to room temperature. Then, transfer to the refrigerator and let them chill, ideally, for about 4 hours until serving.

Ready for the oven

For Caramel and Pecan Topping:

Stir together sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Let boil until amber in color, about 3 minutes. PICTURE Don’t touch it! No, seriously, don’t. You will want to stir it and check and make sure it is not sticking. It won’t be. You will just end up with rock candy on your whisk. Remove from heat and whisk in cream. It might seem like it is going to explode, boil over, or lump together. Don’t freak – just keep whisking! After it gets to the consistency you like, whisk in the vanilla. Let cool to room temperature (or for 5 minutes if you are running super late like I was). Put about a tablespoon of caramel on each cheesecake and top with a toasted pecan and a wee sprinkle of sea salt.

What cooking caramel SHOULD look like

Costa Rica Parte Tres: Villa Vanilla and Manuel Antonio Park

We spent New Year’s Eve on a tour of a spice plantation called Ville Vanilla. This was absolutely one of the coolest things I have done in a while. For the tour, our guide explained the growing and processing methods as well as provided us a tour of the actual plantation. They grow vanilla, Ceylon cinnamon, allspice, peppercorns, chile peppers, and chocolate. It is all done organically. I am going to do my best to share some of the interesting highlights from my memory, but there may be a few inaccuracies as I am just pulling this out of my head.

Tables for drying spices and vanilla

Peppercorns and Allspice

Vanilla Beans

Bags of Drying Vanilla Beans

Vanilla is fascinating and you have a greater appreciation for it and the expense of vanilla beans and true vanilla extract once you understand the labor involved. Vanilla comes from the vanilla orchid.

The flowers have to be hand pollinated, and there is only about a one day window. Oh, and it needs to happen before 10 am because that is the preferred time window of the plant. They have to check the plants almost daily for new blossoms. After pollination, the bean will grow. It takes about 9 to 10 months to grow and then mature. After that, they go through an elaborate drying process that takes another 4 to 5 months. I also learned that vanilla beans can last for up to 40 years if stored properly.

Unripened Vanilla Beans

On the plantation, they grow a number of ornamental plants, including many blooming ones. They intentionally do this to attract all the bugs that would otherwise attack the plants they are actually cultivating. They are also trying to create a rainforest environment with the plants.

One of the many beautiful plants

And another!

They make their own compost from their goats' and cows' poop, and trimmings from all their plants.

I also learned a lot about cinnamon. What we think is cinnamon is actually a plant called Cassia that is sometimes known as Chinese or Vietnamese Cinnamon. It actually has a compound called coumarin in it that causes blood thinning, and some scientific studies suggest it is not so good for us and our liver, especially on a regular basis. However, actual cinnamon has multiple health benefits that have been indicated through studies. This link has some great information. It is essentially the bark off of a tree. After the tree is about 3 – 5 years old, it is cut down. They cut it into pieces, and do an initial peeling of the bark, then let it cure and do a second peeling of the bark. That second peeling is the cinnamon.

Peeled cinnamon trees

Cinnamon trees being peeled

Peppercorns are another one that I learned some cool stuff about.

They produce both white and black peppercorns, which are the same plant. The difference is that they harvest the black peppercorns at a younger age and un-ripened, so they are still green. For white peppercorns, they are allowed to fully ripen on the tree until red.

They are then harvested, placed in a mesh bag and put in their pond where the bacteria eats the skin off over about seven days. Obviously, this is why they are more expensive as the growing and production process is much longer and requires more steps.

Chocolate is another product of the plantation. We got to sample a cacao bean in its raw stage. It is basically a pod surrounded by this milky white flesh that is sweet and tangy at the same time, but tastes nothing like chocolate. To produce the chocolate, you have to let the seeds dry out, then they crush them with the equivalent of a huge mortar and pestle, just like the ancient Mayans use to do. This creates the cocoa nibs. These are then ground down into cocoa.

Cocoa!

Itty bitty cocoa - it always looks the same, just keeps getting bigger

At the end of the tour, they brought us to this cute little building that was basically an outside porch with a gorgeous view of the mountains.

Me and R

There, they shared a series of sweets with us that showcased their yummy spices. We started with an iced cinnamon tea that was light, refreshing, and zingy. We then had an amazing vanilla bean cheesecake topped with mango. Unfortunately, the local pastry chef who makes it will not share her recipe. Sad!

We then had homemade cinnamon ice cream on a chocolate cookie with a touch of cayenne.

Next was a choice of hot chocolates: Either a vanilla hot chocolate or Mexican hot chocolate (with a touch of cayenne). I went for the vanilla. With the hot chocolate, we got a cocoa nib cookie – their version of a chocolate chip cookie.

We ended with a visit to their spice shop. It was a great experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who is this area.

After that we headed to Manuel Antonio for lunch and to check out the park and the beach.

One of my first observations was that this area was more touristy and developed than many of other beaches I have visited in Costa Rica. We tend to end up in more out of the way locations or areas that cater more to the ticos (locals). This suits me just fine. There was a little too much English being spoke around me at lunch! I did have a lovely piece of fresh tuna on the sandwich I ordered, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the most well known parks in the area. We didn't go fully through the park. We walked to one particular beach and sat down for a while to relax and enjoy the water.

I saw multiple hermit crabs just running around on the beach. They are so funny. When they realize you are right there, they just drop and hide in their shell. After a few minutes they poke their little antennas out, and if you want to mess with them, you let them know you are still there, and they freak out and hide again!

There was also lots of capuchin monkeys (white faced monkey from Breakout), and they were some of the most bold I have ever seen. They are definitely used to the humans! Several were on the ground less than two feet from me. If you see them, hold onto your stuff. They are known for being little thieves, in particular, they like hats, bags, and cameras. Yes, I am serious.