Curvina...the other white meat

So I finally figured out what the fish we had was...it was Curvina...a.k.a., white sea bass. Like I said...it was pretty darn good and at $3/pound pretty darn cheap. Since then I have noticed it all over the place (restaurants) so I guess it is the Mahi Mahi of Costa Rica.


As opposed to this picture which is most definitely a Carp with master angler ;-)

A simple trip to the farmers market...

As promised I am trying to get at least a little caught up with the recent updates down here in Costa Rica. This will be more pictures than anything so here goes. First, here are some pictures of the kiddos playing in the backyard. As you can see...the bouncer is pretty much a hit in any country. Also, you can see that the recent play equipment is still getting put to good use. Jen tells me that Payton was able to climb up a slide very similar to the one at the house....I am still not sure I believe it, but she keeps insisting it is true so I guess we shall believe her ;-)

The second set of pictures are from our first venture out to the Fereteria (sp?) in Pavo. This is a huge farmers market with just about anyhting that you can think of. Everything from veggies. fruit, fish, chicken, flowers, plants...you name it. We were even able to score a few fresh coconuts to quench that early morning thirst that you get when walking out in the tropical sun. The whole experience was a true challenge seeing as how we didn't know: what half the things we were looking at were, don't speak the language (and they no speaka my language either), don't completely understand the whole metric/colone stuff yet, one child was past her morning nap time and the other is still potty training and could erupt at any time! But all in all, I think we got just about everything on the list without incident. Since then we have gone back with a much longer list...the entire produce list for the week...and scored everything in under 45 mins with less than $10. We even bought our fish there...that's impressive...which worked out the be about $3-5 per pound for fresh fish (although I am not entirely sure what type of fish we ended up with since I had never heard of it before...but it was good looking, fresh, and ended up tasting pretty darn good). Anyway...it was a great adventure. The colors and sights/sounds were all quite something to take in...a very different experience from the farmers markets in the USofA.

BLOGALERT.....BLOGALERT!!!

Today Jen accidentally called Costa Rica "home".

That is all....please resume your regularly scheduled activities.

Have you ever had one of those "I Hate Costa Rica" days?

I can just see Jen reading this and jumping up and down...."I have, I have"!

Last Thursday was one such day. It started off like any other weekday....heading off for the daily grind. Traffic wasn't too bad and I though to myself..."self, this ain't so bad." Once at work, I am pleased to see that I have a 3 hour window without meetings through lunch. Being the wonderful husband that I am, I call the Mrs. and we plan to meet for lunch. So far so good. Then lunch comes around and I head home. We decide to try a French restaurant that comes highly recommended. While the food was excellent, it is not much of a place for kids...good thing the Mrs. thought ahead and brought food for both of the chillins. Then we head over to the local mercado to pick up some grapefruit...oops, no grapefruit....there goes the salad for dinner tonight. Then I give the chillins and the Mrs. some kisses and head back to the grindstone.

Oh wait, I should stop at the bank and deposit all those checks that have been coming in the mail (most are related to selling the house and closing out insurances and utilities...). "Self, you are so smart since you just happen to be close to the bank and happen to have all those checks with you." One hour later I finally deposit some of the checks. You see, first they didn't want to allow me to deposit international checks...then they took the ones made out just to me but not Jen's or Payton's. See, Jen's checks were in her married name and her account is in her maiden name (since that is how her passport was made). Finally, they agree to deposit the checks with both mine and the Mrs. names but still don't take Jen-only or Payton checks. Oh yeah, and one of those checks to Jen expires today. Qwest is going to get a freebie....grrr....

So I begrudgingly leave the banco and head over to Cemeco to try and return our BBQ tank to the new BBQ since I can't get it filled anywhere...ANYWHERE (that is another "I hate Costa Rica" story). After about 30 mins of playing charades with the cashier, I finally get someone who speaks English and we get the task taken care of...well, I have to settle for store credit but that's ok...I can't recall a single time the Mrs. has ever permanently stopped shopping.

Then I decide to stop at the local hardware store (EPA) and return the two broken fans we bought. One came out of the box with dirty fan blades and a blown fuse (did I mention there were little pieces of wrapping paper on the outside of the box?). The other had a big chunk missing from the base of the fan. Quality in Costa Rica is not a requirement apparently - everything is dirty and broken....the ultimate Caveat Emptor country. After another 30 mins I finally get those returned with the help of someone who speaks broken English.

Now that I am three hours into my "lunch" I decide I better get back to work quick since I have a meeting for which I am already late. So I bomb out onto the autopista and immediately run smack dab into the leading edge of rush hour...oh yeah, forgot about that. So it takes me 45 mins to get back to work and I barely make it to my 4:00 meeting. Just in time to turn around at 5:00 and head back through all that traffic...BEAUTIFUL day.

At least one thing went well, the cookie goo that Kade got all over me at lunch was close to the color of my shirt (green) so it was only mildly obvious that I had a big goober of cookie on my shirt for the entire afternoon.

Hooters - A Fambly Experience

The fellas in Fort Collins apparently have started a new tradition...Fridays at Hooters. I was "lucky" enough to be a participant at the first Friday at Hooters even though it was not a tradition at the time. It was during my "I have a hankering for wings phase" so we decided to hit the Hooters...and yes I am still in that phase...I still have not had really good wings.

Anyway, some of the conversation that glorious sunny day centered around the seating choice. I wanted to sit by the big windows so we could take in the views of the surrounding natural beauty, the Rocky Mountains......someone else felt it would be better to sit by the drink station...also arguing that we could take in the views of the surrounding natural beauty, again...mountains. We never reconciled our differences...we still sat by the window on that trip and on subsequent trips (without me) they sit by the drink station...

Well, last night we went to the Plaza Iskatzu for dinner. It was abut 5:15. Nothing opens until 6:00....except for....you guessed it....Hooters. So I tell Jen that it really is a "family place" and she decides to give "Fridays at Hooters" a try. It does not take her long to realize that it is "mostly men" in the place. Correction Jen...all those women in the corner are waitresses...this place is "All men". She is also amazed at the waitress uniforms...and declares that Hooters is not really a family place ;-)

We go on to have a very interesting conversation about the mountain scenery. She points out to me that our waitress has a perfectly proportioned landscape. Gee honey, I hadn't noticed....but now that you point it out...there is something unique about her...I just couldn't figure out what. Then Jen proceeds to tell Payton that "she will not be a Hooters girl when she grows up". To that I say..."Why not? There are far worse ways to put yourself through college aren't there?". She agrees. Then we discuss how her father would likely be insanely jealous that Jen has been to the Costa Rica Hooters and he has not....maybe the change in scenery would be enough to get him over his fear of coming to Costa Rica...we will see.

But.... the most interesting thing about the experience was what I learned. You see, CherkyB...the best way to experience Hooters is not to sit by the drink station.....it is clearly to bring your fambly. There were never less than 2 waitresses at our table...all bending down to play with the chillens. At one point, the waitresses actually took the kids (while the Mrs. and I finished eating/talking) and played with them in the waiting area. I have never seen so many 20-50 year old men wishing that they were a 3 year old boy again. Even the Mrs. had to agree that the service was incredible. There was always someone to help if we needed anything, they watched the kids while we ate and there was always another beer on the table before the last one was gone.

So I think that everyone should go to Hooters next Friday....as one big happy FAMBLY.

BBQ Babyback Ribs

First let me apologize for the extended break. There is so much to update. I will try to get through most of the important stuff sometime this weekend.

Something that I find myself continually doing is having to look through a bunch of my notes and online recipes for BBQ ribs. Every time I cook them I go through the same exercise and so I figured I would just put it here once and for all. So here it is...how I make BBQ ribs (I do on occasion smoke them also but this is how I usually make them).

1. Wrap your ribs (laid flat) in tinfoil and put on a baking sheet.
2. Figure out how much time you have before dinner and subtract 20 minutes (nothing under 1.5 hrs turns out well).
3. Follow the cooking chart below (now with enhanced Celsius conversion built in since we are in Costa Rica)
4. Take ribs out, baste with BBQ sauce of your choice and put on a hot grill for 10 minutes per side.

That's it. I used to make my own BBQ sauces but the store ones are good enough to not warrant the extra effort. If you have a killer sauce...then post here so we can try.

Payton begins potty training at 13 months!

Yesterday I went to go give the kiddos a bath. I got the water ready, put Kade in the tub and then took off Payton's diaper to put her in the water. In the 2 seconds that her diaper was off...she managed to unleash a flood all over the bathroom floor. So I figure...since she has been watching her brother pee everywhere whilst potty training...she must think that she is too ;-)

Oy!

First Hike in Costa Rica

Today started off on a sour note with our first experience with a Costa Rica power outage. Our whole section of town was down for some "repairs". Luckily, the Bagelman's at the end of the street was under generator power and still pumping out java and bagels. After breakfast we headed out with our next door neighbors for our first hiking adventure. Here is a quick map to show you roughly where we were. It was only about 20 mins from our house but felt like a world away.
The hike was a great break from all the crap that we have been having to do lately to get settled. As you can see, the kids were really excited to get out and going (sorry about the blurry pic of Payton). Not sure where that pacifier came from...they sometimes just appear...I think Payton has a stash somewhere that we don't know about. The second set of pictures are at the start of the trip. As you can see, Jen now has to carry some of the load ;-) She was quite a trooper and did a great job with Payton. Both kids loved the hike and there were no meltdowns. I think we were hiking for about 40 minutes...not too long but still a good first outing. The backpack that Payton is in was a recent purchase off ebay. I was a little worried about buying a hiking pack off ebay but it did great on the first trip. The next set of pics are some of the journey. There was an outcropping where we got some great views of the surrounding valley. Also, as you can see from the pic on the right...the trails are a little less developed than in the states...definitely a "hiker beware" type of country. Oh yeah, and the people in the background are our next door neighbors. A nice couple from Ohio who are down here working with Habitat for Humanity - been here for 8 years now. Finally, the last two pictures are of Kade and I on a vine swing. Kade LOVED this one!!! As you can see he was not so sure at first but once he got used to it...it was hard to get him to leave! He was singing some of the "jungle" songs from his fav cartoon...the Backyardigans. He was really excited to be in a real jungle...and swinging from the vines!!!

Nightly Prayers

Last night was no different at the Cavitation house. I settled into bed with Kade and read a pair of books, without skipping any pages this time. Then we turned out the lights and said our nightly prayers. On this evening it went something like this:

Both: "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night. And keep my safe till morning light. Amen."

Dad: "Is there anyone special you would like to pray for tonight?"

Kade: "Yup...Megan."

Dad: "Anyone else?"

Kade: "Zach. Yeah, Zacharonie too."

Dad: "Ok, let's get some sleep."

Kade: "And...Bob the builder, Wendy, Lofty, Muck and Rolley"

Dad: "Hmmm, ok...good night."

Kade: "And Tyrone and the Sultan of Arabia" [Backyardigan references]

Dad: "Anyone else Kade?"

Kade: "Shhhhh, it's late...go to sleep."

And there you have it.