Eating at Home

I write about food a lot don't I?

Maybe I should work on that and start thinking about other things...

Until then...

Will's breakfast...that guy can put away some fruit

Emma and her phone date breakfast with Mimi...they shared a chocolate doughnut and grape juice together

Jack's favorite breakfast...he eats 9 of these every morning

Lots of good coffee...Britt, 1820 and 3 brothers (friend makes it)

Our favorite store-bought juice

But we've recently been making our own out of limon-mandarinas

Mayonnaise is everywhere. One choice of ketchup and mustard at the store and a whole aisle of mayonnaise. They even dip their french fries in it

List of items left for us to get...huh?

Fruit flies all over my kitchen sink...still can't get used to that...putting out apple cider vinegar has helped and we have to wash dishes constantly (no dishwasher or disposal)

I have only found 2% milk here

Arroz con pollo for lunch

Ants get in everything, especially the peanut butter...had to put it in the fridge

Our favorite store-bought bread...Bimbo Integral (wheat)

We have a bakery we can easily walk to up the street called Mus Manni...we are loving the fresh hot bread

Kids....cause I love em

Eggs are not refrigerated here and you keep them on the counter...I have been told it's because they're already fertilized. Better watch out when I crack those suckers open

Roast

"Carne" mixture for lunch with tortillas & green beans I snapped myself

Random meat

Cheetos puffs...exported

Like I was saying about the ants...went to give the kids some peanuts for a snack and found little ants crawling all in them. I will never tell whether or not I dusted off the ants and still fed them to my kids

Pile of dishes waiting on me every day

Lots and Lots of Fruit & Veges

After church on Sunday we went to a different feria in Zapote. It was completely amazing. I have never seen so much fruit and vegetables in my entire life. I want to go back there every week that I can! I was furiously taking pictures and trying to soak up the cultural experience. Keep in mind that 500 colones equals $1 when you see the prices on these unbelievable foods and it was usually priced per kilogram. There were also people walking around selling tons of stuff...it was so much fun.

Emma loved the handmade jewelry stand

Will was in heaven...he's already eaten them all

Where we live there are two main soccer teams...you have to decide which one you are and you are a loser if you switch teams. One is called La Liga (red and black) and the other is Saprissa (purple and yellow). In the past few years, Saprissa has been awesome and most people we run into like this team. Of course, that makes Will Savell want to go for the underdog so we are a La Liga family. We are now looking for a flag to hang in our house and will be attending at La Liga game in the near future. Saw this jersey hanging over a fruit stand so I had to take a picture of it. We did hear that La Liga has been winning games lately, so it's probably a good time to be a Ligista (La Liga fan).

feria cart getting filled up

Costa Rican apples...look and taste different

Tree Tomato that tastes like a mix between a blackberry and a peach

This feria was in the parking lot of a bull fighting ring...for real. Apparently the bull never gets hurt, but there are no guarantees for the people. I will not be attending one of these.

Tons of traffic as we're leaving...this is a popular feria

Jack picked out a piggy bank. This is an old-school one that is handmade with no opening in the bottom. Fernando said this teaches the kids how to save their money. You have to wait until the piggy bank is full, then you break it open and get your money out. Simple.

Emma of course picked out a cute headband to wear to school that "will go good" with her uniform. She is dying to start school so it's always on her mind these days.

All of our feria purchases for about $10-$12 total. I will try to list out everything we bought: limon mandarinas (great for juice), oritos (baby bananas), potatoes, plantains, carrots, cucumbers, green onions, cilantro, star fruit, oranges (which are greenish-yellow here), pineapple, mamon chinos, beet, onions, strawberries and tree tomatoes

Then after we got home Fernando advised me not to wear my wedding rings out anymore. He said they are too "flashy" and would make me an easy target to rob. This has made me very sad. I love my wedding rings and have never really gone without them. I had to take a picture before I took them off

Less Than One Percent

We tried out another church today called El Lugar. It's only a few blocks from our house, so it was nice to be able to walk there. Several people spoke English and introduced themselves to us as we walked through the door and we sat in the back. The music leader had us stand up and introduce ourselves and I was thankful Will understood what he was asking us to do.

There was another language school family there who just arrived this past week. We're starting to meet more and more new people all the time and it reminds me of a grown-up version of college. We're all new...all unsure....a bit weirded out...and eager to learn. Very much a honeymoon phase of being a missionary and it's fun.

Emma and Jack went to classrooms during the first service and the second service the kids put on a Mother's Day program (so we left). They sold doughnuts, cake, cokes and coffee in between service for 150 colones a piece to raise money for the church so the kids loved that.

Many people have asked if we're learning Spanish yet. And the honest answer is I'm not really sure. Certain words are sounding familiar but I still can't place them. During his sermon today, I think I caught less than 1% of what was said. Depressing. I think he preached for over an hour too.

Emma is asking a lot about what words mean and what's the Spanish word for everything...when she repeats it her phonetics is perfect. She's really trying and learning from people everywhere so she's already doing great. Jack could care less. Every once in a while he busts out a Spanish word and it shocks me.

I'm realizing that all Spanish words, phrases or sentences I know are from years of my kids watching Dora the Explorer. I have also learned "jugar conmigo?" (play with me?) from my kids in the park and "venga" (come) from people yelling this at their dogs everywhere.

I've got a long way to go.