Taste of Costa Rica

John and I have been experimenting with a micro enterprise idea that we had with a family that lives in El Llanito.  The concept is based on offering tourists the opportunity for an authentic hands-on cooking experience. 

Most tourists fly to the airport, get in the airport shuttle, and then travel by all the little tico homes and go straight to their luxury resort. There is usually a huge assortment of expensive adventure seeking tours to choose from during their stay;  white-water rafting, zip-lining, exploring mangroves, etc.  This venture would interest those curious about the Costa Rican culture and most importantly the Costa Rican food (I have to think some people who travel all the way here might be curious).

The family that lives in El Llanito has a simple tico home with tons of banana trees and tropical flowers outside. 

Isa is an excellent cook. She has worked at many restaurants in the very bustling tourist town of Tamarindo (10 minutes away...which is also our target market) and she is currently the cook for the public school of El Llanito.  Their family is ready to open their home to show others an authentic experience.  She will be showing people how to make fresh fruit batidos, tortillas/empanadas, typical dishes (arroz con pollo, casados), and coffee the CR way.

John and I would of course love to help this one family, but the goal is much bigger...it's all the people of El Llanito.  If it is successful (meaning people actual choose to go on this tour) the plan is to give 20% of the profit to the school and the community. It could actually have a huge impact....I think back to last year where kids were in school with no electricity for 2 months (meaning no fans and no way to cook their school meals).  Dollar by dollar it could really make a difference.

With all that said...we did our first trial run 2 weeks ago (which is where these pics came from). We worked with the local private school, Country Day, and brought 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders to El Llanito. There was 41 kids and parents total. Half the group did a service project at the school along with the kids of El Llanito while the other half were going through the mini-food tour.  We got some great positive feedback and also things we definitely need to change, but overall there was tons of energy around the idea. We had parents (who are Americans/Canadians living here permanently) saying they would love to bring their friends/families here when they come visit, etc.

So, with all that said, we are printing up flyers and trying to finalize a few very critical parts (English/Spanish speaking tour guide/transportation). I was the tour guide for this last group (and I think I did a mighty fine job) but I don't think it's in my long term plans.... and we want to make this thing sustainable.  :)

For those living in Costa Rica if you have any of the below items that you would like to donate or know a contact of someone in the restaurant industry that might want to donate let me know:
20 glasses, 20 sets of silverware, 10 big plastic bowls, 2 sets of measuring cups/spoons,  20 plates, 20 coffee cups,  20 small plates, 10 cutting boards
(All of this would just make it more formal as the business inventory versus their family resources or using plastic).

I would love to hear comments/suggestions on this. John and I were just thinking that this was a great idea and if we put some effort into it it could really make a difference...we will see...things seem to move much slower in tico time!!!

John helped lead the service project while I was over with the food tour....good times!!

Shoes anyone???

Quick update on another cool experience we got to be a part of this week.

We got an email that a guy (Otto Orf) that works with HandsonSports Foundation was going to be coming to the area and bringing soccer cleats and balls for the kids that live in different pueblos. I believe he may come down every year or every other year to help out the communities of Guanacaste. This year Scott and Staci were able to get his support to help out the community of El Llanito.

So, last Monday we got about 30 pairs of cleats from Otto's organization. After we matched up all the shoe sizes with all the kids' shoe sizes there was a small gap.  So, to close that gap and to make sure all the kids in the school got a pair, Serve One decided to fund the rest of the shoes. Muchas Muchas Gracias!!!

So, to say the least there was a local shoe shop owner that was super happy with our arrival on Thursday morning and then we got to go give out all the cleats/shoes to some super eager kids on Friday.

The kids were actually super patient with the process. The english teacher, Gerald, and another teacher at the school, Gentry, helped with the hand-out process and were able to get the kids to control themselves from all this excitement. The timing was cool too because it was the last day before Semana Santa, their one week Easter break. So, I'm sure they will break in all their shoes this coming week!

Here is Jeremy, one of the kinder grads from last year in his official 1st grade uniform with, ofcourse, his new pair of cleats...

Again Thank you Serve One and HandsonSports Foundation for making this possible!!

Serve One Another in Love

Last Monday, John and I went to El Llanito to give out some goodies from the organization we are helping...'Serve One Another in Love'.

The founders of Serve One, Scott and Staci, came down to Costa Rica the Thursday before. Their plan was to go say hi to all the kids on Thursday and then on Friday distribute all the goodies they had collected for the kids at the El Llanito public school (backpacks, notebooks, deodorant, toothbrushes, brushes, soap, etc).  Unfortunately, like most news in Costa Rica, they found out on Thursday while they were with the kids that the teachers were going on a one day strike on Friday.  So, since Scott and Staci were going to be gone by Monday, John and I got to help distribute for Serve One.

The kids were thrilled to be receiving their own backpacks. They eagerly got in lines to get their boy or girl backpack. And starting pulling out all the different things they had just received.

I had a little fun with the pics and I think the kids did too. We started using a few props for our pics...they were cracking up.

The teachers also had a field day because they got new trash cans and some new materials (glue/pencils/etc) for their classrooms. AM also gave us some flyers that had been dropped off in Potrero. All the posters had small bible verses on them and all the teachers picked out a couple for their classrooms. It was fun because we teach adult english in the kindergarten classroom on Monday night. And 2 of the posters were already hanging that night!

All the kids had huge smiles and were so thankful for all the supplies! Thank you Serve One and Scott and Staci for all the donations to El Llanito!!

 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' -Acts 20:35

Christmas Trip...

So...time is flying and it's been 2 months since I've written anything. A lot has happened since then and I thought I would just load some pics to share some of our trip over Christmas!

Below are  a few pics from the Festival of Lights in San Jose with our friends Eddie, Deanna and Jaden (their little boy) before we visited them in Tuis. They are our friends from church in NC and decided to go to the Christian Spanish Immersion Academy for 6 months. We were able to attend church with them and go to a smaller festival in Turrialba the next night before we headed south.

We spent 2 days in Puerto Viejo (south caribbean side).  Here is another pic of me with a baby monkey and 3 friendly sloths at the Jaguar Animal Rescue Center.

Our pad in Puerto Viejo. John was super happy because he's always trying to get me to sleep with our doors open at night. And finally...his dream came true at this little family run hotel. We had our trusty mosquito net but sad to say that hasn't been an on-going tradition.

A Caribbean sunrise...We live on the pacific for all the nice sunsets...so this was a nice change. Even though for those that know me...I wasn't thrilled to wake up, but my honey was pretty happy with his early morning coffee on the beach.

Learning how to make real chocolate in a local cocoa demonstration. Close to Puerto Viejo lives a group of indigenous people called Bri Bri. Our tour guide was telling us how by their rituals, if a woman was having a baby then she would have to go out into the wilderness by herself, build her a little casita that she would later have her baby in. When she was having the baby nobody was allowed to touch her (so she is delivering the baby on her own) but somebody is able to hold up a long stick to her mouth to give her water to drink. This was all a part of the cleansing process. She then informed us that her grandmother had 6-7 kids like this. But then for the good news...missionaries came to their village and told them that Christ cleanses all sins, and so for those who have believed...they do not go through this purification process (this girl was a believer). What a story and thank you to all those sharing the Good News.

On to Panama we go. This bridge was pretty scary. I ended up getting dizzy while we were walking over trying to avoid all the holes/cracks. John had to carry my stuff the rest of the way...ok so I may be somewhat of a wimp...but I was thinking of all the families with kids that cross it every day. Once we crossed we stood in line for about 1.5 hours in addition to the 1 hour we stood in line before we crossed.

Bocos del Torro was our first destination in Panama. It is literally hundreds of little islands where you can only get there by taxi boats. We stayed on the main Bocas island and visited Red Frog Beach (softest sand I've ever touched).  I  also went on a tour of a beautiful deserted island, snorkeled on a reef, and saw dolphins playing in Dolphin Bay. Overall a great trip...however it did rain quite a bit (see the pic below of me going off to the tour solo with my rain coat on - because pobrecito John had to work!). It's crazy how the Pacific coast was in Dry Season and you drive a few hours east and you are back in the rainy season!

After leaving Bocas, we took a shuttle over to Boquete, Panama. Here is a pic while we were crossing the continental divide. We visited an organic coffee plantation, Dos Fincas, where the owner gave us a tour of his farm and talked to us for hours about the coffee business in Panama and across the world. I even got to roast our very own batch...very technical stuff I tell you...

Not sure why I added this unflattering pic, but I wanted you to see how excited I was to roast  my own coffee :)

We were able to go to a candle light church service in english/spanish. A family even invited us over the Christmas dinner with their family the next day. We had already made detailed plans with taxi drivers and a restaurant for brunch (since pretty much everything was going to be closed on Christmas...which should be normal except when you are a tourist) ...so we weren't able to go, but they were such a kind and welcoming group.

Christmas Dinner...Yum!

Lastly, we head back home. This is John's most dreaded moment of the whole trip. Sad to say but the next flight was much much smaller...only a 12 passenger plane. But he's a trooper!  While we were on our connection at San Jose I got to see where I did my internship with Amerijet working at Coopesa.

Flying over the beaches close to our home...que bonita!

More to come....

Celebrations :)

It's now Jan. 15...it is so crazy how time flies!! John and I have had a very Merry Christmas and New Year's and I hope the same for all of my friends and family. We stayed in Costa Rica over the holidays and traveled to Southern Costa Rica and Panama before we had some very special visitors come see us in early January.  In future posts, I hope to share more about those experiences...for now here is one of my highlights...yes that is a baby monkey :)

Rewinding back to December, I wanted to write a blog on the End of Year / Christmas party that was held on Wednesday, December 12 at the school of El Llanito and the very special kinder/sixth grade graduation ceremony held that night.  All together this was such a special day of love and appreciation and I didn't want to forget it...so I'm now sharing.

Serve One ministries has adopted the town of El Llanito to help with a myriad of things such as the construction of their salon/school building, supplying student uniforms/supplies, teaching english, hosting vacation bible schools and other mission groups and for the past few years has supported their end of year Christmas party celebration.  Serve One is funded through personal donations and of course through fundraising efforts that Scott and Staci put on back in the States.

This year I got to help participate, plan and recruit church members to make this day a success and boy did it!

We started at 8am and we had stations set up for the kids to rotate through. There was instant icecream making, more face painting, Bible verse crafts, a blow up jump-around, sack races, soccer, etc. The kids were definitely busy running from station to station. My hands were about frozen trying to help all the kids shake their icecream for forever it seemed.

We were able to sing some Christmas songs in spanish (luckily the songs were printed out) that went along with the Christmas story.  The kids were all dressed up as characters...it was a bit unrehearsed but it was fun! Afterwards, the preacher from the spanish speaking church shared the gospel message with the kids to explain why the life and death of Jesus is so very important to know and remember.

Afterwards Scott and Staci were able to bring one gift for each child and then they had their last meal for the school year. Isa and Maria cooked up a wonderful seafood and rice dish.

One of the best parts for me, was to share this experience with my dear friends Sherrell, Jesse and their little girl Shalom. Thank you again for all your help and for all the goodies you brought for the kids!!

Later that night, El Llanito (along with all other schools in Guanacaste) held their graduation ceremony where they honor 6th graders going onto Colegio (high school) and the kindergartners entering 1st grade.

The school children always pick one person to dedicate their ceremony to and this year they picked Staci, one of the founders of Serve One. Here she is glowing along with her little dog (which you can't see, but he's a cute little yorky).

They asked the four of us to be in the procession, they gave us a very beautiful plant bouquet and then asked us to help give out graduation certificates...which involves getting a kiss on the cheek from each student. I was so honored to be a part of that night and it was wonderful seeing the kids I've been teaching graduate.  The teachers really made us feel special and I'm so thankful I have been given the chance to help out the village of El Llanito.

The school provided a wonderful meal to all the proud family members and the night ended with some great spanish music. It was interesting in the beginning of the night before the ceremony started... they were playing easy listening English music (Delilah style)...which if you know me I love that kind of music. We were wondering why they were playing english music vs. spanish. We were told it was in honor of who the graduation was dedicated to...which was Staci.  So very thoughtful!

Que Dios te acompañe!