Name that fruit! - Our life in Costa Rica

We've been taking Spanish lessons since August. One class per week on Thursday for 2 hours. We are coming along nicely. I took French in high school which helps me a little. Lavanson already knew some Spanish before we moved here, so of course he is doing much better than I am. Even so, we still find it extremely helpful to practice with someone who speaks the language fluently, (whenever we have the opportunity). Marcelo our landlord, has been learning English (as are many of the Costa Ricans) so we have all found it very beneficial to practice with/on each other.

We have also been very curious about the wide array of fruits and vegetables which are available here and many growing in our yard. (and many just lying around on the ground)

Today Marcelo came over to the house and showed us several of the fruits that grow in our yard.

Name that fruit! from Devon on Vimeo.

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We have so much to learn

Please join us on Saturday when Marcelo takes us down in the valley behind our house. It was nothing like we thought it would be!!

The Ridges of Grecia - Our Life in Costa Rica

There are many reasons why we chose to live in this house, but one of the main reasons is... the view.

In the words of many who live on the ridges of Grecia "It is to die for!".

Grecia has 5 ridges that lead to the top of the Poas volcano and they all have spectacular million dollar views of San Jose and the Central Valley.

Someday I will photograph views from all 5 ridges but today's post are the views from our ridge, San Luis. We are at about 4,300ft. Each day we awake to the beauty of Costa Rica. The next ridge over from ours is El Cajon where many expats live. The video today is the view from our patio over to that ridge.

You can see coffee for miles. The plant and animal life is abundant. The owner of our house grows 80 different varieties of roses which we can see if we look down from our patio.

It's a beautiful and peaceful existence. It's a great life and we Love it.

So thought i would share with you.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Ridges of Grecia, Costa Rica from Devon on Vimeo.

email subscribers can click the link above for video

If it's Friday...then this must be the feria! - Our life in Costa Rica

Our weekly shopping for fruits and veggies is done at the feria (farmer's market) in Grecia.

Grecia has a very large open air market. It is open on Friday from noon - 9pm and Sat from 9-12.

In addition to a vast assortment of fruit and produce, the feria also has meat and fish, bread, delicious desserts, fresh juices, sodas (small eating establishments), plants, an aisle where you can buy shoes, clothing, household items and a cotton candy booth (algodón de azúcar) which I have tried a time or 2 (thumbs up).

After living here for 4 months, we have gotten much better at budgeting for food and estimating how much we need to buy. Our refrigerator is usually (over) stuffed with produce and fruit. Our biggest issue is that the fruit and produce doesn't last very long. We have thrown away a lot because we didn't eat it soon enough. 

We've been told that this is because of the different growing methods here in Costa Rica and the reduced use of pesticides. Also because all fruit is grown locally (it's in season) so it is ripe or very close to it when it is picked, unlike the US where it is picked long before it gets ripe and shipped in from other countries. That produce/fruit must be treated to last and also chemicals are applied to make it look pretty for resale.

We accept the trade off and are learning to buy less each week and we have also learned several methods on how to make the food we buy last longer once we get it home.

Growers in North America have responded to decades of pressure to grow bigger, heavier fruits and vegetables that are uniform in appearance. Customers want their produce all-year-round, even if it’s out of season, and they want to pay minimal price.

delicious Costa Rica tomatoes

Take tomatoes for example: Industrial tomatoes have been bred for yield, production, disease resistance. The growers are not paid for flavor — they are paid for yield. So the breeders have given them a lot of fruit but that doesn’t have any flavor.

Most supermarket tomatoes sold in North America share a genetic mutation that makes them all round, smooth, and deep scarlet red when ripe. 

Lavanson & Charles absolutely love this vendor. Sometimes they end up buying out all of her brownies!

There are 2 organic booths

there are about 4 aisles this size - it's huge!!!

We look forward to shopping each Friday. Tasting and learning about different fruits and veggies. You get a lot for your money!

It's also a good place for social gatherings.

We see a lot of expats there each week. Then we meet up @ Isabel's for "happy hour".

Have I told you lately....I LOVE my life!!!

Update/Revision - Is there a cure for cancer growing in my backyard? - the healing plants of Costa Rica

***Update for email subscribers***

The link may have been left out for the video - Our 1st Guanabana

please find the video here.

Thank you

Is there a cure for cancer growing in my backyard? - The healing plants of Costa Rica

This is a post from my blog I'm Just Sayin dated May 7, 2013, on our stop in Antigua. It's interesting to look back because soursop aka guanábana is not allowed in the U.S but is very prevalent in the Caribbean. It grows here in Costa Rica and is available at the local feria. Most Costa Ricans are very aware of its healing powers.

Thought it made sense to re post here

So looking back...Here's the post

Is Soursop a cure for cancer?

Instead of swimming or snorkeling at one of Antigua's 366 beaches, we decided to take a tour that would give us a taste of the culture of the island.

One of the stops on the tour was to Rosemac's Herb Garden, located in the coastal village of Johnson's Point. The garden belongs to Rosalyn Simon. She lead us through her herb garden and shared her wealth of knowledge of each plant. We found her talk to be very informative. We learned about many herbal remedies (both culinary and medicinal) that have been used by the people of Antigua for centuries. From these herbs in her garden she creates her natural products to soothe and heal the body. We also had a chance to sample some of the fruits and teas. One such remedy which was discussed was soursop.

Soursop -- what's soursop? 

Soursop (Annona muricata) is a fruit mainly grown in tropical climates. It has many other names, including guanábana, graviola, anona, and sirsak. As a member of the Annona genus of flowering plants, its most recognizable relative for Americans is the pawpaw.

Soursop is a strange-looking fruit; imagine a Granny Smith apple crossed with a pineapple... on steroids. This should give you a mental image of the spiky fruit, which can weigh up to 15 pounds. Cutting open the green rind reveals a white pulp with a consistency similar to that of cooked fish, and rows of dark seeds.

we sampled the soursop

Soursop has been linked as a possible cure for cancer (and a way to prevent cancer) but it is not acknowledged as such here in the U.S. I won't go in to why I think this is being done, but suffice it to say, if you decide you want to use soursop you will not be able to walk into your local Whole Foods and ask for it. It is very difficult to get, however it grows wild in Antigua.

I am in no way endorsing soursop as a "cure" for cancer. If you are interested in learning more please listen to the video below. Then research and draw your own conclusions.

Rosemac's Herb Garden - Antigua West Indies from Devon on Vimeo.

Fast forward 3 years to 2016. We now live in Costa Rica where guanábana is quite common. As a matter of fact I think there is a tree right in our backyard.

We bought our 1st guanábana last week at the feria (the ones in our yard are not ripe). It was pretty big and cost $8.

The fruit, roots, leaves and bark are all used in natural treatments, however, the active ingredient, Acetogenin, is most concentrated in the leaves of the plant. (As I understand it, the fruit is for prevention and the leaves made into a tea are for treatment.)

Below is our video

 
Our 1st Guanabana from Devon on Vimeo

Could this be the apartment for you? - Living in Grecia Costa Rica

If you have been wondering about housing in Grecia Costa Rica, here are some photos of a community very close to downtown. As a matter of fact when you leave the gate you can see the church right down the street (the church is in the the heart of Grecia). This location is very convenient, especially if you do not have a car. 

We aren't thinking of moving right now but I thought I would post the vacancy anyway. Never know who might see it and be interested. 

A friend of ours took us to see a vacant unit for rent in La Guaria. 
The unit was empty but they were still working on getting it ready to rent

This gated residential community is located in one of the most beautiful areas of Grecia and only 800 metres from the town centre.  (1 metre is equal to 1 block)

The community is really nice. I love the colors of the houses and the apartment was pretty spacious for a 1 bedroom. The furniture was nice as well (custom Costa Rica furniture)

There are presently 2 units available in the same building. They are both furnished apts with nice views. Very light and airy. 

The upstairs unit  (pictured below) is 1 bedroom 1 bath w/an office and laundry room (washer) and the downstairs is 2 bedrooms. Rent is $600 (long term rental) for the 1 bedroom (includes utilities except electric). Owner will accept short term rental as well for $100/mo more. 

The downstairs apt is occupied so we did not see it but will be vacant within a few wks. 

has TV (on the wall) includes cable/internet

granite counter tops

 master bedroom

laundry room

office (has nice desk furniture -not pictured) 

Grecia video click below

It's Independence Day in Costa Rica! - The Grecia Celebration

September 15, 1821

 Commemorating the independence of the entire Central America from Spain, 

which took place in 1821.

195 years of independence

In Costa Rica, this is a celebration of culture and not military might (since they have NO military) The people are so proud here. 

Like the rest of Central America, Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain. On September 15, 1821, after the final Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–21), the authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua)  That date is still celebrated as Independence Day in Costa Rica, even though, technically, under the Spanish Constitution of 1812 that had been readopted in 1820, Nicaragua and Costa Rica had become an autonomous province with its capital in León.

Everything starts at the little red church

Parades with children rather than with military formations... that's why we love Costa Rica!

September is a very patriotic month in Costa Rica. One of the most anticipated traditions in this month takes place on the 14th: the arrival of the Torch of Freedom and Independence, which is lit in the capital of Guatemala.  We saw it as it passed through downtown Grecia yesterday. This torch runs down the five nations that achieved independence from Spain in 1821, but it does not travel to Belize or Panama because these two countries achieved independence by other means. It is important to note, however, that cultural and economic integration of these nations into the Central American and Caribbean communities has greatly improved in recent decades.

Pictures courtesy of our good friend Prince Rich

It's all good in the neighborhood - Our Life in Costa Rica

 There is no video today instead a few photos of daily life in Grecia, Costa Rica.

 Students being picked up for school

Fruit & veggie man delivering to the ridge

Stepped out of one of the shops downtown and was taken by the view of the mountains on the horizon

More of the streets of downtown Grecia

Guess what?

While we were in town we saw the coolest thing. It was a lounge chair with the same fabric as the one we used to re upholster a couple of the dining chairs.

What are the chances?

So, of course had to buy it. 

El Día del Negro 2016 - Black in Costa Rica

The history of Costa Rica cannot be told without recognizing the important sociocultural contribution of the Afro-Caribbean community

Our good friends Professor Sherman Thomas & his wife Lucett, son Isaiah and daughter

In 1980, the Union of Educators in Costa Rica realized that a truly multicultural and ethnically diverse society needs to take time to celebrate its roots, and thus El Día del Negro (Afro-Costa Rican Day) was born. The final day of August was chosen in observance of the First Convention of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which took place at Madison Square Garden in 1920

African heritage in Costa Rica dates back to the colonial period, when Spanish conquistadors brought a few slaves to the country in light of the difficulties they faced in enslaving the indigenous. The first significant arrival of Afro-Caribbeans, however, would take place in 1872 after a ship with nearly a thousand Jamaicans aboard arrived from Kingston. These Jamaican workers built the early railroad network in Costa Rica, and by 1927 there were about 20,000 living in Limon (about 55 percent of the population of the port city). Source

We were unable to attend the celebration this year but are making plans to attend in 2017

Pura Vida Costa Rica video

It's Wed so here is the video for today

Enjoy

Welcome to Costa Rica from Ritmo Digital on Vimeo.

Introducing the "Rockers" - Our first furniture purchase in Costa Rica

Marcelo (our landlord) is such a nice guy!! I had no way to get the chairs home on Saturday, so he got a pick up on Sunday and drove all the way from San Jose (45 mins) where he lives, back to Sarchi, picked up the chairs and delivered them to me in Grecia, in the middle of a terrible rain storm!

I have been looking for the history of the chair and trying to find out what the significance of each of the symbols are. But so far this is all I could find...

In 1908, together with the typical cart (national symbol), the famous Sarchí chair was born in the workshop "La Hacienda" in Sarchí (which means in Huetar language "open field"), the most modern coffee process exploitation machines, sawmills and workshops for the wood industry of the epoch where found there. This chair was made by Mr. Daniel Alfaro Corrales, whose brother a few years later, in 1914, would give life to the chair industry and created in 1928 the folding rocking chair.

Source unknown  

Luis gave us his seal of approval

these are the high back Toucan design chairs - there is a medium back option as well

still looking for just the right table to go in between 

They're certified GENUINE - made in "Costa Rica"

BTW - (although our sales person was camera shy)  the rockers came from
Inversiones 
Cuyo Rodriguez S.A. 
Muebles Genizaro Y Guanacaste

Have it your way - Furniture shopping in Sarchi Costa Rica

It's interesting how your view of things can change so quickly when you move to a new country.

I have been amazed at the beauty of so many things that I never paid much attention to before or never thought would be "my taste"

One of those things is furniture.

I am a lover of fine furniture but mostly modern, contemporary furniture.

When I got to Costa Rica I noticed that the houses were furnished mostly with very heavy furniture made from local hardwoods. Our house is filled with all handcrafted custom furniture. After being here for a while I began to notice the quality of the furniture and the fine detail and intricacy of the work.

We just happen to live about 20 minutes from the town of Sarchi. It’s been the center of the woodworking crafts and furniture making in Costa Rica for the past 100 years. There are about 70 family-owned workshops, or “talleres,” with their showrooms dotting the main road winding up the hill toward the center of town. No frills, just their best pieces on display. They include intricately-carved traditional styles to ultra-modern clean lines. Only plantation-grown or sustainable tropical hardwoods are used, like cenizaro, guanacaste, melina, and cedar.

here are 2 other traditional Costa Rican rocking chairs that we have on our patio

I've been in the market to buy a couple of rocking chairs for myself. The Costa Rica rocking chairs I want are manufactured in Caobilla wood (from the mahogany family) and real leather! They come in a variety of colors. You can pretty much order furniture any way you want it here. All custom made. They are good sized rockers and can be used for the porch or living room, and they can fold up to be quite compact! You can also choose an engraved chair for no extra cost - (the rocker is etched and stamped with Costa Rica on the bottom leather to signify it's authenticity).

Our landlord Marcelo, volunteered to take me to Sarchi (the guys came along) to pick out a couple of the chairs (BTW - we have the "best" landlord!!!) I have seen the rockers online and they can get kind of pricey so was happy to have him along to make sure that I was not "gringoed" (charged a higher price because I am not from Costa Rica).

On the way we stopped by his father's house to check out the beautiful roses. Marcelo grows 80 different varieties of roses as well and has a beautiful greenhouse down in the coffee grove behind our house.

Then on we went to Sarchi.

Below is a short video and a look at our final selection (BTW - we got a VERY good price for the 2 chairs)

THANKS Marcelo!!!

Have it your way - Furniture Shopping in Sarchi, Costa Rica from Devon on Vimeo.