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Two Gray-headed Chachalacas in the Guarumo Tree at my Terrace My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica Note that the orange blooming tree is more than 100 yards away on a hill. |
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Closer view of one Gray-headed Chachalaca My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Two Gray-headed Chachalacas in the Guarumo Tree at my Terrace My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica Note that the orange blooming tree is more than 100 yards away on a hill. |
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Closer view of one Gray-headed Chachalaca My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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The lady I use as my seamstress got a new sign this week. The old one I posted in June is shown below. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Somehow this old sign seemed to have more “character,” whatever that means! |
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And a little closer. |
See my photo gallery: Flora & Forest
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The meat and some vegetables were cooked ahead of time The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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First, some of our Su Espacio class member ground fresh corn to prepare fresh tortillas for our coffee break The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Felix, one of the twin boys from Germany hand-grinding yellow corn The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Cecelia’s family members made these scrumptious corn tortillas which we ate with coffee grown on their farm. Delicioso! The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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All morning people worked on cutting and cleaning banana leaves to later wrap our tamales in. The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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As with families preparing for Navidad, everyone including kids had a job to do. The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Washing cilantro & other spices from the garden outside The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Cutting up vegetables The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Cutting up freshly cooked pork The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Cutting up freshly cooked pork The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Using a grater and sieve to make fresh tomato juice for the recipe The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Listening to instructions from Corinna The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Felix & Jon take turns stirring the white cornmeal batter for tamale base The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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We all worked and visited all morning – A great together time! The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Finally we start putting them together! The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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A family member shows us how to wrap the final tamale. The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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Soon the tables were filled with tamales! The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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And we looked like a tamale factory! 🙂 The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
This was an activity sponsored by David & Corinna of Su Espacio as a total immersion Spanish activity. It was totally in Spanish, a lot of fun, cultural learning, tasty, and good use of the Spanish language! I loved it even though my leg was hurting.
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“Peace Dove” by an artist in El Salvador Now hanging on my year around Christmas Tree |
In my living room last Christmas I added a tree on which I hung crafted birds from all over Central America. Some I bought locally and others came from UNICEF. Every purchase from them helps care for children all around the world! I encourage you to consider buying a new tree ornament or other hand-crafted Christmas gift from:
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Front Entrance to Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Tile Paintings of Farm Life on outside walls Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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A tile painting depicting farm life on outside walls Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Don Quixote Tiles Next Door Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Private House Next Door to Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
Or my San Jose Gallery with photos from several trips to the capital.
And a separate gallery for Costa Rica Churches, most in San Jose
AND A FUN EXTRA:
10 Great Reasons for Living Abroad an article on internations.org
LO SIENTO
I did not intend to post 3 articles on one day! But here they are and now I’m finished with all my posts on two trips, Villa Blanca and San Jose. Back to the boring daily stuff! 🙂
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Statue honoring women who fought in Battle of Rivas, Nicaragua which kept American William Walker from making us a slave state. National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Tour guide Michael Miller explaining the statue. National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Great-tailed Grackle male National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Zoom on statue on a cloudy day. National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
Or my San Jose Gallery with photos from several trips to the capital.
And a separate gallery for Costa Rica Churches, most in San Jose
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Research Center For possibly humorous reasons, named “El Cohombro,” the cucumber. Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Research Center Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Research Center Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Guide & Researcher at Research Center Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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One of Many Trails in the Reserve Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Research Center Helps Maintain Educational Trails Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
National Geographic has done research here and they show some of their films made here. And of course many universities use the research facilities for research in the cloud forest here. Interesting!
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Anne Frank Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
And if you think it is unusual to find a statue of Anne Frank in Costa Rica next to a Catholic Cathedral, in another park of downtown, maybe 8-10 blocks away, in front of a Catholic Church and near the entrance to Chinatown, is a life-size statue of John Lennon sitting on a park bench beside whom you can sit and have your photo made. 🙂
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Historic Building Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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“The Yellow House” A government building where foreign representatives are met. President Obama met with CR president here. Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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The Mexican Embassy (through a moving bus window) So much more inviting than the razor-wired concrete bunker for USA. Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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A bunch of old expats listening to a San Jose Guide. Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Our Tour Bus for the Day Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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Graffiti Wall like many Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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The old historic building our guide lived in Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
Or my San Jose Gallery with photos from several trips to the capital.
And a separate gallery for Costa Rica Churches, most in San Jose
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Mariana Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Flowers in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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Oxcart in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Villa Blanca’s Mariana Wedding Chapel was the 50th anniversary-wedding gift from former President Rodrigo Carazo Odio to First Lady Estrella Carazo Zeledon. Its unique hand painted ceramic ceiling depicts the history of the Virgin Mary when first introduced into Latin America by Christian missionaries. It is located on a grassy knoll overlooking the farm village and hacienda of Villa Blanca. The Chapel’s backdrop is the 840 Ha (2000 acre) Los Angeles Cloud Forest, with over 300 listed bird species included within a variety of flora and fauna in this protected habitat and serene mountain setting. The chapel, a replica of a 17th century chapel in Rome, features a high beam ceiling composed of 840 individual ceramic plates, all of them hand drawn and painted with high temperature enamel paints. Each side of the ceiling has 15 panels of 28 plates divided in two vertical rows of 14 plates. Each one of the columns formed by the 14 plates conveys a theme allusive to a Latin-American virgin and her country of origin.