New Neighborhood Swimming Pool
![]() |
Complete with Racing Lanes, It opened this morning for an event. I think it is a private club promoting triathlons, but no sure. Atenas, Costa Rica |
See my March 6 post on the construction of this commercial facility, complete with sign describing the purpose of it. I think the early morning event here was a small triathlon for primary school children, probably to promote the facility and gain membership. My neighbor walked by between 7:30 and 8:00 this morning seeing a couple of hundred parents and children here and then later saw the children running through town. I missed the activity but cellphone photoed the pool that I walk past every day on my way to town. There is a high interest in health and sports here, though not a lot can afford a private club, if that is what it is.
Early Bloomers
![]() |
Bougainvillea Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Yellow Bells Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Triquitraque Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Once de Abril Atenas, Costa Rica |
And for more flowers, see my Flora & Forest photo galleries! Beauty year around here!
300+ Days of Renewable Energy
As of today ICE (electric company) broke past record of number of days without using any fossil fuels to produce electricity country-wide. Most comes from hydro-electric, then wind, thermal, and solar in that order. We also broke a record on how much wind energy produced so far this year. Read the above linked article in the English online newspaper.
Neighbor’s View of Atenas
Atenas as seen from higher up the hill from me in the morning fog. This nice photo was made by Tom & Jessica, here for a couple of months on their trip around the world. See their blog http://www.worldwidewaftage.com/ Like most places you pay more for better view! Of course they zoomed in on the church with camera – they aren’t this close! Atenas, Costa Rica |
BLOG STATS
I have now written more than 1,000 posts that have received more than 100.000 pageviews online from more than 20 countries. I guess there is a lot of random viewing of blogs by some people. 🙂
Chachalacas in Guarumo Tree
![]() |
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. |
![]() |
Closer view of one Gray-headed Chachalaca My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Home Business Sign Replaced
![]() |
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 |
![]() |
Somehow this old sign seemed to have more “character,” whatever that means! |
That Spot of Color is Joy!
![]() |
And a little closer. |
See my photo gallery: Flora & Forest
Tamale-Making Class en Español
![]() |
The meat and some vegetables were cooked ahead of time The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
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 |
![]() |
Felix, one of the twin boys from Germany hand-grinding yellow corn The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
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 |
![]() |
All morning people worked on cutting and cleaning banana leaves to later wrap our tamales in. The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
As with families preparing for Navidad, everyone including kids had a job to do. The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Washing cilantro & other spices from the garden outside The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Cutting up vegetables The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Cutting up freshly cooked pork The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Cutting up freshly cooked pork The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Using a grater and sieve to make fresh tomato juice for the recipe The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Listening to instructions from Corinna The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Felix & Jon take turns stirring the white cornmeal batter for tamale base The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
We all worked and visited all morning – A great together time! The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Finally we start putting them together! The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
A family member shows us how to wrap the final tamale. The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
Soon the tables were filled with tamales! The kitchen of Sra. Cecelia, Atenas, Costa Rica |
![]() |
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.
And for my permanent display of these same photos see my “People and Fiestas” Gallery titled:
Tamale Making Class. And for those who would like the recipe, here it is, just for you to make Christmas Tamales in Tennessee! 🙂 ¡Feliz Navidad! (And good luck finding all the ingredients there!)
![Related image](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d8/45/8c/d8458c66631b0ef2cae4c65f8d59c5d2--tamales-costa-rica.jpg)
Added Bird from El Salvador to My Tree
![]() |
“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: