Adventures of Feb. 17-Feb. 23

During this week I was still recovering from my food poisoning, and we wrapped up our Valentine's Day celebrations. Because I was sick during Love Day, the place where Clark planned our date graciously agreed to allow us to reschedule for Monday. Clark arranged for us to have a couple's massage. Wow! It was just the thing I needed after being ill the previous week. My masseuse was Pablo, and he gave me the star treatment. I came away feeling refreshed and relaxed all over!

Clark took the kids to a professional futbol aka soccer game. The teams playing were Heredia vs. Salt Lake City which made things fun. They said they were "frisked" before entering the game and everyone had to enter with empty pockets because people throw coins down on the field which can cause injury to the players. The game was quite slow, but Ticos are passionate and there was much hollering and carrying on. The final score was 0-0. 

We had another lovely family from church over for dinner. Clark wanted to bring in pizza again. About the pizza: there is this pretty cheap place right by our house. We only have eaten there once though because their hours are not regular, and the hours are not posted on the outside. We never know when they are operating. With another family, Clark had planned to purchase the pizza there but when he went to order the pizza, found they were closed, and he had to rush around finding another pizza place. That pizza was SUPER expensive! This time, once again, he found them closed. Keep in mind this is different days. 

For this dinner party, Clark decided to go to Pizza Hut because they were running a Love Day special. The pizza was very close to the USA version. BUT I had the worst heartburn that night! I don't know if it was because I was still recovering from my flu or if there's something with the USA products. Maybe a little of both? In addition, the father of the family, Juan Carlos, is a pastry chef. He has a panaderia and reposteria (bakery and sweet pastry shop) IN HIS GARAGE! He made and brought us the world's BEST croissants! These are the BEST croissants I have EVER eaten. I am not exaggerating. 

Juan Carlos is very talented in his craft. He also is OBSESSED with croissants; their texture, the layers, the flavor, everything. He said he is always looking for the texture and layers to be just right and takes many of pictures to document his croissants. He covered ours with some milk chocolate. They are so large I could only eat half. We had a nice time practicing our Spanish while Juan Carlos and his family practiced their English. Juan Carlos used to live and work in Canada and Gabby, his wife, was a tourism (travel) agent. They have great stories, and their children have similar interests to ours, with pursuing chess competitions and music. We volunteered to help out in the bakery just to see how a bakery works but that didn't work out. However, we are invited for a later week for dinner in their home and Juan Carlos intends to share his cinnamon rolls with us. We are SO excited! The pictures look UH-MAZE-ING!

Hunting and gathering:

A plate from one of my favorite restaurants in Coronado: Kaffa. They make crepes and beautiful pastries. They also have very good filet mignon at a reasonable price. Above is chicken and mushroom crepes. I chose this one because I was recovering from the flu, and the plate is more basic but still with rich flavor!

Clark's filet mignon

On our Love Day date, Clark took me to another Indian restaurant. I had biryani cooked in a clay pot. Again, it was more basic while I was healing my stomach. However, still tasty. I LOVE Indian food! So far, Costa Ricans do it right!

This is a dry shrink folded washcloth and little bowl of water. You soak the cloth in the water, and it expands to full size to wash after the meal; an Indian tradition is to wash after the meal which I take pleasure with since I prefer to wash after eating.

Random recollections:

Cut flowers for the week! Bird of paradise always remind me of my mom. 

This is one way to buy certain products here in Costa Rica. They package many types of food and household goods in these disposable bags. I bought the bag and refilled my soap bottles.

I often see this vintage Datsun in the school pick up line. Something about his car is nostaligic; maybe from my childhood in the 80's?