TheDaviesInCostaRica: April 2010

Mango season is once again upon us and we have been very excited to see that several of the trees on our property are producing vast numbers of mangos. And as we walk down our little country road, we are amazed to see mango trees everywhere just covered in the fruit.

Just the other day, our gardener pointed out that there were a couple on our one tree that were ready to be picked. Of course we don’t have a long extension ladder or one of the fancy mango-picking devices that the locals use, so we improvised and used Nathan instead.

We couldn’t wait to try our first home-grown mango and we certainly weren’t disappointed. It was so fresh and sweet! When we first came here, neither Wayne nor I were big mango fans but now, we can’t get enough of them. We are definitely going to miss them when we return to Calgary.

You can see the difference in colour between the ripe and non-ripe mangos

Success!

The title this time has 2 meanings. First, it’s been a long time since we have blogged, and that is because we had to go back to Canada due to the unexpected passing of my mother. I’m still struggling with that, but I’ve decided that the blog is not really the place to go into it. I miss her every day, but she would be the first one to tell me to go on with my life.

And life does go on. The title’s second meaning refers to Rachel’s dance class. They have been practicing a routine for weeks now, getting ready for their first public performance at the “Expo Feria Del Clima”, or the “Climate Fair” being held in the central park here in Atenas. Well, unfortunately, we had 2 days of early, hard rain here, and the girls learned that “The show must go on” anyway. They did their routine in a cool, light rain, with mostly just parents watching them. They all did a great job, danced with a smile on, and looked great in their custom made “Wonder Woman” costumes. These were made by Silvia, a local Tica who also has a younger girl in one of the dance classes, and she whipped these costumes out in a short time and only charged us $20 apiece for them. Thanks Silvia!

As with a lot of things here in Costa Rica, the Climate Fair sort of just appeared, and we didn’t have much notice for it, nor did we really know what to expect from it. However, we were pleasantly surprised.

Sunday was another typically sunny day, and it started with a parade of the famous “Boyero” carts. These beautiful, hand painted, ox-driven carts represent the traditional method of transportation here before modernization. Our little town of Atenas is on the old road from San Jose to Punterenas, which coffee producers used to use to transport big sacks of coffee from the interior to the boats in Punterenas. It was a gruelling trip taking many days, and they would have to make the trip many times per year.

We also heard of an interesting twist on being “on the wagon”, as we know it in Canada. The saying in Costa Rica is “Montese en la Carreta” which means get on the wagon, however, it refers back to when the ox-cart drivers would stop in a little town along the way (such as Atenas), and get so drunk that they couldn’t walk, so they would have to “get on the wagon” so they could continue. So, if you are “on the wagon” here, it means you are definitely NOT on the wagon.

And for some reason this fair seemed to be larger in scale, and better attended than others we’ve seen. There were a lot of arts & crafts vendors, some artists (Rachel and Gabbi got a caricature done, for example) and some tour companies. There were plenty of exhibitions, such as our girls dance routine, clowns, the local high school cheerleader squad, etc. And, of course, plenty of awesome food stands. There was our staple favourite, chicken/pork-on-a-stick, plus we had some amazing “burritos gordos”, done by Tomas, the local baker who sets up at the farmers market each week, ice cream stands, granizados, etc. etc.

We enjoyed it a lot. Don’t forget that you can click to enlarge the pics below:

Here’s Linda Carter, early in her career.