Just Your Average Week In Monteverde

July 20, 2013

There isn’t really a whole lot to report. The bivouac at the high elevation in Curi Cancha is dropping a ton of pupal casings which means that it’s going to be moving soon to meet the increase in food demands. We’ll have to go up there today to go hunt them down again. The weather’s been acting weird though. Like today for instance: it’s completely clear. A sky so blue I can hardly believe it wasn’t painted by an artist. (No, a clear sky is not really that normal for this season.) It’s barely rained at all this past week even though it’s suppose to be the rainy season. Yesterday it broke that trend and rained in the morning then cleared up for the afternoon which is the opposite of a typical rainy day. 

The clear weather did let us get to Burger Night at La Colina. So good. The burgers they were serving had bacon and a pineapple glaze. Mmmmmm. They also had these Oreo cheesecake truffles which were to die for. I have to ask for the recipe today when we go up there today. And the company was fun too. We met a bunch of people from Florida who are spending a month traveling around Costa Rica just because they can. I think we are suppose to have a picnic with them today at some point. This is my favorite part of traveling, meeting new people and doing stuff at random. After, you part ways with nothing but a really great story to tell. Here’s one of them:

We had finished our delicious meals and the night was wrapping up so it was time to pay. They were really laid back about it all really. Honor system and such which works here. (Sometimes I love rural living.) I went up to pay for my delicious meal. 

The owner asks: “You had the beef burger right? And two truffles?”

“Actually, I had three,” I responded sheepishly.

“What happened to you?”

“Don’t judge me! They were so good and we don’t keep chocolate in the house!” Well technically that’s not true. We just eat it all so there’s never any hanging around. That’s what happens when you live with two other females, chocolate has a very short shelf time expectancy. 

        La Colina also is the lodge with a bunch of animals running around. Last time, we found a puppy! They have a bunch of dogs here. Often you have to check chairs before you sit down for they like to sleep on them. 

My cooking has been getting better with all of the cooking at we do for ourselves. I made enchiladas with a sauce made from scratch. Well it was actually Enchilasgna, the tortillas would not cooperate. Ms. Mary gave me a sort of recipe for tomato soup that I played around with a bit. It still needs a bit of work. Kaitlin taught me how to make chicken broth from scratch and also how to make pie dough (something my mother will not even consider to fuss with, not sure what she has against rolling pins :) ). Kaitlin has a killer Banana Pie recipe so needless to say, we’ve been eating a lot of pie. (Not going to lie, we had banana pie for breakfast yesterday.) I also found and perfected a yeast-less cinnamon roll recipe. (We go through a lot of butter at this house.) I bought a journal from one of the stores in Santa Elena to write all these recipes down so I can make them when I get back to Philly. 

      Monteverde has been an incredible experience for me. I'll be sad to leave this relaxing setting in soon. You get all bogged down in city life and stressed about school and your future that you start to lose sight of who you are. For example, I've never been a shy person but lately I had been shying away from new people. (Not like me at all.) But here, all that is gone. It's lifted and I get to be my old self again. I had forgotten how much I love meeting and talking to new people. Listening to all their own crazy stories and even if you think to yourself "wow. That's nuts. I would never do anything like that," you kind of get to live vicariously through them and share their experience. And you share your own crazy stories and it's just one big living-fest...if that made any sense at all.