The World's Biggest... (That's a Corner Gas Joke)

OK time for Catch Up.  I’ve got internet at home tonight. Somewhat ironic since I had finally given up and posted that I didn't have internet earlier today.

Let’s see… Monday was normal school day.  We didn’t have anything in the morning.  We all actually seem to really enjoy that.  We get to school around 10, then hang out til class time.

Tuesday we went to the Orosi Valley.  There is a debate about where the name came from.  Option 1: Named after a native chief named… well Orosi.  2.  Named after the fact the Spanish thought they found gold there.  Oro (gold) si (yes).  Turns out it was fools gold.  It was really pretty.  We went to an overlook, enjoyed the view, then played on the playground.

Orosi Valley

Jenee and Stacy on the TeeterTotter (SubeAbajo)

 

We then went into the town of Orosi and saw one of the oldest (if not the oldest) church in Costa Rica.  It was built in 1743.  Apparently it’s tough to keep buildings standing for 100’s of years if you have trouble with earthquakes, floods, and volcanoes.  It was very pretty.

Igelsia de Orosi

 

When we left we got to see ash/ smoke/ steam coming out of a volcano.

That's not a cloud on the left hand side of the picture.  That's Ash/ steam from an active volcano.

 

We stopped in Cartago to see the “Ruins of Cartago.”  It is a church building that they tried to build several times, but the roof kept caving in.  This could be due to the fact that 1. The priest who was supposed to be in charge of the church fell in love with his brother’s girlfriend and tried to kill his brother, or something… OR 2. There are lots of earthquakes.  The inside they turned into a really pretty garden.

The "Secret Garden" in the Ruins of Cartago

 

Wednesday we went to the Café Britt coffee factory.  It was really interesting.  I know a lot more about how coffee is made and I’ve got lots more advice about how to make coffee now.  I still don’t like it.  I did try some again.

Our very fun guides telling us about coffee regions in Costa Rica.

Planting stages of coffee plants.

Unripe coffee berries.

Arabica coffee is best grown in the shade.  The shiny plants in the bottom of the picture are coffee bushes.

Good (left, for gourmet coffee) verses bad (right, for instant coffee) coffee beans.

Coffee roaster.  Did you know that 2-3 minutes makes a difference in light or dark roast?  And another minute or two will ruin the coffee?

One way they make coffee in Costa Rica is through a coffee sock.  They put the grounds in a sock and pour water through a time or two.  Our guide says he collects it once then pours it through a second time.

Cathy learning to be a coffee taster.  Slurping is very important.

 

OK, I know this is going to be a long post, but if you are interested, sometime ask me about Juan Valdez and Costa Rican coffee.  It’s a funny story.

Thursday we went to Grecia and Sarchi.  Both are relatively small country towns surrounded by coffee and/ or sugar cane fields.  Grecia’s claim to fame it that it has an all metal church that was shipped from Belgium in the late 1800’s.  It was really pretty.  They were having mass, so we didn’t go inside.

Can you see something funny about the church?  I made some crack about whether they changed the colors.  Then we realized they were painting it.  Its always red, but apparently the shade of red changes.

 

We then headed to Sarchi which is known for handcrafted and painted oxcarts and other wood crafts.  Costa Ricans traditionally hauled everything by oxcart.  At some point they started painting them.  First we stopped to see the World’s Biggest Oxcart. 

World's Biggest Oxcart.  We need Babe the Blue Ox.

Next we headed to a place where they make oxcarts and other woodcrafts.  It was particularly cool because they had a waterwheel that powered several of the tools.

The over 100 year old workshop which houses the water wheel.

The waterwheel... notice the belts running from it.

Waterwheel powered bansaw.

Hand painting an oxcart.

 Afterwords, we went shopping.  Woohoo.

This afternoon in class we had a test… which we’ll see… there is some stuff I know I messed up.  BUT we got an out an hour early, which gave us time to go to El Rio (the restaurant we go to everyday after class) and order nachos… which were good… but turned out that the big plate cost about $14.  We also had time to stop by the Outlet Mall which is on the way home.  We couldn’t figure out why it was an outlet mall.

Well… now you are caught up.  As I said in my short update earlier, this weekend we are heading to Manuel Antonio National Park which is on the Pacific Coast.  I look forward to talking about beaches and monkeys.  We have Monday off for a national holiday, so it’s a good time to go on a trip.