this was supposed to go up yesterday but my internet decided not to work...no worries, i fixed it today by cluelessly (not a word) and probably dangerously messing with plugs as usual and somehow figuring it out

Such a lazy day today!! But I actually was fine with it; I didn’t get restless or frustrated like usual. I stayed inside the house planning the weekend, doing exercises, eating, helping my mom cook, reading, doing homework, and facebook chatting with some people from home whom I miss dearly. Last night I went to a few bars with Maria, our friend Walter who we know through Tracy and who speaks nearly perfect English and loves to correct our Spanish, and some of Walter’s friends. Man are Tico men friendly and forward. They were really nice though and were really shocked when I told them they were aggressive. It was really funny us working on our Spanish skills and them working on their English ones. After the first bar we went to this other one owned by this guy who comes from 30 minutes away from Maria in Minnesota who came to Costa Rica to go to school, stayed, fell in love with a Tica, opened up a bar with her, and now they’re getting married! There was a black wall we got to write all over in glow in the dark markers-mad cool.

So today, after eating cake and granola for breakfast (normal), I helped my host mama cook. Well I mostly watched and cut some chayote (a vegetable high in Vitamin C and amino acids that’s a cross between a potato and a cucumber. Yeahh wiki). I needed to cover my hands in oil while pealing and cutting it because apparently the skin can irritate you. Also, apparently cutting onion after putting it in the fridge for a while makes it easier not to cry. Anyway, I’ll explain how to make some of the things because they’re mad good. So picadillo is really simple. All you need is chopped chayote (sooo cheap here! $0.60 for 3!), canned corn, onion, garlic, a little bit of margarine/butter, salt, pepper, and you can add other seasoning or meat (BLECHHH) or something else if you want. But if you’re using my recipe you best not use meat. You just cook it all in a pot, then eat it like a soup mixed with rice or poured over rice. Then we made platanos a really yummy and cool way. All you need is a sliced super ripe plantain that you put in a pot with a little water (dude like nothing is measured here because they’ve made these recipes so many times), some sugar, and cinnamon, and cook it until the plantains are really soft and maybe a little brown and the sauce is syrupy. NOM. I ate so many for lunch I’m still feelin’ it. Then I watched fascinated as she made this super cool rice drink. I forget the name, but what you do is cook a pot of rice with pineapple rinds and cinnamon. Then when it’s super soft you put it in a blender until it’s pureed really well. Then you strain the pulpy stuff out with a really fine strainer and I think she said you could use the pulp to make something but she didn’t. Then you put it (the strained liquid) back in the blender and put some sugar in and blend it again. Then it’s ready, but you can also add flavored colored syrup which she likes to do to make it this pepto pink color. Then you serve it cold. She says she doesn’t like to make it that often because it’s so much work and other drinks (they drink so much juice here!) are just fruit, water, and sugar. But her husband really loves it and she loves him so much (it’s actually so cute) that she likes making it for him. Oh, and then she made some jelly. All it was was guayaba and a little bit of cas (two fruits here that make super good juice and jelly and that they love plain but I really think the plain thing must be an acquired taste. Unless you’re Dan or Andrew in which case I’m sure you’ll like it because it’s food and it’s vegan and someone is giving it to you for free) and water and sugar. It’s a trend. And you put it in a pot until it boils then lower the heat then keep it there until it thickens and turns red then let it cool and you can use it on bread. Sidenote, I love how they leave their pulp in the juices using the entire fruit in the blender (yeah fiber!), eat mangos skin and all, and the word “mix” (as in brownie mix, although they don’t really eat brownies) is foreign, not just because it’s English, but because they make shit from scratch. Although they really love their margarine and mayonnaise on like everything…Anyway, I’m gonna eat some dinner (should not be hungry) and then gotta wake up at six am tomorrow to head to a nearby national park for the day. Peacee. Oh, just ate and came back upstairs and in that time realized that I forgot cilantro (cilantro) for the picadillo. It’s ESSENTIAL. In pretty much every savory thing cooked here. Also, I sifted through the beans, important because you’re supposed to throw away the halves you find and also because there are often little stones in the bags of the beans which should not be eaten. Apparently it’s happened before, and host madre said it’s a good thing her husband has a good sense of humor…Also, what I ate for dinner aka beans cooked with onions and garlic and just a tiny bit of salt with rice with some fresh tomato, cilantro, and lime juice (from the lime tree out back) squeezed on top is magnifico. Oh, and I just made myself the weirdest lunch ever for tomorrow out of the things I could find, consisting of a sandwich  (on this weird bread with little pieces of dyed fruit in it) with margarine and granola on it, a banana, a mandarin, and a piece of homemade cake.