on food

Breakfast: Gallo pinto (The Costa Rican dish of rice and beans. At first I was excited because rice and beans mean protein for a vegetarian, but now I genuinely am excited to eat gallo pinto. It’s yummy! And nothing, I promise you, like the stuff you get in the US.) and huevos revueltos (Scrambled eggs. Yay more protein!), with café and maybe some fruit or a tortilla or cheese. I’ve finally adjusted to eating a bigger breakfast than just a bowl of cereal and milk. Not sure I’m going to be able to go back to that. Although I do miss my Crispix.

Lunch: It varies. Since my host family’s house is such a short walk from the Red Cross, I’m able to come home for a hot lunch each day. There’s always rice and beans. Sometimes sopa (soup), sandwiches, picadillo (I still have no idea how to explain this. The base is whatever kind of vegetable you want, chopped into small pieces, usually cooked, along with some other veggies and spices.), it varies day by day. And always a delicious frescado de fruta (Fruit juice. Careful: Ticos do not drink jugo. They drink fresco.) made from fresh fruit. My favorites are lemon, pineapple, and blackberry.

Afternoon snack: Cafecito y pan (coffee and bread). Good bread, good coffee, pura vida. People here can’t get over the fact that I don’t like natilla which everyone seems to love and smear all over their bread. It seems to be some mix between butter and cream. I stick to plain butter and sometimes some guava jam.

Dinner: Beans and rice or gallo pinto, always and forever. Like lunch, the rest varies. Some recent favorites have been mashed and fried yucca with cheese in the middle and prensadas de queso (Quesadillas. I could not get over the fact that even though the word is a “Spanish” one in English, that’s not what they use here.). More frescado. Cooked veggies (I have eaten more broccoli here than I had my entire life.).

Overall, the food is great. Dinner isn’t horribly late. Thanks to my friends rice and beans and eggs, I get good amounts of protein. I have learned so many new words for food in Spanish. And tried so many new foods! Buen provecho.