Day Eleven - Faster than a Quetzal

Can you tell the difference between when you know something and when you know something? That’s what I learned about today in class. Unlike in English, Spanish has two words to show the level of understanding of knowing something – saber and conocer. If you imagine an iceberg in the ocean, saber is the tiny bit above the water and conocer is the massive amount beneath the surface. I shared that analogy with my maestra and she thought it to be very profound…I guess going to UW actually did teach me something – the iceberg metaphor.

After class today, Kelly and I hopped into the kitchen at CPI for the weekly cooking class. The class offers many benefits, but two of the best are that you get to learn to make some type of typical Costa Rican food, and you get a free lunch for the day. Not too bad, eh?

Today’s class was how to create a perfect chimichunga.  With our heads wrapped in hairnets and hands washed, Kelly and I dove into making our food. I was the chopper and slicer and Kelly was the grater. We had about 6 other people cooking with us, but Kelly and I zipped through our jobs and ended up doing a lot of the work. What can I say, all those days cooking for each and watching the Food Network have really paid off!

The meal itself was pretty darn delicious. Two small chimichungas with fresh salsa, fresh guacamole, and a side salad. In just 45 minutes, we created a delicious meal for 8 people, and cleaned all our dishes too. That must be a record or something. In all reality, it was a fun class and we may try to sneak into the other class tomorrow….but don’t tell!

In the afternoon, Kel and I made our first trek down to the village of Monteverde. I am reluctant to even call it a village because it was so small, but there were a few things we were able to visit. We first stopped at the Casem Co-op which is a collection of different arts from local artists. One of the local artists contributing to the co-op is our host mother. We told her tonight that we saw her picture there and that we were a little starstruck to be in her home. Much laughter followed that statement.

After glancing at the art at the co-op, we made our way to two places for snacks – Stella’s Bakery and a chocolateria. At Stella’s we had a very fresh jugo naturale made with fresh strawberries and water and a chocolate croissant. With the abundance of fruit available in Costa Rica, it’s very common to have some with every meal. I especially enjoy the jugo naturals both with water or milk. They are the perfect way to help pass a warm day.

And of course, when Kelly saw the word chocolate, we had to stop. This chocolateria is located in upstairs in a combination hotel, art gallery, chocolate shop, and bat tour. Kelly and I had 4 different types of chocolate – vodka, Kalhua, cognac, and coffee. No, we’re not alcoholics – we just like chocolate infused with booze.  This chocolate was pretty good, but the shop in La Fortuna was a little better in my humble opinion.

The other item on our agenda for today was Movie Night at CPI. When I heard that, I thought, “AWESOME, we’re going to get to see a new release in Spanish!” However, per usual, I was wrong. Movie night in a town in the cloud forest means popping in a DVD and eating popcorn.

We tried to watch  Frida, but it was in English; we tried to watch Evita, but it was in English, and finally we decided on watching another film – No sabe, No Contesta. It was a cute flick about a guy falling in love even as the life around him seems to be falling apart. Kel and I both really enjoyed it – we’re suckers for a good romantic comedy.

I can’t believe we’re already halfway through this week. Time is flying by faster than the quetzal, and we have to make sure we take advantage of every moment of it. We’re filling every hour we can with activities and lessons, but every moment is worth it.

Mucho amor,

Casey