Costa Rica - Exploring Cahuita

Waking up in the middle of a wild jungle is amazing!  When we woke at 6am, the birds were singing and the monkeys were howling.  We sat on the porch listening to nature while enjoying abnormally strong coffee.  With the beautiful morning in hand, we decided to walk about 1/2 mile to the farmer's market to pick up some food for the week.  The roads in Cahuita are dirt and gravel.  There are few cars, a handful of motorcycles and bicycles, but most people get around by walking.  We met a lot of people as we walked.  Everyone was friendly.  Even the town hobos were friendly, but we had to be cautious.  We walked by an American woman that told us if we were headed to the farmer's market, we should try the queso (cheese).  She said her children like it fried as she pointed to a little Asian boy, he confirmed that it is delicious.  We found the market to be busy, very small, but plentiful.  There were two produce vendors, one cheese vendor and a tamale maker.  We were able to purchase queso, 4 brown eggs, carrots, potatoes, pineapple, strawberries, green beans, red peppers, cilantro, ginger and a porcupine looking fruit...all for about $10.

Red spiky (rambutan) fruit

With the produce in hand we decided to go see the butcher for meat.  However, the directions we received took us to a place that did not look to be a butcher shop.  We turned back towards home and stopped at a supermarket.  The term "supermarket" is deceiving in Costa Rica.  It's basically a convenient store, like 7-11.  This is where people go to get the sugary snacks and small American conveniences, not food of substance.  We were able to buy water, juice, rice, seasonings and beer.  Walking around town did limit the amount of water and heavy items that we could carry back home. I love this way of life.  It reminded me a bit of Amsterdam or Germany where you would walk daily to the market for the freshest, nutrient rich foods, all grown locally.  You can't weigh yourself down with too much junk!

As we were walking back to the Casa, we passed the American lady with her son.  The little boy was wearing a cowboy hat, cowboy shoes and was carrying a guitar.  He was 4 years old and stood maybe 3 feet tall.  He was adorable!  In our conversation, we learned that the boy was adopted from Laos 2 years ago and was awaiting Costa Rica citizenship before he was able to be fully adopted by this American family.  The father of the family had returned to their home in Ohio with the little boy's biological brother, who had already completed the adoption process.  We learned that Laos children cannot be directly adopted into the USA.  Laos is considered high risk and has no regulation on child trafficking.  This little boy loved Costa Rica and playing his guitar in the church (which is where they were headed).  But, he could not wait to get to Ohio!  He had heard so many good things about America from his brother, including Donald Duck living there, that he starting dancing at the mention of going to his final home, which was to happen within six months.  This family had a nice house across from the beach, lots of fruit trees and vegetation on their land....to us this was a spectacular life!  But to think that this little boy had limited opportunities in CR and would be able to have so many more opportunities in America made us so excited for his life.   I couldn't stop thinking about this little cutie and what a great deed the American couple did for these boys. 

Jerry along the Caribbean Coast

After getting the food put away at the Casa, we were in need of a dip in the water.  The ocean was perfect temperature again and we basically had the beach to ourselves, except for the random dogs that would sprawl out on the wet sand.  After a swim, we walked to the Regaee Bar for lunch.  Jerry found his favorite meal, rice with seafood.  It was a lot of food for only $5 and tasted delicious!  I also loved my dish, garlic chicken.  We ended up eating this meal 2 times during our stay.  While having a cigarette after lunch, we met a young man from Israel who had moved to CR.  We ended up talking to him for over an hour about politics and life.  It's so stimulating to learn about others way of life and the ideas that have formed them into who they are.  After bidding farewell to our compadre, we went for another swim before the sun set.  Day 2 was a great day of exploring and meeting people in Cahuita.  My sociological muscle had been exercised and I loved it!