Canadian Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is not a holiday celebrated in Costa Rica .... so as expat Canadians we tend to forget about it. If you wanted to prepare a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, you might be hard pressed to find a turkey to cook. Frozen turkeys are imported in time for the USA Thanksgiving and also Christmas but they are very expensive.

Our friend and neighbor didn't forget us though. Sharon stopped by our house this past weekend with this for us:

Included in the pretty bag were Sharon's homemade muffins and brownies - what a treat. The card reads, "Dear Diana and Lance, Happy Thanksgiving to you, our wonderful vesinos (neighbors), con abrazos (with love), Sharon and Diogi". Diogi is Sharon's Border collie that we have cared for from time to time.

I must not forget the USA Thanksgiving, since Sharon is from Washington State. She might like some British Columbia Nanaimo bars. We live in the best neighborhood with wonderful neighbors.

Canadian Thanksgiving in Costa Rica

October 13, 2014, is Thanksgiving in Canada. Here in Costa Rica, it is just Monday.

Some expats will get together to try to recreate the holidays from their home land. It can be a challenge. Turkeys are not very common here, although once I saw a beautiful tom turkey, turkey hen and chicks running free just outside Atenas. This was the lovely old style tom, with the beautiful feathers and big fan tail. So different from today's sad commercial turkeys that can't stand up because their breasts are too big, because everyone wants to eat turkey breast meat.

You can buy frozen Butterball turkeys in places like PriceSmart but they are quite pricey because they are imported. Imported canned pumpkin puree can also be bought, for a price. I once made a pseudo-pumpkin pie here using canned pejibayes, the fruit of a palm tree species. It tasted pretty good.

So, for our Costa Rican Thanksgiving, we are having sea bass tacos - one of my favorites.

We are at the height of the rainy season now. I've been doing small laundry loads for the last three days, first thing in the morning. I try to get everything out on the line when there is still sun and hopefully wind. All went well until today, when the rain started falling before I expected it. We pulled everything off the line, getting wet in the meantime, and have hung a lot of clothes in the house - over chairs, from hangers, door frames. It is all part of the experience of living in a tropical country.

Although it does not feel very tropical right now. I've been wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt most of the day. Lance just now put on a t-shirt under a long sleeved shirt to try to keep warm. It will be nice to fall asleep tonight with the sound of tropical rain falling.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family!

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Thanksgiving, American/Costa Rica Style

Canada's Thanksgiving was celebrated on October 10 this year but we didn't do much (read "nothing") to mark the day. In Canada, we used to go to one of the local hotel's Thanksgiving buffets because we had no family living or visiting us in our area so I could never see the point of cooking all that food for two people. Friends would meet us at the hotel and it worked out great for all concerned.

On Thursday, our American neighbors invited us to their house to take part in their Thanksgiving celebrations. We had a great time - met new people, learned some new Spanish words and phrases (oh, if only I could keep them glued into my brain for future use), and indulged in some really great Thanksgiving dishes.

Turkey, ribs, mashed taters, yams, green beans, cranberries, salad, gravy - I've probably missed naming some dishes - but rest assured I tried every one of them. Desserts - four kinds with real whipped cream to plop on top, wine, espresso.

The company was superb, the food was divine, the view was amazing. Good thing the walk back to our house was downhill because walking uphill would have done my food laden body in.

Can't beat this view.

View from our hosts' house.

Fantastic Thanksgiving food, with a Tico twist - note the bananas. 

Costa Rica Musings

This is normally the rainy season in Costa Rica, especially September and October, but this year has apparently been very dry. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, we've been waiting for all the rain to fall, but it hasn't happened - at least not to the level we were used to.

My experimental tomato crop is a success, so far - some of the plants are already producing small green tomatoes and lots of yellow flowers on the others. I threw red pepper seeds into the ground around the tomatoes and they are also coming along. Planted garlic bulbs from the feria and they are sending up green shoots which can be cut off and used in salads or pasta. I've also got some melon seeds drying to plant later.

We have banana trees at the back of the property, and two of the "trees" have produced bananas and we're waiting for the hands to mature enough to cut down. Our lime tree is just about finished producing, and the orange tree is ripening and throwing off juicy oranges to the ground.

I walked into Atenas twice this week with the wrong shoes, suffered blisters for it - have to get proper walking/running shoes.

On my last walk, a local lady who was also walking along indicated I should walk with her (lots of "walks" there). So I did, and between my so extremely very limited Spanish and her also limited English (this is after all a Spanish speaking country), we figured out this: She is from Panama, married to a Tico, she knows we are from Canada, it's important to learn Spanish, the lovely blooming plants growing wild everywhere in the fields are what we know as "Impatients", or "Busy Lizzy", we figured out we were both going to "Atenas Centro" - she was wearing those Tica high heels so couldn't walk as fast as I could.

Then as we were almost to Atenas, a car drove by and the driver beeped his horn - it seemed to be someone my walking companion knew, she indicated I should get into the car - which I did - probably foolish after the fact - but I knew the route we were driving on and my companion indicated to the driver to stop at the Pali, he did, she got out, I got out and said "gracias", she waved, he waved - and I think that is small town life in Atenas. Anyone driving a car and passing someone they know always beeps their horn.

I was on my way to the feria, and got lost - not surprising I got lost in a town with six square blocks - I get lost everywhere. Fortunately, I saw my friend Diane getting out of her car on her way to an appointment, and she pointed me in the right direction.

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada - so I send best Thanksgiving wishes to my family and friends back in the home land.