School in the Morning, Pura Vida in the Afternoon

Our first week of school has gone fairly smooth overall. There were a few power struggles, but nothing we didn’t anticipate. The kids worked hard on all of their subjects! Alexis completed a paper on the history of Costa Rica and Braxton wrote an opinion essay on his experience at El Miro. We all enjoyed the structure that school created for our day. We have quickly developed a routine of school in the morning and then various activities in the afternoon. Braxton often swims with his friends or builds things with sticks and rocks. Alexis exercises, reads, listens to music, or swims.

The Best Soda in Town

Alexis completed her home economics assignment for the week tonight. She researched a local Costa Rican dish and prepared it from start to finish. She made Gallo Pinto, eggs, and fried plantains. This is a typical Costa Rican breakfast, but Gallo Pinto is also often served as a side dish for lunch and dinner. She did amazing! Everything tasted delicious and Dave declared it the best soda in town!

We have seen this sauce everywhere when shopping for groceries, so I was excited to try it when the Gallo Pinto recipe called for it. An old man told me as I was taking it off the shelf that it had too much sugar in it. CoPilot said it’s Worcestershire sauce meets tamarind paste. We all thought it had great flavor! Alexis and I talked about how important aesthetics are when presenting food, and she did a great job of making everything look incredibly appetizing!

We are all excited that tomorrow is Friday! This is our last weekend in Costa Rica, so we are planning to soak up as much Pura Vida as we can!