I'm divin' in (i'm goin deep?)

No, not quite like that, Steven Curtis Chapman. But here I sit again, satisfied after another tasty meal from my ticamadre. She made barbudos, which is green beans fried in egg batter. "Barba" in Spanish means "beard", but I'm not sure how the the food relates to facial hair...pretty good nonetheless. Also, dinner was served with fresh guacamole (!), fruit juice, and rice and beans. for those of you who aren't familiar with latino beverages, their juice is fruit, sugar, and water mixed together and beat to a pulp, literally. Superdelicioso! I'm impressed my stomach is staying somewhat happy with me, considering I've had rice and beans (they call it "gallo pinto") for breakfast the last three days *fingers crossed*!


Goin along with the title of this post, I'm really living like a Tico now, sipping on Imperial and listening to Malpais. My teacher Wilmar has been showing me the ropes of everything Costa Rican the last two days of class, and he suggested that I try the national beer of Costa Rica, Imperial- tastes like your standard Mexican beer (Dos Equis, Pacifico, Modelo...), which happen to be my cerveza of choice! que sabrosa! =] (sorry mom.)Definitely refreshing after a day full of walking in the superhumid weather.

As for Malpais, Wilmar said that they are one of the most well-known and beloved bands for Ticos. The band definitely expresses the mood of the country well(from what I can tell thus far), and captures the essence of the Costa Rican mantra "pura vida", which literally means pure life. Since it kind of hard for me to describe pura vida, I had to resort to Wikipedia: "...Costa Ricans use the phrase to express a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, resilience in overcoming difficulties with good spirits, enjoying life slowly, and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike." Back to Malpais- the multipiece group has many instruments, ranging from guitars, flute, violin, mandolin, marimba, piano, etc. All of the elements combine for very relaxing, yet lyrically intense music. Although, I must admit that I probably made a mistake buying their "En Vivo" album (Live). Let me explain my thinking when I made the heinous error- the cd case said that the cd was the best of Malpais, so I thought "sweet! I can familiarize myself with their best music." Nope. The sound quality is not that great, and half the cd is 35,000 half-muted Costa Ricans screaming their lyrics instead of them singing it...grand. Oh well, it will make for a cool souvenir?

Walked around a lot today- walked to and from school ALL BY MYSELF. Not a big deal. Was a bit embarrassed when I got to class soaking wet with my own sweat, but that's beside the point. Later, I walked to downtown to go the mall, where I got my Malpais CD, ate some "Aztecan" tacos de carne asada, and was given weird looks by just about every one there. Except for that guy with the parted hair and tight white jeans...odd. Maybe it was my bright yellow tank top? Who knows.

Time to watch this week's episode of Glee and see what host brothers Andres and Leo got goin on this lovely evening. Bailamos! (<3 u Enrique Iglesias)

Feliz fin de semana!