What a fun day! Nicoya is 1 hour away by bus (only $2.40 each person). Javier met us at 7:30, looking all cleaned up and ready to hit town. The bus ride was interesting. Noisy. Bumpy. Dusty. Hot. But not so sticky; the seats are cloth, unlike the bus to Nosara. It's still a school bus converted, but far more comfortable than sitting on vinyl.
Nicoya is a bustling little town, full of busy people. We hustled along behind Javier, who led us to the bank first. The Capitans that Nosara Paradise rentals supports thru their advertising for the sports fishing helped fund raise for the school supplies. For each Sports fishing t-shirt they sold 1 American dollar goes to school supplies. They raised $300. With Lindsay and Erroll's $160 American, we had $360!
On the way to the little store where we would buy school supplies, Javier took us to (?). It's a 2000 (maybe more) year old building that was built by the Indians here, in Guanacasta. The site is a preserved one and is now used as a park and a church. Guanacasta province has only been part of Costa Rica for 150 or so years and after negotiations, joined so trade could be set up for their pottery and other goods. It was an interesting tour.
At the store, a nice young clerk stayed with us the whole time, while we sorted thru what we should get for the schools in Nosara and Garza. My brain got a real work out, tallying the costs in Colones and communicating with Javier. His English is very good, but there are many words we have to discuss to understand each other. It was good for me. We used a bit of Spanish in there too, but were far outdone by Javier's English.
With 7 very full bags, we had to run back to the bus depot to catch the 12:00 bus. On the way back we had to stand, which is fine, until we got to Samara, where the road turns from smooth (albeit curvy and hilly) to very rough. Both on the way there and the way back, ladies with pails full of home made goodies got on. On the way to Nicoya, it was some kind of potato pastery, smelling all sweet and browned. We didn't have any of that, but on the way back the pail contained little plastic bags, the contents of which were red or white, brown or orange. Javier saw the pail and reached for some money right away. He dug out 4 white bags, their tops tied shut, the sides bulging. It's frozen coconut and cream. The other choices were sandia (watermelon), chocolate, or mango We follow his lead, and bite the corner off, and suck out the contents. They are called El Hielo (the ice) or Nieve (snow). Mmmmm. little bits of coconut to chew on later.
We got off the bus and stepped into some fresh molasses. This is what they use here to keep the dust down. Very sticky men walk the road with big white buckets and a scoop, splashing the very liquified black stuff all over the road. It's what's available here. We thought it very strange at first, but I think it's far better than the oil that they use on some of our country roads to keep down the dust.
Back at the office, we sort thru a desk full of supplies. There's one bag that will go to the kindergarten, one to Garza's smaller school and several to Nosara, which has 300 kids.
I had assumed that our trip on Thursday with the Capitans and either Manuel or Javier would be to hand over the bags of goodies and head to the next school, giving the teachers the responsibility of distributing to whomever is most in need. Not so, I'm told. Javier feels that it's best that the supplies go straight from our hands to the childrens'. The suggestion is that they might not end up going where intended. This is an education for me.
Afterwards, we went to Robin's and at Javier's recommendation, we ate Arroz de Pollos. It's a typical Costa Rican dish that we've decided to bring home. As luck would have it, Robin stopped by in the evening, bringing Mango and Macha, her dogs. I asked for the recipe and (while the dogs growled and groaned at our feet, play fighting) she was most willing to share, a fortunate thing from a chef. For my records and yours:
Arroz de Pollos
Cook chicken and onions, cilantro, making stock
Sufrito:
Onions, peppers (dolce), garlic, sauted.
Rice and water into above, cook.
finish with chicken stock
Pull meat off chicken, add Lizano, Pechote (about 3 table spoons to 4 dry cups rice)
Stir chicken into rice slowly.
Make Chimmi Churri (Salsa) and serve on top:
Chop and mix together: onions, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, hot pepper or hot sauce, salt and lime
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