Linda Y Rico

Despite how it might sound, linda and rico are not the names of new friends that I made. After being in Costa Rica for a week now and being immersed in the Spanish language, these are two words that I didn’t know before coming here and I have noticed that ticos use them ALL THE TIME. Saying “Que linda/o” or “muy linda/o” here is basically the equivalent to saying that something or someone is very pretty or cute. I have heard it used when talking about everything from hair, clothes, babies, turtles and oxen (see pictures below). Rico/a literally translated means rich, but is hardly ever used when talking about money, and more for food. It is like saying delicious and it a great word to throw out when I get tired of saying “me gusta” 100,000 times a day. While we are the topic of food, let me tell you about it. It is great! I love it. I mean there are few foods that I don’t like, so it isn’t too hard to please me, but especially all the sweets. I probably need to start cutting back, but with being here for the first week and with the festival all weekend, I had to try everything. So far one of the best things I have eaten is called mani, which is peanuts covered with a hard, sugary outside. They are super addicting, kind of like eating M&M’s. Today I went to a birthday party and had a delicious chocolate cake that had a filling and frosting that were kind of like chocolate, kind of like caramel, but different and it was “muy rica”. One of the other foods I have eaten that stands out in my mind are the ribs I had the other day from a vendor at the festival. I don’t know what they put on them or how they were cooked but they were definitely the best ribs I have ever had. Some of the fruits are delicious too! There are two fruits that I tried the other day that I had never seen before or heard of. One of them is called “jocote” and it is small and green, about the size of a really large grape and you just bite into it and eat the whole thing. The other one that I really really like is called “momonchino” and it is red and has soft spikes that come out of it everywhere. To eat it you have to bite the outside and then you peal it off and inside is a white fruit that is kind of the texture of the inside of a plum and there is a seen inside so you can’t just pop the whole thing in your mouth, but it is quite delicious and refreshing. Besides those kind of things, I basically eat rice and beans in some form or another and if that isn’t the main dish, one or the other or both are ALWAYS with the meal, doesn’t matter breakfast, lunch or dinner. Good thing I don’t mind arroz y frijoles. I will write about this more later sometime, but I love my family down here. I have 5 “siblings” that live either in or near San Ramon and at least 6 “nieces and nephews” which means it is like having 3 aunts and an uncle and 6 cousins around at different times. It is great. Prayer Requests: School! Started classes today and they were good but the difference between Spanish in my classes (all my classes are taught in Spanish) and in daily life, is that I actually have to understand everything my professors are saying so I know what to do for homework and tests and stuff and it gets tiring having to really concentrate for the whole hour and a half. So I guess prayers that I won’t get frustrated.