snippets of life [here]

this weekend i went to a place in the mountains and saw two unique places:

agua dulce -- this is a special drink in Costa Rica (and probably other places in the Americas) and it is made from sugar cane. we went to an "agua dulce plant" (if you will) and i saw where they make the sugar molds that you

buy and proceed to cook the sugar to make a hot agua dulce drink. unfortunately they weren't actually operating the machinery, but i got to see the different tools they use to make this special concoction from sugar cane!

finca -- (farm -- see above) it's hard to know what was more beautiful to me: the farm or the hospitality of the farmer. this farm was right next door to the agua dulce place and it is managed by my mami's cousin. as you can see, it is absolutely gorgeous and i saw all kinds of fruits and vegetables i have never heard of before...and i saw what a yucca plant looks like from above the ground (i love yucca now!). i met a friendly cow named luna, ate home-made cheese, annnnd i got to ride a horse around the farm! everywhere i turned it was "have you tried this?" "look at this!" "do you like it?" "do you have this in the States?" and i could see how much joy this man had as he showed me the fruits of all of his hard labor. what stood out to me the most as i think back on this day was that he and his family were not expecting us, but they gave up their whole afternoon to show us around, fed us a delicious mid-afternoon lunch, and wanted me to see, taste, feel, and eat the many rich foods, scenery, and beauty they had on their farm -- i have not experienced this kind of hospitality before and it was truly moving.

me and the horse...funny story alongside this: the farmer didn't have a name for this horse and asked me to name her. normally this wouldn't be a difficult task, but i don't know spanish pet names! oh well...i named her cafecita. and then i met their little dog (probably about 2 lbs) and he asked me to name her!! so i named her henrietta, but they said that was too long so i said "well, i will need to think some more.." but then my mami was like "what's your dog's name again?" and i said "Tanya" and she suggested that name for their little dog....so there is now another sweet dog named Tanya in the beautiful hills of Costa Rica :)