La Comida: A collection of thoughts regarding food

In two years, one of two things will happen: 1)I will vow never to eat rice & beans again or 2) my mouth will become a battle ground between my dentist and cavities. Actually, they both are likely.

While reading this, you’re probably thinking “What’s for dinner?” or “I want something different for lunch.” In my Spanish vocabulary, those sentences do not exist. If my hunger forces me to pose a question, then it would be “What will I eat with gallo pinto.”

Rice and beans are a daily part of my diet. I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Surprisingly, I have no complaints again eating gallo pinto every day because  mi Mama Tica usually dresses it up. For example, for breakfast she will prepare gallo pintos w/ cilantro, toast and fried eggs. Lunch might involve “alimenta”—which is a salsa of sweet onions, tomatoes, and herbs—for the gallo pinto. Believe it or not, even the texture of rice & beans can change based off of how she reheats it.

But no worries, I am getting plenty to eat. Vegetables of all type. Fried chicken. Hamburgers. Beats. Salads. Tortillas. Tomates (spelling). Espaghetti. Pastas. Bananas (ps…there are three types in the banana family. One type is extremely small and you can cook with the gallo pintos..The second is platanos and must be cooked before eating. Then there are bananas!)

Not sure how far I can carry this list but my daily meals usually include some variation of the above. The reason that I am just writing this blog is because I have a hard time learning the names of foods here. Regardless of what I eat, my last sentence at any meal is “Estoy llena” in response to mi Mama Tica encouraging me to eat more.

One of my more interesting encounters with food involved spaghetti. My host sister cooked spaghetti for lunch and it was absolutely delicious! For dinner, Mama Tica reheated the spaghetti and placed the plate in front of me. I couldn’t hide the smile on my face. As I’m eating, she brings a bowl of beans and says “the rice is almost ready.” I kindly decline and she looks at me as if I’m crazy. My Aunt Tica tells me that spaghetti without rice & beans is not enough to eat. I chuckle but sternly decline the rice & beans.

I’m thinking that the spaghetti fulfills enough of the required food categories. But in their opinions, rice & bean is another food category that must be eaten at every meals!

Still, no complaints. It doesn’t bother me and I’m sure that I can eat it for 2 years. After that, I’ll view them as oodles noodles and refuse to eat them again.

While gallo pintos describe one aspect of Costa Rican food, sugar describes another. In the past month, I have seriously lacked a sweet tooth. Twizzlers sound wonderful in theory, but I could survive without them because I am constantly eating something sweet.  Platanos. Platanos en miel (honey). Tapas de azucar. Chiverre. Pan dulce. My intake of sugar here is probably lower and healthier than in the US. The difference is that I am not deceived by the amount of sugar in mi comida. When I eat platanos in honey, I am fully aware that it is soaked in sugar.

Before I forget, in the past 2 weeks, I visited a coffee farm and a sugar farm. The farmers took us through the entire process: planting, collecting, processing, etc… Both field trips ended with us tasting the products. I’ve never appreciated a product more than coffee from the farm and sugar in its purest form.

Alright all, that is it for now. I am leaving my town in the morning to go to San Vito, a place close to the Panamanian border and will return in a week.

If you have not done so yet, please send me your mailing address!

-Q