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There are no lemons in Costa Rica: How to find an adequate replacement

Posted: July 1, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Tags: latin america, food, lemons, leslie beard, pura vida, travel, tico, tica, costa rica

I read about this epidemic before I moved here, but it did not dawn on me until recently how very much I would miss the sour yellow bundle of citrus joy we call a lemon.

When I say there are no lemons here, I am not being Leslie-dramatica, like I can tend to be about small silly things. I’m serious - there are no lemons here. I’ve looked… everywhere…. all types of markets. Little hidden markets up in the hills. Big huge wal-mart type markets I had no business shopping at in the first place. Medium sized markets. No lemons, no where. Not real lemons anyway.

So, ok… there are these yellow “things” that like to hang out by the limes in grocery stores and markets, but do not be fooled, Americans. THEY ARE NOT LEMONS. Oh sure, they sort of look like lemons, with their yellow color, nevertheless color is the last thing you should be looking for when treasure hunting for your lemon counterpart.

Let’s talk briefly about those yellow “things” first. They are freaks of nature. Appearance of our favorite sour delight, yet when opened, expose a not-so-lovely sweet, yet tangy center, almost like an orange, but not. Blech, I’m getting light headed just thinking about them. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the smell (or much worse, taste) of these vile fruits gives me insta-headache. They are food/meal ruiners! For God’s sake, keep them away from your children.

What to do if you are in Costa Rica and crave that lemon taste. Find a lime that is *shaped* like a lemon. You know the shape I’m talking about:

The round body with little nubs sticking out of the sides. Except, you will be looking for a green version:

No matter how tempting, how natural it feels to select the yellow version DON’T DO IT.

Trust me, the green versions with the lemon shape taste pretty much like a lemon. Then again, it’s been so long since I’ve had a proper lemon I may have forgotten what it tastes like.

I am unsure if this anti-real-lemon sentiment goes for all of Central America or just Costa Rica. I am going to Panama this weekend and as unusual as it may sound, one of my goals is to track down an actual lemon. Wish me luck!

Much love,
Leslie Lynn B.

Spiders.

Posted: May 21, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Tags: sean omlor, spiders, spider, latin america, leslie beard, a-frame, travel, tico, tica, pura vida, costa rica

Since moving to Costa Rica, we’ve had to deal more heavily with spiders than even our stint in California forced us to. Literally, every single time I go to use my bathtub/shower, I first have to get a cup, catch the rather large 8-legged creature running around the drain, put him outside, and then resume running the water for my bath.

Apparently my bathroom is a spider’s paradise, since I find them lurking about in there every single day. If they aren’t running around in the tub, then they’re scaling the wall above my mirror and sink.

When we first arrived, one was living behind the toilet. Can you imagine? Every time you sit down to take a tinkle, fearing that the hairy miniature monster is going to come crawling up your leg or worse… on your butt! We allowed the guy to reside behind the toilet until the day he got himself in a jam and crawled INSIDE THE ACTUAL TOILET BOWL. It was quite irritating rescuing him from the bowl, without getting him wet, and without getting bitten. He struggled and jumped, but in the end, we captured him and put him outside.

Since that day, we’ve retrieved from our bathroom and released back into the wild, no less than ten spiders… probably more, but who’s counting at this point?

Two nights ago, I walked to my computer, sat down, and started to type. I saw my smallest cat jump up at something on the curtain. When I turned around to look, I saw the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my life, and it was only two feet away from me. I’m not kidding, it was BIGGER than this:

I woke Sean up and we haphazardly caught it and put it outside. I thought to myself,”Well, ok, at least that is probably the biggest we’ll ever have to deal with.”

So, today, while our housekeeper is over, she brings our attention to a spider that is even BIGGER than the giant we’d come across two nights ago. He’s not inside, though. He’s sitting still on our back porch making his way into our kitchen. She gets the broom and shoos him into the bushes. Then she says,”He’s a baby.”

A BABY?!?

I couldn’t snap a photo, due to my camera battery being over at Stephane’s house. I’ve Google image searched myself to death looking for an adequate example of what he was like. The closest thing I have found is this:

The only difference is he was dark grey, almost black. She then told us that this type of spider has a horrible bite, but not deadly. When he’s full grown, he’ll be covered in grey hair. I asked if it was a tarantula, and she said no.

Maybe it was the same one from two nights previous, and he just grew. So yeah, I’m basically waiting for this type of scenario to occur:

Am I going to have to dress up in something like this, in order to scare them off:

Or maybe that would just encourage them?

spider spiders latin america

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Burger Shit

Posted: May 6, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Tags: Lubnan, san jose, acupuncture, Dr. Kim, graffiti, lebanese restaurant, burger king, tico, travel, tica, pura vida, burger, costa rica

Our driver today, Guillermo, picked us up promptly at 11am. We took off for the banco, to pick up some Colones, and then headed to our acupuncturist.

The session today was bueno. Dr. Kim placed several strategic needles here and there and a few momentos later, I felt as though he had given me a muscle relaxer. Ahhhhhh…..although, he did comentar about how “stressed out” I still am. Well, I feel 20 times better than last week.

Dr. Kim told us that it took him 2 years to adopt the Costa Rican way of life and it did him a world of good. He calls it the “Country Mañana” which means, the country of tomorrow… where things are generally put off… until mañana (tomorrow). Low stress, no hurry, etc., etc.

After the session, Guillermo was outside waiting and we coaxed him into having lunch with us at an amazing Lebanese restaurant named Lubnan. The link I am providing doesn’t give very much information, other than location.

We had hummus along with tabule and fattoush for appetizers. The main courses consisted of a “special” which had chicken, lamb, and beef kabobs, a raw meat plate, and two shawarma sandwiches. They served the “special” with some type of butter/garlic dipping sauce that is divine! I got a coffee and Guillermo had some type of mixed drink that looked interesting, but I’m unsure of what it was.

We’ll be going back there for sure, and next time I’ll take my camera.

On the ride back home I saw the most amazing piece of graffiti Costa Rica has blessed me with as of yet. In a busy intersection of town, across the street from the Mall San Pedro, sitting on the corner is a Burger King. On the concrete wall in front of this Burger King, right where pedestrians walk past, someone has crudely spray painted “Burger Shit” to act as the side-walk sign for the fast food restaurant.

I will try to take a photo of it in the near futuro.

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