Tortillas in the dark

My parents arrived here shortly after my last post. Lucas and I went to wait for them at the eco-lodge around three o’clock Saturday afternoon and they did not arrive until after 7:30. By about 6:00 I was getting pretty worried since it was dark and I had not even heard from them. They finally made it though. The last three or four days I spent trying to give the best three day taste of San Luis as I could. The first night my mom was not feeling well and my dad was exhausted from the drive so we moved them into their cabinas and my dad made a brief appearance at my house and had a bite to eat. Their first morning here, we all (Lucas, my parents, Otoniel, Alicia, Liliam and I) went to Finca Las Brisas, a horseback/farm tour that Marlen (Otoniel and Alicia’s oldest daughter, my older “sister”) and their children run. It was hilarious having Lucas, my parents and my Costa Rica family all in one taxi bus. The Horseback ride was a lot of fun and really pretty. Afterwards, Marlen made us lunch and Celimo (Marlen’s husband) gave us a tour of the farm and showed us where he made sugarcane juice and guaro (common Costa Rican liquor made from sugarcane, corn and pineapple). He let us all juice some sugarcane that he chopped with the trapiche and explained the process of making the guaro then gave everyone as much of either as we wanted. After we left the farm, we walked up the street to Alicia’s parents house, where we visited for a while with her family that was there and had afternoon coffee, cake and cheese. After that, we walked to Marlen’s house where we stayed until almost 9:00, visiting more with Marlen’s family with the family (they have five kids from 5 to 16 years old). We played with the kids, talked learned how to make tortillas and had dinner in the dark. The lights went out not too long after we got there but they have a wood-burning stove so we lit candles and made the best of it. By the time we got back everyone was pooped. It was a long day but I was really glad Lucas and my parents got to see so much of my family and really experience what is like to spend a lot of time with them.