I arrived at La Carit at 7 like usual and Mari (my Mama Tica of La Carit) brought in "pan casero" for all to enjoy. It's basically fresh rolls with some honey on top of them which you then eat smothered in butter - delicious! In the morning I helped fill for the outpatient clinic side of the pharmacy until our breakfast break which I always take with Dra. Ovares. Today when I went to "El Solito," the take out restaurant that I always eat at across the street, they had "budín," my favorite breakfast treat, which is basically really dense sweet cake, shown here.
After breakfast I helped fill on the inpatient part of the pharmacy until lunch time. We often eat lunch in the beautiful courtyard of the hospital and when we do, Dra. Ovares is constantly on the lookout for "cas," a sour fruit that is delicious! I tried it once in the "fresco" that Mama made, but never raw before. Dra. Ovares found a bunch of cas today and insisted that I try it raw with a dash of salt. I broke it open and ate a bite and it was delicious! Almost as sour as a lime. Then Dra. Ovares taught me about the tiny, tiny worms that grow inside the cas and can only survive when in the cas. I nearly dropped my cas when she said the word for worm in Spanish which is "gusano." Then she proceeded to tell me I needed to eat the gusano she dug up from inside her cas, right off her knife. Dra. Ovares snapped this picture right after I ate the worm from the knife. I must say, I love cas, worm and all! The picture on the right is a close-up of the knife, and the small thing on the right of the knife is the worm I was so concerned about.
At the end of the day, Mari, Dra. Ovares, Carolina (the secretary) and I were talking about what I have and have not tried yet in terms of Costarricensen cuisine. I told them I keep seeing signs about chicharrones, but I still have no clue what they are and I also haven't tried the Costa Rican beer, Imperial. Within 5 minutes we had plans to go to a bar/restaurant nearby that is famous for its chicharrones right after work. We went to the restaurant which was called, "El Jardin Cevichero" to try both of these! I loved the decorations inside!
We ordered an amazing plate of mixed meats, including salchicha (sausage), bistec (steak), chorizo, and chicharrones, along with my first Imperial which came with a very large wine glass for me to drink it from. Odd, but I liked it. I learned that chicharrones are basically fried pork rinds, and they were DELICIOUS!
We chatted for a while, and I had so much fun. It still amazes me how open and inviting the people are down here. Here I am, a random student from the US, out to dinner with three people I met not even 2 weeks ago, and I feel right at home as if I'm out with my family. Here is a picture of all of us. From left to right, Dra. Ovares, Carolina, Mari, and me!
I noticed this USA Today newspaper was laminated and framed on the bar near our table, so I went over to check it out.
The owner, the male in this photo, saw me perusing the article, and came over and introduced himself. I almost didn't make the connection because this photo above was about 20 years ago! He was very sweet and we chatted about the award he received and how he went to Chicago to receive it and got to see a big game in Chicago Bulls history while he was there. Like the true Mama Tica that she is, Mari insisted that I take a photo with him, so of course I did!
Needless to say it was a great afternoon/evening, and I had so much fun! Here are some more photos I took with Mari before we left to go home for the night. She is so fun!
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