Juanilama, Costa Rica
The climate in Costa Rica has been much different than that in Nicaragua; 10 degrees cooler and unseasonably wet. It rained off and on all day today. At times it was torrential, which was fun to ride in, other than it making the rocks more slippery.
We only road 24 miles today. The roads were steep and rocky and we did slip a lot, especially going uphill. But, other than a couple
of falls in the group, we made it through unscathed.
About ten miles in, we stopped at a hot bath for a quick dip. The place was packed, but the bath was well worth the crowds, and it was perfectly timed. We had just ridden through the hardest pour of the day. We were a bit chilled.
The bathtub like water was the perfect remedy.
We arrived in Juanilana (pop. 300) for our family stay around 4 p.m. and were greeted at the community hut by our two hostesses and a number of other women. They served us a feast of tortillas, omelets, sour cream, coffee and pineapple juice. Delicious!
We were then split between the two houses where we showered and napped, before returning to the community area for dinner and dancing.
After taking my shower, I mistakenly used a pink blanket as a towel. I thought it was a big beach towel. Yikes. I really hope it drys out before morning so I can fold it and put it back on the shelf before our hostess notices.
When we arrived for dinner, a troop of eight child dancers performed Costa Rican dances for us.
They were terrific. One of the young girls pulled David on to the dance floor. He was willing, confident and quite good. I was impressed.
After the dancing, we gathered around the cooking table and learned how to make tortillas. It reminded me of my high school days when I threw pizzas at Valenti's across from the Boston Garden.
You start with a piece of dough, albeit a much smaller one, and kneed it from the inside out. It's harder than it looks. Most of ours were lopsided but they sufficed.
After we made them, the women placed them on the frying pan. While we waited for them to cook, we were served a terrific black bean soup with carrots, potatoes, plantains and onions. Yum.
When the tortillas were done, they combined them with rice and hard boiled eggs. They then served them to us with big glasses pineapple juice. A great dinner all around.
When I saw one of our hostesses washing dishes, I stacked ours, brought them over and joined her. She washed, I rinsed and her daughter dried.
I didn't realize til later that my helping with the dishes had made an impression. As we were leaving, one of the locals, with a Fredder as translator, told me that this was an act of great respect to his community. For an outsider to stand along side one of them and perform chores, was humbling and showed a spirit of giving that they rarely saw from an outsider. Geez. Who knew. I'll have to keep doing this.
After dinner there was more dancing. I got pulled on the floor by a young girl. It was fun but I couldn't keep the beat very well.
Later, I asked one of the guys there to give me a salsa lesson. It was difficult, especially with 35 people watching, including my fellow bikers.
By the end of the lesson I started to get the hang of one basic step. It made me want to take more lessons when I get home.
We have a 7:30 breakfast tomorrow followed by some sightseeing and an easy day of riding, or so Fredder says. We'll see.
Buenas noches.
-Jorge
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Location:San Carlos,Costa Rica
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