El Sabor de Guanacaste Festival

Last Friday, July 25, my girl Lydia and I attended a local art festival named El Sabor de Guanacaste (The Flavor of Guanacaste) in Flamingo Beach.  Guanacaste is the province of Costa Rica that I live in and July 25 is Guanacaste Day, celebrating the independence of the zone from Nicaragua - making it a part of Costa Rica in 1824. 

We've attended a handful of fairs in Flamingo over the past few years, but honestly, they've always been a little disappointing.  There was always very little foot traffic or community/tourist interest.   So when we heard about this one, initially we were kinda' on the fence as to whether or not we wanted to close our shops for the day and head over there.  In the past, it just hasn't been worth it.  However, after a few conversations with one of the organizers, Raquel (who we would soon discover was on her "A" game), we decided that the event seemed like it would be well promoted and attended.  We really liked the fact that there would be live music and that there were a decent amount of confirmed artists.  

The space that the artists were in was a covered patio with lots of natural light and fresh air.  (Although it was like a 100000 degrees that day so even the breezy air felt like you were standing in front of an open oven!)  The day started with a parade with kids from the local schools, some dressed up in traditional clothing, others marching in a band that pounded out a beat that made even the least rhythmic person want to move.  

Right after the parade, people started milling around and soon after, the bands started to perform.  There was a good turnout -- lots of locals and tourists, which is always a nice mix.

The Lovely Ms. Lydia 

My table

Traditional Chorotega/Guaitil Pottery from Jesus and Susan 

Paintings by Jose Jackson

I love photography.  It's one of my favorite art forms, so I really enjoyed the photography by photographer Royden Alvaro.  His photographs tell stories of life in Guanacaste.  Fiestas, bull riding, borrachos (drunks) dancing in the street, really capturing the moment.  You gotta check out his website and see his photos from Costa Rica, Cuba and the rest of his portfolio.

Of course, I have to include at least one photo of a dog!! :)

A staple of culinary culture here in Guanacaste is corn tortillas so of course there were ladies making them from scratch and cooking them over a wood fire.  If you've never had tortillas fresh off the griddle, you've missed out on one of life's finest pleasures.

The music was awesome.  A great mix of electronic, traditional, rock and reggae bands.  Tamarindo's own Glass Eye performed.   These guys rock.

One of the big things of this festival was the different workshops available for the kids to participate in.  Lydia hostessed a painting class and I hostessed a beading class.  It's always fun to see what the kids come up with when left to their own creative devices.

My Beading Class

Lyd's painting class.

What kid doesn't like drawing on the cement with chalk. Heck, I still like to draw on the cement!!

In the late afternoon, a traditional dance troupe named Colpachi performed.  Being from the States, one thing I really love here is seeing young people enjoying their rich heritage.  In the States, we just don't have any thing traditional like folk dancing, so seeing "kids" immersed in their traditions that have been handed down over and over, is something that I always love to watch.

The festival lasted until much later, but we left for home and cold showers (!!!) around 5ish.  I think I speak for us both that we were glad that we went.  It was fun, productive, entertaining, and best of all we got to spend the day together.  Awwwww.

Slices of Life

In my small beach town, there are a number of local fisherman.  One of my favorite things to do at the end of the day is to sit on the beach and watch them fish, the sun dropping slowly into the ocean behind them. They don't have big expensive rods and lots of equipment overflowing out of a tackle box, they simply use their hands and a fishing line.  

Tope ~ March 17, 2013

Every December and March there are local fiestas in Villa Real, the small town outside of Tamarindo.  These fiestas are small town carnivals complete with food stands, carnival rides, LOTS of drinking and drunk people and of course, a  bull ring.  

There's lots of fun activities that go along with the fiestas. One is the Baile de Polvo (the Dust Dance) which takes place in the bull ring (minus the bulls!!) and marks the beginning of the fiesta.  It's called the Dust Dance because well, when you get a few hundred people dancing in a dust ring, you make a big dust cloud.  

Another event that takes place during the fiestas is the Tope -- a horse parade where riders meet in the center of Tamarindo (the Circle) and ride to the fiestas in Villa Real - about 2 1/2 miles away. 

The Tope this year took place on St. Patrick's Day, Sunday, March 17.  I personally didn't care to ride.  It looks like a lot of fun, but sadly I'm not too keen on riding horses.  I think they're awesome to look at from afar, but I'm actually a little afraid of them.  And they say animals can sense fear so I thought it would be best not to take any chances.  However, the hubby and our good (hilarious) friend Fabio decided to participate so I opted to be the photographer for the day.

For those wanting to actually mount up and ride, you pay a nominal entry fee which entitles you to ride with the group, a free lunch and of course, a complimentary "drink" - which to most people means beer.   

Good For One Drink

If you have your own horse, that's great, but if not you can rent one from Jeronimo, who seems to be the go-to guy for the best horses.   He has a house and stables in Villa Real and for $30 you can rent a horse for the event.

We arrived at his place around 10:30 a.m. and hung out there for a bit watching him prep the horses.  The horses definitely sensed that a party was in the air.  I'm sure these horses have been through a million of these things before.  I'd think it's as big a party for them as for the people.

Around 11:30 or so, the guys finally got their horses and the party officially began!

After doing a bit of riding on the dirt roads behind town, me and the guys met up in Tamarindo to people watch, and of course, have a few drinks. Little by little, spectators, horses and their riders filled up the Circle.  Salsa music floated through air and everyone, including the horses, was in a festive mood.

Every year this guy mounts up his own sound system to his horse and blasts salsa music.  Classic!

 

By around 2:00 p.m. the show got on the road and the riders started heading out of town.  About midway between Tamarindo and Villa Real there is a rest spot (aka drinking depot) where the riders cash in their drink and meal tickets.  I'll take a long shot guess here and assume that most people have more than their "1 drink ticket" entitlement!

Us "non-riders" got in our cars and headed out to the fiestas.  It took the riders around 2 hours to get from Tamarindo to Villa Real and by the time they did, a good number of them appeared to barely be able to stay on their horse.  Poor horse!  We all stood along the side of the road like we were cheering runners coming over the finish line.  

I love this dancing horse!

As the sun set over the backdrop of the fiesta, people met up around the food and beer stands and in the cantina and shared laughs about the day.

Until December.......

Here's a gallery of all of my photos from the Tope.

Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

Homemade Traditional Pastries

One of the best parts of traveling any where should be the food.  Especially pastries!  A typical (seasonal) pastry in this area of the country are tasty little cracker/cookies named "roquillas" (pronounced "roskeeyuz") which are made during Semana Santa, the week before Easter. 

Each year, my mother-in-law ("Dona A") makes about 1000 of these little yummy pastries along with other corn flour morsels, packages them up, sells them to neighbors and gifts them as long anticipated munchies to her kids and grandkids. 

Talk about homemade.

The whole process starts in her nearby corn field where the corn is grown, picked and de-cobbed.  The kernels are put into a hand grinder and ground over and over to create organic corn flour, the main ingredient in rosquillas.

A portion of this is separated and put aside for sweet pastries, and the remaining flour is for the rosquillas.  The flour is again put through the grinder with water, salt and a dry cheese from a neighbor's cow to form a dough.

Usually Dona A has a friend helping and the two women sit across from each other, sharing a huge tray of this mixture.  For hours, they sit there kneading, gossiping and talking with people that stop by to see how things are going.

They knead the dough over and over and form little rings around their finger, pinching the ends together.  It sounds easy, but it takes a lot of practice to get the right amount of dough and the right form.  I guess a 1000 or more of these a year for the past 50 or so years is enough practice.  Being unpracticed, I wasn't so great.

 

The flour that was set aside is mixed with sugar to create a sweet dough.

From half of this dough, Dona A makes amaaaazing homemade papaya jam stuffed empanas.  The papayas, which are grown outside in her yard, are cut and cooked with a little sugar to make a delicious, sweet pulp.

The other portion is mixed with a milk similar to buttermilk and put into a pan, making a sort of semi-sweet cornbread

Using all of the flour takes them from about 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The raw creations are stacked up all over the kitchen table and counters.  Let's cook these babies!!

It's time to turn on the oven.

But, not as in "Hey honey, can you put the oven on 450 for me?"   This is an outdoor wood burning oven normally used for cooking pottery.   Filled with just enough wood to heat up to about 450, about an hour later the trays are put into the oven and the cooking begins.

People continue to stop by and chit chat.  Someone goes to get some beers and everyone sits around the yard watching the trays loaded in and out of the oven.

Dona A starts to get worried because she's always so afraid that a tray will get dropped or that the oven is not the right temperature.  I suggest she come and sit down with me on the stoop and finish her beer.  She complies and keeps putting her head on my shoulder saying "I can't look" when a tray is lifted into the oven.  (In her opinion, the guys aren't using the right spatula to pick them up and they are going to tumble!)

In the end, it all works out and everything makes it safely from the oven.

My favorites are the papaya filled empanas and an afternoon cup of coffee.  Yes please!!