Tag: Feria

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Advertising the Small Town Christmas Fair & Parade

Friday-Sunday, Art & Music Festival in Central Park
 Sunday Night Conclusion with Light Parade
Not advertised this well the last 2 years

There is a good chance you will see some photos of the feria and festival on this blog!   🙂
The 3-day feria is a Christmas Arts & Crafts Fair with a stage for live music.

I missed it last year (2016) and don’t know why except for Angel Tree and preparation for my trip to Sarapiqui over Christmas Week and more Christmas parties.

My excuse for missing it in 2015:  “TOO MANY CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES!”  🙂  blog post
Or more specifically I was at a Christmas Dinner that night which I won’t do this year!

So I’m bound and determined to see both this year! Some here say “Festival de la Luz” is the best parade of the year. I’ll give my opinion after the 16th.  🙂

Other culture photos in my gallery PEOPLE & FIESTAS

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Staying Local Today!

We started today after breakfast with a visit to the Feria or Farmers’ Market. See my photos from earlier post or how I use fresh fruits in an earlier post. The Feria is always a place my visitors want to see even if we don’t purchase anything.

The little Railroad Museum is nearby, so we went by it to make sure I knew how to get there Sunday afternoon which is the only time it is open. So some snaps of it before . . .

Ice cream at POPS, then we hang out at home rest of today.

And have dinner at a neighbor’s house nearby, Richard next door. It was really nice! I’ve included a shot of the view from his house looking over the roof of my landlord’s house. Quite a bit more expansive than my view!   🙂

View from Richard’s house at dinner tonight, looking over the roof of my landlord’s house.

Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of his visit here!



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Friday of Healthcare Tour

Old Man Tree in Breakfast Room

A stop by CPI Spanish Immersion School in Heredia for one short lesson.

Visited the smaller public hospital in San Ramon.
Public hospitals aren’t as fancy and pretty as private,
but very clean and functional inside.

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Paul & Gloria’s view with a Poro Tree blooming. Now is time for Poro.
Lunch at home of Paul & Gloria Yeatman with guest speakers.

Visiting the San Ramon Feria or Farmers’ Market Friday afternoon.
Paul & Gloria emphasize this as a part of healthcare!

We also visited a small neighborhood clinic, farmacia, bank, community center, Red Cross which does all the emergency ambulances, a museum, and talked about insurance, the CAJA government healthcare, homecare provided by CAJA, and even a presentation by a volunteer organization encouraging us to volunteer. Whew! A full day! But very helpful. They were showing us what it is really like for medical care in a local community, in this case San Ramon. I will do a separate post on San Ramon and give my comparison to Atenas. This ended the Healthcare Tour at dinner time in San Ramon. I spent the night there and tried to post these photos but the little La Posada Hotel had very slow internet, so I saved them for today, Saturday and will purposefully do two posts. The next one with a few shots of San Ramon sans-healthcare!

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Costa Rica Fresh Fruit!

On Feria Day (Farmers’ Market Day) I process some of the fruit purchased . . .

. . . and then have a fruit plate for lunch!  🙂

I cut up half or more of the mango, pineapple and papaya into little squares and put in zip lock bags in the freezer to use in my fresh fruit frescos, refrescos de frutas, batidos, jugo de naturales or just smoothies for people from the states. And there are a lot of other names for drinks made from fresh fruit, plus a rice, cinnamon, and milk drink call horchata or an even better version with vanilla ice cream called leche muella. Fruit rules in Costa Rica!

Images, Descriptions & Uses of The Tropical Fruits of Costa Rica  NEAT PAGE!
Probably at least one fruit here you have never heard of! And sorry, but I have not tried all of them yet! And this list is not all of the fruits found here. 

When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree.
~Vietnamese saying

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Friday “Feria” Today

I got lots of fresh fruits and tomatoes today at the Farmers’ Market.
They call it “Feria,” Spanish for “Fair” – the weekly Farmers’ Market.

And what did I get? Papaya, Mangoes, Watermelon, Strawberries, Pineapple, Bananas, Tomatoes. I’m just not into cooking a lot of vegetables and things like potatoes or cassava. I eat those in restaurants! 

I have a new favorite place to eat, El Balcon del Cafe and Bakery run by a German woman. I had the best-prepared fish since moving to Atenas and a heavenly German Apple Pie Alamode. 
I have lived here 6 weeks and two days. Today it is partly sunny and 81° at about 3:45 PM. 
El Balcon del Cafe and Bakery
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Farmers’ Market Today

Best place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables!

I walked to the Central Park (where the weekly Farmers’ Market used to be on a street downtown)
but has now moved to a big pavilion outside of town with a big parking lot for all the rich Americans to park their SUVs. Like while I was in The Gambia, I continue to be embarrassed to be an American. 

From Central Park I ride the free school bus to the market with the local Ticos and I think 3 other gringos. There are a few of us without cars, but the contrast of rich Americans and locals seemed to be more evident at the “Feria,” their name for the Farmers’ Market which is literally translated “Fair.” I bought coffee, blackberries, tomatoes, cantaloupe, avocados, lettuce, and a smoothie to drink while there, fresh-made from local pineapple, strawberries and mangos. Yum! Here’s a couple of photos to show that it looked pretty much like the Nashville Farmers’ Market now that they have a big shed and more expensive space rent (meaning higher prices).  The price of progress and American intrusion! 

Atenas Friday Farmers’ Market

Us Poor People Road the Free Shuttle Bus to Farmers’ Market

There was going to be a long wait for the shuttle after I finished shopping, so I splurged and took a taxi to my door for $3.