Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Rondon!!!






I had some serious cabin fever until the miracle of rondon at Eloise's house occurred on Sunday. The blueEnergy house/office in which I generally spend 20-24 hours a day was just getting a bit old. I was going stir crazy! I can't spend that much time in front of a computer, sitting in a plastic chair, or in my bunkbed with the fan blowing on me, even if I am reading the final Harry Potter without going crazy! David and I have been going on the occasional run recently, which has helped. But its quite hard to motivate to run when its 80-90 degrees out from 8 am - 8 pm, or pouring down rain and the teensiest bit cooler. And of course the Palo de Mayo festivities have shaken things up a bit in the city. Its been fun attending the parades and concerts, seeing a bit of true Bluefields culture. But the festivities also meant that the streets have been even more packed than usual, with more drunk men and even louder music than usual! Of course that's Bluefields and I appreciate it for what it is. However, I was getting grumpy and needed a change of pace, and Sunday's lunch at a beautiful and quiet home on the lagoon cured me!

Julie (a fellow community relations volunteer here at bE) and a Spanish friend Monica went early to Eloise's house with red snapper, prawns, coconut, and lots of breadkind (plantain, yucca, quiquisque, and other starchy vegetables) to begin the long process of preparing rondon, a traditional coconut milk-based stew that is now my favorite thing about Bluefields! David, Seb, Charles, and I arrived later in the afternoon to find them still working hard- grating the coconut, preparing the fish, peeling shrimp and breadkind. Its a long and arduous process! But before long Eloise had everything stewing in a pot over some charcoal and we all retreated to the porch overlooking the lagoon with To
ña and Flor de Caña. We lounged, chatted in Spanish, English, Creole, and French, drank in the view of the lagoon and jungley cays, and enjoyed the breeze coming off the water. I hadn't felt this good since we got back from Monkey Point!

When the rondon was ready Eloise served us each up a heaping bowl and we dug in. This has got to be the best meal I've had in Central America so far! The rich but not too rich coconut milk broth, the surprisingly flavorful and firm breadkind, the red snapper and prawns, and the smoked meat which Seb had brought along and added a wonderful flavor, was altogether amazing! It was so nice to be with friends on the water, eating good food. Its something I've missed. Sort of brought me back to my days in Peru, where Sundays were all about sharing huge plates of ceviche and beer with friends on the waterfront. I love food culture! Particularly coastal food culture... Its the most delicious!

So I've now fallen back in love with Blufields and am feeling better than ever! Getting away for the day and spending it in such a lovely way was more refreshing than I could've imagined. Just one more week here at the office and I'm now really trying to make the most of my time. Preparing materials for classes on energy and water and sanitation, shopping for supplies to last us 2 months in isolated Monkey Point, getting trained in the Yo, Si Puedo literacy system which David and I are going to be teaching, finishing up a report on the water situation in Monkey Point, figuring out a million little details (logistical and other), and of course taking the time to be in touch with friends and family who I'll be unable to contact throughout the remainder of the summer.

Hopefully we'll be leaving for Monkey Point on Monday, June 9th. I can't wait! Give me the beach, the jungle, mango trees, and fresh air!

1 comment:

Max said...

Nice article, Lynn ! It got me back in the good mood too ! It's true that getting back to Bluefields after Monkey Point was quite hard... but I'm glad you discovered some secrets pleasures about the town !

Cheers, have an awesome stay in MP !

Swimming hole

Swimming hole
Nate, David, and me at the local swimming hole

Climbing

Climbing
David climbing at the swimming hole near our house. This is the location of my first rock-climbing lesson.

Beautiful Miraflor

Beautiful Miraflor
a home in Miraflor with the nature reserve and mountains beyond

Waterfall jumping!

Waterfall jumping!
sweet swimming hole in Miraflor

Catching chicharras in Miraflor

Catching chicharras in Miraflor
We spent half the day in Miraflor catching bugs in the trees with this awesome kid

Parasite tree in Miraflor, Nicaragua

Parasite tree in Miraflor, Nicaragua
this parasite killed the tree inside it over 200 years ago, now you can climb it inside and out, as David and these Nicaraguan kids

Sunset

Sunset
sunset at Las Penitas, Nicaragua

Howler monkeys

Howler monkeys
a family of howler monkeys on Omotepe

Omotepe

Omotepe
Concepcion, one of the volcanos that makes up the island of Omotepe in Lake Nicaragua

In the jungle...

In the jungle...
with Nathan and Crystal (visiting from Michigan) in the jungles of Claudio Barillo National Park

Hammock time

Hammock time
Crazy photo of Andrea and me hanging out in the hammock at my house

Charging in Dominical

Charging in Dominical
After getting worked I went after some of these smaller waves which turned out to be a lot of fun

Gotta love waterproof cameras

Gotta love waterproof cameras
taking surfing pics in the water at Dominical

Attempting backside in Dominical

Attempting backside in Dominical
I'm attempting to work on my backside here in Costa Rica

The "Cool Bus"

The "Cool Bus"
Chilling in the Cool Bus in Dominical

La Selva Biological Station

La Selva Biological Station
Venturing into the jungle

Ladro Ladies!

Ladro Ladies!
In Manuel Antonio with Andrea and Sheena

David and Lynn Manuel Antonio

David and Lynn Manuel Antonio
David and me hiking (and swimming) though Manuel Antonio National Park

Volcan Poaz

Volcan Poaz
Posing with the smoking crater of the beautiful Poaz

Cute huh?

Cute huh?
David and me having a couple of beers at a surfers bar in Playa Hermosa

Surfing accident #1

Surfing accident #1
A minor bruise from getting Sheena's leash caught around my arm while she was learning to surf at Jaco

Surfing accident #2

Surfing accident #2
2 days after the incident in Jaco I broke my board in half trying to surf at low tide in Manuel Antonio

Surfing Playa Cocles

Surfing Playa Cocles
my first time out surfing in Costa Rica. I was pretty pumped