New Year's 2010

The full blue moon was the backdrop for Lisa's New Year's Eve party. Her house is high up in the mountains of Escazu, with a spectacular view of the glittering lights down below in the Central Valley.

There were 60-70 people there, most of whom I knew. Lisa put out a great spread of sandwiches, salads and desserts. I brought my yummy ginger snaps and was offered a proposal of marriage if I gave him the recipe.

Just before midnight we all gathered outside on the patio. My friends who live way up there had warned me to wear a jacket, scarf, gloves and earmuffs. Yes, earmuffs in Costa Rica! So I was prepared for the cold weather.

At 12:00 we saw a spectacular display of fireworks all over the valley, and Lisa's husband, Tom, set off some, too. Fireworks are sold everywhere in Costa Rica, even though they're illegal. Hired help passed around flutes of champagne, and we all toasted the new year.

The next day there was another party. Rosemary throws a Hair of the Dog party late in the afternoon of New Year's Day, and this was the first year I was invited. In fact, I made the A list at both parties. Lisa and Rosemary are sister Brujas, the Thursday ladies lunch group that I was invited to join last February.

My friend Patty and I went to Rosemary's about 4:30pm and yakked it up with more friends. The expat network is very big in this area of Costa Rica. The spread included ribs, salads, and of course, more yummy desserts.

Once everyone had eaten, Barry, Rosemary's husband, led a Yankee Swap, or as he called it, a Chinese auction. It was great fun. I thought I was going to go home with a crystal bowl, but someone took that away from me, and I ended up with a kit for reading men's palms. That should come in hand the next time I hang out at a bar.

The party ended about 7:00, but Patty and I stayed and talked with Lisa, Rosemary, Barry, and their houseguests. We had a merry old time, talking about everything under the sun, and telling jokes. We were amazed to learn that a couple of their friends live in Lexington, Massachusetts, and went to the same Unitarian Universalist church that I went to. Finally at 11:00 we said our goodbyes and left.

May 2010 be the start of a joyous, healthy and prosperous decade for you all!


Fran and I at Lisa's party

Indian Food and Karaoke

Most Thursdays I have lunch with a great group of expats at Robin's Kitchen, where Robin serves up a variety of lunch specials and the best desserts in Costa Rica. Until yesterday my favorite was mocha pie, but that rich and creamy delight has been bested by the tart and sweet key lime pie. Maybe next week I'll pick another favorite, like the orange cake.

I joined this group of brujas (female witches, affectionately named after the mascot of the city where we have lunch, Escazu) in February of this year. We talk about anything and everything, and it has been a lot of fun getting to know each woman.

One of the things I like best about this group is that we celebrate birthdays. In April I received many gifts, and for a single person without much family and certainly none in this foreign country, it is a blessing and a comfort to be shown such love and friendship on my special day.

Yesterday we celebrated Carina's 40th birthday. Carina is from Sweden and is a very good golfer (she broke 80, whatever that means). But instead of going to the restaurant, Corinne invited us to her house way up the mountain of San Antonio de Escazu. Finding Corinne's house was a trip, because we did not have clear directions and no one's cell phone had a good signal. But we finally found the house with all windows overlooking the Central Valley.

This is a wine-drinking group, so we started with reds and whites with our appetizers. Corinne, a Philippino, is married to an Indian and has learned to cook delicious Indian food. I also love that we are somewhat of an ethnically diverse group. Corinne prepared all the food with love and attention to detail. We ate on the semi-enclosed balcony and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Jane brought her little angel, Alexis, who will turn one year old on Lisa's birthday in July. Alexis munched on Cheerios while we enjoyed chicken, rice and eggplant dishes and flatbread. I wish I could remember the names of everything.

While Robin wasn't there with us, two of her desserts were. The key lime pie and a chocolate cake. Corinne added a carrot pudding that was also very good. Of course, we sang happy birthday to Carina, and she opened our gifts.

Then we piled into the living room and turned on the karaoke. Oooooweeee! Did we have fun! We have two professional singers in our group, Barbara and Sally, the former and the current lead singers from Harmony Roads, a rock n roll, country, blues band (see my story, La Lunada). And the rest of us did the best we could. I had never sung karaoke before, and was a little hesitant to try, but I felt supported by the group, and after the first song, no one could shut me up. It's like singing hymns in church: it doesn't matter if you can carry a tune or not when you sing with passion and zeal.

Our lunches usually last 2 to 2.5 hours, but we stayed at Corinne's 4 hours. And then she sent us home with doggy bags of her yummy Indian food.


Barbara belting out a song with Alexis on her lap

La Lunada Potluck Jam Session

Last night I went to my first (and hopefully not my last) Lunada, thanks to the invitation of Sally O'Boyle. Sally sings in a band with other folks around our age called Harmony Roads. Once a month around the full moon (Lunada), the band members and invited guests who are musical and some who are not gather at the beautiful home of Barry Biesanz, the leader of the pack and exquisite artisan who works with wood.

The house is situated high on a mountain in Escazu with an astounding view of the Central Valley. The musicians jammed in a room lined with windows, so the audience had a sweeping view of twinkling lights in the background.

Before getting down to the business of making music, we shared a potluck dinner. Most of the gatherings I go to involve bringing food to share. I brought my easy-to-make coconut flan pie, which got wolfed down before I had a chance to take a bite (a blessing in disguise?). In turn, I stuffed myself with homemade bread, curried chicken salad, and Hal's delicious lentil soup, which I had also had for lunch when I was at Hal and Sally's house earlier in the day.

Harmony Roads bills itself as Costa Rica's oldest gringo band, playing eclectic music: oldies, country, folk, blues, 50s, and rock and roll. La Lunada wasn't a concert, although I did enjoy listening to the music. The experience for me was more of seeing close up how people get together and create music, like making magic. They brought their guitars, violin, drums, harmonica, voices and put them together, and out came songs.

The musicians had fun making their music, and for one song, I jumped in and banged a tambourine in rhythm (I hope) to a country song. The greatest delight was the attendance of Ben and his violin. Barry found him on Craigslist and invited him to come to the event. Ben is very talented and could improvise on any tune.

This morning I've still got music on my brain. Yee haw!