Our tour guide: I helped visiting professors by translating his Spanish to English.

Today I served as the translator for a tour at a cultural museum, it was so much fun! I really appreciated the fact that the guide spoke loudly and clearly. Something that surprised me was that he said that bamboo for homes was cut during the last phase of the moon because there is less gravitational pull. He said that during the last phase of the moon it is easier for women to give birth, better to sew seeds, and better to harvest. I had never heard this before – and I’m not quite sure I buy it.

Our guide told us that these ceramic roof tiles were traditional shaped by a part of a woman’s body – guess which part! I couldn’t figure it out at first.

The interior of a former Costa Rican President’s home.

After the tour of the historical home of a previous Costa Rican President, we learned how to make tortillas from scratch as well as a traditional fried dessert similar to an “elephant ear.” The only thing that we didn’t do for the tortillas was grind up the corn. I loved rolling the salty tortilla dough. I tried both the El Salvadorean method (taught by Karen) and the Costa Rican method. For the El Salvadorean method you make a wheel in your hands and the Costa Rican method is to spin the dough on the table and guide a round shape by cupping your hands. I made Karen promise that if we are both in Baltimore this summer we would make tortillas.

Brenna, Karen, and I model our tortillas before they are baked.

She bakes our tortillas. These museum workers were so sweet.

One of the ladies who worked at the museum wanted to know if there were any recipes in my culture that were passed down from one generation to another. I told her the traditional American was apple pie. I also explained to her what I donut was, but she was disappointed when I told her that most people buy donuts instead of making them at home. Now I feel like I should learn to make apple pie. Currently I only know how to make my Grandma’s White Christmas Coconut pie. Yum! So much of culture revolves around food!

The pastry is rolled thin before being fried in Crisco.

A museum display of traditional Costa Rican masks used for parades and festivals.