2012 January | Quepolandia in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

A Micro-Plant from the Past for Present and Future Use

By Donna Porter

A million or so years ago, when the earth was younger and the seas covered the land and freshwater seas were abundant, billions of algae -like organisms developed. All of the waters of the earth where inhabited by microscopic one-celled, algae-type plants called diatoms (Melosira spp.). These diatoms absorbed the minerals (mainly silica) from the water, creating protective shells or exoskeletons for themselves. They lived in quantities beyond the mind’s ability to conceive and provided nutrition and sustenance for other forms of sea life. As they died, their exoskeletons sunk to the bottom of the sea beds where vast deposits- thousands of feet thick – were laid down. When the waters receded, these huge deposits were eventually covered with land and the shells fossilized and compressed into a soft, chalk-like rock called diatomite or diatomaceous earth (DE). Geological upheavals over the eons have exposed these abundantly-rich sedimentary deposits.

Filed under: Donna Porter, It's a Wonderful World of Plants on January 28th, 2012
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Los Verbos Regulares en Presente del Modo Indicativo

Los Verbos —AR

Invente una oración con cada uno de los infinitivos que se le dan a continuación.

desear ______________________________________________________________

conversar ______________________________________________________________

desayunar ______________________________________________________________

caminar ______________________________________________________________

hablar ______________________________________________________________

escuchar ______________________________________________________________

Escriba oraciones con los verbos que se le dan a continuación según el sujeto indicado.

(yo) aceptar ______________________________________________________________

(tu) besar _________________________________________________________________

(ellos) cenar _________________________________________________________________

(el) disfrutar ______________________________________________________________

Filed under: Academia D'Amore, Tico Talk on January 27th, 2012
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Tostadas con Chorizo

By Bill Dwyer

This traditional Mexican dish is a favorite at our house. Tostadas can be made using meats other than chorizo, of course –or no meat at all. One tostada makes a good lunch, Two tostadas make dinner.

Ingredients:

4 small corn tortillas
1 small tin of refried beans
6-8 oz chorizo con chili
1 cup grated jack cheese, such as Monte Rico
4 tbsp natilla
4-5 lettuce leaves, washed, dried, and shredded
vegetable oil

For the salsa:

½ medium-size tomato, finely diced
½ medium-size onion, finely diced
½ avocado, finely diced (optional)
½ cup minced fresh cilantro
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground coriander seed (culantro)
juice of ¼ lime
salt, to taste
hot sauce or minced chipotle peppers, to taste (may be omitted if your chorizo is spicy)

Filed under: Cooking Corner on January 27th, 2012
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Angler Jargon

By Leanne Batten

Want to impress your family and friends with your next Quepos fishing trip? Throw these terms around when you get back home describing your adventure, and you will have everybody around you green with envy! Meet us here in Quepos for some Costa Rica fishing this high season!

Action: Self Explanatory– “Lots of action today! Released four Sailfish and got a nice Dorado on board for dinner!”

Bluewater: The clear cobalt water that billfish and other predatory fish prefer to hang out in offshore, the magical place where memories are made!

Bring to color: Bringing a fish to visibility in the water during a fight, hence “I see color!”.

Filed under: Guest Writer on January 26th, 2012
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Save money with a high-efficiency variable speed pool pump

By Costa Rica Pools & Construction

There is a lot of talk about saving money on your pool with the new high-efficiency variable speed pool pumps. One manufacture, Jandy says their new VS Flo Pro pump can “reduce energy use up to 90%”. Single speed pumps generally end up using more energy than variable speed pumps so the money conscious tend to choose the latter. A good working pool pump not only can save you money but also can ensure the water you swim in is clean and clear.

Filed under: Costa Rica Pools & Construction, Pool Care Basics on January 26th, 2012
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First things first/Primero lo primero, Second part/Segunda parte

By Os

Hola amigos: Happy New Year! – Feliz Año Nuevo! I hope you had a Feliz Navidad and everything is all right.

Did you have any trouble during your X-mas shopping understanding some numbers-números? Problems with the totals-totales? Still struggling to understand how much the bill-la cuenta is? You can’t even get a telephone number? You can say uno-dos-tres and that’s it?…Let’s fix that…Now-Ahora!

Familia “Sésamo Street”:

1 uno – 2 dos – 3 tres – 4 cuatro – 5 cinco –

6 seis – 7 siete – 8 ocho – 9 nueve

Familia “weirdos”:

0 cero – 10 diez – 20 veinte – 30 treinta –

100 cien – 500 quinientos –

1.000 mil (don’t say “un” mil, just mil)

Filed under: Os, Spanish Sucks on January 22nd, 2012
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Costa Rican Moonshine

Clandestine Still

By Jack Ewing

I haven’t had a drop to drink, of any alcoholic beverage, since May 17, 1977. I quit drinking because I figured that I had already drunk enough to last me a lifetime, and it wasn’t necessary to drink any more. Prior to that date, I was quite an expert on all things relating to alcoholic beverages including Costa Rican moonshine, known locally as guaro contrabando.