Super Samara...not so Super

In Costa Rica, the little corner markets are called supers.  They are basically the equivalent of a 7-11. However, the only real grocery store is about an hour away in Nicoya.  You can't buy much at these supers, even the biggest super in Samara...Super Samara.



Kevin and I were really looking forward living in a tropical paradise, and had visions of ourselves eating all the fresh fruits and vegetables that were sure to abound everywhere.  We imagined that we'd be up to our eyeballs in every exotic wonderful fruit known to mankind,  grilling up steaks, and chicken and fish every night and tantalizing our taste buds like never before.  We just knew that we'd stuff ourselves silly until we rolled around on the ground holding our swollen bellies with big fat smiles on our deliciously satisfied faces.  After about two days we realized that this was not to be the case. 

Surprisingly the only fruit in the stores that isn't completely crawling with ants are the pineapples, bananas and apples.  There are no vegetables, except maybe potatoes, that don't look like they've been living in the bottom drawer of the fridge, rolling around getting bruised and age spotted and all withered looking. 

hmmm...soooo...we've pretty much been living on eggs and popcorn.  Unless we just can't take it anymore and go out for some local cuisine.  Unfortunately, the local ticos are working with the same problem.  Crappy food selection.  However, they've solved that problem, by deep frying everything.  It reminds me of that episode on the Simpsons when Moe turns his bar into a restaurant and everything he serves is deep fried.  Even the trays and the silverware etc. 

When we finally got a grill, we were so excited to cook our own meat!



We made a trip over to the local carniceria and bought chicken and steak thinking it was going to be the best meat we'd ever eaten.  Wrong.  It is so tough that Kevin can't even cut through it, and chewing it is almost as pleasurable as chewing rubber.  I think it's because the cows out here have to use their muscles!  Kevin calls it 'donkey meat', and after an hour of lighting the grill, cooking the meat (which had been marinating all night) he threw it away because it was so bad. 



So, needless to say, we were very unstoked about the food here (especially because it was the opposite in Montezuma where we were in June).  But there is a silver lining.  We found El Lagarto!  I'm not sure if we would have survived another second if we hadn't found this place.  It's at the furthest end of the beach, and we kept hearing how expensive it was.   It was indeed expensive, but well worth it.  All the food is cooked on a grill, and they buy their meat from the volcano region wherever that is.  So not only is the meat quality meat, but it's grilled to perfection on an open air grill out side on the beach.  The mere site of all that grilled goodness had us salivating before we even sat down at the table.  So much so that we both ordered up meat specials.  I ordered the plato mixto, which included chicken, pork, and steak and Kevin got the surf and turf.  The meal was served on 1 inch thick slabs of tree trunk, which Kevin appropriately responded to by saying 'it was the manliest meal, he'd ever eaten'. 



So, with bellies full, and smiles on our faces we walked home knowing that we could starve all week, as long as we knew we could go to El Lagarto once a week.  In the mean time, Kevin decided that the grill will only work for fish, and I found out that we are going to learn to make empanadas tomorrow at school.  We think that stewing the meat is the way to go, and just eating apples, bananas, pineapples, and eggs for the rest of the time.  I'll let you know how it goes.  In the meantime, I need to go console Kevin who is upstairs in the fetal position cradling his Costco card. 

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great things about living here, just not the food...so far!