July 27, 2009

Thanks, Grandma, For Teaching Me That Hot Dogs Can Be Boiled


It’s been about a week since I checked in, but a busy week it was. I got through the rest of Ana Karenina (it was great), and on Saturday Angela and I also went to Monteverde on a field trip with the English class that I teach on the weekend. If you didn’t know, Monteverde means “Green Mount,” more or less, and that’s a pretty apt description of the area. It’s to the northwest of here, and it’s got a lot of nature reserves and stuff like that. I’d never been there before, and it was pretty nice. All in all, though, when it comes to Costa Rican attractions, I have to admit that I’m more into the beaches and the hot springs than I am into the jungles. I think it must have something to do with the imminent possibility of encountering big-ass snakes in those verdant green areas. Call me a conservationist, but I’d say they’re better left to the beasts.

Another butterfly in Monteverde, with camoflague to make it look like an owl!

So, I liked Monteverde well enough, although with students in tow, it’s harder to have a good time if you’re worrying about teenagers doing dumb shit or getting attacked by tigers or pizotes. So we’ll probably have to go back on our own sometime to enjoy a quiet excursion and visit the Quaker-run dairy (yep, it exists).


It was also a big week in the sense that Angela ate her first hot dog ever! (The picture is one that I took at Chicago’s O’Hare airport about 5 years ago, and is for illustrative purposes only.) She had had hot dogs in rice before (sounds weird, I know), but never in a hot dog bun. When I heard that, we prepared hot dogs one evening, and we each promptly ate three of them. The purists would surely scoff, since they were chicken hot dogs, but at least we put on ketchup, mustard, mayo, sauerkraut, and jalapeños. Sort of an American- Latin- German fusion…on a sesame-seed bun. And, as the title of this post indicates, we’re indebted to my grandma for the boiled cooking process, since we have yet to get a grill (soon, though, dammit!).

I’ve also been watching all the episodes of Yacht Rock and methodically downloading the music featured in the show. Seriously, if you’ve not checked it out, you’re missing a lot. It’s pretty hilarious, and it’s like a having a syringe full of Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins injected straight into your heart. Thanks for rigging my boat to sail on the seas of smooth music, Chris!

Other than that, things are pretty calm at the hacienda. I’ve been watering the yard grass every night, moving the hose and our lame little sprinkler every 20 minutes. Two weeks after we put in the grass, sections of the lawn are barely hanging on due to our crappy luck with the rain. One would think that in the “rainy season,” there’d be at least a little drizzle now and then, but it’s been nothing but warm, dry weather and only about 5 minutes of rain in the last two weeks. But I guess we should be happy that the seasonal downpours haven’t begun to wash our new grass down the side of the mountain, either.

So that’s what’s new. I’ll try to do a few more updates through the week, and hope that everyone’s well!

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3 comments:

Deuce said...

Isn't it awesome when you find out something new about your significant other that you haven't ever known before? Well, I guess that could be good or bad...hm...

Have you ever microwaved your hot dogs? If I don't grill hot dogs, this is the best other method, I think. Mmm--yummy doggie goodness in 60 seconds!

~Deuce

Annie said...

Now we boil hot dogs
Last savory vestiges
Simpler days now gone

Sitzman said...

Deuce--the ladies always save these dark secrets till AFTER they rope you into marriage. Microwaving hot dogs is OK, but I hate it when the split or get crusty. Doesn't happen when boiling.

Annie--I love Emily Dickinson!