Puriscal Property Development, Fiesta for Work Crew

All except for two of the worker’s last day was Friday. During the past few months the team cleared and opened trails, cut overgrown grass, improved drainage and completed 232 concrete stairs that lead from the upper portion of the property down to the river. We accomplished a lot in a short time. The end of the initial phase of work was celebrated with a fiesta. Mario cooked chicharrones over a fire near the old animal washing station. Mario’s wife, Rosa, came to my kitchen to prepare authentic Costa Rican cuisine. I was amazed with her fine skills with a knife. It reminded me of how the workers use a machete, but she worked her knife preparing the food. Rosa prepared yucca, plantains and a tomato salad with citrus dressing.

Managing a crew of 10-12 employees was no small task. I could write a book on all that happened and what we would do differently next time. I have to say I am glad the workers are gone. I found it hilarious that the last group work effort they did was to pull the tabs off of beer cans we have been saving for several months to recycle. One of the workers wanted the tabs to recycle and took the cans to donate to a local school that will turn them in to a recycling center for money.

Saturday we woke up to discover that the power was out. The power in our area seems more reliable than in Ciudad Colon, but it still goes out a few times a week. We waited for a couple hours for the power to return (I use an electric stove) and then decided to go into town. We went to the local fiera (farmer’s market) and bought various fruits, vegetables and were lucky to find a vendor selling chocolate.

The pictures this week were all taken at the fiesta for the workers at our property. The first is of Mario cooking the chicharrones, the second is a group shot and the last is group effort with beer tab pulling.