Rainy days

It's been raining for several days without stopping, but it's warm enough to go outside and play if you're willing to get wet! I don't think my shoes have been fully dry for months now. Yesterday, I started the day by following up with clients, and then showing an apartment for rent. I got outside for awhile too, and ran the Pipeline Trail most of the way up and all the way down. It was pouring rain and many rivers had to be carefully crossed. I feel so good when it's dumping in the jungle! The waterfall at the end of the trail was raging from all the rain.

After working for most of the rest of the day, I went with Carlos (a local who stays at the hostel every other weekend for business) to the new hangout in town to watch the local band and wine/dine with some investors who are here for a few days. My new work partner was also there. I got to try the new 30-minute IPA which came from a new brewery at Boca Chica. It was pretty good, $3 a beer compared to the $1 domestics, but the taste/content gives it some added value. I walked back with Carlos, watched half of a movie, and crashed.

This morning, I went to the supermarket and the local farmer's market to stock up. There is such an amazing variety of fruits and vegetables here. Some are new to me, like Pifas, which are boiled fruits that taste like smokey squash. You have to peel each golf ball-sized fruit with your teeth. They are delicious. I also bought what I thought was a tamale from a street vendor. It was wrapped in a banana leaf like all tamales, but when I got home and opened it, it looked like pate (the meat paste). I had no idea what to think, so I asked Karinsa. She said it is a rice pulp mixed with sugar cane and coffee. People eat it with the local cheese. I didn't have any local cheese so we used slices of Muenster. The name for this sweet delicacy is "Bien Me Sabe."

Pifas.


Bien me sabe.