Went to Our First Costa Rican Wedding

And, it was pretty neat.

Remember this couple?  These are our Tico friends Luis and Mercedes .They have been a big part of our life and also any event we have had, and are wonderful people. Luis is the contractor who saved everyone's butt when the infamous Pedro skipped off with all of our money.

Mercedes has been an absolute blessing for us. She speaks excellent English and helps us all the time with translating for us with many different people, including Luis when we have discussions regarding construction topics. In addition to this, she bakes some of the best pastries and cakes you will ever taste.

Well, this couple have been together for quite awhile, and finally decided to tie the knot. The date for the event was Saturday - May 26, 2012. One important thing to note is that this day is also the birthday of Luis. I think he liked the idea of an annual double celebration.

One thing that I want you to remember is that this is a typical Costa Rican wedding, and I sure wish I would have known about it years earlier. This is because I found you can have a great time, enjoy tremendous food and the marriage still takes place at a fraction of the price of what you would pay in the US. Just another great learning experience for us, and gaining more and more respect for the people of Costa Rica.

The wedding was scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM - This was according to the invitation Mercedes gave us. Being highly disciplined people from the US, we usually try to make it a point to arrive on time. However, we forgot that in the spirit of true Tico Tradition, the timing of this wedding was based on "Tico Time". The people of Costa Rica do not like to get excited and rush to things. This is probably why these people were recently voted being the "Happiest People on the Face of  the Earth" for two years in a row now. When we got there around 1:00 PM, we were about the only ones there and the crowd did not really start arriving until around 1:30 PM. This is the way the way the area looked about that time.

The wedding took place at a real nice secluded special event facility owned by the brother of Luis. The driveway to the reception building had to be at least 1/4 -1/2 mile long. It was in a beautiful secluded area surrounded by mountains and streams. The building was open and inviting and had all the facilities you would need for a very large party.





While we were sitting and waiting for the festivities to begin, Mercedes' oldest daughter brought around some munchies to chew on. Before we knew it, this really cute girl we didn't know decided to join us and  grab a little snack and drink for herself. She didn't say much, but Stef knew what she wanted and did not hesitate to accommodate her. This kid was a real sweetheart, and we really enjoyed her company.







Now, about 1:45 PM Luis and Mercedes pull up. Mercedes comes up to us and said that now she is still single, but getting married about 2:00 PM. Well, it took a little for that to happen :-)

Now we are starting to get a good crowd.

And, the bride-to- be who is not getting the least bit nervous

Now, it is time for the wedding - 2:35 PM

Luis and the two girls walk up first and await the bride to be

Here comes Mercedes lead down the aisle by her very proud Mother, and she has every right to be proud of her.

Now, the rest of the wedding party.

AND NOW - THE VOWS (CLICK THE ARROW)

It is now time for me to admit a big mistake - Would you believe that the video above took up all the room on the camera memory card - this meant that I couldn't take any more pictures of the festivities. However, I think that you will agree that I covered the most important parts of today's event. A couple of other things that I would like to say are:

• When the food was served, there were no waiters to perform this task - Our food was served to us by the Bride and Groom and family - I have never seen that in any other wedding I have attended, and think it was really a nice thing of them to do.
• As I said before, this was our first Costa Rican wedding that we attended. I can say one thing "It was simple / heartwarming / with a lot of friendly people who all had a great time. This proved to me that a lot of money spent really does not guarantee the same good time.

Thank you Luis and Mercedes for inviting us!!!

Stef Has a Very Fertile Garden

Remember the garden I had built for Stef last year?

Noel found some real good black dirt somewhere around the yard. Then he carefully mixed in coffee bean shells and rice shells into the dirt making for an exceptional growing mixture. Stef bought some organic vegetable seedlings from a friend of hers and my God - they took off in about a week.

Here are examples of her recent harvest!!

She also is growing pineapples in another area of the yard. Every time we have one, she cuts off the top and Noel places it in the ground to grow another one. Check out the size of this one.
















And, last but not least - Somehow we ended up with a papaya tree that just recently started bearing fruit. Here is a picture of the tree and an example of the fruit it produces.

Not bad for a City Gal learning how to farm. 

Me? I just sit back watch, eat and enjoy.

Our Pizza Maker - Finally!!

I am a lover of pizza's who usually takes a trip at least once a week to get a pizza for lunch or dinner.

Well, about a year ago, my friend Erhard sold me a really neat pizza maker. This bad boy can cook a delicious pizza in about 5 minutes.

The only problem was is that Stef, as hard as she tried, could not come up with a pizza crust that would work with this machine.

Now, things have changed - she found out that a large tortilla will do the job - to the left, you see an example of what she is now using.

Stef has come up with her own home-made pizza sauce and is starting to make a great pizza. She found a place to buy real pepperoni and all the other ingredients that I love to have on my pizza.

This is the result!!!

It is really Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!! Now, I can have pizza just about any time that I want for a fraction of the cost - I can even invite all of my friends over for a pizza party. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - Life is great here in Costa Rica.

bioTD Receives World Recognition

When I first told you about bioTD in my post of June 11, 2011 and how I thought this company was going to be a winner - I wasn't joking.

Remember Dr. Roy Mora? The guy who has helped me a lot with some medical issues? Well, he recently received a call from the Presidenta's Office telling him that he has been selected as the top scientist in Costa Rica and that they want him to go to this big convention in Geneva to represent Costa Rica and bioTD.

 (Dr Roy is in the middle of the picture to the right taken when they received the top Costa Rica Award for innovation.)

This is the result of what happened according to a recent letter Robin sent us.

"Finally.....bioTD attained another milestone in Innovation by being awarded the silver medal for our cervical cancer screening test at the 40th Inventors Forum in Geneva, Switzerland on April 20th, 2012. This event consistently gathers the top inventions [and innovators] from around the globe. We believe this is the first International Level Award for Innovation attained from a Costa Rican entity."

On another note - bioTD has signed contracts with two companies to introduce the bioTD products to the US market and the market in India. I was involved in the selection of these companies and they are going to do a great job so stay on the lookout for some great products.


In case you missed my previous posts about bioTD, it would be of benefit for you to see what this company is all about. These posts are:

January 11, 2012 

August 17, 2011

June 11, 2011

You may want to note the progress the company has made in less than a year! Will keep you updated