In order to “pay me back” for cooking Thanksgiving dinner, my host family took me to “Zoo Ave” , a wildlife rescue center. There, we spent the entire day laughing and talking about all of the fun memories we had shared during this past year while appreciating the beauty of Costa Rica. There were many animals at the rescue center, including monkeys, tapirs, toucans and macaws. Many of them have been saved from being kept as pets or from the black market. One of the animals that caught my eye was a toucan who had had its beak cut off. Luckily, “Zoo Ave” was able to save the toucan and create a 3-D printed beak in order to allow the toucan to eat, even though the bird could never be released back into the wild.
Furthermore, my host family wanted to share with me how they celebrate the holidays by making tamales! Tamales are a traditional Latin American food that is served around the holidays, and each culture makes their tamales in its own way. In Costa Rica, we made tamales using masa (corn-based flour), carrots, peppers, chicken, peas, rice, eggs and banana leaves. Once you mix the masa flour, you add all of the toppings all onto two banana leaves. Then the fun part is wrapping it all up and tying it in a bow, like a little gift, so it all stays together. Afterwards, you boil the tamales in a large pot for an hour and a half and then serve for the holidays! Many families in Costa Rica make dozens of tamales all at once in order to freeze some or sell them for the rest of the year. I really enjoyed making tamales with my host mom and listening to the stories about all of the times she made tamales with her mom and grandmothers during the holidays.
