This week was very different from the last, the rooster must be gone and the goat too! The school must have taken it back to the farm because there was no animal noise at all to wake you up early only the trucks below for the bakery that is in the midsts of the town houses! So it was a little bit more restful in that respect! What you are looking at there is a big pile of cheese that they fry with little sausages at the open market on weekends. Every weekend the Central Park area is filled with vendors, each week seems different people set up with a few of the same vendors filling the park for people to enjoy. The food is different and interesting, the cost is extremely reasonable if not unbelievable to the average American,European or Canadian.
Each stand has there own authenticity and is proud of the culture they bring to the community, there is a real sense of commmunity I could see, as I sat and watched families, friends old and young enjoy the sights sounds and tastes of Colombia. The church is always the center of a plaza, a plaza is usually in the center of a small Pueblo it is the meeting place for everyone, so the culture is built around that church.
I have noticed that Rionegro Antioquia San Antonio is a local weekend fun place to be, filled with people every weekend and some sort of celebration is going on most weekends! Horse rides for children, bouncy houses, food stands, musica blaring, and the church with its doors wide open broadcasting the word for the week.
I found a place that was off the beaten path the food looked extremely fresh and good and its interior was a complete reflection of the furniture and style of Costa Rica, or maybe what I am seeing is a form of old world furnishings by using what is near by or what is the cheapest way to suit a restaurant, I can say that creativity is alive here in many forms here. When you have few resources you become creative in the manor of your living.
Using logs and branches crudely to create a service stand for all their lemons, limes,avocados and fruit. This was the restaurant I was referring to that reminded me so much of the places in Costa Rica The music in this place was cool, it was traditional and loud and the people even though there was no guests at the time I entered they were happy and singing the songs.
As you can see they use real wood and fire in the stands in the plaza,raw salchichons, hanging so all can see, with no refrigeration what so ever, they cook and sell all their products with out issues.I want to say this guy makes his own salchichons, as I only saw containers and no boxes, so he must be the maker and cooker of this delicacy in pork! I have had these, I will admit I am woman that loves sausage any kind,Italians love sausage and this is very tasty and inexpensive for one with arepa, which is how they sell everything! The cost in dollars was $1.85. I am trying to like Arepas there are many different forms or styles but as of a month being here I am not a fan yet. My own opinion Is pretty accurate in food criticism, as some of you know I am an extremely good cook and do it professionally for people, I really like lots of different styles and I have tried so many things that most wont dare to try! So in saying this my taste for areapa is probably something you have to acquire
The texture first of all gets me, its grainy, gritty, not smooth like a tortilla, its pasty some times, and sometimes greesy, as they fry them too. I mean I have had some with butter that I could eat, but its mostly served as a bread replacement, even though they eat all sorts of breads, its served as a side plain. It has very little taste, no salt very bland. Not a fan yet!
This is a pastry the seve with sugar an cinnamon and I noticed the pour this cream over I think it was sour cream , now those looked good to me but did not try it maybe this week I will!
So as for the dance, I am a Zumba instructor for those who don't know I am my age but loved to dance and Colombia is a dancing country.
I advertised on Tuesday on a local Facebook page and asked if anyone in the area teaches and if so I would love to join or if not I would love to teach a few classes.Well to my shock the response on that commented created a buz and over 100 people commenting , and were interested, so on Weds Am I went early and talk to the new gym that is less than a block away and asked and they said yes! So I continued to post and got over 56 people to attend my first Zumba dance class here in Rionegro. Of course it was free, but I gotta say these are some of the best dancers I have ever experienced in class! I can not wait to dance again with them or in a real place that dances on the weekends! The owners of the gym were thrilled that I brought so many people to there brand new location, and the people were happy smiling laughing and dancing hard with me!
I hope to continue during the time I am visiting here and teach a few classes build new relations and help others with my love and passion for dance and music. That was fun but exhausting yesterday the energy was so high in there I pushed my self to the absolute maximum, I felt it the rest of the day lol!
Oh I forgot there are artist too in the plaza each week one or two guys dress up in costumes and pretend to be statues, just like I saw in Portland, Oregon , so its not just a USA thing they do it here too. More to come this week I plan on visiting the national chocolate factory, and find out where the cacao is grown and how they process. And more photos of the amazing trees and plants here wow!
Life is simple, wash by hand, sweep the floors, use very little water, lucky if you have hot showers, food is cheap, bottle of wine $3.50 rose, or merlot Chilean but good, fruits and vegetable no chemicals home grown ,huge and taste different, strange fruits I have yet to try. Walking is a common thing. Fun is sitting at a cafeteria watching people eating pan and drinking fresh coffee. Laundry mat is a luxury I experienced this week I forgot how wonderful it is to have your clothes washed dried and smell so good! A whole load coast me $3.75 cents she folded them too, and served me Coffee, I was in heaven smelling the freshly washed clothes!( been there done that hand wash clothes for years in Costa Rica NO THANKS)
Oro de Cortez,
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