Painted Bottles

When I was very sick in San Jose a couple months ago, I started painting bottles. I got my first bottle as a gift from my friend Reina, I got so many complements for it from people asking if they could have one. Sure, why not paint it yourself?

Anyhow, it was a perfect project to calm me down and keep me busy with something outside the kitchen. I started for pure selfish fun and now I think I could turn this into a community project and have people walk around town with their own painted bottles.

I am also involved with a new community group in Montezuma where we are trying to create a more eco-concious, more rooted and connected community and recycling water bottles is one of the major issues in our tourist invaded little town. I suggested we can do water bottle painting as an after class at the school and we will begin working on it next season. I am excited!

Below are some of my favorites, I use acrylic paint and each bottle has its own theme depending on my mood. Blue's are when I am "blue", pinks are when I am in love and my favorite is still my first one named as "my costa rica".

Some more on flickr!

Hope you like them!

got a skype account!

Karl hooked me up with Skype and my nickname is bakingfairy! Yay!

In San Jose

It has been one of the longest bus trips with the heavy rain and two
huge luggage, but I made it to Kati and Mark's in Escazu. I am here
for a week and then head back home to Turkey!

It was a little crazy when I got out at the Coca Cola terminal, some
private taxi guys were waiting outside and I asked one of them to help
me out with my stuff. They thought I was a tourist and asked me pay
double the fare. Though it was raining so bad, I said no, it really
gets me when people try to take advantage of me. Maybe in a few years
I will learn to pay the extra for the comfort, but these days, I chose
to say no. It was difficult but manageable to carry my luggage and I
found an official taxi pretty quickly.

Then we came to the house but no one was home. I didn't call a day
before to confirm with Kati, I should have but I was busy surfing
(nice tropical excuse!) and I waited in front of the house with the
taxi driver for half an hour...Good thing I didn't let him go, and he
was also nice enough to climb over the fence and shout and finally
have one of the other guests hear us. There was no electricity and the
phone and the door bell didn't work!

I love it here always...It is so peaceful and they are so good
company. They invited me to dinner and I accepted immediately (hmmmm
home meals!)

A day in paradise

~ woke up at 9:00 am, finally I can sleep better!

~ went to yoga

~ had breakfast in front of the ocean and decided to sell my granola to the supermarkets, so I can have good breakfast when I am not at the cafe.

~ met Mauritzio and went to surfing

~ surfed all day at Playa Grande, catched so many waves that I am proud of my progress since I first moved here! I am a surfer girl!!!

~ headed back to town and saying goodbye to friends

 

no tears but I will miss Montezuma, especially now it is really quiet and romantic with big waves, rain and memories...

 

 

 

Waiting for Godot

Fascinating article from LiYana, and so true for me too...I spent five hours closing the cafe today and ignored my friends desire to get together before I leave. Now I am tired, ready to home and it sucks that I still need to pack. It is raining sooooo bad, I am happy I am out of this mud craze for a while.

 

"I believed that to deserve pleasure and to earn any reward, I needed to work hard and to go through pain and suffering.  I was sure there was a direct correlation between how hard I worked and how much suffering I could endure and the amount of pleasure and reward that was to be mine as a result.  And being a perfectionist and overachiever, I decided I'd arrange my life to work even harder than those around me; I built my muscles to endure even more pain and suffering than those around me; and I waited patiently for the pleasure and reward to descend upon me.  I waited through a 10-year career as a professional dancer, I waited through two long-term relationships, and I waited through countless to-do lists that I diligently completed.

 

Then I realized I was waiting for Godot.  Enjoyment was not coming, no matter how long-sufferingly I waited for it.  It began to dawn on me that I had needlessly put the obstacles of pain, suffering and hard work in the way of my enjoyment.

 

I never got to the whole point – enjoying my life, being happy. "

http://www.redefiningmonogamy.com/articlesobstacle.html
 

From Tony

"Within each of us is a light, awake, encoded in the fibers of our existence. Divine ecstasy is the totality of this marvelous creation experienced in the hearts of humanity" Tony Samara

www.samarafoundation.org

almost over...

We are closing tomorrow...I can´t believe the season is almost over and today it was so busy in the morning,  I kinda felt I don´t want to leave! Maybe only for a moment:))  I really would like some vacation. In the meantime, no more baking, no more ice cream...So we started to do some crafts projects for next season. We hanged up a board for drinks and it already made such a difference. Lizzle Dizzle sold sooo much today. We replaced the glass windows so they won´t be able to sneak into my ice cream and we are now making fans from old magazines to put on the tables.

 

I am at a strange place in my heart now. I am officially on vacation for two months!  It is also freaking me out a little not knowing what exactly I will do, but I am really not going to the kitchen for a while. Though I promised my mom to pay my rent in Istanbul with ice-cream and granola so you figure it out.

 

For next year, I need a water tank and I would die for a solar oven, maybe hot water too...

Days go by *fast!

Better it is to live one day
seeing the rise and fall of things
than to live as hundred years
without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.

Dhammapada 113

 

My last week at the cafe, I can't believe a season is over!

Tsunami Warning and Sweet Life

It rained all day yesterday and late at night we heard about the
Tsunami warning for Montezuma. I was up the hill at a friends house,
no TV, no Internet..but only my cell phone. I called all my friends in
town and got most of the news from Marlen. She was scared because all
her family lives in Cabuya, on the beach and she could not reach them
by phone. She saw what happened in Peru and they also said on TV that
Tsunami would hit Montezuma around 9:00 or 9:30....I was scared, all
negative thoughts come to mind one after another and it is difficult
to keep calm.. there was nothing we could do but wait...The phone
contact was amazing though, everybody calling each other, hotels were
evacuated and almost everyone in town moved to Cobano.

Marlen called in 10 minutes and said she reached her brother and they
took all her family outside of the beach. That was a big relief, but
then on top of all this, a friend of mine was supposed to arrive
yesterday. He called right before I heard about the tsunami thing and
boarded the ferry. I could not believe that they would let the ferry
when there is a tsunami warning. I was worried. I prayed that he would
be safe and not die in the middle of the ocean. Yup, my prayers worked
and he made it safe here! Today, life is back to normal but it was a
great wake up call to see how little control we have over life.
Nothing is permanent and all there is this moment and it is beautiful.
I am so grateful and at peace. Now, all I want is to go back home and
visit my family and bake some treats for them.

P.S. Someone asked me about the visas to Costa Rica. It is true that
Turkish citizens do not need a visa to enter Costa Rica.

Feeling Insecure

I am being tested for security these days...Two days ago on my way
down to the cafe, a man with a machete shows up and hides behind the
bushes. I don't understand what is going on but I felt suspicious so
and stopped walking towards him. He kept hiding and taking a few steps
back. Very creepy and scary especially with his big machete. I turned
back and walked away as fast as I could, in the meantime he started
following me. It was 6 am in the morning, no one around but I wasn't
too far from home so I just went back to my place and waited behind
the bushes. He came went by and I waited a ride to walk down. I was
really scared...

Today, they broke in and stole two ice-creams. Coffee and pineapple.
This is the third time and I am not sure what to do about it. We are
moving everything as far away as possible from the windows and
covering the windows with big signs but they manage to get my
ice-cream somehow. I would love to install cameras, it would be
soooooo fantastic to watch what is going on at night....I feel
insecure and violated and there is no one to complain, no one to
report...It sucks big time...

In the meantime, I got a vita-mix. Someone I met at the cafe, went
back to the U.S. and came with a vita-mix...I am shocked! It was my
ultimate request from the universe and it happened...Well it is really
expensive but I am going to make good money soon:)

My first day experience with it was not really good though. It stopped
working twice, once while making black bean dip and once making the
crepe batter...Then it exploded while I was mixing leftover greens,
celery, spinach, mint, cilantro and basil...The color was fantastic
but the taste was horrible...

Now, a new request for a champion juicer! Then I am all set!

BakingFairy Land-Volunteers Needed!

I got a card from a friend I met here and she wrote "hope all is well
at the Baking Fairy Land". That touched my heart... I am not doing
that great these days but that is life... I had to let go of an
employee, she worked with me for four months and last week I had it
with stolen stuff, no respect and greedy eyes with money...I just had
to do it...She was doing most of the cooking and I was able to leave
for a few hours...Oh well. I am here only 3 more weeks and I figured I
can do some cooking...and clients are happy about that too so at least
my business is booming.

In the meantime, I met Melanie, she is a friend of Dariana and hired
her right away. She is fantastic. It is amazing how the universe
works, I just have to go with the flow and let things come to me.
David, for example, he just happened to be here, having breakfast when
we had a mountain of dishes, no help at all...I made him a breakfast
burrito, served it to him and said hello. He was very happy to see me
and said he is staying for a while and he can help if we needed any. I
said I will think about it. I asked him if he was serious, and he said
he can help for a couple of hours. I showed him the dishes and he
didn't mind helping at all...He is a vegetarian too! He left to stay
with friends in Cabuya but now I have a great new vision to offer
volunteer work exchange programs with people all over the world.
Vegetarians and vegetarian wanna be's are all welcome. I am not sure
how the program will work, does anyone have experience with volunteer
work?

I would like to involve as many locals as I can, so they can benefit
from the culture exchange as well. Maybe setup sleeping facilities
with them, so they make some money and also get introduced to
vegetarian food, happy healthy people...Montezuma really needs this
beautiful energy....I like to dream....

Finally!

Lane's photos are so popular in Montezuma. I am happy to see her
making her stuff available. Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=48973

Check this out...

I can't wait to try these burgers and the cheez sauce. Thanks Lane!
http://yeahthatveganshit.blogspot.com/

Jerry on a skirt!

I miss Jerrito so much!

http://animatedcloset.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AC&Product_Code=1476-8&Category_Code=S

Hmmmm Caramel and Sea salt

Finally, I have all vegan caramel ice-cream. Before I was using dulce
de leche, which is fantastic but it is not dairy free and it was my
only dairy ice-cream on the menu, which sucked. My friend Karen gave
me this book, Voluptious Vegan and I tried the caramel recipe from
there. It turned out fantastic and so easy to make, I don't know why I
had struggled making caramel so much in the past. As always, when life
flows, it is fun and easy. When I try too hard, and try to go against
the flow, things get really difficult and not fun at all, so you get
the idea, I am happy these days:)

So, here is the recipe if you like to try home. If you like to make
your own ice-cream, use this base instead of the sweetener and add
some coarse sea salt on top. If you are lazy, you can also mix caramel
to a store bought vanilla ice-cream and sprinkle salt on it. This
version will be sweet though!

Caramel Sauce
Makes 1 and 1/2 cups

1/2 cup molasses
1/2 tapa dulce or maple syrup
1 tsp coarse sea-salt
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp tahini
1/2 tsp peanut butter or sesame butter
1 tsp lemon juice

Mix soy milk, tahini and peanut butter and salt in a small cup
Add the lemon juice

Boil the molasses and the tapa dulce until it reaches a soft ball
stage, 250 degrees. You can test it by dropping a spoon into
ice-water. It is supposed to be pliable.

Slowly add the soy milk mixture and let boil another 3 minutes. Let it cool...

Stuck

I would like to go home in September, but I don't have a visa for the States and all the flights are going thru the US. The US embassy here is scheduling appointments for visa in 20 days. Crazy!

I got two websites to search for tickets for Europe, www.airgorilla.com or www.airtech.com I don't know any travel agency in Costa Rica and I am not sure how to get home with no visa. This visa issue is killing me...Any help would be appreciated...

Vipassana on CNN

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/07/23/100135590/index.htm

I got accepted to serve in NZ in October!

back in the kitchen

Today we opened a little late, since we didn't have anything
ready...The day started a little slow and I was happy that we got time
to finish stuff... By 10 o'clock, people started flooding the place. I
don't know what happened, I guess closing a week was a good idea in
the end, it created some kind of a buzz in town....People said they
changed their travel plans to eat at Organico.

Then I met the nicest guy from Florida. He came in with friends, all
vegetarian and they ordered a few items. He looked at some stuff,
asked questions but didn't order anything. He kept looking at stuff,
finishing off the tasting bowl and complementing the food. I offered
another piece of a cake, he was shy but accepted it. I sensed it was
something to do with money, he didn't look like a tramp but I figured
either he is out of cash, (no ATMs in Montezuma and people often come
here without enough cash) or he left his wallet in the hotel or
something...I was right that he was out of cash, but his story was
horrific. He got robbed in Jaco. This popular tourist town, 3 hours
off San Jose. He was with his friends walking to the beach and some
nice looking people offered them to show the way. On the way, they
jumped on the guys with a machete and asked for their wallets. He gave
his wallet and got a bad scar on his back. Now he is here and maybe he
will help me for a while in the kitchen. Tomorrow he is coming in to
cook some Indian treats and I am dying for some Indian food, so this
will be a fun week!

Catching up with my sister!

http://guliz83.blogspot.com/2007/07/nintendo-ds-yoshi-touch-and-go.html

She always wins at these damn video games. I need to get up to speed before she beats me again in a month. Check out yoshi and touch! I also recommend Animal Crossing. Lane Collins favorite!

Vipassana in NZ

I am planning to be in NZ in October and there is a 10 day course starting Sep 26. Afterwards, I will be visiting my friends Lane and Sutter who are in Nelson...Of course all depending on me getting a visa and a plane ticket...more on this soon....

http://www.medini.dhamma.org/grounds.htm