Rice & Beans

We headed into Heredia after Tai Chi class this morning to buy a few bits that we needed, and to get something eat. We were planning to go Vishnu/Mango Verde, a vegetarian place we really like, but passed a soda on the way that took our fancy.

A soda is a small diner that serves traditional Costa Rican food (comida típica). They vary in size, starting from a kiosk with a few bar stools at the counter, through a small room in the front of house with a couple of tables up to something like the larger one we were in today – which probably had about 10 tables (as well as several bar stools).

We had the most typical of soda meals, a casado. From Wikipedia, whose writer phrased it more clearly than we could: “A Casado is a typical Costa Rican meal consisting of rice, beans, fried plantain bananas, salad, a tortilla, and an entree of choice that may include chicken, beef, pork, and others.”

Today ours had rice, beans, plantain, a couple of slices beetroot & tomato (salad!), chips and fish. Along with a natural each, the total cost for the two of us was 3800 colones (just under £5 at todays miserable exchange rate of 771.5 CRC to a GBP).

Zoë’s Spanish Phrase of the Day:
Acabo de ver un hombre que iba por la calle en uniciclo.

Suggested usage: When you are enjoying a quiet casado and out of the corner of your eye you see a man on a unicycle amongst all the traffic on the road. Of course, your husband doesn’t believe you. But I did see a man on unicycle going down the street. Honest.

Please note that I am not sure of the grammar for this phrase, so if I am wrong, please correct me!