Tamales

A Christmas tradition here in Costa Rica is making tamales. Tamales are made of masa (like a cornmeal) with vegetables, different types of meat--usually pork--and different seasonings. The mixture is then placed into banana tree leaves that have been cut and cleaned. They are folded into a small rectangular shape and tied off with a thin rope. They then need to be boiled or steamed before eating. Every person makes them a little bit different using their own "family recipe." Many families get together and spend hours upon hours making them and many give them as gifts, share them as a Christmas meal and sell them on the streets everywhere. The talk of the town here at Christmas time is the making of tamales--it really is a such a beautiful family tradition for the locals here. We were blessed today by friends who attend our church. Jose and Rosa invited us over to pick up some tamales that they had made this week. They have been talking about them for a month and we look forward to eating them tomorrow. We love being here and experiencing the local traditions of a completely different culture than our own. We have chosen to really embrace this culture as our own and participate in it with our local tico families when at all possible. We have also shared our traditions with the locals so that they get a taste of a different culture as well. We made cinnamon swirl bread for all of our friends and "family" here and distributed it today...what a blessing it was to "share traditions" with each other. God is so good. We are so very blessed!!! We pray that all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year! We are so very thankful for each of you!!!

Here is a picture of me with Rosa and her tamales.