On Saturday, June 26, 60 kids from Turrubares county - plus 25 of their teachers and parents - travelled to Jaco Beach on Costa Rica's Central Pacific Coast for a fun-filled day of activities hosted by the AmaTierra Foundation. As the well-earned prize for high school and elementary school students' unprecedented efforts in the month-long recycling contest, the winning classes took full advantage of their beach time: playing soccer in the sand, throwing frisbees around, playing beach paddle ball, making sand castles,and best of all - learning to surf!

DJ Bryan from Cesar Vargas Productions set the mood for the day with reggae beats and dance music all day long. 15 local Jaco volunteers came out for the event, playing with the kids, helping chaperone and lifeguard, pushing surfboards into the waves for the kids to practice their new sport, serving lunch, and making sure the day went smoothly. This day of fun in the sun would not have been possible without the incredibly generous donations by local Jaco businesses and organizations: delicious lunch of arroz con pollo and bowtie pasta salad provided by Jimmy T of Jimmy T's Provisions; gift bags for all of the kids and dozens of bamboo beach mats donated by Marc Pontbriant from Souvenir Centro; Surf instruction with Gustavo Castillo and the instructors from Jaco Surf School; Christian Surfers for their support with chairs, soccer balls and extra volunteers; neighbor Gary for the juice boxes and use of his electric current for the DJ on the beach; and finally, beautiful beachfront Hotel 9 for the use of their restrooms and showers.

We are so grateful for the turnout for the event, and can't wait to plan another beach day for the community of Turrubares in the future. A big thanks to all who were involved, and here's hoping that this kick-off recycling contest is just the beginning of heightened recycling efforts throughout Turrubares County!

On Wednesday, June 23, AmaTierra hosted the official Turrubares county meeting of Plan PRESOL (Plan de Residuos Solidos, or Solid Waste Management Plan), presented by the Ministry of Education of Puriscal. Tara represented the AmaTierra Foundation and gave a brief presentation to participants about the recycling and enivornmental education projects of the Foundation. The group was all ears, especially after she thanked them for their bare feet, since we were in the yoga studio, after all!

25 local attendees from Turrubares' public and private sectors represented local government, businesses and civil society. Special guests included the Mayor of Turrubares, representatives from Turrubares High School and the new local cooperative COOPETOUR RUBARES. Puriscal's news station was there, too, filming the event and conducting interviews with participants and government officials.

The emphasis of the meeting was on creating a working group to support the municipality in its new legal mandate to implement a county-wide solid waste management program in accordance with Costa Rica's brand new law, GIRS (Gestion de Residuos Solidos, or Solid Waste Management), requiring all municipal governments to be responsible for creating and maintaining a fully functional waste management system. Plan PRESOL helps support the municipality and its local community in holding each county responsible for making this happen. Since the AmaTierra Foundation has worked tirelessly to promote a waste management program, including the initiation of a growing recycling project, we couldn't be happier that Costa Rican legislation is helping to make this goal a closer reality here in Turrubares.

Our next step is to facilitate a presentation to the Municipal Council by the Costa Rican organization Terra Nostra this Friday, June 25. Terra Nostra will present the ways in which municipal governments can implement their own recycling project as part of a larger waste management system to minimize solid waste in landfills and create a self-sustaining and lucrative program to handle recyclable materials. Fingers crossed the Municipal Council will be open to the idea, and the AmaTierra Foundation's long-term dream for a county-wide recycling project will get its wings and fly!

If you would like more information on the AmaTierra Foundation and how you can get involved, please visit our website, www.amatierra.com/amatierrafoundation.

Greener than Green!

We are having a green season like no other here in the central highlands of Costa Rica. Some recent guests from the desert southwest of the U.S. are finding the afternoon rains a welcome change from the heat.
The veggies in our new gardens below the yoga studio are growing like time-lapse photos--arugula, basil, tomatoes, chiles, cucumbers, camote, all perky from the rain. Ah...Costa Rica!!!
--Jill

Girlfriends' Weekend at AmaTierra

This weekend we invited women from all over Costa Rica to join us for a wonderful girls-only event geared toward friendship, fun, yoga and wellness. As the refreshing afternoon rains gave way to a peaceful stillness at dusk, the event kicked off with Jill's heavenly evening yoga class in the studio, followed by a short meditation using Tibetan crystal singing bowls as part of a mini sound therapy session. Then we practiced chakra sounds like the high-pitched nasal sound "neeeee" for our third-eye chakra and the low "ooooo" sound to correspond with our second chakra. This new practice had the whole group giggling, and we had a chance to laugh with one another at the funny sounds we were making: sound healing with our own voices and spiritual healing with smiles and laughter all around, how fun!

Happy hour with wine before dinner was a wonderful time to get to know each other better, connect and share -- Two Oceans wine was a definite crowd pleaser. We all loved Margarita's Thai Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice and fresh Garden Salad, and of course, Pineapple-Mango Cake was just what we needed to satisfy our nighttime sweet tooth. Before bed, Jill led us through a Medicine Card session as we all drew from the deck of cards and listened to what each card revealed about the life questions we held for ourselves -- enlightening indeed.

Morning yoga woke us up with a smile as we welcomed the beautiful day. Breakfast was yet another time for togetherness, and the girlfriends had a chance to schedule individual wellness sessions for herbal consulations, massage, time on the bio-mat and aromatherapy treatments. What a great way to celebrate womanhood and bring together such an inspiring group of women living here in this incredible country.

Thanks to all of you who made this weekend so special, and we hope to see you again soon. If you missed this girlfriends event and would like to be sure to attend the next one, please add us as a friend on facebook or email amatierra@gmail.com to be sure to reserve your spot in advance.

Until next time!

New in AmaTierra's Kitchen - Quinoa

Margarita, AmaTierra's Head Chef is at it again, experimenting with new delicious creations in the kitchen. This time, the ingredient of choice is Quinoa, a vitamin-rich, high-protein, high-fiber grain native of the South American Andean highlands and very popular in Peruvian cooking. A wonderful side addition to any meal or combined with a hearty curry or stew as a meal on its own, our new gourmet Quinoa recipes are both tasty and nutritional, providing 7 grams of protein and 11 grams of dietary fiber per 1/4 cup serving! Given its high protein content, Quinoa is ideal for vegetarian and vegan cooking, and Margarita's new Peruvian stew is 100% vegetarian with zucchini, tomato, carrot, bell pepper, cilantro and celery - seasoned with coriander, cumin, chile powder, cayenne and oregano for a homestyle recipe you'll be dying to try at home. And the best part is, Quinoa is available in most health food stores and now in some grocery stores, so you can enjoy it both here at AmaTierra and back in your home kitchen.

Quinoa is easy to make, just rinse it with cold water, place it in a pot with water (2:1 water to Quinoa ratio), and cook covered on medium-heat for 15 minutes or until the grain is soft. Combine with vegetables, spices and curries as a nutritional alternative to rice, couscous or pasta. Fluff with a fork before serving. Enjoy!

AmaTierra cookbook coming soon...

White-Faced Monkeys Spotted at AmaTierra

Monkeyin' around...



"Hay MONOS!" Yolanda cried over the walkie talkie. We gathered the guests and flew up the stairs to the yoga studio. There they were, 5 or 6 of them, white-faced monkeys indeed. We got to watch them for a long time, and they were watching us right back, feeling threatened and wanting to threaten us at the same time, show us their Costa Rican Machismo. They shook the trees, trying to make branches fall on us. We stood very still, watching them. People around here say they never see monkeys, but this troop has been living at AmaTierra for at least 1 year. They're usually so shy and stealthy that we can only hear them. I've tried to find them on the trails at 5 a.m. but they elude me every time. Today was different, and it felt amazing. I'm so grateful to live in this paradise where monkeys play. Perhaps one day they will know we are friendly, and they will feel at ease. In the meantime, we celebrate their presence and love watching them down by the creek and up at the yoga studio.

Namaste,


Jill