Savor the World & Learn

1 - Try the world. Hop cultures from meal to meal. Sample before you decide to invest in a full size carton of miso, or bottle of hoisin sauce. Cook with exotic ingredients like sweet potato vermicelli, kumquats or pattypan squash for the first time.

2 - Less anxiety in trying to figure out what to make. We set our preferences, for the dish types (vegetarian, pescatarian, chicken, beef etc.) and the majority of the time it's something we want to eat. I would love it if eventually they could include more specific dietary requirements like dairy free, gluten free etc.

3 - Cooking class at home Learn a new cooking technique in every meal. The visual recipe cards give it a "demo" feel.

4 - Feel accomplished. There's something about the combination of trying new techniques and unique ingredients and doing it on your own from scratch that add up to a sense of accomplishment. I love feeling like I'm learning and exploring right in my kitchen.

Have you tried Blue Apron, or a service like it?...what has your experience been like?

• • • LESSONS LEARNED • • •

Let someone else take the driver's seat
so you can enjoy the ride.

Sofia at El Mercado Central in San José, Costa Rica. — Sofia at El Mercado Central in San José, Costa Rica.

We are continuing our adventures in Costa Rica with Sofia Protti founder and designer at cueropapel&tijera who is taking us on a tour of her regular lunch spot in San José. This place happens to be El Mercado Central where you can find little sodas (eateries) and all kinds of colorful wares. A place you can really soak in some atmosphere, let's go?!!

• • •

I went to El Mercado yesterday! It was nice to visit this time having in mind what things would be interesting to see and to know for other people. I enjoy food so much that El Mercado is like a party to me. Herbs, seafood, vegetables, lots of fruits, the smell of plantain leaves that are so usual at this time of the year to cook "tamales" our traditional Christmas meal... uh! It is wonderful!

I never get bored here, as there is always something new! A different kind of "chili" or a new fruit, or simply a little spot that has been there for years, that you haven't noticed before. As usual, what I did yesterday was to have Fresco de frutas, a frozen fruit juice made of chopped fruits (banana and papaya mostly) and syrup. This is so classic, and delicious. So after the walk you have to do to get to El Mercado, where you need to start your journey is Fresco de Frutas.

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• • •

After that, I wander around the market to see the handicrafts. You can find the traditonal market bags made out of "cabuya" (a natural fiber produced here), small leather bags, post cards, baskets, and "hamacas." The coffee shops are all over too.

My favorite picks are the "cabuya" bags because of their colors, the thread, and their long lasting quality. Every housewife in Costa Rica should have one, as all our grandmas did. It is so meaningful to me. Not only for the colors and shape, but for the memories I have going to the market with my grandma. Her bag was aged and had so much personality that I found it unique and special and also because of all the good stuff we put in it.

Leather handicrafts are also my favorites. I get so much inspiration here as I am always trying to reinterpret the traditional styles into my own modern version of it.

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• • •

Then I finally go back to Soda San Martin. The place where I get my fresco de frutas and my soup. This place was stablished in 1953, and it is well known for the typical local food. Their specialty is the Olla de Carne, a meat soup with a lot of vegetables, but today I was craving the Seafood soup!

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Tell us a bit about your country and your work...

What I love the most about my home place is our style. We are easy going, friendly, full of opportunities, education, and progressing forward is a chance that everyone has.

One thing I would like to see improved is our ambition (in a good sense). Costa Rica is such a good place to live that we easily get into a "comfort zone" that makes us lose our competitiveness. We lack ambition and a sense of empowerment, which I admire in other countries. I studied Industrial Design at the University, but leather has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. My grandpa who was a leather craftsman supported our family by creating leather bookbinding and other crafts. I loved being at his workshop playing or "working" with little pieces of leather during my free time. I decided to switch from my design career to my grandpa's passion.

When he got sick, I realized that the only thing I could do to keep him "alive" was to do what he loved.

I did not start the business thinking it was going to be my grandpa´s business forever, and by the time I felt strong and clear about what I wanted to do, I decided to take the best of his work and make my own version of it. So that´s how I founded CueroPapel&Tijera* in 2008. (*leather paper & scissors)

Costa Rica's essence is easy to infuse into my products. For inspiration, I visit local spots for coffee, talk to people, and I take lots of pictures of every flower I find, the sky, greens in the views, rain, and everything that resembles our country. So I AM Costa Rica and translating this feeling to my designs is something I do through texture, color, and simplicity. A very Costa Rican saying, Pura Vida, means an agreement of life to me! We say "Pura Vida" intead of saying "hi" or "ok." "Pura Vida," is our phrase for everything. We even say it in place of "thanks!"

So, this is exactly who we are: "Pure Life."

(Follow Sofia on Instagram (@sofiaprotti) to see more of this pure and colorful Costa Rican life.)

What is one thing you recommend to do in Costa Rica to experience this Pura Vida?

My recommendation would be to see a sunset with a cup of coffee. Trust me our coffee is the best. The air is so perfect and the light is gold. Birds sing and you can have tamales with coffee, which is pretty close to glory I guess.

SOFIA'S FAVORITES FOR SAN JOSE:

Lunch spot:
Soda San Martin in El Mercado Central

Coffee:
Sofia's daily favorite coffee "1820." The name refers to the year Costa Rica started exporting coffee beans. Coffee production used to be the country's main economic activity (it is now tourism), and still remains the biggest export.

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Sharing always goes both ways, giving and taking. Thank you Alla and Mu-Hsien for taking the time and showing interest in my small unique homeland, Costa Rica. I hope others can also join this giving and taking experience, from which I have already learned so much.

Always welcome to Pura Vida land!
- - -
Sofia
OTSP Neighbor Profile : Cuero Papel & Tijera

Thank you global neighbor Sofia for taking us to lunch and sharing your Pura Vida way of thinking and working... I think we are definitely inspired to pay closer attention to nature's kaleidoscope and be open to the inspiration it sends our way! (Photos: via Sofia) ~ Sofia helps us infuse our life with vibrant colors and simple and pure Costa Rican sensibility through her modern yet rich in history artisan leather bags and accessories.