The following morning when Graciela arrived, David asked her (through Stephanie’s translation) if she could teach him how to make the white cheese she sold them. She seemed puzzled, but also pleased, and she agreed. So the next morning she showed up at their cottage with 2 gallons of fresh milk, buckets, cheesecloth and a wooden press, and for the next four hours, they made cheese.

 

David was in Costa Rica for the ninth time that July and this was Tanya’s first time there. David had just come out of the jungle in the eastern mountain region where he had spent a week working with the indigenous Cabecar people through his church in Texas. Tanya joined him on the other side of Costa Rica for a little R&R after his mission work. David spoke very limited Spanish, so all his conversations with Graciela were through Stephanie or John.

 

They talked about Graciela living with her husband and teenaged daughters on their farm farther down the rough road. John told them, that in reality, her humble house could not be driven to in anything but a 4-wheel drive vehicle. In fact, getting out to sell her produce is usually quite a chore. She travels into Cobano sometimes, but usually sells to rural folks. They talked about their families – Tanya and David have a son, a daughter, two grandsons and a granddaughter. Graciela told about her twin sixteen-year-old daughters, but one was having to live with Graciela’s mother in Nicaragua because she was handicapped and life is hard on the farm.

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