Safety first. . .

There has been a big push of late here in Costa Rica for safe, sanitary and clean food preparation.

The government closed down a large resort over on the Nicoya Penisula in Tambor after 100-plus people came down with jungle tummy after eating in the restaurant. The inspectors have closed down several McDonald's, Taco Bells and other places down in San Jose as well.

Wanting to keep on top of things, Patricia, Darling and Seidy figured it would be a good idea to go to a class and get certified, so if an inspector came to Tree Houses, the certificates (which are required by food workers) would be here at the hotel.

They found a class in Ciudad Quesada (about 25 minutes away) and off they went. It turned out to be 7 hours of a woman reading from a binder. No breaks for coffee, refreshments, etc., just 7 hours of droning.

All three did learn a lot, though, as I found out the next day when I went into the kitchen of the rancho to get some guests some more of Lucy's banana muffins. You would have thought I had ran over a puppy when I put the muffins on the same plate (at times like those, I wish I didn't understand so much Spanish!).

Everyone passed their test and are happy they went to learn some new things.

However, when I asked what color hair nets they all wanted, I was given the triple look of death.