Tico Tuesday, February 2nd

So What is a Churchill?

Churchill's are the famous beachside yummy dessert of Puntarenas. Its contents have some variations, depending on which vendor you buy from. The ones my friend Albeiro and I had were Colombian-Costa Rican. They were superdelicious and had shaved ice, red syrup (which I'm not normally a big fan of), powdered milk, pineapple, banana, guanabana, strawberries, mango and condensed milk drizzled on top. YUM!!! I think some versions also have ice cream in them. But Churchill's are so famous it's like you can't go to Puntarenas a leave without having one. Everyone I was with was shocked that I'd been to Puntarenas multiple times before and had never had a Churchill. Oh well. And now like a good tica, everytime I go, I'll want one! Why is it called a Churchill? Head to the blog to find out!

Love,

Carrie

I hear Churchill and think of the famous Winston Churchill that my Daddy so much admires. Oh yes, and a good friend of mine from high school had the last name of Churchill, but she and I have fallen out of touch. So, after surveying my coworkers and doing some internet research, I have come to no conclusion. Jaja!! Most people seem to think it's some kind of mispronunciation of some other word. In fact, it's hard for me to ask about things like Churchills, because I want to pronounce them like I normally would in English. But like McDonald's (which here is pronounced as MacDOnal) I have to try to pronounce it like a Spanish word, and it always comes out funny. If you don't believe me just try it yourself. It comes out something like Choorsheel.

Another person old me that the vendors started calling gringos Churchills because they got offended when people called them gringos. (though really when people say gringo here they don't mean it in a degrading way. Lots of people call me a gringa very lovingly-and I call myself a gringa all the time, so for me it's a nonissue. I believe there are some other places in Latin America though where gringo is a more offensive/denigrating word.)

I liked what Wikipedia said-some microbiologist decided that the Churchill looked like the way Winston Churchill dressed. How's that for hilarious!!! That might make more sense if you look up other pictures of Churchills. But in a plastic cup, mine never would have passed for anything like that. (Sorry you can't tell very well with the napkin in the way). And with the red syrup.... it makes me wonder what that microbiologist was really working with! I don't think Winston Churchill wore bright red. I bet Miss Peters, my high school history teacher, would know though. She knew the most random trivia about everyone-including the love life of every President of the US. Random!! So, there's everything I know about Churchills. Did I mention that they are really yummy? Oh, and the one I had only cost 1500 colones (between $2-3). Sweet deal-literally!