What You Can See in Costa Rica That You Don’t See in Ohio

Our family just returned from Costa Rica, and we learned mucho.  My high school Spanish was a little rusty, but I managed to get by.  My favorite saying, “Como se dice ____?”  or “How do you say ______?”  proved very useful!

In keeping with the theme of my blog, There were many “freshman – like” experiences for our family.  The slower life style and sunrise at 5:30 and sunset at 5:30 gave us a new perspective. I plan to share some of the lessons in the next few weeks.

Expected

• Mountains
• Surfing
• The Pacific Ocean
• Sodas – small restaurants that also serve as the owner’s home.
• Rain Forests / jungles
• Howler and Spider Monkeys in the trees
• “Cow Farms” as my wife called them.  (The rest of us call them cattle ranches.)
• Signs in Spanish
• Huge, fresh, and delicious pineapples
• Kilometers.
• Road construction.
• Hanging bridges through the rain forests.
• Zip lines through rain forests.

Not expected

• People walking along the road carrying machetes.
• People walking along the road wearing a shoulder strap with a machete and carrying an umbrella.
• Sloth, monkey, and iguana crossing signs.
• Horses, goats, chickens wandering along the road.
• Dogs lying down in potholes in the middle of the road.
• More potholes than at home.
• Traffic jams caused by cows walking down the road.
• Road construction without orange barrels.  Instead, they used what looked like coffee cans with a metal rod or stick with a ribbon cemented in the center.
• Cow paths to a house on the side of a mountain that overlooks a lake and a semi-active volcano.
• “Mini Mega Super” store, which was as big as a convenience store.
• “Aztec Ruins” which were really the cement framing of a new home.
• Shacks with dirt floors yet bars on the windows.
• Security guards who use a plastic link chain to stop cars from entering parking lots.
• No street names, signs or addresses…having the police lead us to the condo.
• Riding 4-wheelers on the beach.
• Catching Mahi-Mahi and Tuna, filleting it on the boat, and having a restaurant cook it that night.
• Meeting some very friendly and happy people.
• Pura Vida!