Sticker Fever
I had four items. Had I been back in the U.S., I would have gone to the express line, or the self check-out. There is no such thing in my small town.
Tag: Tico
Gringo con Nombre Secreto
I’m a gringo. I don’t take any offense at wearing this descriptor but there are a lot of complicated, cultural issues surrounding the declaration of your nationality here in Costa Rica.
It Never Hurts to Look, Until It Does
The hands immediately withdrew from my mouth and the sucking straw was banished to the basin. His face still just inches from mine, he leaned in even further and asked, “Are you looking to buy land?”
Costa Rican Gas Can
It occurred to me as I digested his answer that in the three-plus months I’d been in Costa Rica I’d yet to see an actual gas can. There were, however, a lot of guys holding weed eaters over one shoulder and a plastic jug in their free hand. The jugs, which looked like something that originally held an industrial amount of vegetable oil, often had a scrap of plastic secured by a rubber band as a lid.
Se Vende — the Costa Rican Used Car
Costa Ricans, or Ticos as they like to be called, are the first to volunteer the fact that their otherwise refreshing approach to life is not compatible with automobiles. “We drive like lunatics,” is a comment I’ve heard from more than one Tico. When the topic is the purchase of a used car in Costa Rica the narrative is, “Don’t believe what anyone tells you…”