City v. Country

(Day 3 Friday) before leaving for Caribbean

70-ish “bug” (mosquito? Sand fleas?) bites later, miscellaneous cuts and bruises (from jagged coral, heavy backpacks, 18 mile bike rides and who knows what else), I finally escaped the city and tourism. It wasn’t without it’s haggles. But I digress, you will witness the transgression (right word?) in due time. There are gaps in between bustling city life and rural calm. In those few days I learned things about myself, Costa Rica and humanity in general.

Hostels, oh hostels. This is where I left off last. Don’t get me wrong, they serve their purpose. Quite well actually. I mean, a bed to sleep in for $12 is great. Even if you have to sleep in a room with 6 other people. There are drawbacks of course, like not realizing I’m probably the latest night owl ever. Upon return to a room that is quiet and dark and having to fumble through my shit in the dark I realize I should have had things ready before going out. Second note, I highly suggest hostels take my tip and ask people on arrival if they snore. They should put ALL the people that snore into one room. How unfair. It’s like giving priority for days off on holidays to people with children. I don’t know where I drew that parallel but shit, I don’t get to sleep because you snore too loud? Wtf? I was really tempted to pinch their nose, or shake their feet but was too lazy to get out of bed. Lesson #1 I am smart. Ha ha. There are about 5 or 6 things I brought with me on this trip that I am SO happy (pat myself on back) that I brought. Earplugs. Sleep mask. My pillow. A small blanket. And my water shoes. Humph. So instead of harassing fellow hostelers in their sleep, I put on my earplugs.

The next thing about hostels that didn’t really entice me is the party party atmosphere. You know I am a city girl and love a good party. Shit, I am known to be the first one to arrive and the last one to go home. BUT I did not come to Central America to party till the break of dawn with a bunch of college aged kids doing beer bongs and yes, it’s good to meet people from around the world but also not something I came to Costa Rica for. Additionally, everyone (even staff) speaks English, there is internet access galore, Americanized meals at the hostel restaurant, basically, staying at a hostel is nothing short of spring break in Cancun. A falsely created sense of paradise with the securities of home. Again, there is NOTHING wrong with that if that is what you are after. Everything has it’s place in this world (something I’m coming to terms with) but it is just not for me. At least not on this trip.

Our last night in San Jose was a preface to the division of people I began to meet in Costa Rica. It seems as if there are a distinct two types of people. The fearful, frightened, paranoid foreigners who will tell you to their dying breath that you can’t EVER trust a Tico and if you let them, would convince you to go and purchase a gun and have it under your bed at all times. On the flipside, there is a different kind of person that exists. In my humble opinion, the other side is a type of person who definitely has their eyes open, not naïve to the possibility of crime and bad people, but also is a person that recognizes the kindness, generosity and helpful nature of the majority of Costa Ricans. You have to understand, while it is paradise, it is also a very poor country, economically speaking. Some people only earn $200 a month, if that. And some of those people that earn meager pennies, are the nicest people in the world and would give you their last morsel of food if you were stranded and knocked on their door. On the other hand, which in my experience this happens all over the world, there are those who resort to stealing from other people to get by in this life. Luckily, I have been schooled in how to keep all my belongings in my possession and being a city girl my level of awareness is already many levels above say, someone from Nebraska who doesn’t think to lock their doors at night let alone be aware of the characters surrounding them on the street at any given moment. Anyway…so Dave and I literally walked like 6 miles Sunday. We visited the old cemetery. Then just kind of meandered about the city here and there. It’s interesting because apparently our hostel was in the red light district and yes, I saw hookers both female and transvestite, but really didn’t think much of it. Every time we left the hostel the guy working the door tried to tell us we needed to take a cab because of the neighborhood. I found not a single person bothered us. I’m convinced it’s a combination of street smarts and good energy. Not to say that people with good energy don’t get fucked with. Thus far I’ve met about five people who have been pick pocketed, stolen from or had some incident go down where they had something of value taken from them. As well as residents of Costa Rica that say they carry two wallets on them, a dummy wallet in case of thievery and their real wallet. But surrounding all of these incidents is something that could have been done to prevent. Every story of something being stolen from a room or from the person is either drunken carelessness in a bar late night, not paying attention to their pocket on a crowded bus while standing up to hold on, living in a building that is entirely foreign inhabitants (thus targeted as having money) so on and so forth. Just a few street smarts can go a long way.

So after our romp around the city, we are craving a Guiness and I noticed the expat bar next to our hostel has Guiness. Naturally we go there. Turns out, the man that owns the place is from Rockford, a city right outside of Chicago. We meet a couple, the man from New Hampshire and the woman from Scotland. They seem nice enough, but in my perception (perception being another big topic in the grand scheme of things on this trip…more on that later) a bit jaded and slightly askewed on their view of the world, or of Costa Rica. Apparently have traveled around the world, scouting out the cheapest places to live. They’ve found Thailand to be the cheapest but ventured to Costa Rica. Upon arrival they only had been two places when we met them. Quepos and San Jose. Both very touristy. They were complaining that it was too expensive and while Dave tried to convince them of his world views and engage in discussion, the woman was having no part of it, insisting that

(I'm running behind in my posts. SO much to say. These past four days have been a rollercoaster. I'm going to catch up tonight but had to post at least this much. Sorry there's no pics and it just kinda runs out at the end. I'll finish up after a few Guinesses ;)