In the previous blog entry, I introduced Gary and Lisa who recently chose to spend three months in Costa Rica. This blog entry is Part Two of their interview about their experiences. If you missed Part One, you might enjoy going back and reading that entry first to give context to Gary and Lisa’s comments in Part Two.
Question #4: What surprised you the most during your time in Costa Rica?
Lisa and Gary: The Pura Vida lifestyle. We have traveled a lot, and there are slogans you find everywhere you go, but most of the people who live in Costa Rica really do follow the Pura Vida lifestyle- and we loved it! We loved it so much, that we have told friends and family that our home in the states is a Pura Vida zone, lol!
(“Pura Vida” is a term used in Costa Rica to mean “pure life” or “simple life.” It’s really a lifestyle. It conveys a feeling, and a life perspective. It expresses how Costa Ricans cherish life’s simplest pleasures and find joy in the little things. It is one of the reasons Costa Rica is known as one of the happiest countries in the world. You can use “Pura Vida” to say “Hello,” “Goodbye,” or “All is well.”)
Question #5: Did you find that you had arrived with unrealistic expectations?
Gary and Lisa: We’re not sure if it was an unrealistic expectation, but, in the States, you get used to getting from point A to point B fairly quickly. From time to time, you run into rush hour traffic, or an incident you didn’t foresee happening, but for the most part you know pretty much when you’re going to arrive. In Costa Rica, you just never know for sure how long it’s going to take to get to your destination. We would ask locals how long it takes to get to a place, and they would give a couple different answers. One might be very general comment like, “A few hours.” Or sometimes you would get, “Well… I have made it in one hour before, and then one time it took me 4 hours.” On a couple of our bus trips, we arrived to our destination so late that we ended up staying an additional day in a location. So, expecting to make plans down to the hour or half hour was probably not realistic.
Question #6: Can you share about several interactions with Costa Ricans that were especially enjoyable, inspirational, or enlightening to you?
There were so many inspirational and enjoyable interactions with Costa Ricans that it’s difficult to narrow down which ones to talk about.
We developed a friendship with Eurel, our gate guard. Eurel doesn’t speak any English, but that somehow made it more special to get to know him. He tugged at our hearts, and he will be a life-long friend.
Eurel told us we should visit the restaurant where his wife works = Casa de Carmen. While visiting the restaurant, we quickly became friends with Eduardo, Carmen’s husband. Eduardo spoke a little English and was happy to tell us how “Ticos” got their name, how Ticos pronounce rr, and various other interesting things. He even loaded us into his truck and took us on a wonderful tour of the neighboring beach town of Herradura!
Then there was Roberto. Roberto owns a delightful little soda (small typical restaurant) at his home, back in the jungle, down the road from one of the tours we had been on with our daughter. Several people told us that we really needed to try his soda. The atmosphere was lovely, very rustic with many interesting cultural and historical objects decorating the walls. The food was prepared fresh from scratch and cooked over an open fire. It was very tasty. Roberto was so welcoming. We thought he looked familiar to us, and he also mentioned that we looked familiar to him. None of us could place when or where we might’ve previously met. The next day, we saw him at the bank and he said, “See! We’re family!!!”
There is also Alan. Alan was our driver to Manuel Antonio National Park while our daughter was with us. We got to know Alan on that trip and asked him if he could drive our daughter (who visited us for two weeks) to the airport. He did, and all three of us enjoyed our trip, all feeling very connected to Alan. When it was time for the two of us to leave Jaco at the end of our visit, he once again drove us to the airport, and it was very hard to say goodbye. Alan has also become a life-long friend.
Thank you, Gary and Lisa, for sharing more of your experiences.
Readers, Stay tuned for Part Three where Lisa and Gary will share about the places and experiences they visited besides Jaco, tours they recommend, disappointments they experienced, and some insights into daily life in Jaco.
Until next time . . . . .
This is Paul, a Part-Time Expat turned Full-Time
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