One couple we met at movie night was Peter and Melissa from
Ontario, Canada. Peter is originally from Kenya and worked in Canada running a
drug and alcohol rehab program. They offered to take us to the farmers market or
feria and a tour of Puriscal today. In addition to the feria we
saw the Post Office la oficina de correos and a Pharmacy la farmacia,
both of which should come in handy during our stay.
Knowing where to find things and how to get around town is a
necessity. Puriscal is a town of only 8,ooo people but it is loaded with
driving traps—not speed traps—one-way streets, illegible road signs, and a
total lack of visible street names. That can make even an experienced big-city
U.S. driver quiver with apprehension.
Some of the signs make no sense even for Spanish speakers. No
Hay Paso means do not enter or one way and the sign is
usually seen fifty meters after you have already entered the
intersection! I have made some nice three-point U-turns when I’ve found myself
going the wrong way on a one-way street—and heard the shouts and jeers from pedestrians
on the side of the street. (Mostly I think they are just laughing at the gringo
driver going the wrong way.)
Which brings up another interesting tidbit—there are no
sidewalks in the entire country! Instead there are large cement drainage
culverts and drivers park their cars over them—straddling the ditch—and people walk between the
narrow space between road and ditch. Whether
on country roads or in the towns and cities it can make for a nail biting ride for
my passengers.
In the evening we drove to Santa Marta for dinner at Centro Touristico. What a great place—bar,
restaurant, and community pool, and a few guest rooms for visitors and
travelers. The food was good, but the margaritas made with Blue Curacao were
outstanding. As we sat in the open-air terrace,
we met two expats, Porter and his wife Jennie, from Cheyenne Wyoming. They are
friends of Peter’s and guessed that we might also know him.
Meeting people here is going to be easy. The expat community
is close and friendly. But understanding the Ticos will be a challenge.
