One thing that’s very different about Costa Rica is that individual dwelling units ….. you know, things like houses and condos, don’t have mailing addresses. Many streets don’t have names, and most buildings don’t have numbers. Instead, an address might consist of a lengthy description including landmarks, left turns, right turns, distances, and other methods of designating location.
So, how does mail get delivered, you ask? Well, mostly, it doesn’t. Mail might get to a designated local store or business where people in the community can occasionally pick it up. Or, it might even get distributed by a guy on a motorcycle once in a while. But, basically, it’s very hit and miss. Mostly miss.
This situation makes email an unusually attractive alternative. It’s targeted. It’s quick. And, there are no stamps to buy. The down side is that people just won’t stop sending you their crap. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was an email filter that would block all those emails pushing the senders political agenda and views. And, how about those “chain letter” type emails that promise you good luck and great fortune if only you will forward it to ten or twelve of your friends or, worse yet, everyone in your entire address book. And, then there’s always the threat that if you don’t forward the email as requested, you can expect 7 years of horrible luck and much tragedy in your future. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if there were a way to stop all the nonsense?!? Well, Costa Rica’s history might provide some insights and ideas.
As most people know, Costa Rica was inhabited for many, many years by a large variety of Indian tribes. And, some of their ancient practices might deserve serious consideration in this day and age. For example, communication by smoke signals instead of email, could be a major deterrent to the click forward and send habits of today’s computer aficionados.
Just imagine how difficult it would be to forward chain letters and political views by smoke signals. It might eliminate the practice entirely. Life could get way more tranquil without all the electronically transmitted refuse. But there’s a huge downside to this plan. How on earth would we be able to BLOG.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
A Word About Passion
As I’ve jotted down my thoughts over the years, I’ve found the fonts flow faster and smoother when the subject is something that inspires passion. Like my stepson….Geri’s son, Billy. His passion for life is so intense it is contagious. He packs at least 36 hours into every 24 hour day. And he squeezes more out of a year than most people do in a decade.
OK, so yeah, I work with stained glass, but these particular pieces were an inch or more in thickness…nothing like any glass I’d ever seen. So, it was about 2 years after he left the 4 pieces with me that Billy’s passion finally leaked over into my psychic space. And, voila…the work practically constructed itself.
The “void” in the center represents the church which is no longer there. The “lines’ emanating from the center represent the explosive force of the storm, and the 4 pieces of stained glass are, well, authentic pieces of the church that was blown apart. So, this is the most definitive case I’ve seen which proves that passion begets passion.
I have no idea how a guy as busy as Billy (photo below) can even begin to find the time to take leave from his high powered job, depart the country and spend a few weeks building crude houses and digging wells in places like Jamaica and Tanzania where people are living in abject poverty but that’s what he does. Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings are routinely spent cooking for the homeless and providing food for those who don’t have the means to provide it for themselves. I guess it has something to do with that “passion” thing. Maybe that’s why he’s my hero of heros. I love you, man.
William Hans Senn
Billy doesn’t do everything. But, everything he does, he does passionately. Whether he is scouring the factories of mainland China for new products to market in the USA, searching for sea hearts along the edge of an ocean, or riding one of his beloved BMW motorcycles cross-country, he’s in high gear, blazing new trails and sharing his zest for life with anyone who happens to come within earshot.
One of Billy’s many passions dating back to his childhood is his love of his church and school back in Lake Worth, Florida. Regrettably, Hurricane Wilma leveled that edifice leaving nothing but crumbs of wood, stone and stained glass back in 2005. With nothing but memories and 4 pieces of shattered stained glass Billy came up with the idea of getting me to craft something incorporating these relics which would serve as a physical icon of his passion for the now gone church and school.
OK, so yeah, I work with stained glass, but these particular pieces were an inch or more in thickness…nothing like any glass I’d ever seen. So, it was about 2 years after he left the 4 pieces with me that Billy’s passion finally leaked over into my psychic space. And, voila…the work practically constructed itself.
The “void” in the center represents the church which is no longer there. The “lines’ emanating from the center represent the explosive force of the storm, and the 4 pieces of stained glass are, well, authentic pieces of the church that was blown apart. So, this is the most definitive case I’ve seen which proves that passion begets passion.
I have no idea how a guy as busy as Billy (photo below) can even begin to find the time to take leave from his high powered job, depart the country and spend a few weeks building crude houses and digging wells in places like Jamaica and Tanzania where people are living in abject poverty but that’s what he does. Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings are routinely spent cooking for the homeless and providing food for those who don’t have the means to provide it for themselves. I guess it has something to do with that “passion” thing. Maybe that’s why he’s my hero of heros. I love you, man.
William Hans SennWednesday, March 10, 2010
Driving in Costa Rica
Driving a car in Costa Rica is an experience that will definitely accelerate the aging process. First, there is the interesting dichotomy: Ticos (Costa Ricans) never seem to be in a hurry with regards to anything. They operate on what we Gringos refer to as “Tico time”….meaning S L O W. Well, that is, until you put one of them behind the wheel of an automobile. In this situation, they only know one speed…..FAST. They drive as though they only have 5 minutes remaining to drive 50 miles in order to pick up that million dollar check for winning the lottery and if they are late, they don’t get the check.
Now, in order to go this fast, it means they have to spend almost as much time in the left lane as they do in the right lane. We’re talking narrow two lane roads here. If there is a vehicle of any description in front of a Tico, it MUST be passed. And, it does not matter if it happens to be on a blind curve, hill, or any other vision hindering situation. They get in the left lane and pass whether there is, or may be, an oncoming vehicle or not. To avert a head on collision, the Tico in the wrong lane simply comes back into the right lane a mere second or two before colliding with the oncoming car and any vehicle in its way has to make room or get run off the road. On occasion, the two lane road is forced into the unsuitably temporary form of a three lane road, with the oncoming car partly off the road, the passing car centered on the double yellow line, and the car being passed half way off the right lane portion of the road. It’s a whole lot like driving the little dodge ‘em cars at the county fair.
But, of course, I forgot to mention that in addition to the hazards of Ticos passing everything in site, there are the obstacles which make the whole experience even more harrowing. These obstacles would be Ticos standing in the road at the very frequent bus stops. For some reason, it must be thrilling for them to flirt with death by standing actually in, not beside, the road. And, the same goes for the many, many bicycle riders. These two types of obstacles require the driver on the side of the road where people are defying death to swerve over the double yellow line (all roads have double yellow lines from beginning to end….it’s the mountains after all and the roads are very curvy) while any oncoming vehicle has to swerve a little bit off the road to avoid a head on collision with the driver who is attempting to avoid an involuntary manslaughter suit.
As if all that is not enough, there are the potholes, well, craters actually, that are so plentiful that it is nearly impossible to get anywhere without hitting as least a few hundred of them which at high speed can cause irreparable harm to one’s tires (also know as a blowout followed by a flat tire).
Many cars and ALL large trucks and buses routinely take their half of the road out of the middle. This way they don’t have to swerve to dodge bicyclists and pedestrians for the most part. It simply requires drivers of all other vehicles to be ready at the brakes and quick with the steering wheel to avoid a nasty, nasty meeting with the guy in the middle. This is especially true on all blind curves and hills which make up 90% of all roads and byways in Costa Rica.
So, from what I can tell so far, it is best to have a vehicle with 4 wheel drive for the roads that are gravel and those that are muddy in the rainy season. And, it would be best if the vehicle is already pretty beat up with lots of dents and scratches because the “gravel” roads are actually rocks the size of one’s fist and they do bad things to nice cars. And, finally, it would be best for your beat up, old car to have rocket thrusters which can make your vehicle instantly airborne at the press of a button and thus avoiding all those vehicles coming at you at a high rate of speed and in YOUR lane. As Dennis Miller says, “That’s just my opinion……I could be wrong.”
Now, in order to go this fast, it means they have to spend almost as much time in the left lane as they do in the right lane. We’re talking narrow two lane roads here. If there is a vehicle of any description in front of a Tico, it MUST be passed. And, it does not matter if it happens to be on a blind curve, hill, or any other vision hindering situation. They get in the left lane and pass whether there is, or may be, an oncoming vehicle or not. To avert a head on collision, the Tico in the wrong lane simply comes back into the right lane a mere second or two before colliding with the oncoming car and any vehicle in its way has to make room or get run off the road. On occasion, the two lane road is forced into the unsuitably temporary form of a three lane road, with the oncoming car partly off the road, the passing car centered on the double yellow line, and the car being passed half way off the right lane portion of the road. It’s a whole lot like driving the little dodge ‘em cars at the county fair.
But, of course, I forgot to mention that in addition to the hazards of Ticos passing everything in site, there are the obstacles which make the whole experience even more harrowing. These obstacles would be Ticos standing in the road at the very frequent bus stops. For some reason, it must be thrilling for them to flirt with death by standing actually in, not beside, the road. And, the same goes for the many, many bicycle riders. These two types of obstacles require the driver on the side of the road where people are defying death to swerve over the double yellow line (all roads have double yellow lines from beginning to end….it’s the mountains after all and the roads are very curvy) while any oncoming vehicle has to swerve a little bit off the road to avoid a head on collision with the driver who is attempting to avoid an involuntary manslaughter suit.
As if all that is not enough, there are the potholes, well, craters actually, that are so plentiful that it is nearly impossible to get anywhere without hitting as least a few hundred of them which at high speed can cause irreparable harm to one’s tires (also know as a blowout followed by a flat tire).
Many cars and ALL large trucks and buses routinely take their half of the road out of the middle. This way they don’t have to swerve to dodge bicyclists and pedestrians for the most part. It simply requires drivers of all other vehicles to be ready at the brakes and quick with the steering wheel to avoid a nasty, nasty meeting with the guy in the middle. This is especially true on all blind curves and hills which make up 90% of all roads and byways in Costa Rica.
So, from what I can tell so far, it is best to have a vehicle with 4 wheel drive for the roads that are gravel and those that are muddy in the rainy season. And, it would be best if the vehicle is already pretty beat up with lots of dents and scratches because the “gravel” roads are actually rocks the size of one’s fist and they do bad things to nice cars. And, finally, it would be best for your beat up, old car to have rocket thrusters which can make your vehicle instantly airborne at the press of a button and thus avoiding all those vehicles coming at you at a high rate of speed and in YOUR lane. As Dennis Miller says, “That’s just my opinion……I could be wrong.”
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