Vancouver seems to be a favoured destination for Ticos
traveling to Canada. I have had several people ask me
about Canada, the landscape, people, racism, financial
stuff, food, policing, social activities, sports,
cultures, etc. Any and all postcards from home would
be appreciated to show them a little of the beauty of
Canada. I know if one couple who are planning a trip
with the intention of later immigration if they like
it. My address again (for those of you who misplaced
it) is:
Del ICE en Sabana Norte 125 metros Norte Condominio Menorca, #11 San Jose, Costa Rica I am constantly amazed by the drivers here. They are the masters of stop and go. I don't mean driving in general, I mean at the stoplights. If the car in front moves up even 5 cm, the one behind will do the same then stop. Sometimes they will try to move up even if the car in front hasn't moved and the light is still red. Strange how they are very laid back people, but put them behind the wheel of a car and they become incredibly impatient. I can only imagine what would happen if we put them on skates with a stick and no traffic lights. Yikes. I have previously mentioned the bus system here and would like to revisit them. I have become comfortable taking the bus downtown, although I still have no idea what the schedule is, if there is one. I have discovered that the bus I take actually has 2 routes, both with the same name, Sabana Estadio (which I think meant Sabana Stadium, the national stadium is in the park). Fortunately the routes are basically the same, with only a couple streets different. The buses on either route vary greatly, some are the old Blue Bird, fibreglass seat, others are the Masa, plush seat, variety. No, I haven't figures out how to predict when which one comes, see my reference to the schedules above. There are a couple things to note about the busses here. When you pay the driver, I meant you pay the driver. No clear glass box for the driver to monitor the amount you enter, oh no. You hand your change directly to the driver, who will then give you change if you need it, I know, boggles the mind. Each bus has a big foam block beside the driver that has small slits and 'bowls' cut into it for storing the coins. Some of the foam blocks have nice palm tree decorations on them too. You must be careful not to stand between the poles at the door as the have some sort of infrared counter (at least that's what it looks like) or you will get yelled at to 'pase'. Yes, personal experience, I didn't know about the poles. Some of the busses have pull cords for signally when you want to get off, some of those ring, others flash a light, if it doesn't have one be prepared to be standing at the door so the driver knows you want off as they tends to whiz by the bus stops at amazing speeds. Sometimes they don't really stop; I've seen people jump on or off slow moving busses many times. Definitely not in the safety code for BC Transit. The bus to the airport was relatively easy to find and take. It only takes about 20 minutes to get there so I am usually early for the flights of people who have come to visit. That particular bus is very comfortable with plush seats and a smooth (relatively) ride. One evening I made my way to Lynnethe's place for a night out on the town. Naturally I took a taxi, as it was dark and quite a long distance to her place. Imagine my surprise when the taxi I got into was complete with portable B&W TV. Despite your first thought, this was not set up for the passengers. As we drove along the driver seemed quite engrossed in the show and occasionally adjusted the antenna to get better reception. Much more exciting than watching a bus driver read a newspaper and drive at the same time. I turns out he was watching the most popular nighttime soap opera. It's called El Clon, yes, The Clone. I will attempt to boil down the plot as related to me. The show is Brazilian produced and shot in Brazil and Morocco. There were Brazilian twins in their 20's who had a genetic scientist/doctor for a godfather. One of the twins was particularly close to him. This twin died abruptly (I'm not sure how) on a trip to Morocco to visit friends, he had a girlfriend there whom was not allowed to see him, as she was to marry another. The godfather was distraught and in the course of his practice one of his patients wanted a child by artificial insemination, yes, add 2 + 2 now. The child, mother and godfather became very close. I don't know all the details but let's just say the boy is now in his 20's and many people have noticed the resemblance to the long dead twin, except the living twin has not met him yet. The boy has traveled to Morocco to "find his father", ha ha. The old girlfriend and her friends and family are shocked, and talking of some kind of omen or messiah. The last I heard the boy was traveling back to Brazil with a family friend to see his mother. Now, is that a soap opera or what? I had heard that Latin American soap operas consisted of dull Cinderella stories; apparently this does no apply to shows produced in Brazil. They are quite a bit more imaginative. |
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