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I have never seen so many uses for corrugated metal.
Here it is used for fencing, siding, roofing, gates,
and just about anything else that you can think of. I
have only seen one "shanty town" where the poor people
live, it is constructed mostly of this metal. I have
also seen it painted a nice red and used for roofing
(cheap Spanish tile effect). It is often used around
construction site, no they don't have those nice
little peek through holes so you can see what is being
built.
There is an additional interesting architectural feature of the buildings of Costa Rica (other than the corrugated metal). Many buildings (1 - 3 stories) have chains attached to the roof and the drain below. Initially I thought they were to prevent the drain covers from being stolen or to keep them from floating away with the water during the rains. They are to help concentrate and direct the water off the roof towards the drain and reduce the splatter around it (less muddy grass around the drains). Some buildings paint them white to add as an architectural feature. I guess that the amount of water that has to drain off the roof would require very large drainpipes, so this is the compromise. Speaking of rain, there is a lot of it. Yes, dare I say, more than Vancouver. This is the "rainy season" at present, until late November. However the mornings are still sunny and warm, it starts to cloud over around 12:30PM then can really pour all afternoon. I have been lucky to only be caught in it twice so far. Think of a big downpour in Vancouver, then imagine it everyday. They weren't kidding when they told me to bring an umbrella when I moved here. Fortunately it is warm rain, although that doesn't seem to matter when it's cloudy all afternoon. When the sun does come out, watch out, it gets pretty toasty around here really fast. But, wow, the mountains are fabulous in the sun, and I thought I knew what green looked like. Costa Rica redefines the word. The people here get up really early. I swear construction starts at 6AM (maybe that's what sets the dogs off). It quite surprising how many people are out and about at this hour, I'm not usually conscious at this time but am learning to deal with it. Either they are a nation of morning people (perish the thought) or it's the coffee, I am going to blame it on the coffee. Speaking of which, it's as I feared, I am becoming a coffee drinker. Without my supply of green tea from Japan I am being drawn into the world of coffee. I have already learned to warm up the milk before pouring in the coffee (to avoid scalding the milk). I know, I know, but that's what happens when you can't find double Devon cream and scones to have with your tea. In a lot of the stores, department or even just small market size stores, there is a place to check your bags. Sort of like Save-On-Foods or Superstore, but better. When they take your bag you are given a token with a number which indicates the cubbyhole it is in. The baggage check areas are watched by staff so no one without the claim token an get at your stuff. Very nice when you are back packing some of your shopping items around from store to store and don't want to schlepp it around while you are shopping. It's also good security for the store. it sort of brings up another interesting thing here. There are a lot of service people, I mean a lot. there is sometimes 1 person per aisle, just standing there waiting to help. I asked one of the local Americans about it and his opinion is that they hire more people, pay them less (no unions) and that way keep more people employed and provide good service. Unfortunately I haven't had much opportunity to take advantage of this as few store workers speak English. Usually I get by making noncommittal noises that sound vaguely Spanish, or say "I'm sorry" or "No habla Espanol-e" with big round dumb eyes. If necessary I resort to hand gestures. Any of the above methods is fairly effective. To help her while looking for places to visit I gave my visiting friend Ruth my difficult to find map of San Jose and Costa Rica. It was she that noticed that the streets are numbered quite differently from North America. North of Avenida Centrale the avenue numbers are odd (1, 3, 5, 7 ...), south of that they are even. The same goes for the streets (calles), west is even and east is odd. We even started to discover street signs, they seem to be posted on the sides of buildings (especially downtown). I had only seen a few street signs, and was tempted to take photos of them (they were so rare) on a couple street corners. The ways that people keep themselves employed is surprising. There are "stick" men on almost every street, initially I thought they were employed by the local businesses to conduct traffic in the parking areas. Wrong. Apparently a guy will get a stick (about 0.5 - 1m long) and stake out a street. He then proceeds to provide "security" for the parked cars and help them pull out into traffic when they leave. In return for this service you pay him around 100 colones. These guys are not authorised by the city or the local businesses, they just show up. Sometimes they even wear a bright construction vest to look more official. Also I must mention the "guards". There are guards in the residential areas as well as the business districts. I understand the former move into a neighbourhood, gun and all, and proceed to knock on doors to tell people they will provide security for them for a monthly fee. I have also heard that if you refuse you are pretty much guaranteed to get your house broken into. Here they call it employment, back home we call it extortion. Looking back on previous emails I realize that I have discussed the food here but have neglected to mention a rather tasty dish called ceviche (seh-veechay). It's a cold dish with cooked fish and onions in a vinegar-like sauce. Very refreshing. Also you can get some interesting fruit snacks, green mango being one of them. They slice up a green mango and put salt on it, eeuuww is what I thought too until I tried it. You can also get lychee on almost every corner downtown. I did get one truly nice treat from Canada. Ruth brought me 2 jars of Double Devon cream and some scones from Tim Hortons. I have seen fit to share with my co-workers, the Canadians here truly appreciated the treat. Many street corners in the central part of San Jose have little stalls that sell anything and everything. The more sophisticated ones are quite sturdy and sell clothes, backpacks, fashion accessories, cold drinks (they have full sized fridges), and other sundry items. Others are simply a piece of plywood on wooden legs, these ones usually sell lottery tickets, although the better quality ones sell useful things like phone cards. Phone cards being one of my priorities. I have discovered that I can call home using a 3,000 colones phone card for 16 minutes. Fortunately there is always email to keep in touch with my friends and family. It is with great sadness that I must report that Yaohan is no more. I had heard rumours in the wind that it was going to close then while I was away at the beach they sneakily closed their doors. I almost wept, then I discovered AutoMercado (aow-toe-mer-cad-o). I am still able to get nori and rice wine vinegar for sushi as well as purchase premade sushi boxes. However I could not find Canadian maple syrup, a treat I was planning on purchasing for Lynnethe and Michael for all their help with translating and taking me out into the world of Costa Rica. Plus helping me buy a bed (well a mattress) for my visitor. I will have to scout out some other places for a gift. |
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