Lost in paradise

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – There is a lot to get used to in immersing oneself in a new culture. Sometimes that means breaking the language barrier. Sometimes that means adjusting to local conventions of etiquette, trying new foods and listening to different types of music.\nHere in Costa Rica, it means praying to get to your destination without accidentally ending up on a different continent.\nLet me explain. Have you ever been in a situation so foreign and so ridiculous that it starts to make sense after awhile? Well, here in Costa Rica, that’s how I’ve been feeling every day when I step outside.\nIn the States, we have street names. We have maps. In Costa Rica, neither of these really exist. To give directions, Costa Ricans typically state the name of the neighborhood where their destination of choice is located, followed by the number of meters it is in relation to a local landmark. For example, a legitimate “address” might be, “In the neighborhood of San Pedro, 125 meters south of the Pizza Hut,” or “50 meters south and 75 meters west of the big tree by the church.” I kid you not. \nSometimes I think Costa Ricans are just born with an innate sense of where things are. Honestly, I just about lose my mind every time I hear “Oh, that’s just 100 meters north of the place where the statue used to be.” If the statue is no longer there, how is it humanly possible to use it as a landmark? \nBut after spending a few weeks in utter confusion, the Costa Rican system is actually starting to make sense to me, or at least more sense than the traditional U.S. system. How many walnut trees actually grow on Walnut Street? And why is it free of charge to drive down Fee Lane? So, other than Mapquest-ing an address or scouring a map for a minor street’s location, how do we manage to get around?\nSomehow or another, we have built our own methods of orienting ourselves, and in the context of daily life in the U.S., it makes sense. To ease the nerves of confused tourists, some Costa Rican cities have officially developed a system of street names, but truthfully, no one actually uses them. Honestly, though, it just isn’t necessary here, and I would rather adjust to this system than see “200 meters east of the railroad tracks in Vargas Araya” become “2347 Crooked Lilac Avenue” or anything of that sort. \nIn different countries, or even in different parts of the same country, people have developed their own lifestyles, and although some may initially scare us, they are nothing if not functional. And in their own context, they can be pretty darn creative. \nBesides, if you come to San Jose and get a little lost, you can always stop and ask for help at the visitors’ center. It’s downtown, a few hundred meters away from the cork trees in the National Park. Good luck with that!