The Stay in Costa Rica, Heading to Nicaragua

In about an hour, I start packing to go to Nicaragua.

I came here to Costa Rica for the Software Libre study by Bellanet. Strange circumstances left me without an apartment in the Dominican Republic.

So when I heard that Santana was playing, I stuck around. It's unfortunate that I didn't get to go, mainly because I didn't get tickets. But my co-worker at SSC, Mitch Frazier and his wife put me up for a week and have been very nice. They have a nice place, quiet... I'm sitting writing this on the back patio with the wind blowing through my hair and a cup of coffee to my right. Life is good.

And that's the really cool part of staying in Costa Rica. It's been meeting Mitch, as well as Keith Daniels with Costa Rica as a backdrop. I really work with some good and intelligent people, and perhaps that gives me something to aspire to. :-)

But aside from the camraderie of my fellow geeks, I notice that they are treated different than I in some situations. Maybe it's because I look native and they don't - hilarious because Mitch and I are both from Wisconsin, originally. But I've seen it.

I've also seen the same look given to me when I pay with something on my debit card. Faces change, most notably the eyes - the smile remains, but the eyes stop smiling. It's saddening in a way because it almost seems judgemental.

Having been on the other side of those eyes, I understand to an extent where it comes from. There is a vast cultural difference between Gringos and Ticos (I *think* that's how you spell it - what Costa Ricans call themselves). In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Japan.

No matter how hard you try, you're not Japanese. Unless, of course, you are Japanese.

I suppose many people wouldn't see what I do. Some may even ignore it, like a Somebody Else's Problem field. But I do see it, and I don't know that there is a solution for it. The Gringos and Ticos I have met have been good people, but there's a separation somewhere that seems hard to bridge. On the surface, it looks like it may be an economical divide, since gringos are expected to have money. But I wonder if there's more to it than that.

Maybe I stare too deeply into the well. Or maybe others don't stare deep enough.

Having said that, the people are nice. But my own Costa Rican connections sort of drifted away after I was done with working with them in person. I have a curse of 'sort of' belonging wherever I go, but never quite belonging.

I won't pretend to understand the people of Costa Rica. I like them, though, and they have a really nice country though like all others, they have challenges. Through Mitch and his wife, as well as the wonderful weather and natural atmosphere, I have become relaxed and even recharged.

In the end, I'm sitting here on the back patio of a friend, where I have been able to work in tranquility as well as have some very thought provoking discussions - with coffee in hand, and 2 dogs and 4 cats to hang out with in a large back yard.

That is a good thing. And I will miss it as I miss the old tranquility I used to have in Trinidad and Tobago when I was growing up. Maybe tranquility migrates.

I wish it would leave bread crumbs.

Special thanks to Mitch and his wife!