Parade of Faroles

If you look closely, you can see the candle inside the farole,

Costa Rica coffee – put a sock in it (or put it in a sock!)

If you are a coffee lover, you’ll enjoy every cup you drink in Costa Rica, whether at an upscale hotel or local soda (small restaurant).  While you may have to go to specialty coffee shops in the US to get strong coffee (although many of these places do their own roasting and burn the coffee beans), anywhere you go here, you are served a full-bodied, freshly roasted cup of coffee.  Arabica, considered one of the premier coffee beans in the world, is the only variety allowed to be cultivated in Costa Rica according to a law passed in 1989.  Rich in flavor and low in caffeine, Arabica coffee grows best at elevations of 4200-5000 feet.  But what do you do with these heavenly beans to brew the perfect cup?  The traditional way of making coffee is to use a chorreador.  This is a simple stand made of wood or metal that holds a bag resembling the toe of a sock.  To make the coffee, you put the coffee in the “sock” in proportions to suit your taste, place the sock in the stand and slowly pour water that has come to a boil – but stopped boiling – through the sock into a recipient below.  Chorreadors and extra socks are available in grocery stores and markets.  To wash the sock, sprinkle it with salt and rub it between your fingers.  It is best if you start with a dry sock each time, so you may want to have extras on hand.  If you want to drink it the way most Costa Ricans do, you’ll add 2-3 teaspoons of sugar and some milk.  Little children love it and get their first taste in baby bottles!

Costa Rica Health Care – Smoke gets in your EARS

Have you ever tried lighting a cigarette with it placed in your ear? I haven’t, but many ticos have done just that. This is a common folk remedy performed when someone is having trouble with their hearing, experiencing pain in their ears or feeling something isn’t quite right with their ears/hearing. This “treatment” is intended to remove air that has accumulated in the ear canal and is creating a problem.  (I’m just reporting what I’ve been told. I didn’t know air got into your ears. I’ve only had a problem with water getting in mine. Also, a bug one time, but that’s another story.) The cigarette treatment: Place an unlit cigarette in the ear with the filter in the ear. Hold a match to the cigarette. The claim is that the air in the ear will light the cigarette and the offending air will be sucked out by the cigarette. The newspaper treatment: Roll a newspaper into a tube and place one end in the ear. Light the other end with a match. A cautionary note: Be sure the paper is long enough so your hair won’t ignite.  Try at your own risk.

Costa Rica Health Care – PEGA

Have you ever noticed anyone with bruises on their upper arms? If you have, you may have seen someone who has been treated recently for a stomach ache or intestinal problem. Costa Rica practices several non-traditional methods of health care along with traditional “western” medicine. One of the more unusual forms of treatment for gastrointestinal disorders is “pega.” This treatment involves deep, often painful, rubbing on certain areas of the body considered to be pressure/release points, such as the upper arms. The vigorous massaging of these points is believed to force movement and release of toxins within the body’s circulatory system, causing everything to begin flowing smoothly once again and affording relief to the person in distress. Once when I had a stomach ache (no doubt there are more definitive and correct words for my malady and its location, but I consider the stomach to be nearly everything a few inches above and below the belly button), a tica friend of mine ordered me to lie down on a large chest-type freezer in the kitchen of her restaurant. She started massaging my stomach, which was uncomfortable (have you ever tried to lie down on a freezer?) and painful (my stomach was very tender) and caused my “innards” to make all sorts of peculiar, rebellious noises. With her “hmms” and “uh-huhs” I assumed she was making a diagnosis and going to the heart of the problem. However, I couldn’t tolerate the discomfort and pain and aborted the treatment.  I may never know if pega works, but ask any tico and they’ll swear by it.

Costa Rica Health Care – Injections

From the first time I visited Costa Rica until 2 weeks ago, I wondered and marveled (with no small amount of skepticism) at the use of injections as routine treatment for so many different kinds of ailments.  A friend’s knee hurt, so he got an injection.  Another friend had a stomach ache, so she got an injection.  I couldn’t imagine what was in these injections – anti-biotics, steroids, anti-inflammatory agents or just plain glucose solutions (since so much illness is attributed to psychosomatic causes).  Maybe the mere act of having an injection has a placebo effect.  Somehow, I never saw myself as falling for this new form of “cure.”  That was BBB – before bad back.  Some years ago I herniated a C-7 (back of the neck), which resulted in a shoulder that can best be described as frozen and overly sensitive to cold.  A few weeks ago, my shoulder started getting tighter and aching more than usual (sitting at the computer hours on end couldn’t have been a contributing factor, could it?).  I figured it would be better the next day, but it wasn’t.  Gradually, the tightness went down my back and settled around the back of my waist.  It got a firm grasp on the muscles there and started jerking them, more frequently all the time.  A friend suggested I walk up to the pharmacy and get a shot and I laughed.  The mere mention of a needle and my stomach starts rolling around.  A few more days passed and things got worse.  My back was in constant spasm and it was difficult to walk, talk, sleep, eat, etc. – walking to the pharmacy was out of the question.  A friend offered to take me to her doctor, which I accepted and was grateful for her offer.  Unfortunately, the doctor wasn’t available, but there was a pharmacy next door.  When my friend suggested going for a shot, I was game.  I would have accepted leeches at this point.  Well, maybe not leeches, but an injection sounded worth a shot (pun not intended).  The pharmacist had me lie down on an examining table in a little room and she gave me an injection of Voltaren.  Within 20 minutes – I KID YOU NOT!!! – I could walk, talk, sit and even smile.  Call it a wonder drug.  Call it a miracle.  Hallelujah!  I couldn’t believe it then and I still don’t now, but if my back starts spasming again, I won’t wait until a hammer over the head is preferable to the pain.  Here’s some medical advice without a doctor’s license: VOLTAREN is good for what ails you.

ROPAS — What fun!

All over Costa Rica you see stores called ropas americanas. When I first saw them I thought they were a prolific chain store – on a much larger scale then McDonald’s – but I had no idea what they sold. When I finally went to one, I discovered that they sell used and new clothes and linens from the US. Some of the items still have garage sale stickers left on, some have tags from resale stores and some even have the tags from the stores in which they were originally purchased. Besides clothes, the ropas sell sheets, blankets, stuffed animals, rugs, tablecloths and more – catch as catch can. I consider a few hours of “ropa-ing” to be a form of relaxation and entertainment. Stores have “boutique” areas with items at higher prices (maybe up to $2), basic areas ($1-1.50 per item), areas where items are priced individually by someone at the caja (enclosed area where you pay) and areas where you climb through mounds of clothing on the floor. These areas are referred to as piscinas (swimming pools) and can be as large as 40 x 60 feet and up to 3 feet deep with clothing! Prices here are usually 25-60 cents each, but on some occasions the items are 20 for $2.00. While you are in a ropa, there is constant noise – loud music playing with someone talking over a microphone like a barker at the circus. On certain days, bags of specific items (all the items come in large bags), such as sheets, are dumped and people crowd around the area to try to get first grabs. They take anything they can, sort through the items and then throw back into the pile what they don’t want. It’s a feeding frenzy with considerable pushing and shoving. (I remain an observer at these times!) Many of the items for sale in ropas are high-end name brands. I have bought a Hudson Bay blanket in perfect shape for $2.50, an Ann Taylor dress for $1.00, a down comforter for $2.00, hand pieced quilts for $1.00, Ralph Lauren sheets for $2.00 and linen shirts for 25 cents. All ropas seem to have the same smell and the first thing I do when I get home with my purchases is throw them in the washing machine. Ropa-ing is great fun on a budget, but it’s not for everyone!  (Here’s a real estate bargain that everyone should enjoy.)