Well, I still have a ways to go for being as happy as most Costa Ricans but I have to say, it is kind of contagious. I made a journey out to Malpais and Santa Theresa in the Nicoya Peninsula last week and it was beautiful and amazing, but definitely not Costa Rica, in the sense of the real Costa Rica filled with Costa Rican’s. It was a great beach town filled with cool expats, beautiful surfers and incredible nature and wildlife, but wait, I guess that is Costa Rica, too.
Well, my version of Costa Rica has been family. All family all the time. My new Costa Rican family, and wow are they incredible people. Maya is 9 months old now, and we have bought her a few things but we didn’t need to because every relative or cousin and all of the neighbors within ten blocks have bought her presents. My friend Janelle who is half-Brazillian and has a nine year old son I have known since he was two, told me, “The people in L.A. hate children, you go into a restaurant and they look at you weird for your child, etc… etc… In Brazil, however, and Latin America, children are rock-stars. Everyone loves them so much and gives them so much attention.” Well, she is right, it is amazing for me to witness it. This must one of the reasons it’s such a happy place.
Abolishing the Army wasn’t a bad idea either.
See Nicholas D. Krostoff’s article below.