Pura Vida

Everywhere, Costa Rica -- Some things I have had to be re-accustomed to:

1. Ants.

An ant colony lives somewhere near the pantry-area of the home I live in. If bread, cookies, or any kind of food are not properly sealed, then the ants have a feast.

While I'm all for keeping thousands of ants happy, I must say that on a couple of occasions, I just wanted to eat bread.

But ants and I go way back.

Back in Guate, many ant colonies called our patios home. I was fascinated by these holes in the cement where ants streamed out.

Sometimes I would put lines of sugar somewhere around the hole. That would bring out the ants, and they would have a feast.

Unfortunately that also brought out other ants from other colonies.

Massive ant colony battles ensued.

2. Sidewalks.

Sidewalks in Costa Rica are not made for strolling. Your life could be at risk -- in the shape of a giant hole in the middle of the sidewalk.

The infrastructure of this country, like many still developing, is horrible. And that includes lack of maintenance of sidewalks that are filled with holes, gaps, cracks, and roots, making a walk, not a walk but a concentration game.

People have died, by the way, from these dangerous sidewalks.

3. Shower

Hot shower here comes from an electric heater (with wires and all) placed right above the shower. While I don't know how many people have been electrocuted by this method of warming water, I will say it takes forever to heat it.

And because I am always somewhat behind in the mornings, I take the showers cold.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, cold showers wake you up, and help fight the heat in the morning.

Sometimes, after a humid, hot, sweaty, and overall disgusting day, a cold shower feels nice.