Costa Rica Rural Life

A native of Gary, Indiana, a working class community. Working long hours, attending various community meetings and a single father, it’s not uncommon that on my way hone, I contemplate what I want to stop and pickup at one of the fast food drive throughs. This is the basic way of life here.

Not to long ago a friend invited me and some other frieto visit his home in rural Costa Rica. He emphasized to me that he wanted to expose me to a completely different lifestyle...one I could never imagine. Thinking Costa Rica, I envision sandy beaches, clear blue water, beautiful exotic women, fancy resorts, etc. My, response after this vivid scenario in my head was, “sure, I’ll go.”

Planning the trip was quite exciting. As the departure day grew near, my friend began talking about his lifestyle in Costa Rica. He spoke of animals of all sorts, sloths, small monkeys, Tucan birds, bats, etc. He spoke of the trip up to the top of a mountain to his home. All seemed fine to us . The flight was nice, much fun and camaraderie.

Arriving in Costa Rica, we headed to a car rental and picked up a can From there we went to our hotel. Each room was small with a bed. There was no television. The bathroom was away from the room and universal for everyone’s usage. Thinking back, I don’t recall seeing a television anyplace in the motel.

Early the next morning we started our trip to the village at the top of a mountain, on a two lane, dirt. Looking down the side of the mountain was open terrain, there was no railing....horrifically eerie and scary. After a two plus hour drive up and around, we made it. This was like something out if a fairytale.

We were greeted as long time family members. Animals walked around in the open fields. There was greenery everywhere. Our sleeping quarters were in an attic like setting, with real live bats hanging from the ceiling or whatever you’d call it. They flew in and out of the attic constantly and it was like no one noticed other than me. However, it was as though they never even noticed us.

I enjoyed fishing, eating fresh fish, seeing a hog being killed for a meal was kind of different. However, I didn’t see any of the hog discarded.

This was the friendliest, mos contented and pleasant group of individuals I’ve ever encountered. We were all welcomed with open arms, as a part of the family we just fit in, did chores and hang out together as we were natives. These people were so relaxed and genuinely happy. There were some beautiful homes with indescribable marble craftsmanship on them. There are also classes, poor, very poor, wealthy or extremely rich.

The one thing I had to get used to was walking in mud. There were only dirt roads and mud everywhere but the communities were clean. Helping others is a privilege and an honor. Hope keeps us going. Learning to do things their way, I made mistake, however they saw my mistakes as being human and growth, not failure but hope and learning keeps us going.

The floating bridges in the midst of waterfalls is awesome. Hearing the sounds of monkeys and seeing the beautiful and colorful birds was something out of a magazine.

Everyone is an early riser because there are chores to be done, in addition to oftentimes fishing for your meals. Don’t get me wrong, they do have 5 star hotels. However, the local restaurants are called sodas, for good, native inexpensive food. Always bring a flashlight, gps, and car charger converter. There’s no need to convert currency. While driving, there is no barrier between you and oncoming traffic. If you’re traveling too slow. The natives will swiftly drive around you, not rudely simply to get where they are going.

Roughing it is courageous but extraordinary if you’re with a group, and one being a native. They can expose you to some of the most awesome, beautiful places God has created on this earth. They are a very spiritual and faith driven people.

Natives refer to their country as “simple life or pure life”. Nestled between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is the tropical paradise, appearing untouched or marred by man or industry. Surrounding by beautiful sandy beaches and rain forests, it’s difficult deciding where to begin your journey.

We visited many small cities, all with their individual uniqueness but with an apparent connection to each other. Perhaps that’s in part due to the extremely incredible hospitality shown wherever you visit.

My experience being mostly in the high mountainous areas, I truly didn’t see or feeel any separation of classes identifying the rich from the poor. I believe it’s there, as it is everywhere but it’s certainly not obvious where we visited.

It wasn’t at all rare to find one resting in hassocks, basking in the sun. They categorize their seasons as wet or dry. No ones a stranger in these mountain villages, one big happy family not identified by blood.

This was initially a culture shock, but a short lived one. Embracing the beauty of nature, humility of the inhabitants and gratefulness in the atmosphere, you were immediately engulfed in an atmosphere of europhia.

It was a life changing adventure, one that gave me an experience which will forever remain in my heart. There were no biases based on ethnicity, race, color, size, wealth, poverty, celebrity, etc., simply people enjoying each other, knowing the earth was supplying all of their needs, very prayerful, healthy, hardworking, toiling the soil, feeding their livestock and living their lives where thankfulness was apparent in how they lived their lives. Truly a blessed place to visit.

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