I belong to the last generation of Ticos who grew up under the import substitution model and the first to experience the opening up of the economy. As a consequence, some of my childhood memories seem uncharacteristically old: They in fact belong to a different time period in Costa Rican history.
There are taxistas and there are taxistas. But on the whole, I love the river of amiable, chatty, and well-informed men who have carried me around the city day after day and week after week.
Is a stop sign an indication that you should slow down (1 point)? A meaningless roadside decoration (5 points)? Or an indication to come to a full stop while looking both ways (subtract 20 points)?
I have seen aspects of Costa Rica that are unflattering, exasperating, and downright infuriating, but there is an unruffled approach to life that does seem rather mysterious, and that I think has gradually worked its way into my bones over the years. What’s in the water?
The National Insurance Institute (INS) at noon Wednesday closed collection at their facilities of the year-end auto registration fee and mandatory vehicle circulation permits, known as marchamos, and reported that some 78.9 percent of motorists made the payment on time.
A Costa Rican Nativity scene: one Wise Man falls through La Platina, another into a pothole. The last one calls Joseph. Mae, I’ll be there later, ya casi llego. Traffic, mae. Es que vieras que en La Uruca hay UUUUna presa…
Costa Rica’s Roadway Safety Council (COSEVI) has published a new manual for mandatory technical vehicle inspections, conducted by the Spanish-Costa Rican company Riteve SyC. A total of 14 changes were published in the official government newspaper La Gaceta on Nov. 21, and will take effect in January 2015.
