I went to visit my sister in Costa Rica from April 5 to April 12. I really enjoyed the trip. Prior to leaving I printed out a map of where they lived in case I needed to find it on my own. I also had the printed address. Upon arrival, there was no one to greet us so we borrowed a phone from the over-enthusiastic cabbies and called Enrique. It turns out that I had the right address, but the wrong map. I am soooo glad I did not have to resort to using it.
I was intrigued to learn that one of our dollars equalled about 500 of the local currency, the colón. Jennifer taught me a trick that when you see a price, you can double it, drop the zeros and then you will have the price in dollars. For example, something that costs 15,000 colones is the equivalent of $30. This was a neat and helpful trick.
Our first day there, Jennifer took us to a volcano and then to a fish-for-your-lunch trout farm. Both were exciting.
Even more exciting was me driving in Costa Rica. I tried to blend in with the anything-goes driving mentality, but I think I scared everyone in the car. A couple of times, my Dad had to cover his eyes.
My thimble’s worth of Spanish was enough to get by, but I would not want to live there without having someone like Jennifer to bail me out if I got into trouble. My son, William, and I made a good team. I asked the question to someone in Spanish and he would translate the answer.
We had a chance to stay in a vacation home of someone Jennifer knows. It was very nice. It also served as a reminder of the differences between poverty and wealth both of which appeared to be in abundance.
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| My son enjoying the pool at the vacation home. |
Another thing that stuck was the fact that there were bars, gates, and walls EVERYWHERE. I don’t think any place was without them.
I enjoyed the local food, but my favorite dish was actually a Mexican treat my sister makes that is essentially a fried potato quesadilla (or taco).
Speaking of food, I found McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Subway (all of which I was able to order from by myself...thank you very much). It was comforting to see the uniformity of these brands. The one brand missing was Chick-Fil-A. I was so glad when I got home to have a Chick-Fil-A sandwich, waffle fries, and sweet tea.
I was touched one day when I took Jennifer and David to the top of a mountain I had climbed that afforded a great view of the city. Jennifer pointed and said to David “Do you see all those houses down there? That is the reason we are here...to tell them all about Jesus."
By: Andrew Whatley
