Part I of III
Part II || Part III

Actually, I’d just as soon not talk about it. It's a bit embarrassing. There may be a catharsis in the telling, and perhaps a description of the journey that preceded the "Dumb Thing" will be useful to those interested in Costa Rica as a vacation spot, or as a place to live. So, I'll tell the tale, but you, dear reader, are going to have to get to the end to discover the really dumb thing.

My daughter recently graduated from the highly acclaimed school of massage up in Samara, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. 4 months of super-intensive schooling in anatomy and the various techniques for massaging that anatomy, all of which culminated in a graduation ceremony in a very remote, seaside resort just south of Samara called Punta Islita. I set off from Uvita, which is south of Dominical by about 12 minutes, and south of Manuel Antonio by about an hour and forty five minutes, and south of Samara by about 6 hours, just so you can get your orientation.

Part II of III
If you're starting here, you might want to read Part I first . Click here for Part I :: Click here for Part III

The next pause in my trip was to drive through Jaco.I wanted just to see it. We used to vacation in Jaco as a family, years ago, when it was a sleepy surf town. There was a bit of a buzz there that certainly was not felt in San Isidro de Perez Zeledon, where we lived, so it was a nice change of pace for us.I had heard that I wouldn’t recognize it. And this proved to be true. There are high rise hotels going in on the beach, and there are various malls and shops of every type. If what we experienced in the good ole days of Jaco was a buzz of activity, then what we’ve got there now is a full blown brass band on crack. The main drag was awash in tourists meandering about, shopping, and enjoying the hot weather that Jaco is famous for.And here is where we start about the dumb thing.

There are no private rooms in the public Costa Rica hospital, at least that I know of, just these "salas", or rooms with people grouped by gender and ailment. We were next to the old-guy room, lots of old guys there walking around with catheters on wheels.

My room had 8 beds in it, each providing healing and sanctuary for a variety of ailments. I was given the bed just inside the door on the right. The room has 4 walls, one of which is a window from about bed height up to the ceiling. This way, as people walk down the hall, they can look in and see how everybody is doing. My bed was right next to the window, so I was well cared for by not only the hospital staff, but also all the visiting family members of my fellow interns.

It didn't take long for me to figure out the routine of healing in the hospital...

"Bicho" is the Spanish term used in Costa Rica for "bug". And not just bug bugs, but anything smaller than a dog that is irritating. I've heard bats called bichos, also butterflies, hummingbirds, computer viruses, rodents, and microorganisms. It is of this latter definition that I write. A tale of how the microscopic "bichos" of Costa Rica afforded me a truly cultural experience in a Costa Rican public hospital.

I was out chopping with what is called a "weed whacker" in the States. A bit of a misnomer really since the "weeds" that are "whacked" here are sometimes in excess of an inch in diameter. We call them 'choppers' here. Well, my chopper picked up a piece of aluminum wire that was hidden under the brush, a rigid wire about 12" long, and it threw it at my ankle which was inside a good quality thick rubber boot. The force of the projectile was such that it went into the boot, and then into my ankle, and then back out of my ankle, effectively nailing my foot inside the boot.

My son heard my yelp and came running to see what had happened and since I had been unable to pull the wire out by hand, I hollered up to him to "BRING PLIERS", which he did, and with which he then extracted the offending protrusion from my boot / ankle. Needless to say this was a nasty injury to get in the tropics. We have observed that once you get up above the knees you are in a moderately safer zone with respect to bichos, but that below the knees is the red zone of danger.

After visiting Costa Rica's southern pacific zone for a while, one begins to notice that Costa Rica is not bound by the normal 3 rules of picking a good spot for your restaurant. Those 3 being:

1. Location
2. Location and then
3. Location

Jolly Rodgers is this in spades.  It's just a bit off the beaten path.

What's kinda funny is that it is up by where I live in Escaleras so it is actually convenient for me. But if you don't live in Escaleras, you've got to engage your 4 wheel drive differential and get on up the hill.

The access is part of the charm.  Nat & I went over for our loosely styled tradition.  Saturday nights at Jolly Rodgers are a regular poker night and so we like to get there around 6:00, which is before the poker players show.  We don't play poker, but we enjoy the festive feel of the evening.