Fun, Goofy, & Weird Stuff about Costa Rica

In absolutely no particular order....
In Costa Rica, it is not uncommon to give coffee to babies (in their bottle, with milk) and to young children. I found this astonishing! Having had the "pleasure" of a two year old a few times in my life, I simply could not imagine a two year old on espresso!

Naming conventions are very different here. Children take their father's name, but add their mother's maiden name to their full name. So when you see a name on a business card like Carlos Jose Gomez Guzman, this persons name is Carlos Gomez and the Guzman is his mom's maiden name. Often this is abbreviated as an initial thus: Carlos Jose Gomez G. or even more commonly, Carlos Gomez G.

Costa Rican women do not take their husband's last name. The woman uses her full maiden name for life. No changing of national ID cards, drivers licenses, etc. She also adds her mother's maiden name.

If you should die while here, you are buried here on the same day you die... no embalming... nada. They just plant you! Everyone looks to see your obituary on TV several times per day!

There are few street signs in Costa Rica and even fewer addresses. Read that as almost none. Just about all addresses are in terms of a well-known building or landmark; often the local Catholic Church, cemetery, or another fixed location. But just to keep things interesting, some addresses are phrased in terms of building that may have burned down 20 years ago! Also, when you see an address that says 200M west of something, that normally means 2 blocks and NOT a true 200 meters.

All (honey) bees in Costa Rica are of the Africanized variety i.e. killer bees. The older species were bred out years ago.

Front doors of almost all commercial establishments almost always open INWARDS. This is against every fire code in the USA, but here, perhaps because they have never had a tragedy in which hundreds died because the door could not be opened outwards, there is no such code.

There are Bullfights in Costa Rica, but the bull is never hurt and often, the bull wins!

You will see a LOT of folks carrying machetes... those really long, sharp knives. You see this especially in the country and areas away from San José. The machete is the Costa Rican equivalent of Duct Tape. It is used for everything, but almost never as a weapon.

In many countries, pedestrians have rights. Drivers must yield to them or suffer the consequences. In Costa Rica, the Spanish word for pedestrian is "Target". Be real careful when walking around... especially in San José and especially at street corners.

At 7 AM every morning, most if not all Costa Rica radio stations broadcast the exact same program. It begins with the Costa Rican National Anthem and provides the government and other authorized entities a way to send messages or information nation wide.