Lessons Learned & Applied

Once upon a time … May, 1983 to be more precise … I learned about the concept of letting go as an element of developing a more spiritual life.

Long story short, the rationale is that by letting go of old and outdated belongings and attitudes,we can free up the physical and emotion space to allow new and more creative elements into our lives.

This week I read about how completing the past can allow us to embrace the future. Similar theme … different source.

Both of these concepts resonated with me on many levels. From my experience in creating, shuffling and storing paperwork, I recognize that I value closing files almost as much as I enjoy opening them.

So with this background, this blog post will close the Costa Rica blog file that I opened January 3.

I have learned a lot over the past eight months.

Certainly I have learned a great deal about Costa Rica.

It is a stunningly beautiful country. And on the basis of the Costa Ricans I met and with whom I interacted, the people of Costa Rica are among the happiest and nicest people I have ever met, anywhere.

Definitely worth a visit, or even better, an extended stay.

However, as much as I learned about Costa Rica, I learned a whole lot more about me.

In fact I continue to learn from my reflections on the experience. Somehow I think the reflections and the learning will never end. But for now, it's time to close the Costa Rica 2010 file.

To simplify matters, I have edited my lessons to the following four.

Lesson #1: Practice Better Stress Management

Despite the negative election rhetoric that is currently polluting the environment, Toronto is truly wonderful city. It has virtually everything that anyone would need or want.

This doesn't mean than anyone does or indeed can enjoy everything Toronto has to offer. But it sure is nice to know there are so many attractive and different choices available.

And as with everything wonderful, Toronto also has its downsides. Once of these downsides is the incredible stress that goes along with living here.

For my first few days in Costa Rica, I realized that a familiar element was missing from my life...stress.

I realized that I must have left the stress at the airport when I flew out.

I loved the simpler, less stressed life in Costa Rica. I was quite happy free of the stresses that I had allowed to accompany my most of my life.

Now that I have been back for about 3 ½ months, one of my top priorities has been to do a better job of managing my stress. So far so good!

Lesson #2: Embrace 'Less Is More'

From my observations, Central Americans are incredibly resourceful. They have to be … the governments lack the resources to provide services anywhere near what we expect and take for granted.

This resourcefulness shows up in how Central Americans manage to do more with less.

Consistently, instead of purchasing a special purpose widget or gizmo to perform a specific task, most people I saw could adapt whatever they had or could find to perform the same task.

One of my former colleagues used to compliment me on my resourcefulness. I continued to be reminded of his comments whenever I saw Central American resourcefulness in action.

I really like my resourcefulness and enjoy applying it. Because the concept of less is more resonates so much with me, applying my resourcefulness will continue to be an important element of my life.

Lesson #3: Doing Things On Purpose

For a very long time, teaching English was a dormant seed deep inside of me.

I now realize that part of what was driving me to pursue the Costa Rica experience was the growing of this seed.

As gratifying as it was to teach English (my two students were wonderful!!), this big payoff came from my reflections on the teaching experience.

I realized that what I was doing really wasn't teaching...it was coaching.

When I got back to Toronto, one of my top priorities was to learn more about coaching.

The more I learned about coaching, the more apparent it became that virtually all client services that I delivered were in fact coaching.

This was as true of the my first client as an articling student to the coaching client I spoke with yesterday.

In practice, most of these coaching services focused on helping adults learn new things and improve how they performed familiar tasks.

As a result of my researching coaching, I have also been able to identify an important factor that seems to have been eluding me: my purpose in life.

At this point, I have identified my purpose in life as helping motivated adults learn.

In the past, I have done this through professional services, writing, speaking, teaching and so on. Happily, the coaching concept embraces all of these activities.

Moving forward, my website will focus on helping adults learn through the web content and also through my coaching service.

The nice thing about my website is that it is now 'on purpose'.

Lesson #4: More 'Less Is More'

Here is a sampling of some of the pictures that I took while in Costa Rica. Most of them are from the San Jose (SJO) area...because that is where I spent most of my time.

And now the file has been closed.

Gracias por leer mi blog.

Reflection #3: Options & Choices

Today, I did something most un-Costa Rican at lunch.

Today's Lunch

In Zapote to deliver my remaining course materials to the school office, I decided to have lunch at a nearby soda that I knew offered excellent meals.

I was one of the first lunch customers so had to wait a few minutes for my meal to be ready.

When the owner of the soda proudly delivered my hot, heaping plate, I was delighted with how delicious it looked...and amazed at how much food was piled high on the platter.

In clockwise order around the platter were huge servings...easy double the North American norm...of green salad, beans, rice and fried plantains, topped by a fillet of fish that must have been 8” long and 4” wide.

The size of this meal was typical for a soda, as was the price: about $3.35.

The fact that I did not eat all of this meal was not typically Costa Rican. I left enough of everything but salad to feed another non-Tico.

Yes, Ticos have hearty appetites. And much of what they eat is high in fat, salt, sugar and carbs.

Very soon after arriving here, I made the decision to go easy on meals like today's lunch, but to enjoy as much fresh fruit as I wanted. Good choice!

Positive Experiences

Walking home from Zapote (got home before the rain started today, so far I am still dry), I found myself reflecting on what a positive and happy experience I have had here. Certainly it's a beautiful country and the people whom I've met and interacted with are wonderful.

But in so many ways, exercising available options and making the small choices of life, like what and how much to eat, have been a continuing source of joy.

I was happy to find a couple of pairs of good quality casual slacks that were on sale for less than $6.00 each AND fit.

That happiness was enhanced when I found a neighbour lady who was able to shorten and hem the slacks for me for about $9.00 for both pairs.

Similarly when the shoulder strap on a recently purchased weekend size bag broke, with some effort, I found a man who was able to repair the strap, quickly and inexpensively.

What was truly gratifying was that all of these transactions, the purchase, alterations and repair were done in a combination of Spanish and sign-language.

Sure I could have chosen to buy slacks at Winners back in Toronto, had the slacks altered at the mall and given the bag away. These would have been easy, no-brainer decisions. But it was truly gratifying to find and exercise local options for those small choices.

Little Achievements

Certainly, our major accomplishments and successes make huge contributions to our happiness.

But so do the little achievements, like completing small transactions in a foreign language.

Throughout my life, I have been plagued by the consequences of default decisions. Those are the decisions that we simply let happen to us, instead of consciously making deliberate choices for specific reasons.

Thanks to the lady who shortened my slacks and the man who fixed my bag, I now know how gratifying it can be to make choices consciously and exercise options proactively, regardless of how small and relatively insignificant they may appear.

A good lesson, well learned. What a great souvenir of this wonderful country!

Reflection #2: Things That Are Different Can Work Quite Well

From a North American perspective, there are many aspects of life in Costa Rica that shouldn't work. But they do work...and work quite well.

300 Routes

Take the bus system for example.

There are more than 300 bus routes in Costa Rica. The government puts these routes up for tender by privately owned companies.

The routes are awarded to the companies whose tenders best meet defined criteria, which presumably include specific area to be served and fares.

As a result there are hundreds of companies operating thousands of buses in serving these routes.

For those of us accustomed to publicly owned municipal transportation systems and one huge private company—Greyhound--dominating the private sector, the patch-work quilt approach in Costa Rica seems chaotic. But in fact, it works quite well.

In the central valley, where the majority of the population lives, hundreds of buses carrying thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of passengers make their way to and from downtown San Jose every day.

In outlying communities such as Alajuela, Curridabat, Desamparados, Escazu, Guadalupe, San Francisco, Uruca and Zapote, these buses pick up passengers at unmarked stops or wherever the passengers flag down their buses.

The buses themselves range from the strictly utilitarian models such as the flat nose Bluebird buses that serve San Francisco to the spiffier late model Mercedes and Volvo units that serve upscale Uruca and Zapote.

In San Jose each route has its own unmarked spot on some unnamed street... somewhere in the downtown area.

Changing buses means paying full fare on the second, third, or perhaps even fourth bus to be taken. But that's OK...fares seldom go higher than 400 colones or about 75¢.

Outside The GAM

A similar situation exists outside the Gran Area Metropolitana (GAM), which is roughly the urban area surrounding San Jose, which in turn is most of the Central Valley.

One is that there are of course fewer long distance bus companies, which operate out of about 15 terminals scattered around San Jose.

The terminals range from the tired and old, dirty and dangerous 'Coca Cola' to the sleek and modern Gran Terminal Caribe.

Coca Cola, which is little more than a wide alleyway is the former Coca Cola bottling plant. At this terminal, which serves about a dozen companies, passengers routinely sit on their luggage to prevent it from being stolen.

When scheduling arrivals at Coca Cola, most people try to arrive during the daylight hours.

The danger factor may or may not decrease with the new presence of armed police officers. That of course depends upon the vigilance of the individual police officers and how long the increased police profile initiated by the new security minister remains in place.

The Gran Terminal Caribe is the cleanest and best bus terminal I have ever seen. It also serves about a dozen companies, all of which serve the Eastern part of Costa Rica.

The spotlessly clean terminal includes 3 separate food courts offering everything from North American fast food favourites to typical Costa Rican and Caribbean food.

Regardless of company or terminal, all long distance buses match...and in many cases exceed...Greyhound standards.

Tica buses, which operate on routes from San Jose to other Central American countries and Mexico are far superior to anything I have ever seen wearing the legendary greyhound logo.

Similarly, the bus that I took back from Manuel Antonio last week was cleaner and more comfortable than any Greyhound bus I have ever been on.

Regardless of which route or area buses serve, from my experience they share 3 characteristics:

1. The fares are very low.

Inside the GAM, fares range from about 25¢ about 75¢.
Outside the GAM the fare for a 4-hour bus ride is typically $5.00-$7.00.

2. They get passengers where they are going...usually on schedule.

It is not uncommon for drivers to take detours to avoid congestion.

3. The buses are litter-free

Every bus has a litter basket by the back door, where departing passengers deposit food wrappers and other debris from the journey.

As I said at the beginning, from a North American perspective, the crazy patch-work quilt of the Costa Rican bus system shouldn't work. But it does.

Not only does it work, it works very well.

If the purpose of a public bus system is move a large number of passengers, inexpensively and on schedule, the Costa Rican bus system achieves this purpose better than most North American public transportation systems.

The Costa Rican bus system is one of many examples of things that from a North American perspective simply should not work...but in fact work better than their North American counterparts.

The moral of the message:

just because something is different from what you are used to,
it does not not mean that it is not good and that it will not work.

Into The Home Stretch: Reflection #1

I am now into the home stretch of my Costa Rican Experience.

It's time to do some reflecting on the whole experience before heading back to Toronto on Saturday.

I'll be taking a direct Air Canada flight from San Jose to Toronto.

There is something immensely comforting about flying back to Canada on our national airline.

And the comfort level is even higher when the fare is the lowest available, even including flight arrangements with stop-overs in various US cities.

Options

Looking back, it seems that the best place to start reflecting is the series of posts before I left for Costa Rica.

On January 14, I wrote about the prospect of facing too many options, emphasizing teaching English.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I did get a job teaching business English. Although the required 4-month commitment ends on June 16, my last class was on May 31.

From a financial perspective, teaching English was less successful than I had hoped.

Based on my pre-departure research, I anticipated about 20 hours of teaching each week.

When I was hired, I was promised a minimum of 8 hours weekly (at an hourly rate of 4100 colones...or about $7.50, a good rate for an experienced teacher).

As it turned out, I'm not sure I ever had a full 8-hour week. Most were in the range of 0-4 hours of teaching.

It also turned out that each hour of teaching required about 1½ hours of preparation, travel and administrative time. This meant that each 2-hour class, for which I was paid about $15.00, consumed about 5 hours worth of time.

Thus, my effective hourly rate was about $3.00, which is what a maid in a 5-star Costa Rican hotel might earn.

However, financial and bus travel considerations aside, teaching was a very positive and rich learning experience.

Surprise #1

Two aspects of teaching that really surprised me.

Hired to teach business English in a third-world or developing country, I had expected the students to be roughly comparable to high school graduates.

I could not have been more mistaken.

My two students were among the brightest and most capable people I have ever met... anywhere.

One has two MBAs and runs a company with about 200 employees that generates about $25 million dollars in sales annually.

The other is an electrical engineer, about to start on his MBA, who is about half way towards his sales goal of $50 million for the current fiscal year.

On a daily basis, each of these individuals interacts in English, with other senior business executives from North & South America, Europe & Asia, sometimes with, and sometimes without, the assistance of interpreters.

Their success is in no way dependent upon their living and working in Costa Rica. Both would be equally successful anywhere in the corporate world.

Surprise #2

The second surprise was how woefully inadequate and inappropriate the teaching format and resources were.

As a perfect example of how to teach children, the proscribed approach was rich with 'say after me' repetitions, exercises, classroom drills, workbooks, quizzes and tests. Arghh!!

Published in 2006...in England no less...the text book is a magazine-comic book hybrid, probably most suited to junior high school students.

The accompanying CD even includes pop songs with sing-along lyrics printed in the book. I know that karaoke is the favourite bar activity here (yet another reason to avoid bars!!) but this is totally ridiculous.

Lots of people in the world of ESL seem blissfully ignorant of the reality of Andragogy (the art and science of helping adults learn): helping adults learn is a lot different than teaching children.

As often happens, a totally unrelated conversation offered a possible insight into the use of inappropriate teaching resources.

Being Grateful

Last Thursday, in conversation with Anita, the hostess of the Casa Buena Vista where I was staying, she told me about Steven Segal's offer to help the Costa Rica police with their martial arts training.

From there it was a short step to the arrogance that many foreigners display in their offers of assistance to third world or developing countries such as Costa Rica.

Anita, herself a foreigner and also a 35-year resident of CR, said many foreigners think that they are smarter and more qualified than Costa Ricans.

She suggested that this mindset leads them to believe that Costa Ricans should be grateful for whatever help comes their way.

I confess that as a foreigner this was my mindset when I started teaching English.

Happily, my first class with my first student put an end to it.

Not everyone in Costa Rica...or other developing countries for that matter...is a smiling souvenir-seller.

A New Option

The world of adult education is rich with alternative approaches to helping adults learn English.

One of the best would be coaching...not structured classroom teaching. And online, on demand...not in person, in structured classes.

Hmmmm...now there is an interesting new business opportunity to ponder on Saturday's flight.

My Costa Rican “Kitchen”

Last Saturday, there was a problem with the fridge in what passes for a kitchen that I can use.

On Sunday, when the Internet was up I reported the problem to my landlady's daughter, who is the only family member who speaks and writes English.

Our exchange of emails tells almost the whole story.

In my email with the subject line “...and now the fridge isn't working”, I said:


"It has been a very frustrating week here.

"For most of the week, my Internet connection down and then up...down and then up. It was down all day Thursday.

"Since I had no classes last week, I planned to spend most of my time working online on my website.

"Unfortunately, with the Internet going down as often as it did, instead of having 5 productive days, I might have had the equivalent of 2-3 productive days.

"Yesterday, I noticed water around the bottom of the fridge. After I cleaned up the water, I checked the fridge...it was not working. Not even cool to the touch.

"As I write this the Internet is down again. I will have to wait until it is back up before I can even save this message let alone send it.

"Fortunately the coffee maker is still working.

"Yes...it has indeed been a very frustrating week."

Her response:

"Regarding the internet probably is a problem with the company provider, the frigde my mom is going to chek it."

To which I replied:

"The problem with the fridge is the latest and least of the problems with the 'kitchen'.

"I was happy to have the kitchen included as part of the room rental. I had hoped to prepare some meals here. Unfortunately that opportunity did not unfold as hoped.

"With no proper food storage, apart from the fridge, there is no place to store food without attracting ants. Invariably, Whenever I have left food sealed in plastic anywhere in the kitchen, within a couple of hours, it has been totally covered with ants, so I had to throw it out.

"As regards the hot plate, I can only turn one element half way before the breaker switch cuts off. So doing my own cooking is not an option.

"The coffee pot works fairly well. However, a few weeks ago, I heard a loud crack in the kitchen. When I went in to investigate, I saw that the coffee pot...which was sitting where I had always left it had cracked. So I went looking for a replacement and found one that seems to work well.

"So the problem with the fridge was, as I say, the most recent issues with the cooking arrangements. (Your brother was just here and seems to have fixed the problem)."

The fridge problem has now been fixed...sort of.

The extension cord into which the fridge is plugged has been replaced with one that makes me thankful the kitchen is isolated a room made of solid concrete, separated from my room by another room made of solid concrete.

And now with the replacement extension cord, the coffee maker working by itself is enough to trip the breaker switch. I now stay by the coffee maker to reset the breaker switch.

But yes the fridge does work. The last time I got something out of it...everything was frozen solid.

Frustration-->Earthquake-->Feeling Good!!

Without a doubt, this past week has been very frustrating.

However, at the same time, it has also been very interesting.

It will not surprise me in the least that in 2-3 months when I look back at the week, it could well turn out to be one of my most significant weeks...ever.

Over the past four months, I have become increasingly Internet-dependent.

Certainly, I use the Internet to maintain my website. But it is also my link to the outside world both here in Costa Rica, back in Canada and any other places that the people at igoogle deem fit to tell me about.

I have neither a telephone nor a radio.

When a new tenant moved in next door, I gave him the TV that is included with my room. The only time that I watched TV was when a friend was visiting and we watched a soccer game that would determine the Championship of a Dutch national soccer league. One of players on the team that ultimately won is from Costa Rica. Much cheering in the neighborhood! But I digress.

Being as dependent upon the Internet as I am, when it is down, as it often is, until Thursday my reaction was one of anger and frustration.

Without going into detail, Thursday was either the high point or the low point of my frustration.

Midway through Thursday afternoon, I realized that I was driving myself crazy constantly checking to see if the connection had been restored. So I made a list of things that could do without the Internet.

This turned out to be quite lengthy list of options.

I was working offline on one of these options when the earthquake in Quepos (67 km south west of San Jose) struck at 4:16. To me it was just a tremour...found out the next day that it was serious earthquake.

But then things started to get really weird.

About half an hour after the tremour, I started to feel chilled. So I went to bed and got right under the covers. From feeling chilly I started to feel waves of warmth, which in turn felt like waves of energy.

I enjoyed this sensation for as long as it lasted. When I got up the Internet was back so I finished what I had been working on, when last online.

On Friday, even though the frustrations continued...2 interpersonal issues presented themselves...I felt really good.

I don't think that my feeling good was as much the thrill of new challenges to met as it was the confidence that the issues were resolvable.

On Saturday, 2 new issues arose that needed to be addressed.

Once again, notwithstanding the appearance of these new issues, I felt and continue to feel really, really good.

Not only can I not explain my physical sensation...not just a self-talk driven mindset...of feeling good, I am not even going to try.

I plan to ride the wave and enjoy it.

My 100 Km Costa Rican Diet

Working from home this week.

My remaining student is sales manager for Central America, which includes those seven countries between but not including Mexico and Colombia.

This week he is off touring Central America with his boss.

So we have postponed his classes this week to next week. Have I mentioned how unpredictable teaching business English can be?

With no classes this week, I did not have to do the bus trek to and through San Jose. That's the good news.

Costa Rican Cooking

The bad news was the prospect of eating all of my meals here in San Francisco de dos Rios.

Commonly available Costa Rican cooking is high in carbs, fat, rice, beans and boredom.

Last Saturday, in the neighborhood park, I was cluelessly watching a soccer game and mindlessly watching shoppers loaded with fresh produce from the farmers' market in the park.

I found myself wishing I had decent cooking facilities so that I could truly enjoy the fabulous in the market.

Obviously, I could do something with this great produce...but a full week's work of meals using only a hot plate?

The Banana/100 Km Diet

As I was glancing at the stacks of bananas on the vendors' tables, the idea occurred to me that I could use one of our family favourites as the basis for my 100 km diet.

As it turned out I have a copy of the so-called banana diet with me...so that is the basis for my 100 km diet.

I am now half way though the process. What a great experience!

I've only made 2 changes to the diet.

I've added coffee, because it is big part of Costa Rica culture....and it's also damn good. How good is it? I have not seen a single Starbucks anywhere in CR. What I can see is coffee plantations from my street. How local is that?

And instead of apples, I am using pineapple.

The local produce is absolutely awesome.

The banana and oranges would never find themselves in North American stores...they just aren't pretty enough. And I have never, ever tasted anything like the pineapple I had yesterday.

Counting today's meals of salad and lean meat, the total cost so far is about $8.00, with about $2.00 more required for Thursday and Friday.

But the taste experience...priceless.

Moving forward, I have a great alternative to the traditional Costa Rican diet.

Maybe I can even avoid the ever-present rice & beans.

No Military...But An Army Of Security

One of the most well known and highly features of Costa Rica is the 50-year old decision to abolish the military force.

Costa Rica maintains small forces capable of law enforcement and foreign peacekeeping, but has no permanent standing army.

It is however, mistake to assume that just because there is no official military presence, there are no military-type features in the country.

Sure there are no statutes honouring war heroes. Whatever pomp and ceremony takes place, does so without the help of military bands and platoons of marching soldiers.

Forces Of Law Enforcement

But as for these 'small forces capable of law enforcement'...they seem huge to me.

In the San Jose area there are 3 police forces that somehow share jurisdiction: federal police, San Jose municipal police and the transit police.

I'm sure that these 3 police forces have clearly defined mandates, but they all have one thing in common. Regardless of what they do, they are all fully armed and outfitted in bullet proof vests and similar protective gear.

Every corner in downtown San Jose seems to have at least one...usually more...group of 2-10 officers, just hanging around, fully armed and protected. Armed and protected against what, I'm not totally sure.

These official police officers are just the tip of the security pyramid.

Wanna Be Police Officers

Next in line are the private security officers...possibly 'wanna be' police officers. This group is also huge in number, well armed and well protected.

These officers, mostly men, guard banks and commercial buildings like office buildings and shopping centres. And yes, they are also fully armed and protected, probably against the notorious and lawless Venezuelans. I once saw one of these guards carrying a machine gun outside a shopping centre. Actually that was quite funny. Not far from this machine gun totin' security guard, was a pistol packing security guard popping wheelies on his bicycle.

Next are the uniformed, but mostly unarmed, security guards watching over such businesses as pharmacies, convenience and grocery stores, pet shops, restaurants, parking lots and so on.

Community Security Guards

And speaking of parking lots, there are also a variety of community security guards. This group includes those guys who get themselves reflective vests, often from street vendors, and help drivers find parking...either on the street or in street-side parking lots.

In return for watching over the cars while the drivers are off doing something else, they expect and usually receive a tip of some kind.

Not to be ignored is the guy who armed with a billy club, rides his bicycle around the neighborhood during daylight hours. Presumably he is performing some kind of security function. And so is the guy who rides his bike in the same neighborhood, blasting his whistle in front of selected houses...houses whose owners have paid him to do his 'night patrol'.

Come to think of it, who needs a military force?

The alternative army of security seems to have taken its place.

Doors Closing...A New Door Opening

It's been another interesting week.

A couple of doors closed...and a new door opened wider & sooner than the newly closed doors.

The Door That I Closed Myself

Last month I agreed to work on a new website focusing on Costa Rica real estate.

My rationale was to develop a really good SBI real estate website to be used as a model for real estate agents.

At the time, the person with whom I was to develop the site agreed with this rationale.

However, last Saturday it seems that comments from some of his friends stimulated him to change his vision for the site, turning it into a power-sell website.

Since that was most definitely what I had signed on for, I decided that there were other and better uses for my time so I pulled out.

But not before my work served as an excellent refresher course on SBI site building.

I made several improvements to my own site that I would not have made without the short stint on the new site. And traffic to my site has been increasing by approximately 3% each day this week.

By closing this door, I will have about 10 more hours each week to use for other things.

A Door Slammed Shut

For reasons that have yet to be explained, on Wednesday, one of my business English students canceled his remaining classes.

While I will miss working with him, I will definitely not miss the twice weekly rides on the Leon XIII bus to get to his office.

The first third of this bus route is through one of the dirtiest and roughest areas I have ever seen.

There seem to be as many homeless people lounging and lying on the sidewalk as there are street vendors, almost shoulder to shoulder, loudly promoting whatever they are selling. Maybe I should say shouter to shouter.

No more Leon XIII bus rides...no regrets.

And the loss of these four hours of teaching also generates another 10 hours or so each week that I can use other things.

A New Door...Wide Open

When I knew that I would be pulling out of the other website, I started to prioritize the 8-10 tasks that had in mind for my own website.

This led to the realization that, as usual, writing more content was priority #1.

This is turn led a list of 13 new pages, which at the time I decided I could finish by the end of the month.

I had written one and a bit of another when I learned about the cancellation of the classes.

Long story short, yesterday I uploaded 4 new pages of really good content to my website.

And as an added bonus, these pages also offer the opportunity of a new e-book. But that will have to wait...I still have priorities 2-10, below top priority content to finish off.

I continue to be absolutely amazed at the number of exciting new opportunities that flow through newly opened doors.

And what's even more unbelievable is that the time to pursue these new opportunities has been made available as a result of other doors closing.

Life's funny that way....but in the best of all possible ways.

April Report

As hard as it to believe, I am now into the home stretch of April.

I have been so involved in one thing or another that I haven't really noticed what a good month this has been.

Among this month's highlights:

1. a very enjoyable visa run to Nicaragua (no this wasn't to pay a VISA bill...it was to leave Costa Rica for 3 days in order to renew my visitor's visa, which happened automatically when I returned to CR)
2. the launch of a new website that I am developing with a fellow canuck
3. continued growth of my own website: Alexa (the website that ranks other websites) reports that traffic to my site has grown 150% over the past three months)
4. good progress in my students' English skills...both have marks in the low 90s
5. yesterday I met another English teacher, a Tico who is home for a few weeks before returning to Switzerland, where he is working on his masters degree in environmental studies while teaching English and Spanish and also learning German. What an absolutely amazing guy!!!
6. more canceled classes for this week so I am off to Quepos/Manuel Antonio on Thursday for a few days
7. this morning, my landlady brought me breakfast of an omelet of some kind, cheese, tortillas and of course, gallo pinto.

As enjoyable as these events were, it is difficult to offer any meaningful insights or observations...or even see any kind of a pattern.

But that's OK: I'm not even going to try. I am just going to enjoy the satisfaction of having events unfold as positively as they are.

Oh yeah...one more thing. Seems the green...or rainy...is now underway.

The downpours that I have experienced so far are nothing short of torrential. And the thunderstorms are absolutely awesome in the true sense of the word. They seem to come out of nowhere and wham, bam!!

I suspect that the elevation may have something do with the intensity of the rain and thunder storms. I checked this morning and San Jose is almost 1200 metres above sea level. Toronto on the other hand ranges from about 75 metres at the waterfront to 200 metres at York U.

But right now...12:23 pm...it's not raining. So I am going out for lunch. It might even stay dry until I get back.

Saludos.

Central Amercian Resourcefulness

I am now pretty well back on track after last weekend's trip to Nicaragua.

My Costa Rican friends think of the trip as a holiday and ask how I enjoyed it. My answer to them is 'muy bueno, gracias.'

A Visa Run To Nicaragua

My non-Costa Rican friends think of the trip as my visa run...and we talk about the process of crossing the border from Costa Rica to Nicaragua..and vice versa. Most interesting procedures to follow. The bottom line on the border crossings, as long as you are prepared to trust the process and go with the flow (sorry abut the clichès) everything will work out the way it's supposed to.

It also helps to travel with a company that sends eight bus loads of passengers across the border one way or the other each day. They certainly smooth things out...for the passengers as well as the border officials.

One of the joys of my visa run was being free of all work responsibilities...related to both teaching and website development.

Among other things, I had the opportunity to just chat...and that's what I did most, with and without 'Tonia', Nicaragua's beer of choice.

Soon after arriving a the hotel (Casa Capicho...one of the nicest places I have ever stayed) I met Sharon, an American currently living in an apartment in the hotel.

We enjoyed instant rapport.

Not only are we both involved in website development, we are doing it in third world countries, with all the challenges that presents. But we also shared similar experiences as a result of living in Nicaragua (Sharon—for several years) and Costa Rica (me—for only a couple of months).

Resourceful Central Americans

We are both very impressed with how resourceful Central Americans are at living their daily lives.

I think this resourcefulness flows from the 'necessity is the mother of invention' way of doing things.

In this part of the world the governments seem to intervene as little as possible in the lives of their citizens.

In practice, this means that road construction is not always generously marked by warning lights, signs and flag-people. According to Sharon, when you come across road construction, more often than not you have to make your own way through it, which everyone seems to do.

In the San Jose area, I have seen traffic police use tree branches to warn of road hazards and shopping carts turned upside down to keep drivers and pedestrians off newly painted parking lot markings.

Sidewalks

Wherever I have been in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, sidewalk design, construction and maintenance has appears to have been the responsibility of the owners of adjacent property.

As a result, this means that when walking on the sidewalks, it is important to watch where you are walking to avoid holes, crack, bumps, dog droppings and who knows what else.

The good news is that there are small coins to be found by watching the sidewalk.

The bad news is that there are overhead obstacles like tree branches, awnings and signs to crack the heads of taller North Americans, like me.

Whenever I have mentioned to my Costa Rican friends the problem with the sidewalks, I get a totally blank stare, even from those who are fluent in English.

OK...I get it. The uneven sidewalks and overhanging obstacles are not the government's responsibility to standardize and regulate, as is the case in Canada. They are my issues to address and resolve.

This being the case, I think I may have a solution.

In one of the nearby restaurants, one of the waiters wears a yellow construction hard hat. I was amused when I first saw this.

But on my second visit I saw there was an solid metal structure over the waiters' station. Since Ticos tend to be short, most servers would not have a problem with this overhead structure.

But this waiter, taller than the average Tico, would be constantly banging his head on the light structure if it were not for his yellow construction hard hat, which probably now takes the impact.

I wonder where I can get a Panama hat with the same resistance strength of a yellow construction hard hat.

I Just Don't Understand

Yesterday was a very strange day. After having worked on one thing or another for the past 10 days to 2 weeks, yesterday morning around 9:30, I finished the last item on my then current to-do list.

This work-a-thon was to clear the decks in preparation for my next stint of 10 busy days.

Instant Shutdown

When I finished the last task on my list, almost immediately my brain shut down.

Even the most menial task was too much...among other things, I had forgotten how to log into Twitter.

My response was to back off and let my brain take its well deserved rest.

I napped, listened to music, went out for something to eat, watched what was happening on the street and similar challenging tasks.

Yes...a truly difficult day.

By mid-afternoon, after a fair chunk of time spent doing da nada, it was time to get ready for my 5:15 class. About the same time, glimmers of totally unrelated ideas started popping into my brain.

As I had done when my brain shut itself down, I just let it be. I had no idea what was happening or where it was heading.

On the bus ride to San Jose, these random ideas started to come together into some kind of a pattern, still totally beyond my comprehension.

By the time I had arrived in downtown San Jose, this thought pattern was in full flight, heading somewhere on its own. I was an innocent and very confused witness to what was happening.

Eureka!

It was part way through my pre-class snack of roast beef on a pannini, (I needed something familiar) that everything came together with a resounding..and mercifully silent...Eureka!

With minimal conscious input, I had come up with a new way of analyzing the traffic to my website.

The bad news was that with the next 10 days completely planned, the process would have to continue on its own.

But the strangeness does not end there.

When I met Gustavo for our class, we started as we usually do, by chatting about what each of us had done since we last met. He had spent most of the past week working. This came as no surprise because he admits to being a work-a-holic.

Tech Support

Unprompted by me, he said that first thing in the morning, he had been unable to focus on what he had to do. He had even forgotten how to log on to his company's Intranet...so had to call tech support for help.

After identifying himself, he explained his problem...with much embarrassment.

While working through the resolution, the technician commented that Gustavo was the 22nd person in Latin America...to that point in the day...to have had the same problem.

Normally, tech support receives 1-2 such requests in each 24-hour day.

There are lots of things I just don't understand.

But that's OK.

I'll just forget about them and get on with doing something I do understand.

It's All Good

Yup...that's about the best way to describe the first two months of my Costa Rica experience...it's all good.

For some time now, I have had random senses of “Damn, I feel good!”.

As far as I can tell, nothing triggered these out-of-the-blue sensations...they just happened.

Very early this morning...like at about 2:03 which is early even for me...I woke with one of those bursts of insight that I have from time.

I knew exactly what is contributing to my sense of well-being and feeling good. Specifically, three factors currently contribute to my feeling good.

1. Accentuate The Positive

I don't how, when or why it happened, but negativity has become a non-issue in my life.

It's as if my personal preference for positive things has taken root and burst forth in the fertile Costa Rican environment and vanquished the noxious weeds of negativity. (Wow...what an image!)

Among the most noticeable of the missing factors is negative stress.

Replacing this stress is a totally re-energized positive stress.

That's the life-force that energizes and drives me. It's what challenges me to continue to develop and achieve.

Welcome back.

2. Less Is More

As small and spartan as it is, my own space is a genuine source of pleasure.

My main space is a room about 12' x 15 ' with an uncovered floor of ceramic tile and bare walls painted off-yellow. Here there is a double bed, a desk, two chairs and a TV (in working order but unused).

Thanks to the 4' x 6' (barred) window and opaque glass door (also barred) this room is nice and bright during the 12 hours of daylight.

I also have the use of a 4-piece bath (one piece is a bidet) and what is called a kitchen equipped with

• apartment-size fridge
• sink
• coffee-maker
• hot plate
• 2 pans
• minimal cutlery & accessories
  

I think I may have cooked 2 meals here.

But it's all good. Definitely not overstocked with unused stuff.

3. Even Less Is Even More

I am also totally enjoying having fewer issues and concerns swirl around me, competing for my social, emotional and intellectual attention. Sometimes it's a problem not speaking Spanish...other times it's a huge benefit.

When I socialize, it's with like-minded people and we talk about things that interest us...not the latest breaking news item from CNN in either English or Spanish.

I have no idea what the political, social and other important issues of the day are here in San Jose. Furthermore...I really don't care.

Intellectually, I can devote my time and energy to doing what I love most: writing and teaching. And based on the feedback of my readers and students, I am quite good at doing what I love to do.

How sweet is that?

Perhaps the best part of the past two months is that it is not the end of the journey.

It's not even the mid-point: I still have about 2½ months left before my teaching commitment has been fulfilled.

Based on what has already happened, what will happen is going to be even better.

Sí ... es todo bueno!

Ballet With A Difference

The Festival Internacional de les Arts...or FIA for short...is currently in full swing in San Jose as well as two other nearby cities—Alejuela and Limon.

Low-Risk Exposure

One of the headline attractions was the Ballet Nacional de Espagne.

I've never seen a full ballet performance live and in person so decided that the National Ballet of Spain appearing before a mostly Spanish speaking audience might be a good place to start.

And the price was definitely right...3000 CRC or $5.76 Canadian. Apart from the time involved, this would most definitely have been a low risk exposure to a new art form if ever there was one.

While waiting for the ballet to start, I gave myself permission to leave at intermission if I felt like it.

Happily, I stayed until the final of what must have been eight curtain calls.

I have never seen or experienced anything like this performance...ever!!

Using words like awesome, fantastic and wonderful doesn't even come close to describing the event.

Yet again I witnessed the energy and excitement of what I am considering to be Latin American passion. This time of course there were major differences.

Passion & Precision

But it was after all the Spaniards who planted the seeds of passion...among other seeds...in Latin America way back when.

The 20 dancers comprised one of the most physically attractive uniform group of performers...or people for that matter...that I have ever seen.

All with the same colour skin and hair--which appeared to have been cut the same day—and size, the men could well have been a set of tentuplets.

Their drab, finally tailored costumes showcased...to use Jacques Brel's words...their little Spanish bums.

Similarly the women were all stunningly beautiful..each with identical make-up and black hair, but with slightly more variation in body shape and size.

No tutus and tights for these ladies. More colourfully costumed than the men, they wore long, flouncy and bouncy skirts...exactly what is required for flamenco dancing.

Certainly a ballet in name and staging, the performance was a big beautifully presented flamenco dance extravaganza.

2-3” Heels

Instead of ballet slippers, the women wore sensible shoes and the men wore boots...all with serious 2-3 inch heels, all the better for dancing the flamenco.

Overall the dancing was a combination of Stompin' Tom Connors and Lord of the Dance but with acute finesse and extreme precision.

Even with the full company, dancing, every single heel hit the stage at exactly the same time...usually several times each second. Add to that precision dancing the equally meticulous clicking of the dancers' castanets and ole...another wonderful evening of musical magic.

Then after the final curtain, back to the reality of vehicle horns arguing about non-existent road space and street vendors shouting above uninterested prospective customers.

That night, the joy of the dance inside the theatre more than offset the cacophony of Costa Ricans going about living their lives...normally and noisily.

Let's Get On With It

When I think back to my first 3-4 months of university, it seems that life was a constant blur of transitions.

Moving From The Real World To Awe & Wonder

The first transition was of course moving from the real world to the awe and wonder of university life.

After about six weeks, there was another major transition. This one was from the sense of awe and wonder to the reality of of living and working in the university environment.

About the middle of March, I experienced a similar shift in my Costa Rica experience. At that point, I had been in Costa Rica about 6 weeks.

My initial sense amazement gave way to a feeling of 'OK, let's get on with it.'

Some Lost Glasses

Get on with what, you ask?

Certainly get on with experiencing the country without the tourists' rose coloured glasses. Not sure where I lost these glasses but I no longer have them.

Even without the rose-coloured glasses, this is a beautiful country that I plan to continue to explore and enjoy. Obviously that's one element of getting on with it.

Also, I will get on with my commitment to Pro Language and to my students to continue the English classes.

Strangely, just as I have figured out the bus system to get these classes with a minimum of travel time and hassle, a new challenge has presented itself: canceled classes.

One student has already canceled 10 classes, for which we have scheduled make-up classes, starting tomorrow.

The other has canceled five classes, with one make-up class completed and the remaining four to be held or scheduled.

Having worked on my own for as long as I have, I have forgotten about the frustrations of trying to work to other people's schedules.

My refresher course in coping with the fallout of other people's schedules continues.

Work-Related Activities

In addition to continue working with my students and getting to know Costa Rica better, I will also get on with several work related activities.

I have already started the planned upgrade of my website.

I used to laugh at people who had snowmobiles and motor-boats, believing that these toys were great excuses to simply putter around.

Surprise, surprise...websites are like that too. Always something more to consume time, energy and attention.

As well as my own website, I have three new projects to start moving along. And earlier today, I got an inquiry from another school about teaching two classes each week.

So that's 6-7 other things for me to get on with.

Whoops...make that 7-8 other things. Still working on learning Spanish, but that seems to have fallen down the list.

The Next Three Months

Certainly the next three months in Costa Rica offer much to look forward to. Lots of opportunities to add new achievements to the experience mix.

Going to be a fun time...and in the words of one of my favourite songs...the best is yet to come.

Just heard that song the other day on my new workday companion: 'noventa et cinquo cinquo Jazz 95.5 Costa Rica.'

How sweet is that?

Memorable Musical Magic

Last night, I experienced one of those magic musical performances that are truly one of a kind.

“La Big Band Costa Rica con Eddie Daniels”

Earlier in the week, I learned that “La Big Band Costa Rica con Eddie Daniels” would be appearing at Teatro Nacional “12 y 13 marzo 8:00 pm”.

I had never heard of La Big Band Costa Rica nor Eddie Daniels, but love big band music so decided to go to the concert, if for no other reason to check out Teatro Nacional.

Constructed between 1830 and 1837, this building is one of the few unique and interesting buildings in San Jose. I'll write about that later.

In terms of expectations for the evening, I anticipated that La Big Band Costa Rica would rank somewhere between an average community band at the low end, and Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, at the top.

As for Eddie Daniels, I expected him to be an ex-pat gringo now living and performing in Costa Rica.

Wrong Expectations

I am happy to admit that I was dead wrong on both expectations.

When the orchestra took the stage there were 19 young Costa Rican men and their middle-aged director in crisp white jackets. One trombone player wore a tailored black jacket.

All the men wore neatly pressed black pants and polished black shoes. The only woman wore her basic black dress.

The last time I saw a big band look that good was when I saw Duke Ellington way back when.

If this group looked good, it played even better.

Talented, Professional Musicians

Within a few bars, it was obvious that there were 22 very talented, professional musicians on-stage.

What I love about well-known, highly regarded performers is how they build on their experience to engage their audiences in fresh new versions of their art.

Being young performers, the La Big Band Costa Rica is driven...and driven hard by their sheer energy. And being Latin, their individual and combined passion is the ideal catalyst for their energy.

Although I have not checked, I don't think Latin Americans have a term for mediocrity. They tend to be very passionate about absolutely everything they do...even if it's a taxi driver having a nap in his car.

Think of a really good all-black gospel choir belting out hymns, swinging 'n' swaying in their fancy robes. That's the closest thing I can think to describe the talent, energy and passion of La Big Band Costa Rica.

Not A Stage Hand...

Enter Eddie Daniels, the visually laid back but equally talented and intense guest clarinet/saxophone soloist.

Wearing jeans and a nondescript blazer, he looked more like a stage hand than a professional performer. But what an amazing performer he is.

Check out his website to learn more about him.

The synergy between Eddie Daniels and this group was absolutely awesome...in the true sense of the word.

You could feel the energy all the way up to the gallery where I was sitting.

When the planned program was over, no one, least of all the performers, wanted the evening to end.

Daniels would cue the drummer, who would start pounding a basic beat, which in turn got the audience clapping rhythmically. The director then gave hand signals to the band to show what he wanted....and the music went on and on.

Eventually Daniels slowed the tempo and lowered the volume until the hall was totally quiet...but only for a few seconds. Then everyone from the back row in the gallery to the back row on stage was on their feet cheering and clapping.

What an amazing experience!

Happy 20th!!

Oh yeah, one more thing.

The trombone player in the black jacket? As far as I can tell, he was the founder and first musical director of La Big Band de Costa Rica and currently a music professor at the University of Costa Rica.

Last night's concert marked the group's 20th Anniversary, so he was invited back as a guest performer.

What a celebration it was...and a great experience to savour. Glad I was there.

Local Addresses

For better or for worse, I am starting to appreciate the Costa Rican approach to local addresses.

In most of the country, there are neither street names nor house numbers.

Addresses refer to local landmarks.

For example, my address—as shown on my rental agreement is:

“San Francisco de Dos Rios, 300 mts Sur del Restaurante Tierra Colombia, Fente al Abastecedor don Bosco.”

Roughly translated into English this means

“San Francisco de Dos Rios, [the community in which I live, part of San Jose, the capital city] 300 metres south of the Earth Colombia Restaurant [which is now closed and renovated into a business centre] across from the merchant Don Bosco”.

There are two things I like about the Costa Rican approach to describing an address.

Local Landmarks

First it forces us to be aware of what's around us. Whether giving or receiving directions, it is important to be aware of local landmarks.

Moving around Toronto, whether on foot, public transit or driving is invariably frustrating.

It's like some kind of dance in which thousands and thousands of people move about so totally engrossed in themselves, their inner thoughts or wireless communications that they are totally oblivious to what is right beside them.

When looking for local landmarks, you are forced to be more aware of your surroundings. This of course includes other people, the second feature I like about the Costa Rican approach.

Whether asking for clarification or entirely new directions, the Costa Rican approach certainly facilitates connecting with other people.

And speaking of connecting with people, I've seen a couple of Mormons wandering around town, trying to do just that.

It was hard to miss them...clean cut handsome young gringos in crisp white shirts and subdued ties, matching backpacks with Bibles in hand. Very un-Tico.

Found myself wondering how they prospect for converts.

No Mail Delivery

There is no such thing as door-to-door canvassing in Costa Rica.

When people come calling they stand on the street in front of the residence and shout 'Hola' or 'Buenos'.

There is also no mail delivery.

Important communications are delivered by guys on motorcycles who stand on the street in front of the residence and shout the name on the envelop or parcel followed by 'correo' or something like it.

This of course attracts the attention of curious bystanders who no doubt wonder...aka gossip...about what was so important that it had to be delivered by correo.

Now I am wondering if there is no mail delivery because there are no local addresses..or there are no local addresses because there is no mail delivery.