Please...let there be light

Seiously, today started out really well. I had a great morning with my host family. Coffee, bread pudding and fresh baked white bread for breakfast, and all of the kids were in school by 7AM allowing me, my host parents, and Fresie (the women who cleans our house) to have coffee and a nice chat in relative peace and quiet.

Yesterday, my host parents were quite stressed out from their respective job responsibilities. So I decided to return the favor they granted to me the last two weeks, while I was so stressed out, by cooking breakfast for Fresie and doing the coffee and dinner dishes. This allowed them to get ready for work in the morning without having to rush, and to spend some quality time with their kids in the evening. A small but fun way to love my Costa Rican family.

Well kids, it's been another fun work day here in Paradise. The power just shut off at work, giving us all a ten minute coffee/gossip break. (And the gossip was good too...demotions, controversy, people up in arms, the works!) You should know that in El Rodeo (the town where I work) power outages are frequent and seem to be the tropical equivalent of snow delays. Because we're a global institution with all of the trappings of a modern firm (computers, and intranet, a web page, servers, etc.) you would think a little thing like the power going off wouldn't keep us from our important work. You would be wrong.

Apparently this lack of power phenomenon is not a country-wide epidemic borne of bad infrastructure (as in many other parts of the "developing"--i hate this term, anyone know of something better--world). It is a phenomenon solely of this little part of the country I reside and work in, Ciudad Colón and El Rodeo. I asked my host Mom, who is Costa Rican but not originally from The Ciudad, and she says the authorities claim to not know why the power and water go off so often. She says if you call and ask why, their answer is " Because." Ha! I love it! I especially love that this is an accepted answer. Can you imagine if ConEd or BG&E orPEPCo answered customer complaints with "Because"? They'd have picketers, local news and senators at their front doorstep by the end of the day. Not here. Here we live in the wild west, where laws are a suggestion, a guideline if you will.

Speaking of guidelines, this just in from the US Embassy in CR Consular Information update:

"Costa Rica has one of the highest vehicle accident rates in the world. Even the most experienced drivers are challenged by the disregard for traffic laws and driving safety. Traffic laws and speed limits are often ignored; turns across one or two lanes of traffic are common, and pedestrians are not given the right of way. Although improving, roads are often in poor condition, and large potholes with the potential to cause significant damage to vehicles are common. Pedestrians, cyclists, and farm animals may use the main roads. Traffic signs, even on major highways, are often inadequate. "

Hoo-boy. Seriously, on the nearby 4 lane highway here there are graphics of a heart with a halo over it painted in yellow on the pavement at irregular intervals. I recently learned that these indicate the places where pedestrians have been KILLED trying to cross THE HIGHWAY. The signs remind me too much of the coins in Super Mario Brothers. I half-expect the car or bus I'm riding in to go DING! and our gasoline level to increase when we ride over top of them...