Pura Vida, Relax

Last week, on our trip to and from the running race at the beach, there were two events that I keep thinking about. They are indicative of a specific aspect of the local Tico culture here and very different from how I could have naturally responded, or should I say how I am conditioned to respond due to my socialization in a different culture.

The first event occurred when my family arrived at our main meeting point to discover that a road construction crew had dug a trench in front of the driveway, making vehicle access impossible. We parked our car on the other side of the farm, walked across pastures to the house and hopped in a van loaded with 18 people. We warned various members of our group that the driveway was now impassable. Remember, farms can have very long driveways, so everyone seemed oblivious to the road construction. Well, each response was "no preocupada, tranqilo" or "no worry, relax." We arrived at the construction crew and trench across the driveway and remarkably there was barely a response inside the van. I heard a couple of "ohhhh"s and some light conversation about the workers and equipment. Without a complaint or a 'heh, what the beep are they doin? they didn't tell me about any construction!!! Holy crap, well never get out of here. Oh my gosh, how bleepen long is this gonna take, I've got a race to run! We're stuck! There's no other way out!". Everyone remained calm, no one appeared annoyed and without any verbal communication between our group and the road crew, the backhoe operator pushed around some earth to fill in a section of trench, our driver turned the wheel tightly and hit the gas. With a beep and a wave, we were merrily on our stress-free way.

The second event occurred that evening as we started heading up the mountain. The van jerked, the driver sad "oh no" and the van stopped moving. He explained something about the clutch missing a screw and then got out to look underneath the van. So, we have 18 people crammed in a van sitting on a dark road 2 hours from home. Again, light conversation, joking with the driver, a couple of phone calls to relatives and a solution is on the way. We proceeded in 1st gear to the next town, a scattering of houses along the main road. An in-law of one in our group lived in the town. He met us and scrounged up a screw that the driver must have jimmy-rigged into the hole. The ordeal lasted about an hour. We all hung out along the road, I took one of our boys away from the group so he could poop on the side of the road. No, we did not use leaves, we usually have a roll of TP on hand for such times. Again, no complaints, no muffled conversations about how the driver is a bleep for not taking care of the clutch problem BEFORE the trip, no concern about getting home later than expected, no checking watches, just enjoying the present and watching cows eat their grassy dinner. I did confirm with the driver that the van brakes functioned properly.

I keep thinking about the relaxed nature of the Ticos and the level of stress these events might have caused if they occurred in Illinois. Thankfully, I was with a group of people who were confident that solutions could be found. Did they even think about it as a problem/solution event? They did not appear to let these situations negatively affect their day or the trip. It was a great lesson in "Pura Vida" a common saying in Costa Rica that means 'all is good.'
Signed M