Strangers in a Strange Land

(Guest post by Heather Ray)

Nine years ago, at the invitation of a good friend, I made my first trip to this magical place called Costa Rica. Since then, I have returned annually... Sometimes with family but mostly with friends.

I now have a small home here; perched on the Eastern slope of the continental divide at 2100 feet elevation.

Lovely view of the eastern slope of the continental divide! 

The birds are varied and plentiful. Toucans are as common here as Robin's are in Ontario. The howler monkeys signal the start of each day at 5am with their resonant baritone calls. 

Two years ago my friends Jo-Anne and Sue came to visit me here. They now own the home 100 meters away. We share a picturesque view of a lush hillside and quebrada and we recently discovered we also share a mama sloth and her one offspring. 

Jo and Sue's casa required some remodeling work and over the past two years we have gotten to know some of the local builders... Specifically, Henry and Sergio, whom we have come to include in our circle of friends.

Friends taking a selfie before coronavirus struck

Now keep in mind they don't speak English and the three of us know just enough Español to embarrass ourselves on a regular basis, yet somehow, we are able to communicate quite effectively through pantomime, horrible pronunciations and Google translate (go home Google translate. You're drunk).

Henry and Sergio on coffee break

The "Ticos" are incredibly kind and muy generous people. They are ingenious, and can overcome any obstacle they encounter. If they don't have a tool for a specific task, they simply create a tool using what they do have. It's really an amazing experience to observe them.

We arrived in mid-February, and were soon invited to share a fun evening of karaoke with our lawyer and her family and colleagues. The food was delicious and the laughter plentiful. Music melted any language barriers. It really was a special evening and we feel honored to have been invited. 

Dinner before karaoke

Shortly after we arrived in this magical land, COVID-19 turned the entire world upside down. I'm incredibly proud to see how this country handled the arrival of the pandemic. On March 16th the border was closed, preventing any new arrivals. 

Well before distancing orders were implemented in North America, Costa Rica had already put a halt to group gatherings and ordered all retailers to erect hand washing stations outside their doors. Plexiglass partitions were put up at checkout counters and alcohol gel was readily available, as was (is) toilet paper. Seniors were permitted entry to the bank/grocery store for the first hour of each business day, and only 5 persons at a time were allowed inside. 

In addition to these measures, strict driving bans were put in place. Initially, during Semana Santa (holy) week, vehicles were restricted to only two days of driving and had to observe an odd/even schedule based on the last digit of your license plate. Now, 5 weeks later, we aren't allowed to drive on Tuesdays or Sundays and can only drive to either the supermarket or pharmacy on Saturdays.

Also during Semana Santa, all beaches were closed. Keep in mind this is a time when all Ticos head to the beach for the entire week! Not this year...

While some countries are reporting deaths in the thousands, this tiny Central American country has had 7 losses to date. Currently the number of recovered cases numbers more than the number of active cases. 

It's for these reasons we decided to cancel our return flights at the end of March and stay here. It just seemed like the smarter and safer option. I'm glad we did.