What a great day I had today! I’ve been sick (again) for three days. Seems I’ve picked up every infection that’s gone around. I’ve been sick three times in the six weeks I’ve been back in Costa Rica. But each time, I am happy to hole up in my cozy little abode, watch movies and recuperate. Then, when I come back out into the world with renewed energy, I have a fantastic day.

       It’s rainy season and I am enjoying it immensely. I love the weather in Costa Rica. It rains every day, but mostly in the afternoon, and off and on throughout the night. There is usually sunshine in the early part of the day. Sometimes it’s clear blue skies all day long. Storms come and go. This evening while I write, the the wind is blowing hard, clattering the metal roof and tossing things around. The lights are flickering and – OH! – the power just went out. Outside, on the balcony, I see a town, pitch black, except for the new grocery store down the street. They have a generator. Time for me to light the candles.
       These are the days of the big waves. Raging winter storms out on the ocean send them in, along with extremely dangerous currents. It’s not so good for swimming. In December people drown. But the surfers love it. Rain or sun – they’re out there having fun.

       Today I walked the beach at Playa Negra. It was still sunny at noon. Along the way I happened upon a Nicaraguan guy and we struck up an interesting conversation. Born in Bluefields, a city on the Caribbean coast, north of here, Nando fled with his family, at age twelve. They were taken in by Costa Rica as refugees. “We ran for our lives.” Nando exclaimed, “We ran from the Sandinistas. They were destroying villages, killing old people and children and anyone else who did not go over to their side!”
       This was a perspective I had never heard. Today, no one seems to think much of the Sandinistas and their leader, the current president Daniel Ortega. But I was under the impression that back in 1980, when the Sandinistas overthrew the forty four year Somozan family rein, it was a victory for the Nicaraguan people. Nando disagrees. He says life was not so bad before the war.
       Nicaragua is the largest country in Central American, both in land mass and population. Claimed by Spain in 1522, both the British and Mexican empires gained control in the 17th and 18th centuries. The country has been wrenched from the hands of one dictator to another since it’s independence in 1838. My local, Cuban friend Ernesto, fought with the Sandinistas against the Contras in 1979. The Contras, a US supported force, were Somoza’s National Guard. Ernesto claims Somoza was cruel and corrupt and that the Sandinistas purpose was to free the people. Nando told me the Sandinistas were worse than the Contras, who were reputed to be brutal and sadistic.
       In 1980, when the final Somoza family ruler was assassinated, the Sandinistas took over. In 1984 Ortega was “elected” and held the office of president for about three years. Since then there have been a number of others in power, all purportedly by democratic election. In 2006 Ortega was elected again. Through all these years of war and conquest it looks to me like no one has really done anything to help the Nicaraguan people. It is such a shame that a county of it’s size and resources should have so many impoverished. A friend who lived there for some years said, “Nicaragua, unfortunately, is a place where everyone – from Ortega to Contras, Sandinistas, campesinos, bus drivers, taxeros, etc, etc, – tries so hard to imagine themselves as the victim, so they can “emerge” from being abused to get revenge; it seems to most that the payoff is better for doing that, than for trying to solve their problems. They’d all like you to believe you can trust them, and not their enemies, but unfortunately there is nobody who can be trusted in the country.” Nando is happy be here in Costa Rica where he says there is peace and there is always work to be found.
       A two hour conversation about politics was a pleasant surprise for me this afternoon. One reason it took two hours was that Nando speaks very little English. There were many pauses for explanation and clarification. It was a great way for me to practice my Spanish and I learned a new expression, too. Pura Mierda – Bullshit – (literally pure shit). That came from my response, when he asked me why I found discussion of politics in my own country, boring. “It’s all bullshit.” I replied. Of course, I’m sure there is no less of that in Central America, but for me, this new world is much more interesting.
       Also interesting was Nando’s name, which is a nickname for his real name, Donaldo. I told him that was Donald in English, which uses the nickname Don. Now if you know Latin culture, you know that Don is a title of respect. (Remember Don Corleone, from The Godfather? His first name was not Donald.) So I told Nando that since his name was Donald he must be Don Nando. He said no, “No tengo plata.” (I don’t have money.) Most often the Don and Doña (pronounced donya) are the master and mistress of a prosperous household. But the honorific is also used as a term of deference to those who are older or of higher status. In Costa Rica it is used with the first name, as in Doña Lisa. I have actually been called that a few times and I like it! I can pretend to be the matriarch of a huge hacienda, like Barbara Stanwyck in the old TV series The Big Valley. It gives me a regal feeling – similar to the feeling I get when the guy selling vegetables in the street calls me “mi reina” (my queen). I just love this language!
       Nando and I walked along the beach and then turned up the road toward town as the wind brought in the rain. It poured and we got soaked. We stopped at the corner bar to get out of the rain and I hitched a ride the rest of the way into town, in the back of a pickup. Before I got in, Nando thanked me. He said, “I know you are a person more intelligent than me, yet you come and speak to me and ask me all about my life and my country and my opinions. You have much humility.” That was a great compliment. Humility is an honored trait in Costa Rica culture. It was touching.
       So that was my day – my great day, my fantastic day – here in paradise – magnificent waves, political conversation with a new found friend, getting drenched to the bone and then a ride in the back of a pickup truck. Just walk out the door with no plans. You never know what will happen here in Costa Rica.