The other day, I went with a friend and her son to Multiplaza to have dinner at Te Con Te (they have this ridiculously huge kids' playground inside for the moms to let the smalls loose while they sit having coffee). On the way home, we got to talking about how so many people get killed crossing the streets (mostly highways) here in Costa Rica. (Every heart you see on the roads represents someone who has died there in an accident.) They have recently begun work on the pedestrian bridge from CIMA hospital to the other side of the highway. My friend told me the story of the woman who was killed there a couple of years back, and how the woman WORKED AT CIMA, but since she didn't have insurance, they took her all the way downtown San Jose to San Juan de Dios public hospital, and she, of course, died in transit. This woman's life could have been saved -- I'm still shocked that CIMA would turn her away. There really should be a law against that, here and everywhere. No one should die because of lack of insurance.
But I digress...
As we passed over the hill into Santa Ana way, we noticed some flashing lights on the other side of the highway, and I looked over to see a body of someone who had been hit by a car. Another heart on the highway.
The following night, esposo told me that on his way home, he saw a bicyclist in Piedades who had been hit by a car and killed also.
Why does this keep happening? I can't believe the number of people who are hit by cars on roads in this country. It is disgraceful. Shall we put the blame on drivers, who think they own the roads and drive like no one's business, or on the severe lack of highway patrol officers and their inability to patrol the highways? Or shall we lay the blame on the pedestrians and cyclists (several of which have crossed in front of me at night -- and scared the heck out of me!), who don't pay attention, cross where they have no business doing so, don't wear bright or reflective clothing at night, and drive their bicycles at night without lights? Perhaps all are equally to blame, I don't know. I just think it's terribly sad.
Here in my very small town of Ciudad Colon, we have one heart on the road in front of the church downtown (downtown is all of a good 8 blocks long, I believe). From speaking with my friend, however (who was a nurse back in the States), it seems at least three people (to her knowledge) have been hit by cars and died downtown. Are there just too many hearts to paint on all the roads? Where is the traffic education? Every time I see a parent running across the street with a child in arms or by the hands, I shake my head. Granted, crosswalks are few and far between, but really, should we be running across highways? Cross at a light, for god's sake! Anyone who takes a child's life into their hands by running across a highway should not have children in the first place, sorry, don't think so.
I just read a report put out by the MOPT (Costa Rica's highway patrol), that gives some of the following statistics:
* Last year, 22 people died crossing the roads, the 2nd leading cause of death on the highways (car accidents accounted for 44 highway deaths last year).
* Since 2000, 422 people have died crossing the roads, or 18% of all people who have died on the highways and other roads here.
* In the period of 2000-2006, 141 cyclists have died on the roads, and 8 of them died in the first quarter of 2006 alone.
Sigh...
While visiting the MOPT site, I ran across an area where one can make a complaint against another driver (I wish I had known about this when that @$$hole cab driver almost ran us all into a bus!). I heartily urge everyone who comes up against an idiot driver, bad cab or bus driver, etc. to fill out a report, as I will be doing from now again.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Who Gives a Rat's Ass?
From La Nacion
Why, for the love of everything that is good, does anyone care what these people do? So they spent Christmas with Colombian refugees before jetting off to the Four Seasons in Guanacaste for New Year's. Oh, please. Enough already.
Why, for the love of everything that is good, does anyone care what these people do? So they spent Christmas with Colombian refugees before jetting off to the Four Seasons in Guanacaste for New Year's. Oh, please. Enough already.
Catch of the Day
Look what the cat dragged in:
Now that is one seriously big cockroach! Back in the good old U S of A, I have seen cockroaches that were little, itty bitty things (but still nasty in my book). On my first trip to Mexico back in 1985, I had a "friend" living in our hotel bathroom for a week. Pablo was a good couple of inches long, and for some reason, not as disgusting as the little ones. Fast forward 15 years, I move to Costa Rica, and can't seem to get away from cockroaches. At our last house, Kiki would regularly catch and kill cockroaches and leave them (in bits and pieces, usually) around the house for us to pick up each morning. Nice.
Cockroaches are a way of life in the tropics, but I'm still grossed out by them. Somewhere between Mexico and Costa Rica I realized how disgusting and filthy the things are (I think it was that entomology class I took in college). I no longer name my cockroaches, and tend to squish them and then flush them down the toilet at first sight. At the old house, we'd get the regular-sized ones that were a couple of inches long. But this thing is big. Really big. We're talking like a good 4 or so inches big. That is esposo's hand, and he is not a small man. I refused to pick the thing up, even though it was already dead. Bleh. Do cockroaches have any redeeming qualities? I know some people keep them as pets, which I just can't figure out. Double bleh. I'll stick to dogs and cats, thanks.
La Cucaracha, La Cucaracha, ya no puede caminar...
Now that is one seriously big cockroach! Back in the good old U S of A, I have seen cockroaches that were little, itty bitty things (but still nasty in my book). On my first trip to Mexico back in 1985, I had a "friend" living in our hotel bathroom for a week. Pablo was a good couple of inches long, and for some reason, not as disgusting as the little ones. Fast forward 15 years, I move to Costa Rica, and can't seem to get away from cockroaches. At our last house, Kiki would regularly catch and kill cockroaches and leave them (in bits and pieces, usually) around the house for us to pick up each morning. Nice.
Cockroaches are a way of life in the tropics, but I'm still grossed out by them. Somewhere between Mexico and Costa Rica I realized how disgusting and filthy the things are (I think it was that entomology class I took in college). I no longer name my cockroaches, and tend to squish them and then flush them down the toilet at first sight. At the old house, we'd get the regular-sized ones that were a couple of inches long. But this thing is big. Really big. We're talking like a good 4 or so inches big. That is esposo's hand, and he is not a small man. I refused to pick the thing up, even though it was already dead. Bleh. Do cockroaches have any redeeming qualities? I know some people keep them as pets, which I just can't figure out. Double bleh. I'll stick to dogs and cats, thanks.
New Kids on the Block
Since we moved, we have acquired several more animal companions. Allow me to introduce them...
First is Olivia Siobahn (thanks, L7, for giving me the idea for her name!), a little white kitty who arrived just as we were packing up the moving boxes. She was a darling, adorable little kitten, and when I realized she was also deaf, I thought that her being let outside meant it was only a matter of time before she was hit by a car, so we kept her. Now, I know the people who she belonged to -- farmers down the road from us that sort of let their cats and dogs breed like mad -- so I knew she wouldn't really be missed. So she came with us, and she's made a great playmate for Kiki.
Then, a couple of weeks later, we went to visit our friends (who, as coincidence would have it, also moved into a new home, though they are buying theirs and we're just renting 'cause we're getting the heck out of Costa Rica in the next couple of years, but I guess they intend to stay). I saw that their little old dog was in a pen in the back, and my friend proceeded to tell me about the dog biting their 1-1/2-year -old and her husband being so angry he was ready to put the dog to sleep. She (our friend) seemed sort of stuck in the middle, and I offered to take Tiny (what's one more dog at this point?, I figured). By the end of the night, we'd made arrangements to have Tiny come live with us, and it's true she doesn't like kids in her face (she's already nipped at our son a couple of times), but I suppose since he's a year older he is better able to understand that he needs to stay away from her more than the baby. She's really sweet, and reminds me of my little Chihuahua Mable, albeit with long hair.
The house we moved into "came" with two dogs, a mutt named Mun(y)eca and a Rottweiler named Alaska. The landlords were either going to take them to the shelter or they could stay here, so, HEY! surprise, surprise -- they stayed here. They (the landlords) have said that if someone wants to take them, they can. So if anyone out there wants one or two lovely dogs, let me know. The Rotti, in particular, is fantastic with kids, a great watchdog, sweet as can be (think Good Dog Carla), happy to see you when you get home without getting overly excited, etc. I wish I could trade her for Numi, who has, since we moved in here, killed both of my rabbits (Mariah and Hunny Bunny).
I'm starting to feel like we're running an animal shelter here. This now makes 10 dogs and 4 cats. I never in my wildest dream thought I'd have 10 dogs (ok, two are not really ours, but for all intents and purposes, they might as well be). Who wakes up one day and says, Gee, I think I'd like to have 10 dogs? No one in their right mind! Of course, it's easier to end up with 10 dogs here than in the U.S., as there are so, so many stray animals on the streets it can be overwhelming. Oh well, you do what you can, right?
First is Olivia Siobahn (thanks, L7, for giving me the idea for her name!), a little white kitty who arrived just as we were packing up the moving boxes. She was a darling, adorable little kitten, and when I realized she was also deaf, I thought that her being let outside meant it was only a matter of time before she was hit by a car, so we kept her. Now, I know the people who she belonged to -- farmers down the road from us that sort of let their cats and dogs breed like mad -- so I knew she wouldn't really be missed. So she came with us, and she's made a great playmate for Kiki.
Then, a couple of weeks later, we went to visit our friends (who, as coincidence would have it, also moved into a new home, though they are buying theirs and we're just renting 'cause we're getting the heck out of Costa Rica in the next couple of years, but I guess they intend to stay). I saw that their little old dog was in a pen in the back, and my friend proceeded to tell me about the dog biting their 1-1/2-year -old and her husband being so angry he was ready to put the dog to sleep. She (our friend) seemed sort of stuck in the middle, and I offered to take Tiny (what's one more dog at this point?, I figured). By the end of the night, we'd made arrangements to have Tiny come live with us, and it's true she doesn't like kids in her face (she's already nipped at our son a couple of times), but I suppose since he's a year older he is better able to understand that he needs to stay away from her more than the baby. She's really sweet, and reminds me of my little Chihuahua Mable, albeit with long hair.
The house we moved into "came" with two dogs, a mutt named Mun(y)eca and a Rottweiler named Alaska. The landlords were either going to take them to the shelter or they could stay here, so, HEY! surprise, surprise -- they stayed here. They (the landlords) have said that if someone wants to take them, they can. So if anyone out there wants one or two lovely dogs, let me know. The Rotti, in particular, is fantastic with kids, a great watchdog, sweet as can be (think Good Dog Carla), happy to see you when you get home without getting overly excited, etc. I wish I could trade her for Numi, who has, since we moved in here, killed both of my rabbits (Mariah and Hunny Bunny).
I'm starting to feel like we're running an animal shelter here. This now makes 10 dogs and 4 cats. I never in my wildest dream thought I'd have 10 dogs (ok, two are not really ours, but for all intents and purposes, they might as well be). Who wakes up one day and says, Gee, I think I'd like to have 10 dogs? No one in their right mind! Of course, it's easier to end up with 10 dogs here than in the U.S., as there are so, so many stray animals on the streets it can be overwhelming. Oh well, you do what you can, right?
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Pepinos, Not Cukes
My friend Sylbeth (aka Syllie and La Que Que, among other monikers), did a video (in the YouTube box below) for her Spanish class that is a play on the series Destinos (which we all had to watch back in college Spanish classes and which you too can see in all its glory, absolutely free! here) and bad telenovelas. Viewer, beware!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)