New Words and Fun Facts!

• A person from Costa Rica is called "una costarricense" or "un(a) Tico(a)"
• A person from Nicaragua is called "una Nica" - recently learned that this term doesn't have the great connotation and shouldn't be used.
• Costa Rica hasn't had a standing army since 1949
• My host mom is my "Mamá Tica"
• Central America and some of South America has the same electrical outlets as North America. Converter not necessary.  Helpful map for my traveling amigos:

• Just driving through the city one afternoon I saw:  Subway, Walmart, McDonalds, Starbucks, Wendy's, Quiznos, Johnny Rockets, Applebees and more I can't remember. Talk about North American influence...
• On that note, Walmart has taken over a good percentage of the local markets and shops in San Jose, but many stores still have their own signs outside, but Walmart products within.
• There are more Americans living illegally in Costa Rica than there are costarricenses living illegally in the United States.
• Plátano does not mean banana, contrary to what we were taught in school. Banana is banano. According to Mamá Tica, plantain is the name we gave plátanos in the US. Here is a picture to help explain the difference:

• Platanos maduros are fried/sautéed plantains and here they are usually eaten as a part of every meal!
• When costarricenses pick up the phone, they often say "alo" sounding very similar to "hello"
• The original "Central America" was 5 countries:  Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Now the term commonly includes Belize and Panama, but technically it should be Central America y Panama (separate).
• You should only exchange dollars for colones in official banks, not at the airport (whoops), or on the street.  The reason for this is the exchange rate in the airports is much less than what it is in the banks.
• Pedestrians (peatónes) do NOT have the right of way in Costa Rica. Mama Tica is constantly reminding me about how dangerous the streets are because of the aggressive Tico drivers.  Yuri (program director) explained it like this (translated), "Costarricenses are the nicest people you will meet, but we become monsters behind the wheel" Apparently this rule doesn't apply to all Ticos because he was a very safe and considerate driver. You can't count on the lights that say pedestrians can pass or that people will stop at red lights either. And motorcycles pretty much NEVER stop.
• Tips are rarely given here.  Wish I knew this before I tipped the Tico that helped me find Yuri at the airport.
• Malaria is only really found in Costa Rica in the areas of Costa Rica very close to Nicaragua and Panama, and even there it is rare.
• Sometimes signs in touristic places of Costa Rica will say the water is safe to drink, but they lie.  However, while in Puerto Viejo I ordered a salad and didn't get sick.  I only did so after asking our American waitress if they used purified water.
• White coat = gabacha
• At IHCAI, which I may refer to as either the school or the foundation, there is a wonderful woman by the name of Jeannette who works there.  I befriended her my first day when I arrived an hour before the director.  She is from Nicaragua and moved to Costa Rica 5 years ago to escape what she explained to be a terrible crisis in her home country.  I have talked with Mama Tica at length about Nicaraguans who seek asylum here in Costa Rica.  She explains it as such.  She is extremely grateful that Costa Rica is not in the same state of poverty as Nicaragua, although she admits there are plenty of problems with the government here.  She would never want a pregnant woman, a young child, and elderly person, or a person with HIV/AIDS to go without medical attention, regardless of if they are not from her country.  She understands that the price of this is that working costarricenses are ultimately paying for these services for patients from outside Costa Rica.  However, she knows that if immigration into Costa Rica continues at the rate that it is currently, that eventually the working costarricenses won't be able to support the medical needs of the country as a whole with all its immigrants.
• It is not uncommon to bring juice in a plastic (Ziploc) bag to work/on the go, and to drink from it with a straw.
• Mama Tica has been going to church with the same group of women for many years.  This group of women is called "Las Hermanas de La Communidad" (The Sisters of the Community)
• Almost all the costarricenses whom I have worked with brush their teeth 3-4 times per day.  Once in the morning, once after our mid-morning coffee break, once after lunch, and once before bed.  Sometimes we have a bathroom party after lunch with everyone brushing their teeth.
• Most of bathrooms at La Carit are for both females and males since it is an all women's hospital.
• Costarricenses don't use street names, house numbers, or addresses.  They use landmarks and their impeccable sense of direction.  Thankfully, I too have been blessed with a wonderful sense of direction...For example, my house as per my paperwork from IHCAI (translated) is "200 meters north and 100 meters east of the northeastern corner of the park and the church. The orange house on the corner"
• Everyone addresses pharmacists here as "doctor" or "doctora" even between pharmacists. 
• Common greetings for the morning include:  "como amaneciste?" (how have you awaken), "como le va?" (how's it going?)
• Whenever you ask someone how they're doing or how their family is or how any aspect of their life is, the response is always followed by, "Gracias a Dios" or the occasional "por dicha"
• Although I must admit, I was first a bit thrown off by being kissed on the cheek by all my coworkers every morning, now I love it!  Costarricenses outwardly express their affection and emotions much more than the average North American.
• No one wears a seatbelt if you're in the back seat, even children.  I learned this the hard way when I was in the back seat of one of the pharmacist's cars when we were going to get a drink and a bite to eat after work one day.  I was searching around for the seat belt end and finally found it still wrapped in the plastic it came in from the manufacturer.  I asked her why she still had the plastic on the seat belt and she started cracking up along with the pharmacy secretary who was in the front seat with her.  When I asked what was so funny they could barely control themselves as they explained that seat belts in the back are not used in Costa Rica.  I couldn't believe my ears!  We proceeded to have a discussion about how they're not accustomed to using them and therefore just don't use them!  They did inform me that it's a law to wear it in the front 2 seats.  
• It's normal to have street venders weaving in and out of lanes of traffic on busy streets and even highways selling everything from fruit to homemade jewelry, to their talents of hula hooping or fire juggling.
• There are also many bus stops on the highway.  I thought this was odd until one day when I was going with two of the pharmacists from one hospital to another hospital in car on the highway and our car overheated.  We pulled over to the side of the highway, conveniently right into a bus stop, left the car, and a bus came and picked us up in less than 5 minutes!