Shannon Costello

Horns seemed to be used extensively here to express something other than irritation (not that they are not also used for that purpose).

A taxi may beep before passing a bus in order to say, ‘hey, I’m passing, don’t hit me.’

While walking to school last week, one driver slowed down and beeped to another car that was leaving the driveway to say, ‘go ahead, I’ll wait,’ and the car in the driveway beeped back to say, ‘thank you’.

I also observed various drivers beeping (short, friendly beeps) as they approached an intersection to remind other cars that perhaps were contemplating a crossing that they were coming.  This may have something to do with the widespread disregard for stop signs that I have observed.

I was all excited to see a volcano on Saturday- Irazú.  However, it was so foggy we generally could not see more than 50 feet in front of us, so it did not feel much like a volcano.  However, it was still pretty cool.  At 11,000 feet of elevation we were still seeing plants with HUGE leaves.  And every so often a bit of fog would blow away and we would catch a glimpse of something (say, a mountain top) that we hadn’t known existed.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in the house of Doña Flora’s married daughter.  It was a bit of a drive to get there, but the house was magnificent, not to mention the plants.  She lives more in the country than anything else, and I saw some really cool birds.  I was so tired coming back that I was falling asleep in the car…and it was not that late, either!