It will be three in the morning if maybe not a little before and I find myself… I find myself thinking of the most immense and astounding ideas, opportunities and destinations. I like myself best in that place, I feel completely myself with the loves of my life sleeping beside me and at my feet, the world right outside my window and my imagination taking the lead. Okay, sounds great doesn’t it, just picturing a soft pillow and a magical unrest. Well the reality is this just means I’ll be searching for my coffee extra hard when I peel myself from the bed a couple hours from now looking like one of those oh so ingenious ideas literally ran into my face. Words can certainly make you believe any situation is glorious just as a photo can make a place look breathtaking without really showing you what is a bit more authentic to the moment or location. It’s been established that I am currently living in Costa Rica, Central America, the sloth country, the coffee country, the tropical “paradise”. I have been here long enough to have my own opinion and understanding of my locale, and I am about two bottles of wine in and two middle fingers up with how many people tell me “oh you live in paradise”. Alright, so you’ve seen a post card photo or read a short article on the country, wait, you’ve taken a weeks vacation here; you must really know what living here is like then as an outsider. Let me spin a little perspective spice on this dish, people throw out the window that every individual has a personal preference for just about everything in life. This is an out the window topic, when you say you live in a tropical country with beaches they think this is the peak of existence and there is no need to hear otherwise. To get even spicer on this dish on Costa Rica (which they do not do spicy anything…chorizo is like a hot dog here and that’s a travesty if not sacrilegious in itself). I personally do not find enjoyment in tropical heat, sitting on a beach schfitzing from the humidity that accompanies the close hug of the equator, and as obtuse as many may find it, my end all be all is not sitting on some beach, bikini clad with a beverage in hand. The sun kissed dream is not in my repertoire and there is a lot more to living abroad than bringing vacation daydreams to fruition. Before I get too far I should preface I am living in said tropical country by mandate and not by my own doing, nor did I initially ever have a desire to be in this area of the world. There was no desire of the expat fantasy in these bones nor will there be, and I fully understand those who say “if you don’t like it than leave” solid point Paco, will do when my time is up. Instead of listing on pessimistically what I do not enjoy in this country or about living abroad I will spare you just as I ask all others spare me of their “it could be worse” or “let’s work on changing your mind” speeches. Anyone in this position does not need a fix-it-Fred telling you euphemisms that make your ears curdle with distaste or the ever so popular “you’ll get used to it”. No, Fred, I won’t get used to the bland cardboard flavor of food, or the fact that no one is driving in the lines let alone adhering to any sort of safe driving standard. What I am laying down is my point of view and I will never like constant heat, a lack of seasons, or third world realities and that is A-OKAY. I have been in much worse places, I have been worse off, I have been in more dangerous situations, I have had my share of unfavorable afflictions and with all that you know what it means? I will be fine and I don’t have to change my mind because my taste differs from this country’s palate. With that conclusive statement let me recommend a Costa Rican dish called Gallo Pinto, it’s a breakfast rice & beans & I love it…no, really I do.
If you want to sip a coconut infused with rum on the boiling sand, be my sun screen slathered guest, and only count me in for about 10 minutes with one dip into the water. Give me a wool sweater with a chill in the air as the leaves turn or a flake falls, and with a hot coffee in hand. -SM
You tell Fred! Haha love this! Just be yourself; no stress to constantly be in a pleasant frame of mind. That my friend is just as equal of a perspective!