QCOSTARICA BLOGS: Award # 1 Goes to: President Solis, who, on our tax money, might have, as the saying goes, “Pissed off the Pope.”
In Costa Rica it is perfectly polite to be late for just about anything with far-fetched excuses. it is part of the culture. *Have a dinner at 7PM and the 1st guest will usually show up around 8:30 PM. Being the first to arrive, at any event, is not is not socially correct.
Yet, The Vatican and the Pope are different.
In a cultural demonstration, Solis showed up, with family in tow 20 minutes late for his scheduled 40-minute appointment.
And, did anyone know that he is traveling Europe with his entire family on tax payer money?
As the gracious host, Pope Francis put on a smile, did not acknowledge disrespect and welcomed his guests who other than the usual dogma, Solís had nothing new to say, so perhaps being late to meet with the Pope might have been a good thing.
Award #2 Goes to: Airport Orotina. No, not the community but the brains behind a new, double sized airport that is not even partially thought out. Again bureaucracy wins.
The hype is for jumbo jets and tourists to be closer to the beaches such Guanacaste. The reality is there will a long line of cars trying to get to the airport, to their jobs and finally, home.
Have you seen Route 27, the famed Auto Pista From Hell between 4:00PM and 7:00PM? It is bumper to bumper.
And, what happens when the Autopista is reversed from west to east?
So far, in this lust for tourism, the locals are going to suffer. To catch a 5:00PM flight, One would have to leave downtown San Jose around noon.
No thought so far has been given to ingress nor egress from our most populated city. Plus no money to construct much of anything.
A landing-takeoff pattern over wealthy Escazu would be a real hit with homeowners.
Award #3 Goes to The Ministry of Security. If you have ever wondered why so many policemen are caught robbing, stealing and selling drugs; you need to think about how they have to live in their more remote police stations.
La Nación reports that’s 40% of the overnight police stations outside of San Jose are complete squalor and uninhabitable. One station is nothing more than an empty warehouse in the middle of nowhere with cold water and a mirror to shave and look sharp.
Try living that life for a few days and then ask yourself, “Why not rob, pilfer and plunder?”
The police, no matter how much you like or do not like them deserve better and at least a little dignity.
Award #4 Goes to: AyA Water Works. While we have our water cut because of a shortage, while animals on farms die, while developers are not permitted to develop it has come to light that 40 to as much as 67% of our water is lost every day resulting from leaks in the antiquated underground system that has never been updated.
It is hard to drive on any road without seeing a seeping puddle of water coming from underground.
Usually, that puddle goes with a big “jueco”, or pot hole and at times a sink hole.
The system has never, ever come under critical maintenance and water just flows away while we are either are rationed or simply cut off.
The pothole is repaired like a band aid, using cold asphalt which washes off after the first heavy rain.
