The Quirks of Living in the Costa Rican Rainforest

Almost a month into my stay here at Costa Rica and I have realized that as someone who lives in the rainforest, there are a lot of quirks that take getting used to. So I began composing a list in my head, after all, what better way to deal with life’s little annoyances or laugh a little harder at the amazing things that happen than to write about it and share them with everyone. So here they are, listed in no particular order, big and small.

1) Bugs (but mostly ANTS)
You can’t escape them. They slowly beat you down until you cannot imagine what it was like to not have to shake your clothes out in the morning before you put them on or to be able to leave any kind of food or drink alone for more than 30 seconds. In the beginning, you shake out your sheets every night and every morning to ensure that there are none in there, but soon you become resigned to mindlessly slapping the more adventurous ones that climb on throughout the night, rolling over afterwards and pulling your sheet up a bit more tightly. You also learn to carefully guard what you eat and that these ants are some kind of super-ants, capable of detecting any hint there might ever have been food at some location. Once, and only once, I brought a drink into my room. I didn’t finish all of it and poured the juice down the drain, carefully rinsing out the sink afterwards and bringing my glass back to the kitchen. Upon my return, I found the sink swarming with ants, despite there being absolutely no evidence discernible to me that there had ever been anything but water in that sink. The mosquitoes are the sneakier version of the armies of ants, their special-ops force or ninja counterparts if you will. You never really see a lot of them around but somehow every day you find about twenty new mosquito bites in various places. As you absentmindedly scratch them, vague thoughts of what your body used to look like when it wasn’t covered in large red dots flit through your mind. One might suggest bug spray, but trust me, the special-ops mosquitoes here just consider it a challenge.



2) Toilet Paper
It’s not that the toilet paper itself here is different, but it’s what is done with it. Here they cannot throw waste in their toilet because the septic systems are so small. All the toilets have covered wastebaskets next to them, so it really isn’t as weird as one might think, but the biggest problem about number two on this list is remembering not to throw the paper in the toilet. It’s kind of a habit that has been ingrained since, well, you were potty-trained, and it is very hard to break.

3) Unpredictable Rain
Alright, yes, I am actually aware of where I am living and I was expecting it, to be sure, but the violence and suddenness of the rain here can be incredible. One minute it can be beautiful clear skies and then the next you are almost deafened by the torrential downpour that just floods out of the sky. You really can’t even call it rain because it really doesn’t fall in distinct droplets – it is more of a watery curtain extending from sky to ground. Yet five minutes later, the sun is out and the birds are chirping once again.



4) What Is This “dry” You Are Speaking About?
Because of the aforementioned rain, nothing ever seems to be totally dry here. Mud is much more common than dirt and clothes can stay on the line inside your sweltering hot room all day and still be slightly damp the next morning. The humidity destroys shoes, frizzes hair, rusts everything, even the tweezers on your shelf, and gives your skin a lovely sheen throughout the day. All of the gringos look like they are on a continuous camping trip while all of the Ticos, in jeans and suits and high heels, run a hand through their perfect hair and point and laugh.

5) Spaghetti…and Rice
Rice is eaten with everything here, and I love it. I have yet to have had a meal that wasn’t delicious, even though you think that the underlying theme of rice and beans might get repetitive. However, spaghetti and rice was where I was forced to draw the line. A few nights ago my host mom made spaghetti for dinner. I grabbed a bowl and heaped some in it then went to sit down. She gave me the strangest look and pointed out that the rice cooker was full. I made a polite, interested noise and nodded, not sure where she was going with this. She asked me why I hadn’t grabbed any, because she knows how much I love it, and when I replied that I, in fact, did not like rice with my spaghetti she gave me a look I have come very well to know here – the “oh, you crazy gringa” look. Then, as the awesome hostess she is, she grabbed a bunch of crackers and a loaf of bread out of the fridge and insisted that I at least it something else with it.

6) The Death Highway
I know that I have talked about this in a previous entry, but there was no way that I was going to make a list of the quirks of life here and not include the two lane road that runs through the middle of the rainforest and the giant tractor trailers that roar through it daily as if they are just another jungle beast here.

7) Noises
There is so much animal life here that I still cannot identify 90% of the noises I hear throughout the day and night. Some of the loudest however, are the howler monkeys. I remember looking at a video online years ago and marveling at the sound they make. There are a bunch that live just outside the office and their howls penetrate to every corner of the building. No matter how many times I hear them, a tiny shiver still runs up my spine and I try to prevent myself from nervously looking around for this huge monster that sounds like he is directly behind me.

Also, for the longest time at night, I kept hearing this weird noise. It sounded like something I thought could perhaps be some sort of extremely odd bird but ruled it out because a) it was definitely coming from inside my room even though I could not find the source for the life of me and b) when I listened closely it was more like a clicking sound…that kept moving. I found out that it was actually the geckos that were living in my room. They are elusive little creatures that live behind the molding on the top of my walls. Who knew that geckos could make noises? The answer to that, of course, is me.



8) Oh, for Chocolate…
Now, I realize that this may not seem too odd, the fact that you can’t get any kind of decent chocolate in the middle of the rainforest. However, we are located not 10 minutes by bus from a giant chocolate factory that not only farms cacao but makes chocolate there as well. Yet not one drop of it is to be found in any stores around here – it is all exported. So I hope you are enjoying it there in the States!

9) No Hot Showers
Yep, no hot water. As it is sweltering hot here you might think that you would never want to take a hot shower anyway. But believe me, the water here is simply not just hot, but freezing cold. The refreshing aspects of a shower here after a long hot day tend to get lost when you are gasping for breath and scrambling to get clean as quickly as you possibly can. But hey, it is certainly keeping with the green aspect of Costa Rica – what better way to conserve water?

10) Pop Culture References
To add the constant surreal feeling of simply being here in the rainforest, you can be standing in an outdoor kitchen with a Tica who is trying to open a bag of coffee to make in the strainer/kettle device that is used here in front of a sink (that only has one knob by the faucet; see quirk #9) and then hear her say “By the power of Grayskull!” as she finally tears it open.



11) The Land Where Karaoke Never Died
There is not necessarily a lot to do out here, but on a Friday night you never have to worry about not being able to satisfy that itch to sing songs from the 80’s offkey in front of a bar full of people to bad music videos. Karaoke is proudly advertised on the signs in front of all the bars here and seems to rival the national pastime. If you happen to be one of the lucky volunteers who lives next to the local bar, you can fall asleep every night to the sounds of romantic Costa Rican ballads, MC Hammer, Celine Dion, and much, much more.

12) Addresses
Remember the death highway I keep talking about? Well, as far as roads go, that’s it. So whenever anyone needs to let someone know where they live, for instance, when filling out forms, they write down something like “100 meters east of the Super Malibu and 250 meters north” or “Diagonal from the Guaria cemetery”. I have even seen “at Minerva’s” or just “in the jungle”. This could perhaps explain why most companies refuse to deliver to Costa Rica at all and the cost of insuring a package to Costa Rica runs about $200. I think it just adds some sport to the process of obtaining mail!

Well, that is my top, er, 12 list of the quirks of life here. At least so far…