The Stare

I met a guy from Liverpool last week who said the first thing he noticed about Nicoya was that everyone stared at him and his friend from Ireland. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall, and she had very blonde hair, so I could see why they stood out.

I hadn´t really noticed the stare. I figure its either because I´m kind of thick, or because if I see someone looking at me, I say "Buenas Tardes" or "Hola" or something like that, and they usually smile back and then look away.

On Sunday, I understood what he was talking about. Many of the restaraunts are closed on Sunday, except for the Chinese restaraunts and the smaller sodas,(thats what Ticos call a small roadside cafe). So I headed off for a restaraunt called "El Presidential", one of the people at the language school goes there for lunch all the time.

I walked in out of the bright sunshine into the dark room looking for an empty table, and everywhere I looked I saw these sets of wide eyes staring at me from eight different tables. It was kind of intimidating. I looked to the right, hoping to find a table, and there was a family that was enjoying a nice Sunday dinner. The difference was they weren´t gawking, they were smiling at me. The father was a big guy like me in a yellow shirt, and his wife was in a pretty violet top with her hair in a pretty bun. He said "Hi" in English to me, and we made small talk for about 10 seconds and I found a table next to them. It´s good to see the brotherhood of Big Galoots has a chapter down here too. It´s like the Masons, but not so strict, nor so energetic, and not normally allowed to meet at buffets for fear of financial ruin.

After I sat down, most of the eyes had stopped looking at me, except a hawk-faced thinnish grandfather, looking at me like I was the ruin of Tico culture with my Gringo ways, corrupting the children. I wanted to tell him that if he was so afraid of Gringo culture, maybe he should not eat at a restaraunt with a subtitled Matthew Perry movie behind him, I mean, could he be any more gringo?

Finally, grandpa gave it a rest and I settled down to my sweet and sour shrimp with french fries and diet coke with lime. The shrimp was fantastic, but I am getting tired of papas fritas, though they are good with the lime mayonaise that is served here.

Kvetching about staring aside, its part of the package. There are places in Costa Rica that are full of gringos, and no one stares at you. In these places you don´t have to speak Spanish, and you can get a proper cappucino, and there aren´t all these dirty street people asking you for money for food, even though you are sure its for liquor. There are proper places in Costa Rica, where a gringo can be comfortable. Why come to a place like that? Stay home if you have to have everything your way and don´t want to do deal with people that aren´t like you.

At least in Nicoya, its still not a popular tourist location, so you can see what the real Costa Rica is like, and talk to real people, without the homogenous cultural insulation and superior service that tourism seems to bring.

I´ve been on the other side too. I remember when I grew up in Central Oregon. Diversity hadn´t really become an issue out there at that time,and it was 95% Caucasian. I remember as a kid, I would stare when I saw someone different. It wasn´t because I was rude, it was just like I could hear that song from Sesame Street in my head:

"One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?"

It´s just human nature to gawk at things that aren´t normally seen in your environment...

Juanito

Next Costa Rican Entry: In Praise of the Casado