Life off ‘the grid’ was not so bad. Twenty days really was not that long of a time. At first, I had some urges to check my email. Throughout the entire experiment, not checking my email was the hardest part. I got used to using the yellow pages to look up phone numbers. When all else failed, I recruited my sisters and parents to help me look up information. For instance, I am interested in purchasing a point and shoot camera. I am currently looking at getting the Canon SD800 IS. My sisters both own Canon point and shoots and I was very impressed with Eleanor’s SD600. The SD800 has a few more megapixels, but I’m more impressed with the DIGIC III processor (that’s an even better processor than my Canon 5D has!) and built in image stabalization.
Right, I’m supposed to be talking about my time away from the computer…
Going to Costa Rica certainly helped me out. I’m glad I took the time away from the computer, otherwise I might have wasted some time using the free internet connection. If you haven’t seen my pictures from Costa Rica, you should check them out in the gallery. It was photography heaven down there - beautiful skies, bright sun, and everything was alive. Seriously, if you sat motionless on the beach, everything just comes alive and starts crawling around. That is a little freaky, but it is quite beautiful to see all the shells crawling and the birds singing.
Costa Rica was quite amazing. We went on a number of side trips, including horseback riding, kayaking, and zip lines. I even brushed up my spanish a little. I was impressed that I remembered any of my spanish considering the last time I studied it was over 5 years ago.
The food was out of this world. The regional dishes were spiced so differently and were so fresh tasting. You have not tasted rice and beans until you have had it in Costa Rica. I liked it so much I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The chicken was incredible too. There is a big difference between farm raised chickens and the chickens that just run around outside. It’s a lot firmer, but the flavor is incredibly good.
The economic disparity between the haves and the have nots was quite obvious, but the people seemed….happy. In the area we were staying, the options for locals were to work tourist related jobs, or work in the field. Tourism is the largest industry in Costa Rica. The education system was described to be quite good, but if you did not make it into college, your options were quite limited. I have some pictures of ‘typical’ houses we passed. One of the cultural practices that struct me as different was that families keep a small smouldering fire going at all times in front of their house. This was to show that everything was ‘good’ inside the home.