"Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed." - George Burns

I haven't been posting at my normal daily rate but there are reasons for that.

• The internet at my hosts' house is spotty at best. Often when I have the time to post it's not cooperating.
• I caught some kind of buy - I think in one of the three planes I was trapped on for 8 hours - and have spent a whole lot of time in bed. I slept 10 hours last night and took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. For me to sleep for more than six hours at night or 20 minutes during the day is unheard of. This but took it out of me.
• I normally post at night, but my evenings have been spent teaching, and not back to their house until close to 10 p.m. Weariness from teaching plus this bug means a glass of water, Tylenol, and BED. 

I feel much, much better this evening, and there were no evening meetings scheduled. So, here I am. Maybe I'll write soon about how the sessions are going, but tonight I want to give some of my impressions of Costa Rican culture. I'm sure there are layers, and that it's not homogenous. But I've seen enough and been with people enough to make some judgments I think will hold up.

• As I mentioned in my last post, they are a very friendly, open people. Ticos (a Costa Rican is called a Tico) greet each other with obvious pleasure. I expect them to be friendly with the speaker who came to town, but again at church this morning I watched them respond to each other. You'd think they hadn't seen each other for months, not days. 
• Their families are tight. In many cases an extended family lives in houses on the same larger plot, or at least close by. In the States (don't say America, because they consider themselves Americans - Central Americans) children move away. Here they not only don't move away, the live close by. And they spend a lot of time together. Brothers, sisters, cousins.... Family!
• The children are so very polite. I was at one of my hosts' son's house - his wife and three children - across the driveway. Their children all greeted me, extended their hand and/or gave me the "kiss" on the cheek. We're talking teenagers. Another granddaughter - 7 years old - had a very nice conversation with me. They are just as friendly as their parents and so well mannered. Can we get lessons for kids in the States?
• Speaking of family and their kids, there doesn't seem to be the bit where once they become teens they want to be out of their parents' sphere. Families sit together at church, regardless of the kids' age. I watched them talk with mom and/or dad during the service. The only teens sitting together were those whose parents don't attend. The family unit is obviously a core value here. Refreshing.
• They SING. The first part of the service included about eight songs and everybody sings. The sound is wonderful. And many of them sing in harmony. In the States you're lucky to get 50% of the people actually singing. Are they afraid of the sound of their own voice? Once I noticed the amount of volume I looked around and couldn't find anyone except for very little children who weren't singing along. 
• The fresh fruit is not to be believed. I had some pineapple with dinner and was almost shocked. I thought about it; ours is picked "green" and spends weeks on a boat, then weeks in a warehouse, and then to the market. Even at that it's brown. Theirs ripens on the tree and is as sweet as sugar. I don't eat much pineapple at home b/c it's almost bitter, and acidic. Not here! The same is true, tho to a lesser extent, for apples and bananas. 
• Some of the little things are different. Not right/wrong, just different. Our outlets are vertical, with the plugs one over the other. Theirs are horizontal, as are the light switches. To the right is on, to the left is off. 
• It may not be Silicon Valley but don't think they're not tech-savvy. I've learned about several apps we'll be putting on our phones when I get home. Major employers here include HP and Intel. Yeah, they're fully wired. 

I took some video this morning with my phone but realized it's not a very good phone for that purpose. Focus was bad and it had a very narrow range. Panning only made it blurrier. I may try to take some stills so you can see what I'm seeing. (Tico children are adorable)

OK, I can feel the need for more sleep. Crazy that I can sleep this much. I may be awake at 2 a.m. but I've got work to do for tomorrow night's session so that's OK.