Ticos are really good at skirting an issue. Not intentionally of course, but getting direct answers becomes sort of a puzzle, and asking simple questions becomes something that you have to put enough time in your schedule to accommodate. Directions are a classic case of this. How do you get to the office? Answer: You go uphill till you get to where the hospital used to be then you go right. And that's about as good as you're going to get. Everyone living here realizes, directions to one place never get asked just once. First one goes uphill, then asks where the old hospital used to be (usually at least 2x to get in the general vicinity). Once there, position yourself facing right and ask directions again. Chances are you only have to repeat steps 1-4 at least twice more. Take a look at my mailing address (or adresses, I have three, depending on which direction you're coming from):
1) 300 meters south of the Bar
2) 150 meters north of the soccer field
3) 500 meters north of the school
Now..maybe this would be different if I lived in a town of 100, separated by hours on a bumpy bus from the nearest city. Maybe thats the environment mailing addresses here got their start in. The trick however,is that I live in a Barrio in a city with very nebulous boundaries. Just knowing your in my barrio and not the one on either side is an accomplishment. Then find the reference point. (note: there are two soccer fields in my town, over 10 within 5 square miles) Then walk about that far. Then start asking at every house in the general vicinity for me. I suppose the general idea is that people inhabit houses for generations, extended families all live in the same city and most people rarely leave their home town. All the people who send you mail (the electric company) should already know where you live based on the fact you've always lived there.
That playful uncertainty also comes across in every day conversation. Conversations and manner of speaking grew up around just that fact, that everyone has always lived just where they're living now meaning everyone knows where they are and they know all their neighboors from the day they're born. This means, especially to newcomers, its hard to pin down who someone's talking about because people rarely out and say it since everyone knows anyway. Yesterday I arrived home to some juicy gossip: my neighbor had been at her job in the center and had seen one of the girls from the barrio there skipping school and obviously waiting for some guy. The whole conversation happened without ever once mentioning who the girl was by name or physical attribute. Everyone just already knew based on the fact that that girl WOULD be the one doing that. At the end of the conversation after waiting for any kind of clue, I had to finally ask who they were talking about.
The best example of vagueness though, has to be summed up in a conversation I heard a few weeks ago. Below it's reprinted, as faithfully as possible, from memory.
Costa Rican Culture summed up in one conversation:
"Esta embarazada"/ "They're pregnant"
"Quien"/ "Who?"
"Ese"/ "That one"
"Cual?"/ "Which?"
"Ese aquella que vive por alla. Aquel quien se pasa con aquella (pause to file nails) esa de acá, la amiga de ella. Ud sabe (pause to watch truck pass) es el quien paso quien era así como la otra"/
"That one that lives over there. The one that goes out with her (pause to file nails) the one from over there, the friend of that girl. You know (pause to watch truck pass) the guy who passed who was like that other one"
(Pause to look at dog)
"El malo?"/ "The bad one?"
"Aquel es"/ "Yeah, that's him"
And of course because my barrio is so supremely unique, here's a snippet from my town.
Daniel Flores summed up in one conversation:
"Who does that guy (Gaviota) think he is charging 15 thousand colones for a concert after he's populated our town with illegitimate children???"
