Libby_or_Bust

So I’ve been thinking about how I ended my last post, and I don’t really like it at all. I try to have some kind of finality at the end of my entries, but “And I love them both” is both too quick and pretty cheesy. How would you have ended it? Or maybe you would have continued writing, but that’s only because you don’t have to pay for internet.
Anyway, I’m struggling as to how to write these travelblogs. Should I do stream of consciousness? Should I always have a funny anecdote? How much I is TMI? Or is it all FYI, no matter what I talk about?
And now some random thoughts about Costa Rica, Panama, garbonzo beans:
* I bribed my first official on the way into Panama from Costa Rica. See, we were going to have to buy a $16 ticket out of Panama that we wouldn’t use — I was meeting up with my friend Elizabeth who drove here from Alberta and the American-Swedish older couple I was with weren’t sure of their plans yet — in order to prove onward going. Or something. Was that English? Anyway, so we were approached by Hamilton, a 15-year-old wheeler-dealer (I am becoming my mother, beginning with her vocabulary) who, for a $5 tip, advised us to stick a $20 in my passport, hand the three of them over together, and we wouldn’t have to buy the bus tickets. It worked. It was, I have to be honest, quite exhilirating for a square such as myself to feel as though I was running in the black market, but I retain mixed feelings about the whole encounter. Essentially, I was supporting a system that does not benefit me in the long run, because I don’t want to *have* to bribe officials, just get around a stupid law, but it creates an unregulated market that could at some point become unavoidable. What do you think? Should I have bought the ticket I wouldn’t use? If I had to do it over again, I would probably have bought a ticket in San Jose and then tried to get my money back from it or sell it to someone else. In some way it seems like someone is going to get my money, either the official sitting at the border or some bus company owner, so it doesn’t even matter. Thoughts?
* I went kayaking in the mangroves and in the Golfo Dulce by Puerto Jimenez and I caught two bonito fish off of the back of my kayak! Talk about awesome. No, really, talk about it. I’ve totally got you beat! Then I went to a local soda (inexpensive restaurant) and they fried them up and put them with a casado for me and my friend Elizabeth. They were delicious!
* I’m currently travelling with another woman named Elizabeth. She is also tall. Coming back into Costa Rica from Panama, we gave both of our passports to the border guard. He looked at both of us, then looked at our passports again and said, “You’re both tall. You’re both white. You’re both named Elizabeth. What am I going to do?” Then he chuckled, sighed and kind of stared off into space for a bit before asking: “Are you married?”
*So that completes my blog entry for today. What do you think about the new format? Well, too bad.
And I love them both.

Both Panama and Costa Rica have had quite a bit of American influence, but it`s interesting to see how each has absorbed American culture in thier own unique way. Panama has giant stores, like Walmart except without groceries, whole city block stores filled with the cheapest clothes and shoes and towels and backpacks and brightly colored things made out of plastic and all manufactured in China. It`s amazing. Bras? $1.50. Jeans? As long as they look as though they´ve been attacked by the Bedazzler, $6.00. Dress shirts? $3.00. Twenty-five cent stores abound like our dollar stores, selling exactly the same things. Well, maybe not *exactly*: I came across some naughty playing cards at one store in David. Talk about a steal! But I digress.
But what´s funny (by which I mean not funny at all and actually really upsetting) is that while Panama has these huge Walmart-like stores, Costa Rica really has Walmart. Not in the obvious sense, because you can`t go into a Walmart store persay, but all of the major chain grocery stores in Costa Rica are owned by Walmart, all “part of the family.´´ Palí, Perimercados, Mega Super, Màs X Menos, etcetera, etcetera. Some even have Walmart plastic bags with which to individually wrap each item you purchase.
Even though the US has been more physically present in Panama over the last hundred years, you can feel North America much more acutely in Costa Rica. It´s hard to explain, but it feels like the US is slowly (actually not so slowly in the last 5 years) buying Costa Rica. Its businesses, hotels, restaurants, farms being bought up or built by North Americans. English billboards advertising space in gated communites loom over eateries with English menus. But then again, they use US currency in Panama, though they call it the Balboa, as if they´re really fooling anyone. Even the coins are US minted, though they also produce their own coins of the same size and shape as ours, just with different people and in Spanish.
Other differences: Panamanians are in general darker skinned and eyed and shorter in stature. The Spanish they speak is faster and they slur their words together. The men are more vocal toward foreign women with hissing and cat-calling. Costa Rica is more expensive, especially to do your laundry.
Similarities: Proud of their country, of their national parks in particular. A dish of rice and beans, salad, and meat is typical, though in CR they call it a ´´casado´´ and in Panama ´´comida corriente.´´ They drive like maniacs. Both countries have really good infrastructure and are relatively safe.
And I love them both.

Before I begin my story, I want to give a bit of context. First, many Costa Ricans speak English. At times it feels like everyone speaks English. Men will approach you and start talking to you simply to practice their ... [Continue reading this entry]