The top 5 most annoying things about Costa Rica

Since I'm now just over the half-way mark of my time down here, I figured it would be good to sit back and reflect on the first two months. Lest you think I'm lounging away in paradise, Costa Rica is far from perfection, and has many frustrating aspects that I didn't foresee beforehand. And since, starting this weekend with my parents, we're soon to have a lot of visitors, I figured I'd give everyone a heads up on what to expect. Thus, I present to you, the top 5 most annoying things about Costa Rica.

1. Traffic/Tico drivers: Someone told me that "Costa Rica is fun... once you learn to drive like a Tico." But I don't think such skills could be taught. This isn't India, mind you, but it's not far off, and a far cry from what I found in Chile.

The biggest problem, though, isn't the drivers. It's the roads. San Jose's infrastructre was built long before the population skyrocketed to the 1 million-plus currently residing in the metro area. The same rings true for the country in general--it has largely overgrown its initial infrastructure development, and the roads and highways haven't caught up. If you're a Sacramentan, think of the stretch of I-80 right before Cal Expo (where, for some reason, they think an arena should go) where there is traffic at all hours of the day. Now, extrapolate that across an entire city, only the people drive like maniacs. That's San Jose.

I used to hate the honking, but when you're in a cab and some idiot is blocking the only lane in the street so he can run into the local convenience store to buy ciagarettes (there is no parallel parking here), by all means, I say, lay on the horn. Speaking of cabs...

2. Sketchy cab drivers: Taxi drivers in Costa Rica recently went on strike because they felt the government wasn't doing enough to crack down on the piratas, or unoffical, non-sanctioned taxi drivers. But, as far as I can tell, even offically liscenced taxis (you can tell because they're all painted red with a yellow seal on the side) aren't the most scrupulous bunch. Especially at night, they'll come up with some reason that they can't use their maria, or meter, and will charge you some arbitrary, absurd amount to rip you off. The worst are the vultures that cluster outside bus stops, hawking their services to the desperate, unwary tourist. Now, I've made it a habit to walk a few blocks away from the bus station and just hail a cab from the street. So far, that's worked.

3. Unreliability, or Tico time: No, not The Tico Times. But "Tico time" -- the fact that most Ticos run 15 minutes to a half hour late. I've had interviewees make me wait over an hour in their office, then tell me they're busy and would call me later. I've seen government press conferences start 40 minutes late, and arrived at the airport at noon only to learn that the press conference I was told was at 12:30 was, in fact, at 2:30. For a country that seems to eschew all things "complicated" they could do a little more to help themselves out.

4. Arbitrary adherence to random rules and regulations: This one is also somewhat transit related, as I can't count the number of times I'm on the bus, and it pulls into the stop behind another bus or taxy, but the driver won't open the doors. Instead, he'll wait the several minutes it takes for the previous bus to fully unload and load. Then he will pull up only a couple feet and open the doors, as if the small space made all the difference in the world. And yet the same driver will stop traffic if he pulls up to another bus at a red light and will chat away with the adjacent bus driver long after the light turns green.

But it's not just buses. Press secretaries will make me formally arrange an interview with a government minister or submit emails, giving me the bureaucratic run-around to ensure that whatever quotes I get are unoffensive, proper, and completely useless, only to have the minister give me his cell phone number and spout off, completely breaking the party line.

5. Prices: To be fair, this is more of a misconception than anything. But Costa Rica is not a bargain. If you're looking for dirt cheap travel, go to Nicragua. Costa Rica is wealthier and more stable than its neighbors, and such is the price of development, apparently, that things simply cost more. While you can get a solid lunch for 1,700 colones (about $3) its almost always going to be chicken, rice, and beans, and something more spectacular will set you back more. While it's still way cheaper than the U.S., I guess it's just more expensive than I thought it would be. Or maybe it's my pittance of an intern salary is going faster than I thought it would...