Tico time. . .

Tico time is a world unto itself. . . Ask a Costa Rican (Tico) if they can do something today, the response will be, of course! The reality, most of the time, is that they cannot do it at that time or day, but they do not want to disappoint you, so they will tell you they can -- and then they will show up two or three days later. . . It definitely takes some getting used to, that's for sure. Recently, the Galloper (the big jeep-like thing from Hyundai that we drive) went down with a cracked cylinder block. . . We had one mechanic come to the hotel and he took it apart and arranged for a new block to be shipped up from San Jose. We got the part, but then we didn't have a mechanic. . . According to Miguel, our handyman who does do things when he says he will, mechanics in Costa Rica are tyically single men who drink a lot, don't save any money and are shiftless buggers. Nothing like the ever-trustworthy and stalwart Cooter from Dukes of Hazzard (pictured) lore. We got a new mechanic and dropped the old one, so all's well that ends well, except for the fact that we were sans car for three days.