Day 46: PHOTOS! Cows and the Indian hand
Samar Halarnkar -
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 8:34 PM
The pole-dancing cow in downtown San Jose -- a lively but decidedly edgy town -- is just one of many sculptures of cows across the capital of Costa Rica. Don´t miss the lipstick and the red fishnet stockings. There are outrageously painted cows doing all kinds of outrageous things. Take a look at the one below, dressed like a clown. Another is dunked in a cup of coffee. I can only assume this has something to do with a romantic image of the cow, which, before the eco-tourism boom, was the mainstay of the Costa Rican economy. The cows are exactly like ours, scrawny and with humps. Only the locals eat theirs, though I´m told they are not good for steaks because they aren´t bred for the table.
Below, our host Kurt, a German who felt stifled by the orderliness of the West and moved to Costa Rica in the 1980s. The orange drink is guarro, the local moonshine (description in previous post). He whipped out a bottle of it when we asked what the local drink was. We´ve rapidly realised that guarro is delicious but not part of the legal economy, so to speak.
And finally, when you see a Mahindra showroom and a Bajaj autorickshaw being used by the local municipal corporation, you know that globalisation has really hit sleepy Costa Rica. The Mahindra showroom -- selling Scorpios mainly -- was just down the lane from our b-and-b in San Jose and we used it as a landmark. People do honk while driving, but nothing like back home. What did irk us though was the continuous hooting of a train whenever one passed by. I finally figured out why the engine drivers kept their hands on the horn: See the sign that says "Alto", basically a stop-and-proceed warning? The cross above the sign indicates "Railway ahead"! There´s a railway line that runs between the road and the pavement, meaning the train literally runs on the road! I don´t blame the engine drivers for their nervous blasts of the horn. We never really saw anyone in the Mahindra showroom though, and it´s offering $1,000 discounts. We did see a Mahindra vehicle in a little town yesterday.
