The Game

Not only was today the first game of the most widely watched sporting competition in the world (right up there with the Olympics), but the opening game happened to include a little Central American country called Costa Rica. Their opponent: this year’s host of the World Cup, Germany. As a result of this momentous occasion, a national holiday was declared here. All government jobs and public schools were suspended for the morning so that everyone could watch The Game.

We took a pirate taxi to Ricardo’s house. We ran a little late and the game has just started when we got there. Ricardo is not a government employee, so unfortunately he did not have the day off. But his wife Carolina was preparing a nice lunch for everyone.

I suppose I should explain what a pirate taxi is. There are, of course, official taxis. They’re red, have a yellow emblem on their side, and use a maria, or meter. A pirate taxi is simply an individual that gives rides to people for a small fee, usually half of what a real taxi will charge. There are some places where you can get a pirate taxi, and other places where you have to use a real taxi. Where Ramon lives in Pavas, pirate taxis are common. They have been especially beneficial to us for relatively long trips, like when we went to Nelly’s to see her sister, the doctor. That round-trip cost us 6000 colones, and the driver waited for us while Ana checked Isabella out, which took about 20 minutes. A real taxi would have charged much more and probably would not have waited, or would have left the meter running. Ricardo also lives a good ways from Ramon and Maritza, so a pirate taxi was a much more economical way to go. Plus, Ramon and Maritza have certain pirate taxi drivers that they know well, so it’s a friendlier, personal type of taxi.

Although Costa Rica gave Germany a good game, they ultimately lost. Spirits were not particularly low because realistically, not many Costa Ricans expected to win this one.

The Sheridans finally showed up (they got a little lost). After the game, Carolina served an excellent lunch of salad with tuna, garbanzos, and palmito (heart of palm). Maritza had made a big platter of rice casserole with spinach and cheese, which was also delicious. After lunch, we had a little birthday celebration for Isabella. Maritza had made a chocolate bundt cake. We lit a candle, sang happy birthday, and Alex helped her blow out the candle (she gets shy as soon as the singing starts).

Maritza gave Isabella a birthday gift: a plastic bug about the size of a football that runs on batteries. When switched on, it rolls around the floor. When it bumps into something, it turns and keeps going. Its legs move, its eyes move, and its tail moves, and a flashing light oscillates in its back. And best of all (sarcasm intended) it plays this little song over and over and over. Isabella loved it. Everyone else patiently waited for the batteries to die.

The Sheridans took us home. It was a snug fit piling 10 people into their SUV, but we made it. The Sheridans hung out for a little while at Ramon and Maritza’s, but Jennifer had a cold and didn’t feel very well. They soon headed home. We ate a little dinner and got the kids in bed. Ramon and Cristina stayed up late talking about education. I tried to update my journal, but got sucked into their conversation and before we knew it, it was after midnight.