Farewell Costa Rica

So here I am sat in the departure lounge, gate 2 of Aeropuerto Juan Santamaria in San Josa, Costa Rica.    I’ve already written up all of my adventures and my thoughts of the last two weeks but I wanted to finish it off with an overview of sorts.  I came out here without a clue what to expect.  If I am honest, I would say that I was expecting it to be a little dirty, a little backwards and a little bit scary.  How wrong I was.
I am leaving with a very heavy heart.  Yes, I am delighted to be getting home to see Titchy and my kids, but I feel that I am leaving here a different person.   I thought that the term ‘Gringo’ out here meant any Caucasian but it turns out that it refers exclusively to Americans.  One of my workmates told me that if anyone had called me a gringo while were out, he would have corrected them and told them I was English.  That was a big thing in their mind.  They would have, most likely, apologised and corrected themselves.  Being British, to them, is the mark of quality, something to be proud of and revered.  They consider us exclusive, something to work towards and admire due to the way that we act, the way that we behave and the way that we are seen as fair, honest and good.

We shouldn’t forget that as a country.  We may have split from Europe, but that isn’t the end of the world.  We have partners still in Europe, but we have friends all over the globe.  Range Rovers and Minis are all over the roads here and each one proudly displays the Union Flag.  It means something here, and to means quality.
I will go home and tell my kids all about my adventures and share with them my photographs and the gifts that I have bought them, but the most important thing that I will give them, without a doubt, is a life lesson.  When they are old enough, I will ask them to travel as far and as often as they can while they can.  Speak to different people.  People of different beliefs, different languages, different colours and different creeds.  Leave not to judge before you sample or experience. Learn to love people for who they are and how they act, not what they do and what they look like.  Be open to new things, try things, learn things. Make the most of life and live it to the very end at the maximum speed that you dare.

Who knows where my/our next adventure will be to and when, but I know that I will return to Costa Rica one day and I will be welcomed as a friend and I will feel, in a weird way, as if part of me has come home.