Sidebar #13 - Direcciones a la Tica

One of the biggest adjustments of living in Costa Rica has been using addresses. Street names exist in many cases but houses and buildings often aren’t numbered like they are in the US. Rather, to give directions to a location, even for mail, addresses are described in relation to various landmarks in the town. For example, the address for my first homestay in my community was “300 meters south of the elementary school”. That’s it. 

I haven’t witnessed a lot of confusion navigating instructions like these, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there are occasionally address mix-ups (especially for gringos like me that aren’t great with meters). And although the Peace Corps office has an office, we’ve been instructed to avoid receiving mail if possible because it can sometimes be unreliable, particularly when coming from another country. Thankfully, because Costa Rica has most modern amenities, a ton of American products, and I live close to the capital, I really haven’t needed to receive mail or care packages from the States, so it hasn’t been an issue. When I Uber or take a Taxi, I just enter the nearest landmark to where I’m going. The concept of Direcciones a la tica is one of the quirkiest aspects of living in Costa Rica in my opinion, but there’s definitely a little bit of an old-time charm to it too.





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