Sometimes a word is worth a thousand pictures.


Somethings never change. They are the same around the world.



On the window of a local, off-Broadway, theater. Translations are welcome.




If Al Gore can get a Nobel Peace Prize, so can this screwball! (Just after Al's recognition, I understand that sales of anti-nausia pills went through the roof!)

Orquideas del Bosque is an insect catching plant with a bag about four inches deep near the base. The green portion appearing in the mouth is really the back side of the canal. (Notice a profile of the bag just to the right of the main specimen.) A flower scent attracts the unsuspecting bug. I estimate the throat to be about the diameter of a human finger. I can't be sure because no-one would put their finger in. The mother plant measures 8 inches across and has large leaves. I translate the name as Xxxx of the Forest. (Notice the similarity of the lips and its method of attracting and capturing.)

Update.- The blue bags enclosing the bunches of bananas while still on the tree are for bug control, not for packaging as earlier reported.

Political graffetti, Costa Rican style. I interpret
this one as a request to THINK.

Personally, I like the game of Monopoly by Milton Bradley.

G. Bush throwing Costa Rica in the trash. Morfeo is the Greek god of dreams. As most wall artists do, he got it wrong. The desired god is Phobetor, who is Morfeo's brother. Phobetor makes fearsome dreams...see phobia.

San Jose Graffetti. Only the best. A nation without an Army. (or Navy or Marine Corps or Airforce. However, the police are the most heavily armed in the world!)

This is one of the best wall paintings in San Jose. I believe that it was part of a tavern which was torn down and not grafetti. However, an inspirational application.
In the same neighborhood, but definitely graffetti by its location.
To understand this one, turn it upside down or over.
What the hell? A scorned female, no doubt.
One of my favorites: my life in reverse or please read from left to right!

See the little green sign on this building. The street signs are not on posts at the corner, but on a friendly nearby building. One can go seven or eight blocks without seeing a street sign. I've learned to count the streets or avenues to maintain my position.



Avenidas run east and west. Calles run north and south. Odd numbered to the north and the east of the central streets.

An unusual street sign. Easily seen and extant!

For a fee, any business can have a sign on the right-of-way. They are popular for many types of businesses and are helpful. I don't know the fee required. I've seen them for restaurants as well as for hardware stores and apartment buildings. Often a business will have several.

This Park is downtown San Jose. There are fish in the pound. Even though the day was rainy, folks were strolling and visiting. I was on a "walkaround" for photo shoots.

Every Central Park has a bank of pay phones, even though cell phones are popular. New cell phone service is not avaliable because the national system is at capacity. I have a phone card which works well enough.

For the technical photographer, lose the glasses! They can make you look like a geek! Oops, I am a geek! The reflective shot was a test, glad I previewed.

This is highway 10 between Squirres and Cartago.

It is beautiful and bucloic (if you like green.)

Truely farms nestled in the Mountains. (I never thought I would use the word "nestled!" but here it is.

A mountain home. Most homes are on stilts for several reasons. One is sloped acreage.

This house is why folks live here.

Or here.

This is the economy version of the hotel's little snack refrigerator. I designed it myself. Just wrap your drinks in a wet towel and wait. The result is not a cold drink, but maybe five degrees off ambient. The plastic collapsible cup is an essential item for a traveling man.

This unit is the shower head which provides hot water if the flow is small. The exposed wires made me nervious. There is a little black switch, barely visiable at the crown. You can select between "Not cold anymore" and "Barely warm."

To turn the shower head on, it is necessary to throw the master switch which is inside the shower stall and will spark nicely at the moment activation..so you then know that it is ON. (I stand outside the stall and use a broom handle to activate.)

This is a collection of real people in the park in a small town in CRica. The native mural is that of the indiginous peple who drove the Spanish settlers out of the country long ago.

I call this "mother with child."

This fellow shaves ice from a block and mixes instant milk, condensed milk, flavoring and serves. Delicious and costs about 25 cents.

Umbrellas are popular for the sun or the rain.

Gosh, a nuclear family sitting in the park on a Sunday afternoon. What a concept? They were pleased to pose.

Got a time machine? Here are nice kids just visiting in the city park. Note the lack of ipods, boom boxes, cell phones, parrot hair or scanty clothes. (hmmmm, maybe they are LDS?) Didn't ask. There are normal people in CRica. Just like the US in the 1950's.

GORDITOS is Spanish for little fat people. The producers find a really fat person, do a makover, and match them with a professional dancer and broadcast the results. The first scene is the fat person eating an entire chicken or a whole watermellon or a bucket of soup. Then photos of training and finially the dance contest. Very similar to "Dancing with the Stars." in a "plus" size. This program is a big hit!

This is my favorite couple. However, some of the moves are not what I am used to from dancing at the Nugget Casino.