1. (1) Entrance into Costa Rica

2. (2) A Japanese inn in Costa Rica

3. (3) Esperantists in Costa Rica

(1) Entrance into Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a little unique country. Unusually in the world this country doesn't have military forces. It is a peaceful country. So, Costa Rica is recognized to be the safest country in Central America. It is also one of the unusual countries of the world that prostitution is authorized. Costa Rica is, at the same time, an Americanized country. As there are lots of pensioners or tourists from the US, English is relatively more understandable. Because of this US influence, the prices of things are around 20% higher than Nicaragua or Honduras. Nevertheless, prices are still lower than in Mexico. So traveling expenses are acceptable. The country recently had a factory of computer chips by Intel. It is often said that Costa Rica is a country of beautiful women. Costa Rica is one of the 3 C's countries, together with Colombia and Chile, which have the most beautiful women in Latin-American countries. As it is a safe country with beautiful women, the tourists to visit Costa Rica are not only from the US, but also from Europe. The rich nature of the country has recently produced a new industry of eco-tours.

The paperwork to enter Costa Rica was easy. It was finished in two hours. However, the good road in Nicaraguan side turned to be bad in Costa Rica. As the road was full of potholes and patches, I couldn't enjoy the scenery passing by. There was nothing but mountains in the distance of 80km from the border to Liberia. No human existence was detected on the way, needless to say beautiful women I had expected.

Liberia, a town near the border with a population of 40,000, is a rather modern place unlike the other towns with historical buildings in the south of Mexico. In the center of the towns in Central America there is always a central plaza and in its front an old cathedral or church of several hundred years stands, however, the church of this town has a modern design and is made of concrete. It is a little disappointing. Along the main street there are a lot of US-style fast food restaurants. Credit or bank cards are accepted at any bank. Large-scale supermarkets like in the US are also found. In the vicinity of my hotel close to the church, there are two Chinese restaurants facing each other across the street. There are more in this small town. Walking a little around the church, I found 7 Chinese restaurants. Mr. Nishii at the Japanese restaurant in El Salvador told me that lots of Chinese moved to the north after the construction of the Panama Canal. The owners of these Chinese restaurants might be the offspring of those workers. Music came out of a place near one of the Chinese restaurants. I walked toward the place. It was a bar. I looked around the bar, sitting at the counter with beer in the hand. I found a big TV screen and the music was coming out of it. It was "karaoke" that I hadn't seen for a long time. Singing is free of charge. They are more generous than those in Japan. But, there aren't any beautiful women in the bar. Isn't this Costa Rica, one of the 3 C's? Santa Barbara in Honduras is better. Prices went up in Costa Rica, but things are still inexpensive in Central America. The total traveling expenses in Nicaragua were US$300 a month. Capitalists make money making use of the unfairness of the world economy or rather creating it. I make a long inexpensive trip making use of that unfairness. I want to think, however, that I am less guilty because I am not so active as the capitalists. I was given permission to stay in Costa Rica for three months. In the capital San Jose I will have the tires of the BMW replaced and the leakage of the engine oil repaired. In comparison with Honduras, the average monthly salary is reportedly around double. However, the labor cost of the repair mustn't be so high as in Canada.

In Tamarindo I didn't swim in the sea and was writing emails in a hotel room. A Dutch woman passed by my room and said to me, "It's interesting that a backpacker has a computer". Later when I went out of the room for supper, I saw her coming out of her room. She gave me some sips of wine. She speaks 6 different languages. Thanks to the ability, she works for Century 21, an American real state company in Tamarindo. She told me she worked and traveled. It was my dream I had when I was young. One day we went swimming together after her work. She goes to the office with a swimsuit and swims in the sea near the office immediately after work every day. It is a luxurious life. Before going into the sea, she asked me, "Are you a good swimmer?". I grew up in a fishing town in Osaka, Japan. I used to swim in the nearby sea in summer. But after I grown up, I usually dive in the sea with a snorkel and flippers. I have not swum for a long time without those tools. I, nonetheless, answered, "Yes, when I was a child". She swam faster than I in the sea. Probably because of her fat-free, tall body of 175cm, she can swim fast. I was left behind more and more. I thought she had an idea to swim a long distance. So I swam back to the beach. I was watching her from the beach. She was swimming 3 - 4 km away. Finally I lost her. I thought it right that I had not dared to follow her. I surely would have been exhausted and drowned. She is also heading to South America. She told me that she wanted a friend because every one came and left while she lived in the hotel. I gave her a short lesson of about 20 minutes on Esperanto. As she speaks 6 European languages, she is naturally quick to understand. Imagining Esperanto words, she incessantly asks me if they are correct or not. She says she will learn Esperanto. She could be readily a good speaker of Esperanto. We promised to maintain communication by email and to see each other again in South America.

As it was too hot in Tamarindo, I decided to move to a hot spring near the lake in the mountains. The traffic on the road along the north shore of the lake was light. The riding was great. I enjoyed the view of the lake, sometimes coming very close to the lake and sometimes looking down the lake from the mountain. It was getting cooler as the elevation increased. I was swaying on the BMW in comfort in the beautiful, pastoral scenery. But, the road surface gradually became rougher and it repeatedly turned to a dirt road. The road was supposed to be all paved according to the map. I kept mumbling, "Damn the map!" and finally reached the east end of the lake. Then 1633m-high Volcano Arenal showed its complete shape. People say the top of the volcano is always covered by clouds and rarely seen. That time I could see clearly even the smoke from the top of the cone. Probably it was a reward for my successful riding through the bad road. Only smoke can be seen during the day, but picture postcards show the lava flow from the top in the night. The volcano exploded in 1968 and killed 80 people. Even now it is a hot mountain. So the water that springs from the foot of the mountain is also hot. Hot spring resorts were found there. I saw several resorts along the road and I chose the most inexpensive one that charged $7. The hot spring of that place was a river of thermal water that flows through the valley. Incredibly large amount of thermal water flows down through the high wall of trees, forming a small waterfall. I had never seen such a grand hot spring as that even in Japan. The river of hot spring water makes a succession of several leaps with a height of the back. Down below the leaps, a concrete ledge like a bench was constructed. When you sit there, the flow of the thermal water hits your back. The water fallen down to your waist creates a natural jacuzzi bath. In addition, the temperature of the hot water is appropriate. This is the best hot spring that nature itself has created without the help of human beings. I have visited hot springs from Canada to tropical Costa Rica in North America and I always wished to bring a Japanese hot spring to here. But, this time I really wish to take this hot spring to Japan if possible. I was not so much interested in Americanized Costa Rica before my visit, but I now believe the country is something.

(2) A Japanese inn in Costa Rica

I phoned the inn and I was told it was near the US Embassy. However, the US Embassy was not written in the map and the guidebook that I had. I asked the way around 10 times and finally arrived at the inn. "Pension Tanaka" was the Japanese inn that I had stayed in a foreign country for the first time in my life. It was located in a high-class residential area in the capital San Jose. The president of this country also lives in the neighborhood. The nameboard of the pension is not seen, but that of "Beauty Salon Tamae" is hung. This inn basically hosts only acquaintances. I came to a Chinese restaurant/hotel very close to the inn and asked the way, but they didn't know. I called "Pension Tanaka" by the telephone of the restaurant. The owner Tamae took a taxi for the distance of only several hundred meters and came to see me. In San Jose there is a BMW dealer that doesn't exist in the three countries south of Guatemala. The purposes of my visiting San Jose are to have the motorcycle repaired or maintained and to see Esperantists. First of all I found the BMW dealer with effort. They told me there weren't inexpensive hotels nearby and so I went back to the city center where lots of cheap hotels are found. No hotel had a parking lot. That time I remembered "Pension Tanaka". I phoned there on the previous day and was told that there was a space to park a motorcycle. I rode farther away from the motorcycle dealer. Arriving the inn, I saw several steps at the narrow entrance. I was sure I wouldn't be able to pull in the bike inside. Tamae said that a Japanese woman traveler on a off-road bike had parked her bike over the steps. But, it was absolutely impossible to do the same job by my poor riding skill. Tamae immediately asked a parking space for my bike at a house of her Taiwanese friend across the street. The charge of “Pension Tanaka” would be US$15 a night (might be changed again in the future) from April 1, but was $10 when I arrived. It was inexpensive in San Jose. On arriving the inn, Tamae offered me to take a jacuzzi bath. She also told me laundry and haircut were free of charge. The charge of $10 was a good deal. Of course she cooked Japanese food for me between her work of haircut. Coffee was also free and was ready at any time. The hot bath, and in addition, the jacuzzi bath was beyond my expectation as I had never soaked in a hot water except hot springs for a long time. It was really great. I thought I wouldn't miss it for the time being.

Tamae doesn't really manage the inn. She merely receives the guests because there are some vacant rooms in her house. "Pension Tanaka" is in fact a tourist home. A Japanese young woman, who was on the way back to Japan after finishing her 2-year overseas cooperation mission in Paraguay, had checked in an hour before I arrived. Except her, there was only another guest, Hiroki Ishizaka, a Japanese young man who studies doctoral courses at the University of Costa Rica. He had been lodging for three months. The visitors of this inn never lock the door. Surely this is a Japanese inn. It is very easy and comfortable for traveling that locking isn't necessary. This place is not a hotel, but a usual house. There are a large desk and, in addition, a TV in the room. The use of the refrigerators is certainly allowed. I took off the shoes and walked around barefoot in the house. Walking barefoot is more comfortable, as the clean, beautiful tiles cover all the floors of the room and the corridor. A lot of Japanese, including a Japanese ambassador, come to this beauty salon/barber. There are lots of Japanese books that they left. I devote myself to reading the articles on Iraq or North Korea in the Japanese magazines. I feel like being back in Japan.

Tamae, who manages both the beauty salon and the inn by herself, grew up in Sakhalin. The Second World War was over when she was eight and she went back to Japan by a withdrawal ship. She experienced a sorrowful separation from her Russian neighbors. She told me that somehow the ship was a Russian one partway, but that the Russia crews were very kind to her. After going back to Japan, she became a hairdresser in Oita Prefecture. When she was twenty, she was proposed marriage by a man, but she refused it because she was busy with her work and with other things to do. Knowing this, the man went to the US to do a voluntary service as a agrotechnician. She got married with the same man when he came back to Japan three years later. Later she had two beauty salons in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo. And 27 years ago, when she was 37, she came to Costa Rica following her husband's idea. They were the first immigrants from Japan. On arriving at Costa Rica, they bought a coffee farm in Naranjo, a city near San Jose. They still had a large sum of money. However, all of the money was later swindled by a group of people. She took the case in court. The opponents tried to deport the family by using their political power, but the mayor of Naranjo protected them by giving them freedom of the city. Later her husband died. I think her difficult life with children in an unknown country was beyond my imagination.

Tamae has two sons and a daughter. She made it a rule to let her children leave home so that they could be independent. As easily imagined, all of them first went to Japan, and then to the US. As a result, all of her children speak three languages. The older son is now a hairdresser working in Japan and he will open a shop in Tochigi Prefecture tomorrow by chance. The younger son Seigo served out his apprenticeship at a "sushi" restaurant in the very center of Tokyo. Later he ran a Japanese restaurant in the corner of this inn, taking full advantage of his cooking skill. The restaurant was very prosperous with a long line of expensive cars, including those of the Japanese and the US ambassadors, in its front, but Tamae decided to close it three years ago because she witnessed the nearby restaurants were robbed one after another. Seigo now works for another Japanese restaurant. Tamae's daughter got married to an Italian who eats even "natto", a stinking Japanese food and they now have a baby of three months. Tamae's hardship seems to have finally born much fruit.

Tamae, 64 years old now, still works 6 days a week, from 7 to 7, sometimes till 9, standing and cutting hair all day long. She thinks about her retirement in the near future. She will be able to receive a pension, which also covers health insurance, in a year and a half. Her daughter and the husband have bought a land in the suburbs of San Jose. She has a plan to build her own house next to their house. She is now designing and dreaming of her new house. She is planning to introduce a Japanese design and to build an open-air bath in the garden with a pond. I really want to see the completed house. Besides, she has hobbies of making a basket and painting although she is busy. She will learn brush calligraphy. The other day she opened an envelope sent from her friend in the US and found four brushes in it. More over, her affluent energy still kept after her long work drives her to learn languages. According to her, she will start learning Italian, English and Spanish for the sake of her grandson. She has already bought the textbooks of the three languages. I think I can understand her intention of learning Italian and English, but why Spanish now after living in a Spanish-spoken country for 27 years? She told me she would have to speak good Spanish to her grandson. Her eyes were glittering. She is a person with vigorous spirit. She is a sensitive and well-planned, but on the contrary, unpretentious, straightforward person. She has gained the good points of Japanese and Latin American personalities. I suppose she will gradually decrease her work and spend her time on the beauty care of her own inner world, being surrounded by her good-natured children and grandson. She tells me that she will make a trip around Costa Rica. I am sure her retirement life will be much happier than average Japanese seniors. I believe she made a good decision to immigrate to Costa Rica 27 years ago. She has already bought her own burial ground in a sunny place.

(3) Esperantists in Costa Rica

I hadn't spoken Esperanto for more than 7 months since I had met an Esperantist in Honduras on the 8th of August last year. To see Esperantists in Costa Rica I had a contact with Guido and Antonio, whom Elmer who I couldn't see in Honduras introduced me. I sent them emails before entering Costa Rica. Then I also received an Esperanto email from an unknown woman named Florita. Her email was short, but her words "I want to be your friend" sounded fresh to me.

As soon as I arrived at the capital San Jose, I called Guido and Antonio. I told them the telephone number in the name card of a Japanese inn "Pension Tanaka" where I stayed. But I didn't receive their calls. I had a slight doubt that Latin Americans, even though they are Esperantists, may not keep their promise. In the night Tamae, the owner of the "Pension Tanaka", handed me a fax sent to me. The messages were sent at 11:00 and 11:30. Then, I found the reason. The phone number in the name card was an old one and it was used for a fax machine. Esperantists can be reliable after all.

I received a message that there was a phone call from Antonio when I went back to the inn in the evening. I immediately called him. He told me to visit me in half an hour. At half past six he came to my inn accompanied by his wife Alejandra. Although Antonio is a young man of, maybe, over 30, he is a professor of linguistics. His young wife, knowing that I am traveling by motorcycle, wanted to have an interview with me and told me she would be back again two days later on Monday. Two days later, Antonio interpreted the Spanish questions asked by her wife into Esperanto and I answered in Esperanto. She had an idea to send the story about me to a newspaper or magazine company. If it is printed, I might be a famous man in Costa Rica. As the BMW undergone repair was returned to me, I left San Jose where I had stayed for ten days and headed to Cartago to see Florita. There were few hotels in Cartago and they didn't have a parking lot. I called Florita, but there was no answer. I didn't have a better idea and went to a small town Orosi, 20km away, where there is a hot spring. The thermal pools were lukewarm or rather cold. I was disappointed. I called Florita from Orosi. I called her 8 times in total, but I couldn't make a contact to the end. I was looking forward to her hug, but I vainly passed through Cartago again and rode toward San Isidro where Carlos lives. Leaving Cartago, the Pan-American Highway soon goes up the steep mountains. It goes up and up. On the higher part of the mountains the road in front cannot be seen well on account of a dense fog. The temperature drops. I put on a leather jacket after a long time and at the same time switched on the heated grips. I felt still chilly. It was self-evident. The altitude of the highest pass of the mountains was 3,491 m. It is close to the peak of Mt. Fuji in Japan. The road goes down the mountains and hits San Isidro.

Carlos whom I met again in San Isidro works for a hospital as a mechanical engineer to maintain its facilities. He also studied in Russia for seven years as Guido did. He left Costa Rica in 1972 , which was two years earlier than Guido. According to him, around 2,000 Costa Ricans studied in Russia. In Costa Rica I met two women from the Soviet Union besides Guido's wife. The Soviet Union before its collapse seemingly had a close relationship with Costa Rica as well. Carlos is a busy man. After work he teaches sports to the young or joins the meeting of his community. As a result, he is very popular. Walking around the city with him, I saw that he met his friends one after another. Because of his frequent salutation to them, it was hard for us to go forward. He is a person who takes good care of others. For me as well he brought a book called "Pasporta Servo", which shows a list of the names and the addresses of the Esperantists of the world who accept Esperanto visitors for free, or introduced the Esperantists who live in the same city or in its vicinity. One of them was Luis.

Luis, 48 years old, taught bookkeeping at a senior high school before, but he is now jobless like me. He neither drinks nor smokes like the other Esperantists whom I met in Costa Rica. One day when I was in a cybercafe, he came there by bicycle to find me. We went to see the movie. As it was my idea, I paid for two of us. It was a movie of "007" series. The audience was only four including us. Surely movie theaters are closing a business. We went to a bar after the movie. The woman drinkers in the bar were all beautiful. At last in San Isidro I made it certain that Costa Rica is, together with Colombia and Chile, really one of the 3 C's countries of Latin America that bear beautiful women. I drank two small bottles of beer and he had two glasses of juice, in addition to a small dish of meal. I was ready to pay for it, but he insisted on paying. The men in Latin America have much pride of themselves even if jobless. I thanked for his generosity. Carlos introduced me another Esperantist Manuel. With Luis I visited the man at work in the registration office of the citizen. Although he was busy working, he gave me the phone number of Olga, a woman Esperantist who lives in Buenos Aires, a small town 60km further away toward the border of Panama. So, I decided to visit Buenos Aires. On the previous day when I left San Isidro, it rained after three months. It was raining again in the morning of the following day. I was afraid the rainy season was coming soon in Central America. I was waiting for the change of the weather. As it stopped raining before noon, I left San Isidro.

In Buenos Aires I phoned Olga in the office at past eleven on Monday. She also works for the registration office of the citizen as well as Manuel. She came to see me in my hotel by her four-wheel-drive car "Mitsubishi Montero" during lunch break. She is still young, however, a slightly overweight woman. Costa Rica has more population of the white, however, the indigenous people still occupy 12 % of the whole population. Around Buenos Aires five indigenous languages are spoken. Olga speaks Bribri and understands some Cabecar. She is an important person for the people who speak only an indigenous language because she also speaks Spanish as easily imagined. By the way, I found the heel of my boot had been missing just before entering the town. Without the high heel, I found it difficult to walk. The boot needed repair. My Web site also needed an update. The man of my hotel told me there wasn't any cybercafe in the town. However, Olga knew that there is the only one cafe and took me there. She also took me to a shoe-repair shop that looked an ordinary house without any sign. Nevertheless, the cybercafe was closed. The communication on the Internet was almost impossible for me because the telephone of the hotel was not available either. On the previous day of my departure from Buenos Aires, I became a little worried about the visa to Panama and I checked up the information on tourist visas by a Japanese Web site written in the disk. As I was worried, the list shows the visa is required for Panama. I try to find the telephone number of the Panamanian Embassy or Consulate in the guidebook, but there is no description about it. There is only one small town San Vito with a population of 10,000 between Buenos Aires and the border. It is hard to expect there is a consulate in the small town like that. This is very serious. I might have to go back to San Jose, crossing over the 3,491m-high pass. The time is three in the afternoon. The office of Olga is open till four. I asked her help. Because of the work she does, she is quick to understand this kind of job, and at the same time she has a network to get the information like this. She phoned to many places and got the information that there is a consulate of Panama in San Vito, the town near the border that I was visiting the following day and that because the visa is omitted for Japanese tourists, it is possible for a Japanese to enter Panama only if he or she gets a tourist card at the border. The information saved me. Without Olga, I would have to go back to San Jose. In San Jose I indulged in reading Japanese magazines, waiting for the BMW to be repaired and I completely forgot about the visa. I didn't expect the help like this from any Esperantist. Esperantists are always special and reliable. I thought I was right to learn Esperanto.

After I was relieved from the problem, I tried to remember why I hadn't finished such an important job as the acquisition of the visa in the capital. And, I remembered three months and a half ago, in the beginning of December of the last year, Kenya Iwabuchi who went to South America before me had already gave me the information that the visa to Panama is not necessary. I am such a fool that I myself can't imagine. I really pity myself. I worry about the future of my journey. But, concerning this mistake, let me think I was not so stupid as to go back to San Jose for the visa.