Signs

Signs, signs, everywhere there´s signs
 
 
 
¨Bleeping¨up the scenery, blowin´my mind
Do this, don´t do that, can´t you read the signs?

(My apologies to the Five Man Electrical Band or Tesla fans, but this is a PG site and I didn´t think the F-word was a good fit.  My apologies also to the Grammar Geeks, but I didn´t write the song.)

As for my answer to the question posed in the chorus, the answer would be no.  No I can´t read the signs.  Because there are virtually no traffic signs in the entire country of Costa Rica.  No markings on most highways and not a single street sign. If you ask anyone how to get somewhere, they have to start gesturing and saying things like, ¨Turn right at the gas station with the big ball in front.¨

Fortunately, Ticos are very kind and will always stop to help you find your way.  Unfortunately, Ticos are very kind and think it´s rude to say they don´t know how to get somewhere.  So they make something up.

In general, I´m a big fan of signs.  The more the better.  I would be happy for a few traffic signs bleeping up the beatiful scenery.  Oh well.

On the upside, the lack of signs is forcing the boys to use more Spanish.  They need to ask how to get to the pool, or the bathroom, or anywhere, really.

It´s important to note that the lack of street signs does not mean that there are no signs at all.  Take the ubiquitous Imperial sign for instance, advertising the country´s favorite beer.  The boys, who can turn anything into a competition, have made up a new game: Who can spot the Imperial sign first?  Ezra won today´s contest 54-52.

Tomorrow, I´m going to teach them how to count with tally marks to make the scorekeeping easier.  And I´m calling that our math for the day.  So the lack of signs isn´t all bad.

Which reminds me of another song, a Monty Python song from the movie The Life of Brian.  Makes me giggle just thinking about it.  Any guesses?