Seen Recently in San Jose

I saw something rather surreal while driving on the autopista (interstate) recently:  Young Costa Rican with dreadlocks, filthy jeans, ragged backpack walking on the edge of the autopista -- the kind of guy who makes you nervous.  And not only that, he was carrying a wicked looking knife with a six-inch blade; I saw him stick it into a well-used leather sheath as we inched by in traffic.

I locked the doors.

A few yards ahead of knife guy were two policemen, standing at the edge of the road, checking for speeders in the bumper to bumper traffic and generally keeping the world safe for democracy.  They watched with interest as knife guy wiped the blade on his pants and stuck it into the sheath.  He walked past them carrying the knife, they each lit a cigarette, and we drove past.

I thought it was all very strange until I remembered that many men here walk around with a two-foot long machete strapped to their waist.

And after that, I guess a six-inch knife really isn't that big a deal; I'll just chalk the surreality up to 'seeing through American eyes'!