My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

Costa Rica
Deodete and I flew to San José, Costa Rica, that means Rich Coast
in Spanish. Contrary to other countries in Central America, Costa
Rica is a very stable democratic republic with a strong constitution.
It is bordered by Nicaragua to the North, Panama to the east and
south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean
Sea to the east. We did our home work to its history before we
decided to travel there. We were very surprised, after being in
other Central American countries that Costa Rica’s literacy rate is
an amazing 97%, one of the highest in Latin America -- no wonder
so many Americans chose to retire there! It is a very peaceful place
to visit and live. It was also interesting to find that the government
had permanently abolished its army in 1949. It is the only Latin
American country included in the list of the world’s 22 oldest
democracies. Surprisingly, Costa Rica has consistently been
among the top Latin American countries in terms of Human
Development. It ranks 3 rd in the world and is 1 st among the
Americas in environmental performance. Costa Rica plans to
become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. I like to cite these
statistics, because most people, including my wife and I had no
idea of the magnitude of characteristics and development of that
country. We spent a few days as part of an organized tour and
viewed the beautiful mountains and its greenery and a rich variety
of plants and animals. We were taken to the Monteverde Claud
Rain Forest Reserve, where we marveled to see thousands of plant
species, including many beautiful orchards. We also had the
privilege of attending Mass at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de
los Angeles (Our Lady of the Angeles Basilica), the country’s
patron saint and Costa Rica’s National place of pilgrimage, located
a few miles from San Jose. It was one of the most fascinating trips
we have ever taken.
236