The day the man was peeing on our road and the police came...

We haven't laughed so hard in days. Maybe weeks. It started when we were driving back up our road to the CRC (coming back from picking up antimalirial meds) and we encountered a car parked in the middle of the drive. Bean and I soon found out the reason as to why it was stationed so. One of its passengers was, without shame, relieving himself on the side of our road! He nondiscreetly just rotated directions as we passed him, forgetting that the noise of our laughter was audible and escaping from our open windows on such a nice day!

These dark trees have gone unnoticed until suddenly, in the last month or so,
they've sprouted gorgeous orange blossoms! SO PRETTY!

It's important to carry one's camera along, even on ordinary outings, so that signs such as this one may be documented and shared with others: it is a pedestrian who is carrying a spoon in one hand, and what appears to be sunglasses in the other! Not a hula hoop by any means like the decals that can be spotted in WA state, but still a sight to behold!

Later in the afternoon, Lindy informed us that the Policía Turistica would be coming up to utilize our campus as a "neutral location" for a meeting they were going to have, in order to settle a dispute (CR has many different divisions/classifications of police departments, distinguished and deliniated for their lack of a military no doubt). That's all the info we had. So, around 3:30, about a score of policía showed up on our campus! 

We were most def creeping through Lindy's office window as these many policía maes (dudes) arrived, all packing heat (even those of which who were NOT in uniform with holsters. That's what pockets are for, right?)

Lindy thought this might be an opportunity for us single 24/7s to possibly meet some good lookin' hombres. Well, we didn't care so much about that so much as we got a kick out of the group as they held their 20 minute meeting, and then proceeded to take their smoke breaks and cafecitos (coffee breaks... cuz what's a police meeting without coffee, for heaven's sakes?) for the next hour. Bean and I reinforced the female stereotype of bringing coffee and galletas to the men, not realizing that Lindy had agreed to providing the policía with an afternoon cafecito. Our kitchen staff had already left. So we scavenged the place for enough tazas (mugs) for coffee, extra sugar to refill the jar, and cookies. We hung out in the cocineta (kitchenette), just making ourselves available to the men as they asked for this and that, here and there. We also stifled laughter as we observed one policía reading the following book:

Yes, it IS in English.

Another policía asked--directed at Bean, "¿Tienen un periódico?" and when given a quizzical look in return, he took it that she couldn't understand Spanish and clarified, "a NEWSPAPER!" in flawless English. Mhmmm. Whyever would we NOT have periódicos at an educational institution? Oh right, we're up in the mountains and the paperboy doesn't come up here.

This is one of the trucks the Tourist Police arrived in.
There is a German Shepherd dog in the crate in the back,
if you can't see between the railing slats.
But Ravi, Justin, and I thought that it was worth taking a photo
of this police vehicle, with a pretty arco iris (rainbow) overhead.

When all was said and done, the men just stood around outside getting ready to leave on their motos and in their chic grey cars and dark trucks with tinted windows (and even a pickup that had a German Shepherd in a crate in the back). They were looking at our shrubs and flower planters, scrutinizing the corners of our building and walking around with their guns stashed not only in holsters but also in the pockets of their jeans (as pointed out by our dear Mennonite familia, the Holsinger-Yoder clan). The jefe (chief) came back by our office as we were gawking out our office window at all these guys.

Bean, Dinorah, and I might've been creeping out the window
and trying to take a photo of them loitering out front in our carport,
but then they caught us looking at them and we were slightly sheepish.

He and his compadre asked, in rapid Spanish, if we had a plastic bag in which one of the men could guard his cell phone. I went to look for one in the cocineta, and upon giving it to him, he remarked that it smelled like bananas. Right. The bananas from the fería mercado a couple days ago had been in up until this morning. How very observant of you, mae de policía turistica. Glad to know that you and your buddies are the dudes who racial profile and pull us over on the roads of Heredia and San Rafael when we're out and going about our everyday business... just to check our papers.

Well, we're happy we could serve as neutral territory for the policía turistica to settle whatever private dispute they had to handle. We like to stay on their good side, you know, and providing a place for them to meet, and come explore, probably doesn't hurt in creating and maintaining good relations with our "neighbors." We know who to call next time we have, say, a drowning cow stuck in our ditch during an aguacero (rainstorm)!

So, in summary, we had a marvelous afternoon, with many chistes (jokes) and giggles amongst ourselves. (I apologize though, cuz I guess you kinda had to be there, since it really probably would be funnier in person than just having to imagine it all through my not-so-talented writing skills.)
...all the while Em was off getting her free massage from the massage therapy students in San Rafael (host fam connection; Bean and I will be getting our turns tomorrow afternoon!)