Solving Problems "a la Tica"
Solving problemas "a la Tica" means to prevent the blood from reaching the river. In a continent which is bathed in blood, and in which human life has practically no value, this is really a peculiar attribute. Because of this, Costa Rica doesn't fit very well in the rest of Latin America. In negotiations where both parties must end up satisfied, it is common to say cortemos el ayote en dos (let's cut the pumpkin in two). (Constantino Lascaris in his book "El Costarricense").
Rarities
The city of Heredia is known as la ciudad de las flores (the city of flowers). In reality the name does not refer to flowers at all but to two specific reasons: 1) the large number of beautiful women who grace the city, and 2) the prominent Flores family who excelled in politics and education during the final part of the 19th Century and first half of the 20th Century.
In most of the province of Guanacaste you will find that the population is made up mainly of descendents of Nicaraguans, Indians, and Creoles. Yet in the localities of Hojancha, Juan Diaz, Cerro Negro and Cerro Azul in the Nicoya Peninsula, you will find that the Cartagos (people from the cool inland Central Valley) were the ones who later established themselves there. As a result, many of the descendents of those Cartagos are blonde and blue-eyed.
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