Diablo wrote:
ID-always nice to see this clip, when things seemed so simple and the one piece bathing suits were so dreadful
BDevil- can you remember any interesting stories from your grandfather about CR
My grandfather died 42 years ago. Time fades the memory, but I do remember him telling me about working in Limon province. He also spent some time with United Fruit in Panama and Nicaragua, but the majority of his time was working the banana plantations on the Caribbean slope and along the coast of CR. My grandfather arrived in CR as a 17 year old lad, and was supposed to work as a fireman on the banana trains. He ended up getting an office job as timekeeper, and later advanced to head bookkeeper, but had to travel between the various camps collecting time records and other reports. He used railroad hand-cars to make his runs between the camps. Apparently, during that era, there were a number of competitors to United Fruit. I remember my grandfather telling me about how the competitors would string piano wire across railroad tracks, and a number of workers who used the hand-cars would lose their heads. There were armed attacks as well, so my granddad said he was always armed with a pistol and machete when out in the field. I also remember his stories about snakes falling out of jungle canopies and banana trees, and killing unsuspecting workers . (It's always the gory stuff you remember as a K*D.
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I never heard any monger stories, though... he probably thought I was not old enough to hear about them...
. I remember him telling me about coming down with malaria in Limon Province, and being sent to San Jose for hospitalization. That is where he met my grandmother, a tica, who was born in Barrio Escalante (three blocks up from the Santa Theresa church on Calle 23 and a 10 - 15 minute walk from SL). My tico cousins pointed out the house, where she, and the 7 other siblings were born, after I started coming to CR. I later found out from my tica cousin that my grandmother's dad was from a prominent SJ family and her mom came from a political family in Turrialba. My grandfather eventually returned to the States with his tica bride after spending nearly a dozen years in Central America. They eventually conceived my dad who was born in NYC. My grandmother died in NYC shortly after my dad was born, and my grandfather quickly remarried... to an American. For this reason, my dad knows little about his tico side. On the other hand, his 91-year old tica cousin is a wealth of knowledge about our tico family. Her mind is still like a steel trap, so I don't hesitate to pick it occasionally.
When I'm in San Jose, I often wonder if my grandfather entered the old buildings and parks that are still around from 100 years ago. I have an old picture of my grandmother, standing in a fountain that appears to be in an area in front of Casa Amarilla. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to make out the background detail. When I travel to Limon and south, I see many old railroad bridges and trestles that were built for the banana trains in the early 1900s. I know my granddad must have used them on a daily basis a century ago.
I have no other Grandpa BlueDevil stories that I can recall. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Costa Rica... and of course, the ticas.
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Pura Vida 
Maybe in Central America and perhaps even in Latin America.
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