Let's start with hello.

     Costa Ricans have many ways of saying hello and little daily sayings that I find charming.  Some of this lexicon is common in the Spanish speaking world, some indigenous to Costa Rica, and a few a function of the local dialect.  Costa Ricans call themselves Ticos (masculine) and Ticas (feminine) and that is the only thing you’ll hear them called locally.

     I lived in Costa Rica for a couple months back in 1999 and quickly learned the national saying “Pura Vida”.  Literally translated this means “Pure Life”, a really cool saying that captures their chill, friendly attitude.  “Pura Vida” is used unbiquitously as a hello, a response to someone asking how you are doing, an acknowlegment to a question, or even as a way of saying thank you or goodbye.  I love this saying, as do apparently a lot of tourists who buy t-shirts, wooden crafts, and even get tattoos with the national slogan.       Does it really help to see “Pura Vida” tattoed on your ankle below a dolphin once you have sobered up back in the states and are pale, flabby, and stressed out at work once again?  My advice?  Stick with the tramp stamp you already have or buy a t-shirt. 

     When Ticos meet during different parts of the day they might say “beunas dia, tarde, or noche” (good morning or day, afternoon, or night).  Of course “como estas” is most widely know, but you might also hear “Que tal” (what’s up), a saying more popular in the main city of San Jose, and I was informed the other night by a local friend that Que tal? Here on the coast has connotations of a “mariposa” – or gay person (literally means butterfly) saying hi to someone they are interested in.  Como le va – or how is life? – is a greeting I really like and widely used in other parts of South America but I haven’t heard as much in Costa Rica.

     When departing someone’s company you usually get a “pura vida” “ciao” (most popular all around the world, including in all Spanish, French, and Italian countries), or maybe “hasta luego” (see you later).

When greeting a women, young or old, you don’t shake her hand but give her a sideways hug with a kiss on the cheek.  I’ve found that the only exception to this rule is if she’s sitting down and too lazy to get her gordita ass up or busy butchering raw chicken parts outdoors, in which case she might offer you her left hand like the Queen of England.

     When I first arrived to this beach town of Tamarindo, in Guanacaste province on the pacific coast, I thought I kept hearing my American buddy Pistol Pete call everyone “mopey”.  Why the hell is he calling everyone “mopey”?, I thought, they all seem cheerful and happy to me.  After a few days I learned that he was calling them “Mopri” – which is a slang term for primo, or cousin (supposedly it is primo backwards but that doesn’t spell out).  It roughly means “dude” or “bro” and used by the young men and surfers.  Of course this could be used in combination with other greetings so it’s common to hear “Pura vida mopri!” or “como estas mopri?!”

     The local community consists of surfers and those who make a living through the tourist industry along the coast, but they are all ranchers and farmers inland and in the hills.  Here in Guanacaste many men playfully call each other “Pegayeguas”, or literally translated “horse fuckers.”  Apparently it gets a little cold and lonely in those hills and Match.com hasn’t quite reached their neck of the woods yet.  Calling someone a “Pegayegua” is a particular pleasantry exchange among the bar crowd or working class men. 

     Some older men shake hands but the young men usually don’t.  In the U.S. you see a lot of “homie hugs” – the one handed shake and a quick hug amongst good friends or brothers, but here the cool guys prefer a right-to-left open handed slap followed up with a fist pound.  Usually the “mopri” or “pegayeguas” greeting happens at the same time, and at first it was a lot for this uncool gringo to think about all at once –sort of like rubbing your belly and your head in the opposite direction.  I messed up the greeting or the handshake several times and the guys just looked at me like I was drunk, which of course I probably was, but “Pura Vida” – no problem!

     As if all this isn’t confusing enough the streets are filled with a cacophony of whistles and hisses.  This code is almost unbreakable because there is a separate whistle for getting your friend’s attention, summoning your waiter when you want a drink, summoning your waiter when you think there is a problem with the bill because you forgot you ordered that 5^th Mai Thai, a hiss to get a taxi, a hiss to get a pretty girl’s attention, a whistle when she ignores you and keeps walking, and the ultimate verbal opus – the famous “Pegayegua!- whistle-hiss-whistle-pura vida mopri” combo when you bought him Imperial beers all last Saturday night because you were trying to date his sister or saved his second cousin’s life in a bullfight.

The surfers greet you with a shout of “Fire!” or the scrappy tout on the street assuages the passing bar patrons with offers of “Party favors my friend – marijuana, cocaine, prostitutes?”  That is so sweet of him to ask but I think I’m all set for at least the next five minutes.

     Get the drift?  Want to hear some Tico sayings a little more warm and fuzzy?  When a woman has a baby they say “Ella dia la luz,” or “She gave light.”  I like that one, but by far the cutest local saying is when someone is referring to their girlfriend or boyfriend as “my other half”.  Here they say “Mi media naranja” – the other half of their orange.