Voto 2010

Election Day is finally here! And in San José, it is quite the experience. Some top differences between Costa Ricans and Americans during elections:

1) People here are happy! They are excited to vote, and even if they don't like the top candidates they still vote to pay their respects to democracy.

2) Ticos make voting a priority. Lots of businesses are closed, alcohol sales are constitutionally banned today (except in bars), and people wait in long lines to cast their ballot. I rode with my host dad to Cartago today, a 45 minute journey, so he could drive his carless daughter to her otherwise inaccessible polling station on the other side of town.

3) Flags and honking. Riding around the city today in a car was like swimming through a sea of colors while listening to a cacophonous orchestra of carhorns. Flags whose colors represented certain candidates hung from the windows of probably half the cars we drove by. When these cars came across others sporting the same colors, honking became a complete necessity. My host dad honked constantly as we passed Laura Chinchilla's green and white banners.

4) Ticos respect supporters of all candidates. I didn't see any hostility between different candidates' supporters. Many cars hung two, three, or even four candidates' flags from their cars. This excludes one Otton Solís supporter hanging his red and yellow flag from the window of my public bus. Passing by a small gathering of Laura supporters, he shouted out the window "¡Marionetas!" [puppets]. I feel he was not typical though because (a) he was talking to himself for most of the twenty-minute bus ride and (b) he looked like the Latino version of actor Steve Buscemi.

It appears currently that with approximately twice the vote of her nearest contender, Partido Liberación Nacional candidate Laura Chinchilla will soon become the first female president of Costa Rica. While my host dad is quite happy, I'm sure my host mom is torn. She decided at the last minute to vote for Laura just to support her party. She didn't want to vote for Laura earlier for the sole reason that she didn't like her "face like a dog."

I'll let you decide on that one.

Pura vida,

Eric