Conversation in Costa Rica
Exiting the airport on a beautiful sunny morning, I saw something I’d never seen before – my name on a sign! There stood my driver, ready to whisk me away to my resort on Playa Matapalo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Gauging from his interaction with the other passengers, I surmised that he didn’t speak much English. Although my brain felt like total mush after a sleepless red-eye flight, I decided this would be a perfect opportunity to practice my Spanish skills.
Sitting in the front row of the shuttle bus, we chit-chatted for most of the 45 minute journey. Honestly, I really only understood half of what he said, but it was enough to get by! Something that definitely came in handy here (and for the duration of my trip) was the phrase “habla despacio, por favor” (speak slowly, please).
While the driver seemed elated that a tourist was actually trying to speak with him, I sensed an air of irritation from my fellow passengers. Like, how dare I speak anything other than English? In my travels, I’ve found the more Spanish I speak, the less other vacationers want anything to do with me.
Win-win.
Here’s a great way to stop an English conversation before it even gets started:
Fellow vacationer: “Good morning…”
Me: “Buenos dias!”
Silence.
Talking in Tulum
This ancient Mayan site had always fascinated me – situated on a cliff high above the turquoise Caribbean Sea, the beauty and history are second to none. As a solo traveler, I felt that the safest and most economical way to visit Tulum was with a tour group. As an introvert, I don’t necessarily enjoy these outings because I would rather have the freedom of exploring on my own and at my own pace. But this is where my introversion must take a backseat for the greater good.
The tour van pulled up right on time, and I saw we had a small group – 3 couples and little ol’ me. I was absolutely amazed by our guide – she could flip between English, French and Spanish without any hesitation. I would love to be able to crawl inside the brain of a multilingual person! Having traveled to quite a few Spanish speaking countries, I have picked up many phrases and I continually work on my vocabulary at home but I am far from fluent. My skills are pretty much limited to broken Spanglish and hand gestures, but I get by. Having some knowledge of the local language is especially important when traveling solo – not only does it show respect to the locals, but it can help in sticky situations and I’ve found that those of us who try (even awkwardly) tend to be treated much better than those who can’t be bothered.
The historic site of Tulum did not disappoint – it was absolutely massive and many of the buildings were in beautiful shape. The tour was extremely informative and I was surprised at how quickly it seemed to end. Happily, our group was given 90 minutes of free time to explore on our own. Introverts, rejoice!
As expected, the ancient site was now surrounded by all the trappings of a high volume tourist area. With a little time left before I had to meet back at the tour van, I decided to browse for a souvenir in one of the little tiendas. My pale, sunscreen soaked skin is always a dead giveaway that I’m not a native Spanish speaker, so locals tend to engage with me in English and this time was no different. I had my eye on a beautiful obsidian stone fish sculpture, and the shopkeep gave me a price in English. We bartered in English and he would barely budge.
Before this trip, I had studied Spanish numbers up to one thousand as I wanted to be able to haggle en Español. I switched over to Spanish and not only did he seem surprised, but he seemed to take his guard down as if he was instantly at ease. By showing this man and his culture some respect, I was able to purchase my souvenir for less than half of his firm English price.
A little respect goes a long way, mis amigos!
