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THE OLD JACO BEACH

I was too little... I merely remember few things of that trip to Jaco Beach.

Yes, with a b at the end of the name. There are details that sound like

distance echoes. "Are you crazy - the adopted mother shouted - this trip is going

to cost about one thousand (1) colones in the family budget". It was about $125

those years, when the hippies were in fashion, the Vietnam war happened,

women began to wear mini skirts or go go pants, and it was a luxury to have a

black and white TV at home...

The bus was as old as an antique. In fact, the word bus was not used yet.

People said casadora to mean the old bus. There was a driver and a collector in

the bus; disappeared occupation nowadays. The collector was generally a young

boy who collected the bus fare right in the bus. I always heard his salary was

few cents every time he charged the bus fares. The bus used to run once or

twice a day. No comfort of all. Dusty road in some parts of the four-hour-trip.

Lot of people in the bus. Tall people for a three year old girl. People

laughing, talking, a youth group with a guitar and morning serenade during the trip,

a couple kissing kissing too much. It was consider improper to kiss in public

those years. I wonder what do their grandchildren do today.

Was it in Orotina where the bus stopped for 15 minutes to have a refreshment?

Maybe. The bus was crowed and some people got the chance to sit down during

the 15-minute-brake. A woman took off her sweater and said: "finally, we left

behind the refrigerator of San José" (the capital city). In fact, I felt like

being in an oven. I asked my adopted father for an ice cream. A coconut one

cost 10 cents of a colon (about 1 cent of a dollar). It was made in the ice cube

tray and a toothpick inserted to hold the treat. An ice cone with red kola

syrup cost 25 cents of a colon (little bit more than 2 cents) and topped with

condensed milk, 50 cents of a colon (about 4 cents). It`s true that we had a good

time buying candies at the convenience store when we stole one single colon

from the piggy bank or the place where the parents kept the money. For example:

10 cents of a colon bought 3 (2) little Martians, 3 black berry candies, one

(3) boli or a mint barber pole; 5 cents were good to buy 3 gummies. Oh how low

were the prices those years! What a shame these prices won't come back.

I've a vague memory of crossing the Tárcoles River by ferry. No 5 stars

hotels at the beach. Instead, there were huts, made by dried palms, rustic wood

beds with dry grass mattresses and very noisy, sheets made of flour or sugar

cotton bags. The menu wasn't big, just refried rice & beans for breakfast, rice

and beans for lunch and dinner. The popular drinks were: Canada Dry, Old

Colony, Orange Crush or Coca Cola in the sodas option. The can drinks were only Del

Campo fruit juice. If there was a disco or saloon, I was under age to know

about it. No, Jacob Beach wasn't exploited as a touristic destination in the

60's. Puntarenas or Coco Beach were more famous and traditional even for

honeymoon. The great diversion in Jacob Beach those years were: to see the sunsets or

the sunrises, to go to the edge of the beach, to pick up shells, to drink

coconut water, to do sand figures, to try to climb the coconut palm, to avoid the

horses, to listen to the stories told by the night bonfire and to kill a lot

of mosquitoes and fleas.

I was other world when I came back about 28 years later. The name was Jacó

Beach now. What a shock! I felt like in other planet. Where was everything I

sow when I was a little girl? Gone with the time and preserved only in my

memories. There only old friend I found out was the sea to talk about ancient times

from last century. How old I'm!

(1) colón - es the national currency of Costa Rica

(2) old candy, like a hard marshmallow, Martian shape

(3) frozen drink in a narrow rectangular transparent plastic bag

Ana Zahler holly_heaven_angel@lycos.com