Sometimes Cultural Information is Just as Important as Language
When trying to find a destination in Costa Rica, knowing how their address system works can be just as important as knowing Spanish. When I was visiting in Costa Rica, I remember seeing addresses like these:
200 metros al norte y 100 metros al oeste de la Torre Mercedes, Paseo Colón, frente a la Funeraria del Magisterio Nacional.
De la Farmacia Esteli 1/2 cuadra al Norte.
De la Iglesia San Juan, 2 cuadras al norte.
Del Banco Crédito Agrícola 50 metros oeste
Unión Fenosa 1/2 Oeste 1 1/2 Norte
Puente Las Marimbas 1c Norte 1/2c Este
Santiago de la Cruz Roja 75 oeste y 75 norte
Costado norte de Mc Donald’s La Tropicana
50 metros norte del Parque de Zarcero
100 metros sur de la esquina suroeste de la Iglesia
Costa Rica is not the only place where they don’t use street names and building numbers for addresses. Managua, Nicaragua has (or at least had) a similar system.
Here’s an excerpt from a piece called “A City of 2 Million Without a Map“.
Nowadays, for example, if you wished to visit the small Canadian Consulate in Managua, you would present yourself at the following address: De Los Pipitos, dos cuadras abajo. In English, this means: From Los Pipitos, two blocks down.
Any self-respecting inhabitant of Managua knows that “Los Pipitos” refers to a child-welfare agency whose headquarters are located a little south of the Tiscapa Lagoon. Managuans also know that abajo, in this context, does not mean “down” in a topographical sense. It means “west,” because the sun goes down in the west. (By the same token, in Managua street talk, “arriba,” or “up,” means “east.” Al lago, which literally means “to the lake,” is how Managuans say “to the north.” For some inexplicable reason, when they want to say “to the south,” Managuans say “al sur,” which means “to the south.”)
Something to keep in mind next time you travel to Central America.
