When I was a kid, I used to write character studies as a means of honing my writing skills. I still do it from time to time and here is one of my recent efforts. I know I strayed slightly from the subject, but it's just practice.

Luis is a taxi driver in Costa Rica. We met him when we booked his taxi for a tour. He is a big,athletic man with a square jaw and a gentle nature. You could call Luis a patriot. He believes Costa Rica is the greatest place to live. "We don't have an army. We spend the money on education instead," he told us. He was careful to point out the schools during the tour.

Learning English was one of the benefits of driving a taxi for tourist from the US. He asked if we spoke Spanish and I told him "A few words," in my best phrase-book Spanish. His English was actually pretty good, but at times he would search for a word. He would say it in Spanish, and then try English to get the meaning across. Sometimes it didn't work, but he was very patient.

Luis' patriotism came through again when he spoke of agriculture. "Nobody goes hungry in Costa Rico," he said. "We have very good soil. Costa Rica means 'rich coast.' Costa; coast, Rica; rich, Rich Coast. The country with rich soil." He proudly pointed out lush crops and coffee plantations.

Everywhere we went, people greeted Luis warmly. Most people in Central America are not very big, so he stood out in a crowd.

He pointed out wooden carts pulled by oxen, and told us how that had been the primary form of transportation until recently. But now they had cars and trucks and good highways. By US standards, the highways were rather basic, but they were paved and well maintained. One highway crossed a mountain rising to 4500 feet above sea level. It would have qualified as an engineering feat in any country. Luis was a careful, courteous driver, but after a while I realized that was typical in Costa Rica.

At the end of the tour, Luis shook my hand and suggested that we return to Coast Rica. He thanked us for the tip, saying "Thank you, and I thank God for my country."
Howard