Ahhh… Shakespeare. Who doesn’t enjoy a good Shakespeare reference? “To be or not to be, that is the question.” This quote from Hamlet is one of the most famous quotations in world literature today. Can you imagine the awe William Shakespeare would feel if he could see the significance of his works in our society after over four (4) centuries? I’d venture to say he would be astonished. I know I would be if people were still reading my blogs after 400 years. LOL 

Anyway… as I was driving back home this morning after my workout, I noticed several people along the way watering the roads. Yes, you heard me correctly; they were watering the roads! As often happens for me here in Costa Rica, I smiled and thought “I love this place?” 

Now remember… where I live, the roads are dirt; they’re not paved.  So why would anyone want to water these roads? I know it sounds like something a group of teenagers might find funny. “Hey guys, let’s water down the roads, then hide behind a tree and watch the cars slide around… awesome!” When I was young and living in the Cleveland, Ohio area, our version of this was to throw snowballs at cars and then watch the mayhem. I must admit, although not very mature, it was pretty fun! 

OK… back to my point – watering the roads. As I discussed in my blog post – What if there were No Seasons… No Winter, No Spring, No Summer, No Fall? - In Costa Rica, there are two main seasons: rainy and dry. We have just entered the dry season. According to the govisitcostarica.com web site, dry season lasts about 5 months –from December to April. And from what I understand, when they say “dry season” they mean DRY… as in no rain, where is the rain, my kingdom for some rain… 

With dry season comes ‘mucho polvo’ – lots of dust. So much so that people driving on their motorcycles and quads wear surgical masks so they can breathe. It reminds me of Spring in Atlanta, Georgia when there is so much pollen, everything has a yellow layering on it. It’s quite pretty but not very good for our lungs. 

So why water the roads? You may have already guessed – to minimize the amount of dust that gets pushed into the air when vehicles drive down the roads. My lungs thank the people who do this in Nosara – Thank You! Another important reason is to minimize road erosion… after all; those dust particles make up the road, right? When they disperse into the air, they don’t always land exactly where they originated… especially if people are breathing these dust particles in. <cough>

Your next question to me might be; “since you’re in a hot climate, do the roads need to be watered every day for 5 months?”  Now I must admit, that would be quite daunting, if it were necessary.  But the Costa Rican people are very smart and very resourceful. So here’s their trick… start your recording devices now because I’m about to give you the “magic recipe” for controlling the dust. Molasses… Yes, the magic ingredient mixed with the water is Molasses, which is a viscous byproduct of Sugar Cane. The molasses adheres to the roads and can last for a few months IF it does not rain. Yes, unfortunately, rain will wash away all that hard work. But hey… we’re in dry season, so everything is Pura Vida! 

So… how does watering the roads with molasses relate to Hamlet’s speech?  I have no idea, but like I said in the beginning of this blog post, everyone enjoys a good Shakespeare reference.

Pura Vida, 

John