Frogger (by Cindy)

Anyone remember the old video game “Frogger” from the 1980’s?  The objective was to move frogs across a busy road and then across a perilous river to their homes.

We feel like we live “Frogger” every day. We may not be crossing a river filled with crocodiles, but we are crossing busy roads and even somewhat perilous sidewalks to get anywhere, including home.  Just like the game, there are different challenge levels to our daily journeys.

Level 1 – Getting to street level from our apartment

This is the “gimme” level that everyone should be able to overcome. Out the apartment door and be sure to lock it. Go down the hall and into the elevator from the 7^th floor to the Lobby, which is on the second floor. Say “Hola” or “Buenos días” to the staff at the front desk. Out the residence door and into the retail/restaurant area. Down the steps or escalator to street level.

Challenges to overcome in Level 1:

Breaking your toes in the apartment.  Start the game with a disadvantage that carries through all levels (and multiple game iterations) if you run into inconveniently placed/hidden furniture legs in the apartment and stub, sprain or even break your toes. I am sure I broke my right little toe on our weird bed frame the first week we were here. John was also running into those furniture legs, so we engineered bed frame feet protectors from a pool noodle. I am also certain I broke my left little toe on the leg of the couch in the living room. John hadn’t run into those furniture legs, so there are no pool noodle protectors there. For a few weeks I was freezing baggies with water and stuffing them into my socks to bring down swelling and bruising. I am pretty much back to normal, although my right little toe still doesn’t look quite the same.  (My toes have never been beautiful, as was pointed out to me during high school graduation practice when I was wearing sandals and the girl next to me looked down and exclaimed, “What happened to your toes?” So my toes not looking quite the same isn’t necessarily a bad thing.)

Forgetting to close and lock the door. Deduct points if you forget to shut the door all the way and don’t lock it. One time we (cough, John) didn’t and when we came back and found the door was wide open. It’s not like a hotel door that closes automatically, as we found out. Fortunately, there’s enough security in our building and too few people that go up and down the halls to be too worried. Still, we double-checked that we hadn’t lost anything out the open door.

Events in the apartment retail complex. Earn points if you successfully navigate mobs of families with kids lined up for the grand opening of the newest toy fad at the Universal department store or the congestion of the once-a-month market held in the lobby.

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Level 2 – Navigating Sidewalks

We walk a lot in the neighborhood parks on our daily run/walk and also to get to our (limited) destinations – school and shopping. (Remember we don’t have a car here, yet, so walking is our main mode of transportation.) Sidewalks in the parks are usually good – the kind that you don’t think anything about. Sidewalks in the upscale shopping center are also well-kept.

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Sidewalks in the neighborhoods, well, that’s a different story. When we lived in our neighborhood in West Des Moines, the city would inspect the sidewalks periodically. If there was a problem, like one slab had sunk below another and the walkway was uneven, you had to fix it or reimburse the city if they fixed it. You were also to not park over the sidewalk.

In Escazú the sidewalks are not mandatory, and their upkeep seems to be more of a … suggestion.

The mountains in the distance are beautiful, there are some very pretty flowers along our route, and we can even spot parrots. (Actually not so hard to miss, since they squawk a lot!)   But, we can’t always appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds us because when we walk we are constantly looking down to avoid all of the challenges at this level.

We used to try to cross streets in the residential areas so we would always be on a sidewalk. Now we’ve figured out that walking in the street (along the side of it) to avoid a hazard in a residential area is usually safer than constantly crossing streets. (Crossing Streets is Level 3, see below.)  

On our known routes, John and I now now instinctively know when we need to walk single file along the sidewalk, step into the street to avoid a sidewalk hazard, or cross the street. No discussion needed.

Challenges to overcome in Level 2:

Sidewalks that stop abruptly and then resume a couple of houses down. Automatically proceed to the next level if you are able to walk your whole route and have sidewalks the entire way without crossing the street. It is impossible.

Slime patches on the sidewalk. Earn points if you avoid slipping on any slime patches. We’ve only been here during the rainy season, so maybe the seemingly permanent slime patches on a couple of the sidewalks will dry up in the dry season. There is also a sidewalk with a broken slab near one of the slime patches that acts like a teeter totter when you step on it. I will cross the street to avoid that section of the sidewalk.

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Cars parked over the sidewalks. Deduct points if you are too busy looking down that you don’t notice that there is a car parked over the sidewalk and you walk into it rather than around it.

Crumbling, uneven or sloping sidewalks and things popping up in the middle of the sidewalks. Earn points if you avoid tripping and falling because of any one of the numerous sections of the sidewalk: that are crumbling; one slab of the sidewalk is much higher or lower than the one next to it; the sidewalk becomes part of a sloping driveway; or something is in the sidewalk, like a water plug or wires to an electric pole.  

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Level 3 – Crossing the Streets

In the residential neighborhoods, the roads are fairly quiet. The biggest threats here are the drivers who barely stop for the Stop signs, who are texting (a worldwide problem it seems) and the female drivers in their fancy cars for whom pedestrians seem to be an inconvenience that they are at liberty to ignore. 

The busy streets are hell to cross. There are few accommodations for pedestrians on busy streets, even at intersections. In many places in the world that we’ve traveled, there are pedestrian walk signals at busy intersections. In our time here, we’ve seen one pedestrian walk signal, and it seemed to be placed entirely at random.

Every day we have to cross the busy street in front of our apartment complex to get anywhere. We are playing frogger here every day. We wait for what looks like will be a break in traffic and then make a run for it.  The closest intersection is not only out of our way, it is worse to try and cross there. There is no walk signal, and there are multiple roads coming together, so you can’t tell who even has the right of way. At most busy intersections it is difficult for pedestrians to see the lights, so you don’t have a clue as to what cars have the right of way. It is much easier to wait for a break in traffic at the spot where we need to cross.

You don’t earn points at this level – you either make it or you don’t. If you make it across the street, you win the game. If not, game over!

Challenges to overcome in Level 3:

Female drivers in the residential neighborhoods.  I hate to say it, but my female gender seems to feel that they are entitled to drive as they please without regard for pedestrians. They don’t stop at the stop signs, and gun it as they turn into your path as you try to cross the street.

Crossing actual highways. There are times when you need to cross a highway (not just a busy street). It is impossible to walk across 6-8 six lanes of a highway where cars are speeding along with a concrete median. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find a pedestrian walkway that spans the highway. Yes, there are a few across highways, usually strategically placed near bus stops.  When the buses pull over and stop along the highways, the riders can get out and have a place to cross to get to their work or shopping.  The walkways are fairly high to allow for trucks to pass under them. Walking on them during a thunderstorm is definitely something you want to avoid if you can help it.  Game over if you get struck by lightning on the walkway. Officially you didn’t make it home.  

Cars, trucks and motorcycles that are speeding down the busy street you are trying to cross. Streets near commercial areas are busiest during rush hour, as people are going to/from work. But they are usually busy most of the time.  

Here are a few strategies for this challenge …

Only cross on Saturdays/Sundays. Traffic is generally slower on the weekends, so it is easier to find a gap in traffic. Sunday morning is an especially good time. (Maybe because the dog owners are out walking their dogs?)

Wait until traffic is completely gridlocked. Cars, trucks and buses have no option but to let you cross as they are hopelessly stopped. You still have to be on the lookout for motorcycles, as they seem to not have to obey general traffic lane rules and will be buzzing in and out of the stalled cars. Note that gridlock only happens during certain times of the day, so this is only a crossing strategy that can be employed if you happen to try to cross during that time.

If you must cross a busy street during the week and the traffic is not gridlocked, it is best to find an attractive young female in high heels that is also trying to cross nearby. For some inexplicable reason, most male drivers will actually stop their cars and allow traffic to back up behind them to allow her to cross the street. No one honks unless they can’t see who the driver has stopped for.

It’s not “game over” for us yet, so I guess we can say we’re winning at “Frogger,” but we can never let our guard down!