Pura Vida

10-12-2019

Ubiquitous in Costa Rica, and totally “tico” is Pura vida.

Pura vida, you can use it in almost any situation. It is used as a greeting and as a farewell; you can use it for “I’m doing well” or “Everything’s cool”. It is a warm, comfortable greeting, “Hola, pura vida” (think “aloha”). It is a toast, “Salúd, pura vida.” It is a friendly goodbye “Ciao, pura vida”. It also can be used for “You’re welcome” or “No worries”–or just about any exclamation like “That’s great!”  It is also a way to shrug off frustration; you can use it for “Oh well!” or “That’s life!”

Pura vida does translate literally as “pure life.” But like most literal translations, that isn’t actually the best or most accurate English explanation, maybe the most accurate, equivalent translation of pura vida is: Nothing But Life.

I like this phrase for all its uses but mainly for the fact that it does seem to focus attention on positive connection to those around you and to the moment; frustrations pass, life just keeps flowing.

I have been trying to orient myself to pura vida not just for curiosity but for necessity. As a mom these past couple weeks have been more challenging. The kids were feeling both homesick and cabin fever, alternating or at the same time and moods were as stormy as the weather. Meanwhile I still had to spend several hours daily studying for class and plan our next stops on this journey not to mention groceries, dinner, la-di-da. I knew there were going to be periods in our travels like this – no fun…oh well…pura vida.

Storms here can be loud, very loud, with lightening flashes and a second later thunder cracking overhead, meanwhile torrents of rain beating on the patio roof (I could use some of the noise canceling head phones they use on aircraft carriers). At times I am nearly swimming home in an atmospheric river, yet the water is warm and sweet. I arrive dripping wet in need of a towel but not chilled with numb fingers and toes. As long as there is no thunder/lightening we have a cure for rain induced captivity – go swimming. Yesterday we just walked to the beach in the rain and went surfing, perfectly comfortable 80 degrees. Knowing my aim was to get wet in the sea anyway it was nicer than a walk in 80 degrees with >80% humidity. Today, I waited for a nice gentle rain to go for a run on the beach near low tide; no need to sweat in the humidity when you can run in temperate rain. Siri even joined me and took a few plunges into the waves along the way – comfortably wet anyhow. Pura Vida, it’s raining!

Last week, just as Siri’s homesick cantankerousness was near crescendo, we met a lovely family living nearby with a 3 daughters – Pura Vida! Pool play, boogie boarding became significantly more fun. The dad, a biology teacher from Portland and 2 time visitor to the Galapagos, readily shared his enthusiasm and excitement helping to dispel any doubts about whether a stop in the Galapagos was a good idea. Later we found that my father was able to refigure his agenda and can now join my mother to meet us there. Pura-vida, for timing!

This week will be our last week in Samara and last week in Spanish Language school. I will be focusing on keeping my regular and irregular past, present, and future tense verb conjugations in their right place. It is also a good reminder to keep my thoughts out of the past, steadily on the present and only enough in the future to create a decent plan.

Ciao -pura vida!