More cultural observations!

A few more Costa Rican cultural observations:
-Brushing teeth- the dentist here probably never have to worry about their patients getting cavities because Costa Ricans brush and floss their teeth at least 7 times a day. It isnt just a simple brush either, people will be in the bathroom brushing their teeth for at least 10 minutes. This obviously is not a bad thing but it amazes me!
-Machas- Machas are fair skinned people with light hair and so, I am a macha. My co-intern and I had the receptionist call a local taxi company for us and said to look for "dos machas" standing on the corner. My program coordinator has been greeted by Costa Ricans as "Whats up macha?" because he is a light-skinned American.
-Tips- It is not required to tip your waiter at a restaurant unless the service is incredible!! So the grand total on the bill is what you owe, unless you are feeling generous :)
-Invasion of space- my co-intern and I went to a restaurant on our lunch break and we were greeted by our very friendly waiter. He took our order and then proceeded to stick around and ask us if we were Scandinavian (yes, it happens all of the time). After taking our order he stood about 2 feet behind my chair and jumped into the conversation as much as he could...I did not know that we invited him to have lunch with us. Even when we ignored him he still was pestering us with questions.
-Tamales- Tamales are so delicious here but I was a little taken back when I saw what they looked like. The difference about our tamales and the tica tamales is that the tica tamales are wrapped in banana leaves versus corn husks. Funny story about John F. Kennedy visiting Costa Rica: JFK went to a local restaurant in one of the beach cities and decided to order a tamale. After he was finished the restaurant asked him what he thought about the tamale and he said that the "lettuce on the outside was really hard". Apparently no one at the table informed him that he had to remove the banana leaves before eating the tamale. So the JFK story is always brought up when someone orders a tamale.
-Fruit: The fruit is so much bigger here and there are many different varieties! For example, there are about three different types of pineapple and two different kinds of mangos. They have "mangos" which are exactly like the mangos that we can find in the US and there are "mangas" which are about the size of a small watermelon. All of the fruit is very fresh and very cheap. Every Saturday is "Market Day" so everyone is out in the streets of San Jose selling fruit, vegetables, or whatever they feel someone might need.
-My address: I finally learned how to read my address from a friendly cab driver! Yes, I know...I have been here for 3 weeks. This is my address: "De la casa Italia 100 m sur, 200 este, 200 sur and 75 este." So from the old Italian restaurant on the corner I live 100 meters south, 200 meters straight, 200 south and another 75 meters straight. Try finding your way home from that, I dare you!
This weekend I am going zip lining over waterfalls and headed to the beach! Cant complain, pura vida =)