3 things I don't miss about Costa Rica

1. Carrying a backpack everywhere - I loved the days of carrying a diaper bag and having everything I needed.  Food?  Check.  Change of clothes?  Check.  I hated the day I gave it up because inevitably I always needed something while I was out that had once been at my fingertips. But those days have been long gone for years, and I've gotten out of the habit of lugging around a ten ton pack of crap.  In Costa Rica I carried a black Jansport backpack with four zippered pockets.  I had my Steelers rain jacket and a sweater in one pocket.  A book, magazines, cards, tour brochures, wipes, and my purse in the second pocket.  Candy, pens, eye drops, glasses, change, a first aid kit, bug spray, and sunscreen in the third pocket.  Kleenex, chewing gum, bubble gum, lip balm, and medication took up the last pocket.  In the side pockets I carried bottled water.  It was all quite heavy and made my back hurt.  Then I had to unpack and pack it depending on the activity.  It was more a part of me then any of my purses have ever been.  I was not sorry to retire it to the closet where it sits waiting for me to haul it to the gym.
2. Rice & beans - We had it for every meal.  Order beef and there will be rice and beans.  Order breakfast and there will be rice and beans.  Lunch was always rice and beans with either chicken or pork or seafood mixed in it.  I love rice.  I always said I could eat rice for every meal.  I was wrong.  By the third day just the thought of rice and beans had my stomach churning...in more ways than one.
3. Throwing used toilet paper in the trashcan instead of the toilet - Why this wasn't something mentioned in our initial meetings on this trip is a mystery to me.  It wasn't until someone suggested I take a roll of toilet paper with me that I began questioning the toilet issues.  I was one of the few who knew upon arrival that we were not allowed to throw the used toilet paper into the commodes in Costa Rica.  Yes, folks, that is right.  Poop in the toilets in Costa Rica, wipey, wipey, and that soiled tissue doesn't go down the drain into the bowels of Hades.  It goes into the trashcan placed strategically next to the toilet.  While I didn't so mind this at places I was visiting, it was a tad harder to swallow in our hotel room.  And with all the clogged toilet issues this family had prior to our vacation I wasn't taken any chances and winging it.  I followed instructions and thanked my lucky stars for the package of Charmin wipes I hauled in my backpack.  I kept thinking it would be better to have a diaper genie instead of a trashcan, but I have to say I didn't really notice any odor.  It was just the whole thought of it all.  That and the poor maids that had to clean the trashcans.  Nope, I'm quite happy to be home.