Ohhh...this is why you do not drive at night

When Christy and I go to the Multiplaza (this is a big mall up in Zapote) we usually take a back road because the the main road (calle) is massively under construction. I would actually need a video camera to do the the construction chaos justice, but maybe sometime I'll bring a high quality regular camera just to give you an idea. Think:

1. Normal crazy driving conditions and an excess of traffic almost all day, and
2. No road closures when there should be, and
3. No flag men directing 4 lane roads that are closed down to one so that opposite moving lanes feed into each other, and
4. Construction equipment and dump trucks backing up, turning, basically doing whatever they want in traffic, at intersections, etc.

Needless to say it is an adventure. This brings me back to my earlier comment of we take the backroad to get to the mall. Well, yesterday we drove on this road, and all of the sudden there was this hole in the ground. I had to snap this picture with a small camera (thanks Lizzy for letting me use your camera) as I was driving so it does not really do it justice (you can not see the depth or the actual size). However, you can take my word that a mini could easily fit into this hole. I really don't know how deep it is, and this is surprising because I only had about 1 foot of clearance on my left side when I drove by - and I could not see the bottom from the drivers seat of my van. I would say that makes the actual depth in excess of 12-15 feet. I know sink holes happen in the states too, I think the major difference is the response to them (e.g., road shut down, repaired quickly). Here, someone was nice enough to put a trash can in front of it with some yellow ribbon...but that was about it. I can't imagine this will be repaired correctly any time soon - but they probably will throw some concrete blocks and stuff in there before someone gets really hurt.

I took some pictures of the mall and the surrounding area but they did not turn out well. I wanted to show the contrast that exists as the Multiplaza is a very nice mall ( on par with anything in the states), but looking out back from the parking lot is a very rough barrio. Think rusted out pieces of tin and large sheets of plastic to make the roof and walls of most of these houses. Its a reminder that although Costa Rica has so much, there are so many with so little. I'll take a better camera next time and try to get a couple shots.

Happy father's day to my dad, my father-in law, and to all you dads out there.