Dolce Far Niente
Posted on October 26, 2012 | posted by:
The bus driver gestured to us to get off the bus. We gathered our bags and walked down the steps onto the muddy road. As the doors of the bus closed the driver said something encouraging in Spanish. We had been in Costa Rica for three months, long enough to know better than to ask when that next bus would arrive. We were four hours away from the coastal city we had come from and had no idea how much further it was to the small farm where we were headed. The air was colder than the coast, the elevation and landscape had changed dramatically. It was foggy, difficult to tell the difference between an approaching car or truck. The bus stop was a wooden lean-to that looked out over a densely forested valley. It began to rain heavily. We sat together and talked. We said hello to the rare passersby. We observed the insects as they crawled through cracks in the roof, escaping the rain. The sign at the previous station mentioned nothing about a transfer along the route. We waited comfortably, knowing from experience that we would make it to our destination that day.
Costa Rica has an very dependable and affordable public bus system. Many of the buses are old refurbished American school buses. They have been striped down to the basics but they get you to where you want to go. Short trips cost around $.50 to $1.00. The most I ever spent on a ticket was about $15.00. The buses go nearly everywhere in the country, at times to locations you could not find in a rented car. Timetables can be found in every station but many were printed over five years ago and no one uses them. I began my stay in Costa Rica assuming the buses would run much like trains in Europe, fast and on time. I was wrong. The buses are never on time, they rarely travel the expected route and many tourists have suggested that – between the dangerous roads and lack of amenities – they are anything but comfortable. I am sure that at times my unease as a traveler made me end up looking like an anxious lunatic, pacing around an otherwise very easy going crowd of waiting passengers. It took nearly two months of reliable bus trips to learn that I had no reason to worry. Not once did a bus fail to get me to my destination.John Thackara, in his book, In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World, mentions the Italian notion of dolce far niente(meaning roughly, sweet doing nothing) as an example of “a non-activity that is highly treasured in some cultures as a productive and creative force.” (Thackara, 35) By the time I was living in Costa Rica I was already familiar with the Italian carefree approach to substituting waiting with a cigarette and an espresso. Nevertheless, I refused to treat standing around a station in Costa Rica as though it were something useful. It was not until I was forced to find something to do with my time again and again – visiting an ancient archaeological site or having a much needed conversation with someone I loved – that my mentality began to change. Each circumstance made me forget about the bus trip or the fact that I should be somewhere soon. “By separating time from space, we can reprioritize the information and experiences available to us here and now—and not spend our lives searching for the there and next.” (Thackara, 38) Thackara argues that waiting time should be viewed a potential of time and should be treated as a dynamic part of the system.
Certainly one of the reasons I began to adapt to this culture was because I had no accomplice in my complaining. To the average Costa Rican the bus system was a gift. It was appreciated not only because it was a valuable resource but because unconsciously or not it was shaped by the people and the culture. From the average tourist’s perspective the bus passengers, waiting patiently in the heat, may appear submissive, compliant to a failing system. It is through looking at the other unhurried aspects of Costa Rican culture does one soon realizes that the average Costa Rican makes an Italian taking part in dolce far niente look like stressed out George Costanza on Seinfeld.
The Costa Rican pace of life is not the only influence to their transportation network. Each ride despite having few or many passengers, is incredibly communal. The average bus is packed full of exchanges from the quiet conversations amongst older generations, to the bartering of groceries and goods. On the more rural local buses communication practically creates a mobile community center. Outside of the bus the beauty of Costa Rica’s landscape passes by at just the right speed. The passengers are connected with the environment they are moving through. A feeling much unlike the stark contrast and disconnect Thackara experiences between the damp eerie Alaskan night air and the hermetic interior of the Anchorage airport.
Although this extensive network services several million people, saving moneyand cutting back on the number of cars on the road, it is in no way a flawless model. When looking at the language on travel sites used to describe the bus system, I came across: ‘entertaining,’ ‘not for large persons,’ ‘exciting,’ and of course ‘the bus schedule is meant as a guide ONLY.’ Phrases that certainly would not entice all travelers. Costa Rica’s limited budget and history of political corruption around 2004 substantially impeded progress and development. Landslides on underdeveloped roads are not uncommon. Smaller bus stations, with a few exceptions, are little more than poured concrete bunkers with limited facilities. Stations in larger cities are commonly known to be unsafe hubs, frequented by seedy patrons. In February 2008, the Costa Rican government announced it would go carbon neutral by 2021. An ambitious declaration. Despite a plethora of challenges this plan faces, one of the most difficult is dealing with the carbon dioxide emissions produced by the national transportation system. The entire bus system will have to be rethought – including the introduction of electric buses and new environmental policy – if the government plans to meet its goal. Over the last twenty years the bus system has only grown larger and larger.
Costa Rica’s public bus system is being broken down and rebuilt. This level of change often suggests an increase in speed, structure and administration. New technology and rules will be introduced to a system that has for years depended primarily on human resources and cultural behavior. As the Costa Rican bus system changes it is necessary that it embraces these reliable, sophisticated and dynamic strengths and performs and adapts “at a rhythm dictated by us, not by the system.”
