The Girl On The Corner.

On a major street corner in the town of Alajuelita in Costa Rica there was a young girl who was thin as a rail with scraggly blonde hair.

She always dressed in a pair of Levis shorts worn too short and a halter top, usually white, that was a bit too large for her thin body and small breasts.

Every day for a year as I passed through this intersection she would be there racing from car to car begging for spare change from every one stopped at the stop light while hugging a cola bottle with a small amount of liquid at the bottom.

Every minute or so she would raise the bottle to her nose and take a deep breath then hurry on her way to the next car to continue her mission. All the while she snorted from the bottle.

It didn’t matter much what she put into the bottle. Gasoline with its light orange cast was a common high. If it was a clear liquid it might be paint thinner, any of a variety of solvents or lacquer thinner, when it could be had, was even better. Some days it might be the clear light blue liquid of a cleaning solution

In Costa Rica it is not unusual to see people of all descriptions begging wherever traffic would be stopped long enough to offer the opportunity to contact at least five drivers before the light would change. Then they would hurry as best they could to the intersection to be ready for the next red light to begin the process over again.

Some missing arms or hands, some were on crutches with a missing leg, some in wheelchairs missing both legs or obviously crippled in some way. Some were mothers trying to find a way to put food in the mouths of their children and there were ancient men or women who were obviously far past the ability to work at all.

Most were obviously unable to hold steady employment in the best of times but the economy was not only bad, it was terrible. The economies of the whole world had collapsed to a greater or lesser degree as this terrible recession expanded from its central origin in the United States and Costa Rica was no exception.

The girl on the corner was different, however, because she was so young and the fact that she carried the bottle as if it was her only treasured possession. She was an addict. She had probably started doing drugs to compensate for a life that she felt needed to be cast from her mind in a world of semi oblivion.

I was amazed at her dexterity in moving between the cars stopped at the light while cars going the other way rushed past within inches of her thin body. She was much quicker than the average beggar being able to inquire of at least ten drivers before the light changed then moving quickly with the moving cars back to the vicinity of the light to start the process over again when the light turned red.

I wished that I could talk to her but I did not speak the language well enough to hold a conversation.

She disappeared one day and I didn’t see her for months and thought that she might have finally been hit by a car or died in any one of a variety of ways including overdosing on some unknown liquid.

One day several months later another girl, a beautiful girl, was at the same intersection selling little trinkets and religious items. When she reached our pickup Hannia asked me if I knew who this beautiful girl was. I did not and Hannia informed me that it was the same girl dried out.

I cannot describe the difference except to say that it was as if someone had taken a very small ugly caterpillar and cared for it and it had become the most beautiful of butterflies.

By the time she returned I had learned a little Spanish and one day was able to complement her on her beauty and tell her thank you for the change. I gave her 1,000 colones (about $2) and she gifted me with a small cross on a chain which I keep on the rear view mirror as a reminder of what can lie hidden beneath.

I have not seen her in some time but I do not pass through that intersection much anymore. When I do I look for her and am disappointed when I do not see her. My Spanish has improved greatly and while I still make the grammatical errors of the Gringo I am able to make myself understood.

Some day I hope to see her again and when I do I will stop and talk with her a while. I am afraid that I might cry when it happens.

The story of the girl on the corner has hit very close to home for me over the past month. I have had returned to me a daughter of my heart whose experiences, while more varied than a single street corner, have been much the same and for a much longer period than this girl on the corner has years.

A lifetime belief of mine is that God offers us opportunities and we make decisions. Right or wrong the decisions we make are ours.

My life, with its ups and downs, has been an easy life and a good life. I thank God for giving me the opportunities that he has and believe that I have made good decisions. I am here and I am content.

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Written by VIP Member Les Waggoner who is a native of Denver, Colorado who moved to Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica in 2007. Les is retired, married twice with 7 children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

Les is a past member of American Mensa & Intertel and his major interests include education, history, political philosophy, economics, social issues, rural life and sustainable living.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.