Living in Tamarindo
Any Given Sunday
Ever have one of those weeks you wish you could start over? 3 Weeks ago I had one of THE worst experiences of my life.
It started off like any typical Sunday. Woke up at around 8am. Grouchy as usual. I packed the car up with a bag full of soccer balls and grabbed my cleats. You may be wondering why I have a bunch of soccer balls. I’ve been volunteering as a soccer coach for a group of Ticos down here every Sunday from 9 until 10am. But I digress. So I got my car full of soccer balls and my cleats and I’m headed off to practice.
During the drive I was thinking of what we could do for the practice and how I was going to handle the insanity of the morning. My Spanish is still a little rusty so it can be frustrating for them and me to carry a conversation. Typical insecurities I think anyone would have.
I was in deep thought. So much so that I didn’t realize how far I had driven in such a short period of time. Have you ever had one of those driving experiences that you arrive at your destination and you don’t know how you got there? That you’ve been so absorbed in the thoughts in your head that you almost completely blank out and you are just going through the typical motions to get from point A to point B?
Well I was having one of those driving experiences that I was so zonked that I was completely wrapped in my head going through the motions behind the wheel to get to practice. I was about 5 minutes from practice or so and came up behind a motorcycle with two Tico’s on it. As usual they were driving fairly slow. So I pulled into the oncoming lane to pass them, still deep entranced in my head. (I was about 4 car lengths from them when I pulled into the lane). As I started to pass them I noticed something strange out of the right of my eye. The guys on the bike started to lean left as if they were turning left.
Immediately I came flying out of my trance. I jerked my head to the right and sure enough they were turning but by now it was too late. I was about a 1ft from their tail when they turned into my lane. I immediately jammed on my brakes that in turned locked up.
And man I wish I could do a better job of explaining what happened next. Because this happened so quick. As they turned into my lane I slammed into both of them. I REMEMBER this so vividly but the Tico on the back literally banked off my window. I remember seeing his body horizontal with the front of the car. After he bounced off my car both he and the driver bounced off the pavement and into the embankment on the side of the road.
My car came to a screeching halt. So many thoughts and emotions were scrambling through my head in a matter of seconds. I remember feeling GOOOOOODDDD THIIIIISSSSS IS NOT HAPPPPPENNINNNNNNG!!. I was completely shaken to my core.
I immediately swung my car door open. Jumped out and ran over to the two Tico’s who were now both unconscious in the drainage ditch on the side of the road. After of about 10 seconds both of them instantly started moaning. One of them tried getting up. I tried keeping him on the ground. He was falling all over the place. Meanwhile the other guy was completely laid out on the ground. From the time I opened the door I was yelling in typical idiot gringo fashion “La Policia!! La Policia!”. At this point there were about 20 or so Ticos on the scene from the surronding village helping the two guys
Not one was on the phone. So I ran back to my car and grabbed my phone. Handed to the first Tico I saw and told them to call the Police or EMS. The Tico got on the phone and told them where we were. At this point I would say maybe 5 to 10 minutes had passed and I started to settle from hysteria to completely shit scared.
I was surrounded by 20 to 25 Ticos. I was the stereotypical affluent reckless gringo who comes to their country to run them over with his big car. Thankfully this wonderful Nicaraguan women pulled up in her car. She spoke perfect English and asked if I wanted her to stay with me to translate. I told her I would appreciate it if she didn’t mind. So she pulled over and helped talk with a number of people there that appeared to be the gentlemens family. They also looked extremely pissed.
After about 30 minutes the ambulance pulled up. Strapped both the guys to gurney and took them back to the little house down the road that acted as an EMS center. It was about 1 mile from the accident and it took this emergency medical team 30 minutes to get to the scene.
I ended up going with Marta, the Nicaraguan women, back to the center. Leaving my car behind to be looted and burned to the ground. Once we got there I was informed that the gentlemen would live. They both had SEVERE road rash and one had broken his arm. Man was I relieved to hear that. I was told I had two options for them to get care. I could pay nothing and let the red cross take them to a hospital in Nicoya. Or I could pay 400 bucks for a personal transport that would get them there quicker. I paid the money and the men were off.
Now I had to go back to the scene of the accident and wait for the police. Marta drove me back and dropped me off. THANKS AGAIN MARTA WHERE EVER YOU ARE. You were a much needed hand when I was completely lost.
We got back to the scene and to my surprise my car was not burned and unharmed other than the front end from the accident. (Funny where your mind takes you when you get in these situations). I waited another hour for the police to show up. When they did they took the layout of the accident. Marking my skid marks from where I ultimately hit the guys yada yada. It turns out I was only going 37 kilometers per hour which is somewhere between 25-30mph. So really not too fast but fast enough to give these guys a good thrashing.
The cops ended up giving me a ticket and told me I would need to show up in court that coming Wednesday. What day is today? That’s right Sunday. So I hopped in my car. After the 3rd try the car turned over. I immediately headed for the mechanic’s shop in town.
On the way there I was caught in some traffic due to some road work that was happening. While I was waiting in line the same cops from the traffic accident pulled up next to me and asked me where I was headed. In my best Spanish I told them I was headed to the mechanic in Tamarindo. They said they would follow me, I think. However they ended up driving ahead and cutting everyone in traffic. I guess they were going somewhere else then.
I finally got out of the traffic and started towards the mechanic. After driving for about another 10 minutes….wouldn’t you know it the two cops were on the side of the road ahead waving me over. I thought here we go.
When I pulled over the cop said something about my inspection being 2 months over due, which it was, and that he forgot to put it on my ticket. I grabbed the ticket and told him to write it on there. Apparently he didn’t have a pen or something cause he didn’t want to write it on there. He started saying ” No No No” ” Blah Blah que es su problema”. Of course it’s my problem pal just write it on the ticket. After going round and round about the inspection tag and both of us not understanding eachother a light bulb went off. I’ll call a friend who speaks Spanish and he can talk to this cop. So I reached for the phone and the cop gently grabbed my hand and said “No No”. Looks me squarely in the eye and says ” I heelp you”. Now I get it. This MF’er is trying to get money out of me. I looked at my wallet and said I had no cash. I told him I would need to go to the bank and come back to give him money. He asked how much I could get. I said 10,000 nada mas. 10,000 colones that is. Which is like 20 bucks. He asked again and I said 10,000. Then he leaves my car and talks to his partner who then returns. His partner starts asking the same thing. I again repeat 10,000. All I was thinking at this point is for them to let me go to get the money because I sure a shit wasn’t going to come back. The second guy leaves to talk to his buddy. After about 5 minutes of talking. One of the guy returns to say ” No quiero su plata”. My heart jumped. He basically said they didn’t want money anymore and that I could go. Man I wish could have run these two jerkoffs over instead of the nice guys on the motorcycle.
So I finally get the car to the mechanic and leave it for him to look at on Monday. I catch a ride home from a co-worker. The very next morning I wake up and call my attorney. He basically informs me that I could potentially need to leave the country depending on how bad these guys were off. I WAS COMPLETELY FREAKED. He told me to meet him at his office on Wednesday morning and we ‘d drive to the court house to find out how bad the situation was.
I showed up at his office at 8am on the dot and we made our way to the court house about an 1 hour away. On the drive he told I had 3 basic scenarios. 1. Their personal damages were more than I could afford and I’d have to book the first flight out of Costa Rica the next day. 2. They were bad off but not to the point where I’d need to jet. However they could sue me and the most I’d lose is my car. Which by the way I was already having repaired to hand over to these guys. 3. We could get them to settle out of court for a sum and repairs to the bike.
Once we got to the court house Gonzalo, my lawyer, checked in with the clerk. The clerk informed us that the police filed the accident but not the details of the men or the specific’s of my speed etc etc. I couldn’t handle it any more. I told Gonzalo to call them and find out how they were and what we could do to make it up to them.
He did and Eurekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!. They said all they wanted was the bike repaired and some money for personal damages. Immediately, Gonzalo and I headed out to their place. Got their bike appraised and negotiated some deal terms for their personal damages. After we agreed to a small fee Gonzalo headed back to his office and worked up the paper work for them to wave their right to sue me later.
I grabbed cash and the paper work and we headed back to their house. At 8:30pm on that Wednesday the situation had finally come to a close. Man what a relief.
I don’t really know what the lesson was here. I’ll say this is that I learned that it could have been worse. They could have died. I could have been drunk like the old days. Man I could have gotten locked up by those dirty cops.
In the end I didn’t do anything stupid because the pressure was on. I used my friends for support and I had faith that something had gotten me this far and wasn’t going to let me down now.
Tip: If you are moving to Costa Rica and you buy a car. You need to also make sure you buy a corporation. You then need to make sure that the only asset in that corporation is your car. Then if you are put in a situation like I was the only thing they can get is your car.
Patrick, that is one intense story. Glad it all worked out for you in the end. What a difference between Costa Rica and the US. You wrapped things up in a matter of days. When I had a guy run into me when I was on the bike, it took 13 months to finally bring it to a close. Glad you and the bikers are all okay.
gee holy shit- Im glad it all got worked out.
If it wasn’t for bad luck, you would have no luck at all. Crazy story, glad it worked out for you.
Now this is a classic Diddy story!!! Man, I cannot believe it but then again its you so it has to be true. I guess your driving has not changed. Remember its only a Sunday practice, “Practice!!, We talking about Practice!!! AI style.