Church. Park. School. Cantina.

Readers from Chennai (the Madras of my days there) might have hastily read the subject line as "Church Park School Convent."  Let me clarify to them that this post is not about that prestigious school in that part of the world.

Wait, wait. Don't go. Stay with me. Read this post anyway.  Please!

Down the valley ...

As we were driving through Paraiso, and as we passed a church, Luis showed four fingers and counted, "church, park, escuela, cantina."

"Always" he added in English.

Yep, there was a park, big enough for a soccer field, across from the church.  Cantinas by the road side, and a school.  A simple formula for life in a Costa Rican town, I suppose.

The layout in Orosi was no different.

Tthe church, originally built in 1743, was across from the park where a couple of boys were kicking a ball around.  The park even had floodlights installed!

Behind the goalpost was a restaurant, and more on the other sides of the park.

The school I didn't photograph because there were lots of kids.  Perhaps it is the American paranoia in me that I will be hauled away by the cops for taking photographs of minors.  Life has become too complicated that way--people seem so ready these days to attribute incorrect intentions to actions by strangers.  I didn't want to invite trouble in a strange land.

The town's layout was so different from what I experienced as a kid in Neyveli.  My school was far away from the temple.  Nor was any restaurant next to the temple.  Our home was, come to think of it, closer to the church than to the temple!

The church at Neyveli

Life in the big city of Chennai now is very different.  It seems like real estate near temples and churches and mosques is prime for eating places.  I suppose people find something for the soul and then a lot more for their appetites.

This big restaurant is only a couple of doors away from a crowded temple at Chennai

The next step in this land use evolution could be the introduction of a drive-through praying and eating service even as the faithful/customer is watching ballgames on the dashboard of a driverless car.  Perhaps an American is already working on that business proposal.  It is also equally possible that the crazy American entrepreneur is a Church Park School alum!

Orosi, after a spell of rains