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| The closest thing to a billboard in Atenas. That is my Roca Verde neighborhood in background. |
There are a lot of billboards in San Jose and a few on the toll road between here and there, Ruta 27, but I guess that kind of advertising just doesn’t pay in and around the farm town of Atenas. Nice! This sign is hardly as big as a billboard but about the biggest you might find around here. It is on the connector road to Ruta 27 near the Feria or Farmers’ Market. Behind it is one of several hills in the Roca Verde housing development where I live.
The sign is for my favorite of several Macrobioticas in Atenas. They are kind of like health food stores, herb or vitamin shops in the states. You can get lots of food supplements, vitamins, and herbs of all kinds. This particular shop is where I get my Melatonin or Melatoninia, Hierba de San Juan, Tilo, as an herbal sleep aid, kind of like the sleepy time teas I can also get there, just in a capsule form. I do still sleep on a CPAP machine most of the time and if it wears out, my doc can get me one here for Sleep Apnea, but I may lick that too!
I no longer take any prescription medications of any kind including allergy meds and I am doing just fine! I brought a lot of the senior adult one-a-day vitamins for men from the states (generic Kroger brand) and when I run out later this year, I can get something similar at my Macrobiotica Tienda (Tienda=Shop). I not only feel healthier but also save money! And oh yes, very little advertising bombarding me here which is also healthy! (Tomorrow I’ll tell you about seeing both my doctor and dentist in two days.)
One of the amusing forms of advertising here (though not allowed inside Roca Verde) are a few cars or vans that drive around town with loud speakers advertising something with either a live Spanish speaker talking on a microphone or a recording that plays over and over. I think it is local businesses more than individual products, but not sure. Cell phone and cable TV also advertise this way. Glad they can’t come by my house! I heard them more in the apartments and of course still when walking in town. People live on their front porches or front yards, so it is a great way to advertise!
Another fun way some products advertise is to set up a table or booth on sidewalk in front of a store that sells that product, like beers do this a lot, advertising a special price or discount or premium you get with it. They do this with very loud pop/rock music and one or two absolutely gorgeous young ladies in very short skirts or shorts, often dancing to the music and inviting you to dance with them. It is so much fun to experience different cultures! 🙂 Pura Vida!
On my Spanish Blog read about the second Spanish Class I’ve joined which is at Iglesia Biblica. I’m determined to learn español even if doing it very slowly! It is a beginner class also, so a lot of repetition which helps me, but this one uses a Costa Rica produced book which has more local slang and idioms. Bueno!