On the mooooove

Today after church we went to eat at a restaurant called Spoon—a great spot for lunch because it offers a bit of everything, including some good sandwiches and fruity drinks.

The restaurant is in Centro Comercial Momentum, an upscale shopping center that sits just off Via Lindora, by far one of the most congested streets in Santa Ana. Traffic on this road is always heavy and seemingly getting worse by the day.

As we were finishing our lunch, Erin—who faced the window looking out onto the parking area and Via Lindora—exclaimed animatedly, “A loose cow!”

I spun around and didn’t see anything, and as I returned to face Erin she again urged us to look. I did, and there it was. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I saw the skinny, Brahma cow making its way alone down this busy commercial road.

Now it’s not unusual for us to see dogs, chickens, horses, cows, and oxen around here, sometimes even on the streets. I see them quite often on the mountain road to the girls’ school, and a few months ago my friend and I saw a cow grazing at the bank on a very busy corner in Escazú. But to see this cow hurrying down Lindora was definitely not the norm and caught everyone’s attention. “Se escapó” (he escaped), noted our waitress, grinning, as all of us in the restaurant laughed at the poor cow.

And yet, not a minute later, came a couple more cows, soon followed by more cows—some of them literally running down the side of this road, cars and trucks passing them on the left. There was no farmer in sight.

Dan ran out to take a picture and then, after our bill was paid, we ventured around the corner to find the cows wandering into a lot across the street. They gathered there briefly, as if they were discussing where to go next, and then the leader headed off down a gravel road and the others followed. There were 14 cows in all.

I’m so glad I had my little camera in my bag so we could capture this moment. These are the unusual yet somehow typically Costa Rican-type things that make daily living here so memorable.