Having just landed at San José airport in Costa Rica on a late September evening, it strikes me how warm it is when someone exclaims: “Pura vida!” My welcome committee, a gay man who moved to Costa Rica to be with his partner, spots my confused look and enthusiastically tells me that the expression means “pure life”.
Apparently it is something locals say to almost everything. Jet-lagged, I make a mental note to figure that one out later on and instead I focus on getting a grasp
of the city I have landed in.