“Dirección” is the Spanish word for both direction and address.  And Costa Ricans (Ticos) have an unusual way of giving directions and addresses (unusual to us but not to them; the city just put up street signs a year ago, so it is part of the culture).  Instead of using street names and house numbers, they start from a landmark and then tell how far to go using the four points of the compass (north, south, east, and west).  And instead of using blocks for distances, they use 100 meters instead of one block.  So, if they want to say “three blocks north” they say “300 meters north.” It may be 150 meters, or 500 meters (block lengths vary greatly), but they always convert blocks into meters, where one block equals one hundred meters.  So here are the directions (and the address) of where we are staying in Costa Rica.  I’ll translate into English for you.  The actual directions are in bold italics, while the rest of it is my commentary:

San Jose (the city), San Francisco of Two Rivers (the burough):  From the Pacific Pharmacy (the landmark), next to Okayama Park.  [In the last two weeks, the pharmacy closed and is now a bakery, so I don’t know how that all works]:

Okayama Park (it was a gift from Japan but everyone calls it “China Park” because Ticos call everything Asian, “Chinese”)

This is where the pharmacy was.  It is now a bakery (panadería)

Go 300 meters (3 blocks) to the east.

Go 20 meters to the south (i.e. turn right).  House on the right hand side, color orange, with green barred fence, three floors, before the speed bump (the Ticos call a speed bump a “muerto” which means “dead man”).

You’re there!