“You want?” The clerk held up plastic. It was a bag, like any other, commonly seen blowing down a street or swept to the side, submerged in the gutters. “No thanks. I have my own here. Reusable.” I lifted the backpack to the checkout counter. “¡Pura Vida!” he said. ¡Pura Vida! Costa Rica’s signature of an eco-friendly consciousness. Heard everywhere, ¡Pura Vida! expresses the pure life, a worry-free contentment, a cure within society. Within the two mountainous settlements of Santa Elena and Monteverde, ¡Pura Vida! is practiced and contained like an abecedarian lesson, honored as an idolatry of the human Soul. From organic produce, to conservation efforts and eco-tourism, the small-town communities present a choice; the ¡Pura Vida! reality representing Life’s diverse beauty. “¡Pura Vida!” I replied, placing the fresh mangoes, mushroom
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