Royal Family Fun & Games

With the reflected confidence of a more buoyant economy, sponsors had been especially generous providing over $20,000 worth in donations and prizes alone and the frantic buying of raffle tickets meant they were sold out well before the draw.

It's the kind of show that involves everyone: from just turning up to help adorn the counter of the Cricketers' Arms pub to cooking up jars of jellies and jams or manning one of the many stands for a few hours, if you showed willing you became part of the team. It's a great way to meet, greet and make new friends.

Cakes, cakes and more cakes

So it might not be everybody's cup of tea to wander the various tents and pavilions witnessing anything from youthful choristers from the international Country Day School to guessing the number Fruit Loops in a jar to a heavy rock band poised trap-door like on boarding over the swimming pool. (One can only assume the consequences had the Ambassador disapproved of the performers.)

In fact, the variety of people was a spectacle in itself: cool youths in shades draped themselves near the rock music, elegant ladies of very uncertain ages had bought up the hand-decorated straw hats - this year's theme - and poised themselves strategically for admiring compliments.

The Town Crier!

Children were absolutely everywhere but mostly underfoot with painted faces and hands sticky with candy floss; the business community, the retiree community of all nationalities, even the ambassadorial Labrador dog was persuaded to parade in a flowery hat for the prize-giving line-up (with no comments about crazy Brits and their animals.)

And the point of telling you all this?

Just as a simple anecdote that this too is part of Costa Rica; a slightly zany, enjoyable mixed-up social event that gets all backgrounds, nationalities and ages together with an end result of helping out some very poor rural schools.

If this isn't your thing, then fine, but it is a small part of life here - a show of the tolerance and mutual support that spreads through the various communities as a reflection, in large part, of our tolerant and 'simpatico' host country.

Written by Vicky Longland - Vicky Longland has spent all her adult life in Latin and Central America originally as head of the translation department for an international human development organisation and currently working as a freelance translator and writer for several national and world-wide publications, specialising in people's issues, the environment and lifestyles.