At first I thought that outside of the parameters of the La Ruta race logisitics, Costa Rica was a scene operating like this. Take six ropes of different colors. Ball them up, then grab one end of the red rope and pull. When the rope doesn't come out, instead of trying to methodically untangle the rope, get six friends with each grabbing a different colored end and keep yanking at the ball in frustration.That's the equivalent of a non-native speaker who can't speak the language, saying it louder and in slow motion in their own language, as if that's going to suddenly going to translate.
Operating in Costa Rica is a practice in patience.
It seemed to me there was no coherent method of operating. But I think what I came to realize is that everything is done with intention. Like that ball of rope. I would start by trying to get it untangled quickly while a Tico would probably get a stool, sit down with a glass of watermelon juice and start a slow effective disentanglement. 
