Walk through any neighborhood in Costa Rica in the morning, and you will hear sounds of children splashing in the bathtub. Often, the voice of a nanny rings by. Children around the country, not yet old enough for school but old enough to be without their mother’s for awhile, take a morning bath.

Addison is no exception. Except when he’s with me. Before starting the day, he gets a bath. It’s actually lovely and good therapy for him besides getting his bum and the folds between his neck clean. He fills up jars and bottles of water; experiments with physics; and relaxes after a stressful morning of exercise balls, yoga, and sweeping the condo wall clean of termites.

I’m not so good with the bath ritual. When I don’t have a nanny, Addison definitely is “less clean” so to speak. I’d rather roll around on the floor and tussle in the grass than sit on the ceramic next to the tub. Perhaps it’s the Leo in me. I’m a land beast. Or perhaps my European heritage accepts the fact that oil build up on the skin is a good thing. As with every cultural clash I encounter, I find good in both. I have definitely learned to relax a bit over the years over the bath time ritual and succumb to bathing my son more than once a week when I’m without a nanny. On the other hand, it’s O.k. to skip the morning (or afternoon) bath and even go to bed with a little dirt on our knees. Imagine! Almost unacceptable in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is one of the cleanest countries I have ever been in. The trash on the road is the sign of a larger problem in this society that needs fixing. In fact I just watched a guy toss a pop can onto the side of the highway. I had to remind myself I was not in the middle of a Carl Haissen novel and could not chase the man down and exact my revenge since I was actually had my whole family in the car and was on the way to a therapy session for my son. But if you walk into any home - from a tin shack to an elegant mountain view home - it’s going to be clean. You could eat off the floors. Sweeping and mopping are more than a necessity, it’s national pride. I lax on cleaning skills too. I’m more likely to sweep when the cockroach death toll reaches over three. Less than three, I can live with for awhile.

So on your morning walk, listen carefully to the sound behind those little cubed windows in the concrete walls of the homes you pass by. And if you don’t hear a laughing child splashing in the tub, you’ll have to at least admire the brilliant, shining floors.