Surf Pavones O Not

I finished another image from my de Pavones series - a sleepy guard dog taking an afternoon siesta. This was taken on the side of the ferreteria, Pavones' local hardware store. I was attracted to this scene by the sleeping dog, bold color and text. The sleeping dog references the ubiquitous presence of dogs both in Costa Rica in general, and Pavones specifically. It is always quite a shock for us Americans to see so many beloved dogs roaming freely in the streets, and a surprise to realize that most all of them have homes.

The tag on the wall is a curious detail because it is almost a threat, as in the standard construction to do (a particular activity) or die. But it is softened with the change of die to "or not". The text is an interesting combination of macho surfer talk combined with humble Tico talk. It is also a confusing mix of languages, an attempt at English, but instead of "or" the tagger wrote "o," slipping back into the Spanish equivalent.

This image speaks to both the Tico culture, and specifically Pavones culture, which revolves around surfing the world's second longest wave.