Adventures in Driver's License Renewal

When is the last time you renewed your driver's license?  Were you able to quickly and easily do it via mail or on line?  This morning, I embarked on the adventure of renewing my Costa Rica driver's license.  I say "adventure," because it actually required me to go to three different places.

The first stop was the infamous "medical exam," done by a man about 100 years old in a snack shop.  He pulled out the paperwork from the only drawer in the otherwise entirely empty office and began filling it out.  To calculate my height, weight, and blood pressure, he merely guessed.  Yes, that's right, there was no need of a scale or blood pressure machine.  To check my eyes, he asked me to read the license plate of the car across the street.  After making sure I didn't have any problems with my knees or ankles and could move my neck from side to side and up and down, I was all set.  Quite the exam indeed!

The second stop was the bank and I had previously been informed that this would be my last stop, however that proved not to be the case.  They allowed me to pay for my license there, but I would have to go to yet a third place to actually get my picture taken and receive the new card.

The third stop was some sort of police headquarters because I have never seen a place so well guarded in Costa Rica.  I walked nearly the entire length of the property (after stopping three times to make sure I was still headed in the right direction) and finally arrived at my final destination.  There they took all my paperwork, took my picture and gave me my new license, good for 5 years.  Woohoo!  That wasn't nearly as daunting as I'd anticipated!