The answer is both - there is third option no one warned me about… I’ll get to that in a moment. It is necessary to learn and become comfortable with both the metric system and the old standard of miles, yards, feet, inches, pounds, ounces, gallons, quarts and pints. For a US citizen, the later is second nature but the metric system unfortunately is not on the same level of familiarity. I can remember when the metric system was first marketed to the American public by the US government. I was in 7th grade and it was introduced to us in school. There was a concerted effort to incorporate it into all our classes and eventually our daily lives. It was the new standard and would have to be learned – there was no choice. The old system was going to be archaic and we couldn’t take the chance of being left behind. My mother and aunt even came to school and took a class to learn this new system. As an aside, this still hasn’t happened.
30+ years later, the US is still in the same place, trying to learn the system. It is true that there are places where the metric system is the standard, such as the sciences and manufacturing. However, in our day to day lives it is our old friend the foot, pound and gallon that prevail. Yes, we pay “lip service” to the metric system. We put the # of liters on a gallon of milk or on a 20 oz. bottle of Diet Coke but no one ever goes to the supermarket and orders ½ kilo of hamburger. The only example of a metric only item that I can think of is the 2 liter bottle of soda. I am not sure how this item slipped into our lives unnoticed.
Having a background in the sciences, I know the metric system. It is easy to learn and understand and a very standardized unit of measurement across all units: weight, volume and length. The problem for me in Costa Rica has been 2 fold: conversion and knowing which system to use.
The conversion issue is simply one of math. No one wants to have to divide by a number with 2 decimal places especially without a calculator. The trick is to carry around a calculator. It is a dead give away that you are a foreigner. But then, so is my overall appearance. There aren’t a lot of natives that are 6’3” (or should I say 1.91 meters) blonde and blue eyed.
Anyway, the need to convert from metric to the US system is really one of value. We are paying 540 colones for a liter of gas. How does this compare to the US and what we are used to paying? Is it expensive or cheap? It turns out to be $3.50/gallon – YIKES! This is worse than California. The day to day conversion is easy. Soon, I hope to just know the relative value and will not have to “do the math”. I must admit that I use online conversion sites when I am at home. This site is good:
30+ years later, the US is still in the same place, trying to learn the system. It is true that there are places where the metric system is the standard, such as the sciences and manufacturing. However, in our day to day lives it is our old friend the foot, pound and gallon that prevail. Yes, we pay “lip service” to the metric system. We put the # of liters on a gallon of milk or on a 20 oz. bottle of Diet Coke but no one ever goes to the supermarket and orders ½ kilo of hamburger. The only example of a metric only item that I can think of is the 2 liter bottle of soda. I am not sure how this item slipped into our lives unnoticed.
Having a background in the sciences, I know the metric system. It is easy to learn and understand and a very standardized unit of measurement across all units: weight, volume and length. The problem for me in Costa Rica has been 2 fold: conversion and knowing which system to use.
The conversion issue is simply one of math. No one wants to have to divide by a number with 2 decimal places especially without a calculator. The trick is to carry around a calculator. It is a dead give away that you are a foreigner. But then, so is my overall appearance. There aren’t a lot of natives that are 6’3” (or should I say 1.91 meters) blonde and blue eyed.
Anyway, the need to convert from metric to the US system is really one of value. We are paying 540 colones for a liter of gas. How does this compare to the US and what we are used to paying? Is it expensive or cheap? It turns out to be $3.50/gallon – YIKES! This is worse than California. The day to day conversion is easy. Soon, I hope to just know the relative value and will not have to “do the math”. I must admit that I use online conversion sites when I am at home. This site is good:
The other issue is know which system to use. This has been a big factor in designing and building a house here. I designed the building the old fashioned way using drafting paper, a ruler and a pencil. It was all done in feet. Then, the plan was turned over to engineers to convert it to a plan that could b e approved by the College of Engineers. This was done in meters. This was easy enough.
The problems started to arise when purchasing materials for the house. The type of material determines the unit of measurement. Electric wire is sold in meters, nails are sold by the kilo but the sizes are in inches, plywood is sold in 4’x8’ sheets, pipe diameters are in inches but the lengths are in meters, metal columns have metric length and width but the thickness is in inches. It is all just a guessing game. You just have to learn what measurement goes with which item. And if some of the metric measurements seem strange, they are most likely simply a conversion from feet. For example, a sheet of drywall is 122 cm x 244 cm. This is simply a 4’x8’ sheet. Kitchen cabinet widths are also conversions from inches. That 92cm cabinet is a 36” cabinet.
Just when you think you have it all figured out, there is another unit of measurement – the vara. This is an old unit of measurement that is still used for wood lengths. A vara is approximately 84 cm or about 2.8 feet. A standard unit of length when ordering wood is 4 varas - or somewhere between 11 and 12 feet. This is a hold over from when theSpaniards ruled Costa Rica. For more infor checkout:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsolete_Spanish_and_Portuguese_units_of_measurement#Vara
The other interesting thing regarding wood measurements is the dimensions. Wood is sold in standard US sizes such as a 2x4. In the US this 2x4 is actually 1.5” x 3.5”. In Costa Rica, the actual dimension is 2” x 4”. This makes a big difference when constructing a building. And for a cost per unit comparison, the Costa Rican 2x4 is 52% more wood than the US equivalent. Now I am getting just too complicated. Bring a calculator and good luck.
The other interesting thing regarding wood measurements is the dimensions. Wood is sold in standard US sizes such as a 2x4. In the US this 2x4 is actually 1.5” x 3.5”. In Costa Rica, the actual dimension is 2” x 4”. This makes a big difference when constructing a building. And for a cost per unit comparison, the Costa Rican 2x4 is 52% more wood than the US equivalent. Now I am getting just too complicated. Bring a calculator and good luck.
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