Making a MacGyver in Costa Rica

“We will make a MacGyver,” Julio says after I have broken the second glass coffee carafe in a month.

Here in Pacific northwest Costa Rica, I am surprised to hear a reference to the ’80s television protagonist famous for escaping sticky situations with items scrounged from his pocket or immediate vicinity. I imagine the blond-mulleted man from my childhood and a bubble gum-paper clip-duct tape repair.

Standing on a chair, Julio pulls down an old carafe from