Behind closed doors.

What can be worse after a relaxing dinner at home than a sink full of dirty dishes! No doubt this was the sentiment that led to the invention of the dishwasher, which has since become a commonplace appliance in American homes. Here, no. I have yet to see a dishwasher; not in a home, a business or even in a store that sells furniture and appliances. Instead I have discovered a more unique solution to the “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” problem of dirty dishes. A sink closed off from the kitchen. It’s very common in our area to see Tico-style homes with their sinks mounted behind shutters outside of the kitchen window. Although I don’t know the origin of this custom, several very practical reasons come to mind. Homes are typically much smaller here than in the US, so, mounting the sink outside gives you more floor space in the kitchen. Since the kitchen, and indeed the entire house, often utilizes an “outdoor living” concept – in other words, no glass or screening on the windows – having the sink outside the window lets you pitch your food scraps directly to the neighbor’s free-ranging chickens or the compost pile. And then, of course, if you have a sink full of dirty dishes and company is coming, you can close your shutters and they will never know what is hiding behind the closed doors.