Collectivos all the way to Playa Brasilito

So there is a very important distinguishing factor in Costa Rican bus transport. There are 2 types: Collectivos and Directos. Until this weekend I had only ridden directos, which also until this weekend I had decided there was nothing at all direct about. Directos seemed to pick anyone and everyone along the side of the road, bus stop or no, money or no, it appears that is merely on the whim of the driver.
This Friday my only choice to Playa Brasilito was Collectivos (via Tralapa Bus Station, which is in Jose but no one or at least none of the 11 people I asked had any idea where on earth it was). No one knowing anything about this bus stating in retrospect turned out to be amazing foreshadowing for the entire weekend.
We left on time (shocking and fantastic for anything Tico to happen on time), but within 25 minutes our bus started whining. Just in case you need reinforcement, this is never a good sign. This is also a good time to interject that when I am pretty sure that when buses die anywhere in the world, they are sent to Costa Rica. This country has more random buses of every age, size, and color than any place I have ever been.
So the whiny bus starts disturbing the driver and he begins pulling over every 5 minutes or so and running to the back to stick his head in the engine (which I am lucky enough to be sitting on). After about 30 min of this, the bus just quits and rolls almost off of the road. So everyone on the bus gets out and we wait for our new chariot to come and rescue us from who knows where. The bus finally does arrive about 2 hours later and off we go.
At this point I think it will be smooth sailing. However, I was about to learn the meaning of ¨Collectivos¨. Collectivos drivers will take you right to your doorstep, even if it was only 15 feet after the last persons´s doorstep. They are not so much concerned with bus stops (although they stop at everyone of those as well). And when I say ¨right to your doorstep¨I mean this emphatically. 4 times our bus drove faster than I will ever like to remember in reverse and slammed on the brakes in people´s yards to get them as close as possible to their doors. The driver´s on these buses also deliver mail, and my very special driver stopped and ate a casual snack for about 15 minutes at some random person´s house as my side of the bus all looked on.
When all was said and done the 4.5 hour busride was somewhere between 8 and 9.