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this post, a wild one for my first post, however just a warning to those that leave the US thinking they can wash themselves of the place.
if you leave the USA (or any other country really) because you are disgruntled, be careful, because it is easy to physically leave the USA, but it is not easy to mentally leave the USA.
LOL! i have to say, you people who moved to CR, supposedly to free yourselves from the USA in various ways, sure seem as though you are still very engaged and fighting the battle (at least mentally) from abroad.
it just goes to prove what i have thought for many years, you can move anywhere in the world, but you are still american, you can’t shake it, you can’t forget it, america is in your mind and heart and it just won’t leave.
if you are abroad and still playing in american politics as if you were still here, i have to LOL to that.
i suggest if you want to play in politics, do so in the country that you reside in. start complained about CR politics and policies for considering the level of corruption at all levels there is surely enough to keep you from paying attention to what is going on in the country you left behind.
i find it funny how you accept CR as it is. you have a “who cares” attitude about the place you have chosen to live.
you move from a country where you can speak with your vote, you can get involved at any level to help change what you don’t like to a country where you can’t do anything about the policies so you still engage in US political banter as if you were here. WOW! you are looking BACKWARD, not forward!
if you can’t leave US politics alone, really, you haven’t left the USA at all. hahahahahahaha!
that is one of my biggest gripes too about the gringos here, including my husband, who insists on watching CNN to try and keep up with what i’m not really sure since i haven’t seen a television in a year, and don’t care if i ever see one again. i know plenty of people who are glued to US news as IF it really means anything. when people ask me how i can detach so easily, i just laugh and reply, “what matters to me in costa rica is the price of gas, the rise in electrical rates, whether the feria will have fresh hearts of palm, and whether or not my friend who has 50 goats is ever going to get some goat cheese made. the rest of it doesn’t matter to me. i even stopped reading the thread on the US Crackdown because it was way too involved about stuff i’m not involved in. i’m way too busy writing about organic developments, health issues, and the really really interesting politics of latin america.
But why should an American “forget” who he is or “shake” it when he moves abroad?
We’re all political human beings and naturally concerned about what’s going on in Costa Rica – the place we live in now – and what’s affecting our loved ones who still live in the countries we left behind.
I am naturally concerned about what goes on in England and Scotland because my sister and my father still live there…
My two children who are now 19 and 17 live in the USA and I am very concerned about the present condition of the USA, what it will be like in the future and how this could affect my two wonderful children.
Social Security income tends to be a pretty significant portion of the monthly income that retired people from the US live on in Costa Rica and they have every right to be worried about how politics in the US affects that income …
And yes! Although our US citizens can vote in elections in the US, very few of our VIP Members are citizens of Costa Rica and are therefore unable to make any political changes at the voting booth in Costa Rica because they are unable to vote so, although we complain, what power do we really have if we are unable to vote?
And let’s be honest, most North Americans and Brits don’t speak enough Spanish to complain anyway do they?
Social Security income tends to be a pretty significant portion of the monthly income that retired people from the US live on in Costa Rica and they have every right to be worried about how politics in the US affects that income …
I read and enjoy this forum so thank you for your efforts.
This above statement has been a real concern too me if/when I retire in c.r. that I would get stuck with a currency that I am counting on that may collapse and leave me hungry and stranded. My savings and pension could take me the six yrs before S.S. but if that becomes worthless, ouch!!! I’m stuck.i’m talking mostly to the disgruntled who leave the US in a huff over whatever US policies – foreign or domestic.
sure people care about loved ones left behind, however caring about whatever perceived negative policies that the loved ones are subjected to back in the homeland are a whole other ballgame. spin it anyway anyone wants, the message is clear. if you can’t leave at least most of it behind, you haven’t left, that is the bottom line.
many leave thinking “i’m getting out of this f’ing place” only to watch CNN and seek out US newspapers in their new place to live. sorry, just makes me laugh.
i’m not only speaking to people who leave for CR. i’m speaking to anyone who leaves the US in a huff to anywhere in the world, but especially to places that are 3rd world like and places where they can’t speak enough of the local language to complain (as they must have been doing in the US).
i know there are exceptions to the rule (everyone has the one-off story), but i can order utility services right from the internet without ever picking up a phone or standing in line. i can pay even more, including my property taxes over the internet. it hasn’t always been true, but if my cable internet goes out, a service guy is here same day or next day at the latest. i am hardly ever in any long line whether at the bank or anywhere else.
so just saying, people who venture into a 3rd world countries better be prepared to grab a number and wait for it to be called or just stand in line at nearly every opportunity when dealing with a utility, bank, the gov’t and more. these are the kinds of things people don’t mention on internet forums.
[quote=”triumph04″]Social Security income tends to be a pretty significant portion of the monthly income that retired people from the US live on in Costa Rica and they have every right to be worried about how politics in the US affects that income …
I read and enjoy this forum so thank you for your efforts.
This above statement has been a real concern too me if/when I retire in c.r. that I would get stuck with a currency that I am counting on that may collapse and leave me hungry and stranded. My savings and pension could take me the six yrs before S.S. but if that becomes worthless, ouch!!! I’m stuck.[/quote]i hear you. i only hope then that you aren’t leaving the US over any political issues, because you aren’t going anywhere “mentally” if that is true.
nothing has changed about expats since the day the first one left the US and parked himself somewhere south of the border. for the first issue of NEOTROPICA we are reprinting an article that was written in 1943 by an astute observer commenting on how expats surround themselves with all manner of things to remind them of home, how they continually grouse about this or that which is different from whence they came, how they rarely truly assimilate into their adopted culture, and from that departure point begins the article i am writing on the quest for paradise and the disappointments that rear their ugly head when it is discovered that paradise is simply a concept. i have a fleeting worry now and then about things in gringolandia but they don’t invade my everyday existence in costa rica. there are just too many other things to take up what mental space i have to deal with the very hectic life down here. there wasn’t much i could do about anything up “there” anyway, so i voted with my feet.
Having traveled and lived around the world, like many other expats; our quality of life is very important to us. Most americans have every modern device and first-class technology within daily use or have click and sent ability, from checking to ordering junk on the internet. Yet, americans merely exist, work, home, work, home and pay the bills; and are only one pay check away from bankruptcy. I chose a pura vida life in CR, for a longer stress free life, away form the constant negative american political dog-and-pony show, high crime rates, rising taxes, corrupt officials at the Federal and State level,and away from the cold and indifferent people residing here in New England. Moving and living in CR, is a no-brainer; if you enjoy nature, fresh air and healthier foods. Americans will be in store for another change, in the next ten to fifteen years; when the current minority will become the majority; and when the current majority becomes the minority. Each individual must decide for themselves whether they want to live, exist or just survive. I know of veterans who are living simple lives in the jungles of southeast asia and in the woods of southeast, New Jersey.
[b]soldier said: [/b]”I know of veterans who are living simple lives in the jungles of southeast asia and in the woods of southeast, New Jersey.”
this is so true. i’ve always said that america is so big, if people want, they can still get lost in her and at the same time get their CNN and their american newspaper if they want. they can also live among fresh air and if they choose, eat healthy food surrounded by beauty for america is beautiful.
if they want something completely different – this list is long – then go aboard but better if they go without any ill feelings toward their homeland.
americans do get into the work, get paid, spend all the money, work, get paid, spend routine, but from what i’ve found, so does the rest of the world (those that actually have work). i think the only difference between america and some of the rest of the world is that americans, brits, australians, canadians, germans, the french don’t have to live life like this, but they do. americans do not have a monopoly on materialism after all BMWs and Mercedes and Rolls Royce aren’t made in america! paris and italy are at the top of the designer clothes, shoes and handbag list as well. i could go on and on.
[b]soldier said:[/b] I chose a pura vida life in CR, for a longer stress free life, [b]away form the constant negative american political dog-and-pony show, high crime rates, rising taxes, corrupt officials at the Federal and State level[/b],and away from the cold and indifferent people residing here in New England.
i can see life in CR as relaxing, but crime is actually worse in CR especially alloying petty crime in the city and remote areas, corruption is worse at every level, and i can’t imagine negative politics do not exist in CR. sorry, but this comment of yours is a prime example of when americans ignor the state of things in their current locale all the while bashing the same things in their homeland. i will admit america has its fair share of violent crime, however most of it is usually contained within certain high crime areas.
lots of americans seek out the country side when living in place like CR. well, people in the country side of america can and do still leave the door unlocked at night. try that in CR especially considering all your neighbors know you are american. try leaving without locking the door to go to the grocery store. the situation in CR is worse in the sense that it is actually your neighbors who are robbing you while you are away. as you drive down the street, the entire neighborhood knows who robbed you, but would anyone tell you?
even when americans leave america without any ill feelings, often nothing can prepare them for the surprises of living abroad.
“pura vida life???” maybe for some.
On my many travels to CR since 1985, I acknowledge, CR does have a petty crime issue, understandably, considering tico/tica incomes; and the influx of others from the surrounding countries. Here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there are three or four murders, a day. Philadelphia also has the nations lowest conviction rate, for murder; only one in five is convicted. I obtained a concealed carry permit, and carry a concealed .45, just to survive going to work and back home each day. It is a relief to come to CR and not carry a .45 out the door. In comparison to my current U.S. residence and CR, I think I would rather live with the petty theft. As a seasoned three time combat vet, I feel and see the fear in everyones eyes, each day. My son, currently on duty in Iraq, is safer that I am in a major U.S. city. You can survive petty theft, you cannot always survive lead poisioning from a firearm.
[quote=”jdocop”]garland said, in part: …..”but crime is actually worse in CR especially alloying petty crime in the city and remote areas, corruption is worse at every level, and i can’t imagine negative politics do not exist in CR”.
And, I have to ask him: upon what do you base your statement? How do you know that ‘alloying[sic]’ petty crime’ is even present anywhere in the country? Didn’t you say you still live in the states? And, why are you so sure that corruption is worse? Worse than what? Worse than where?[/quote]
how many presidents has CR sent to jail before the current one came to office?
“Worse than what?” – worse than the US, England, and 40 other countries, if you care to take a look: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table
gee soldier, i know philly is bad in “some” parts… sounds like you live in the most dangerous area. i seldom hear of anyone arming themselves just to go to work. i mean, most people go to work in broad daylight. it is that dangerous in your neighborhood? wow!!!!
you sound extremely paranoid. do you have bars on your windows and doors and walls with barbed wire around the top [b]like they do in CR[/b] too?
[i]”As a seasoned three time combat vet, I feel and see the fear in everyones eyes, each day.”[/i] [b] that’s quite a statement. i’m not sure a trained professional psychologist (PhD… what do they know) could make such a statement purely based on one’s eyesight. [/b]
[i]”My son, currently on duty in Iraq, is safer that I am in a major U.S. city.”[/i] [b]this seems a over the top! the media and human aid workers can’t roam free in Iraq.
[/b]JDOCOP…. i got one more for you on the petty crime.
the bars on the windows and doors and walls with barbed wire around the top …. that’s a sign of the times and the place you live.
Garland:
If your contribution to this Discussion Forum is to consist purely of initiating a discussion and then simply insulting and criticizing everybody in and, everything about Costa Rica then you’re going to have to qualify your opinions and experience a bit more because it sounds to me – and others who have emailed me – like you really don’t know Costa Rica that well…
How much time have you spent in Costa Rica exactly Garland?
And you registered under the name of “Garland Garland” – Is that your real name?
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