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jneiman: I agree with your words 100% and thankfully so do most on this Forum. I have learned so much through the years reading posts on here as well as articles on the entire site. I am not sure there are enough words to thank Scott the founder of this site for the knowledge he has shared. Not just Scott however, while posting on here I have been introduced to another Gringo on here who is married to a Tica who has offered to rent me or sell me 1 of his condos. Whether I purchase it or not he has also offered to meet me with his Tica wife and the oppertunity to become friends. Others have assisted me in making the proper decission about bringing my leased vehicle with their open and honest assesment through their own experiences. Another poster writes many times about the pain he went through being burglerized and his belief that living in a guard gated community is the best option unless you can afford a private security or are willing to be a prisoner to your home. So J. I like you believe this forum is very valuable and a place to openly discuss all the positives and negatives so we can benifit from the experiences of those who already went through it and we don’t have to reivent the wheel or suffer a mistake. Now with all that said I also believe Scottbenson’s posts are equally valuable, while many of us may have only experienced positive experiences with the Ticos we have met he is sharing about a family he is intimate with. They may be the minority or the majority with their feelings about Gringos it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because he address’ a point through his experience and it’s just another learning experience. While I disagree with much of what he says in this string scottbenson has brought intelligent input in other strings. I personally believe this is a very sore subject for Mr Benson or his Tico inlaws thus his strong arguments. I must state if I believed that the majority of the Tico population was as he described I wouldn’t want to live in Costa Rica yet my experiences leave with a different opinion and that is why I am purchasing my new home in my adopted country. I believe I am moving to Costa Rica with the right information and the correct attitude which is Costa Rica is my country and I will live by the rules and lifestyle of a Tico lifestyle, I will also do everything in my power to make my new home a safe and successful place. I will speak spanish, befriend my neighbors assist in charitable events be a good citizen and live my life in peace.
Edited on Jan 06, 2007 18:50
Interesting how you interperted my last post?
You interpurted that I was not welcomed in my wifes family?
My wifes family was very open to have me join them. This, how ever does not make one a Tico just part of the family. I asked my wife tonight what would it take to be named a tico. She said you have to be born and raised as a Tico. It dose not mean that you are born on the soil or imergrated to Costa Rica. You have to be raised in the true family of the culture of a Costa Rican. I do understand what she means about this because it is a different culture!
The issue is Crime statistics, either you accept the Costa Rican way of dealing with their own country’s crime issues or you will need to move on, because you won’t be able to change to the Costa Rican way of doing biz. As a legal resident you have rights but you still are not a tico!
As stated at the main post
“If we place our heads in the sand and pretend this isn’t happening two things will happen 1 we won’t work on correcting the issue 2 we won’t protect ourselves from becoming victims of the violence.”
“The other concern that is raised with regard to the increase in crime is the courts inability to deal with the increase and the turnstyle form of justice which is happening today, and tourists inability to report crimes due to a lack of speaking spanish.
Who are the we, the Ticos? the gringos? Why cant we let the Ticos take care of the problem I am sure they have in the past!
The issue with the justice system, well if you dont like that you will hate to wait in long lines at the goverment center!
To me it sounds as if someone wants to change the world!Edited on Jan 06, 2007 19:37
Hmm, have you ever thought that since I am related to a tica that they might feel more secure to talk about matters like this?
The family does consider me as a family member, how ever if you think that you just become a tico because you imergrate, or become legal resident you are imagining things. Just because one has a dual citizen ship to Costa Rica does not mean they are a Tico. I don’t really understand what you mean about teasing gringos abour heritage? This is not about heritage! This is about culture!
As stated in my recent post it sounds more like you are looking for reasons why not to move?
Do you think that if you move here you can change the crime if you band together and change the system?
If you think that crime is a problem than wait until you have to make a line at the goverment center for a couple of hours!I must have interpreted incorrectly about your relationship with your Tico family based on your posts… if so I apologize. I hope they treat you like family and truly embrace you.
You’ve read more into my post however… never said anything about wanting to be “Tico” and really don’t want to be “Tico” — thanks.
Like you say the issue brought up was crime and I guess we differ how one deals with it. Letting the “Ticos take care of the problem” is one approach.
Tourism remains big business in Costa Rica. Violent crime will kill the tourism industry and the jobs and economy associated with it.
Having to live with crime is a fact of life. When it escalates around you and affects you directly I’m sure the ticos will take care of the problem. I can always leave if it gets to that point. And the ticos can buy more guns, hire more guards and install more razor wire and all will be good again in Costa Rica.
The question on the table is “Do you scottbenson consider crime to be getting worse in Costa Rica and if so, do you think it demands attention and action or will it just work itself out?”
scottbenson: you scare me more than anything on earth. Just as I defend you comes more of your pearls of wisdom off the keyboard. If I were an inlaw of your’s I wouldn’t want you living in my country either no matter what country it was. Ignorance is accepted by most where as very few people have a threshold for stupidity. It is equally as important to be able to understand what you are reading as it is to be able to read the words that is called reading comprehension I would suggest you might want to refresh yourself in that area. Maybe after that you might see things in this post from a different perspective. Your entire position might change you may understand what I am and others here are stating. You might even understand why I care about the violent crime that more than likely will never touch me personally. Take a step back enjoy a cold shower forget all that you have read and start at the begining and reread this entire post while enjoying a cup of coffee. Let me know if that helps you gain the understanding of the words here. If that doesn’t help get a highschool student to read it and explain it to you.
Well vegas,
I think you might want to lay off of the coffe a little bit. You also might want to take a step back from your research and ask your self what you really want from the crime statistics that you stated. Is this information going to help you make the decission to move to Costa Rica and relax or is it going to make you become more anylitical and only find reasons why not to move?
Many people become so anylitical and can’t see beyond the forest of information that they have recived, most Ticos have learned to take one day at a time, that is what the saying of Pura Vida (pure life) means. This might be a issue for you and it is a issue for many of the gringos that move to CR and find that they can’t handle the lifestyle and move back to the U.S.
If you look at your first post you were looking at a way to combat crime. This is what the ticos don’t like is to have foreigners tell them how or what to do. Do you belive they can take care of the crime with out gringos imput?
Well in the area that I live in Tres Rios Cartago, crime is not that big of a deal. In San Jose where my wife’s family biz is crime is the same. Every year my brother in-laws biz gets broken into, normally it is the competitors just making problems. My mother in-law has been rolled once, and they lived in a pretty tough part of town when I first met them. My brother in-laws drive nice cars with guns on the bottom of their seats but this is because they have new cars and expensive ones. One of the doctors that has a biz next to my wife’s family biz was shot 9 months ago in they day time. He was shot because he was messing around with someone else’s wife and a contract killer shot him (from Lemon).
Crime has become more of a issue for tourism and this is why the president hired more police and is why he is cracking down on corruption. How ever I do believe that crime in Costa Rica is not as a problem as most of the cities that I have visited in the last 5 months!!!
If we make a fair comparisson of Costa Rica to any state with the same amount of people in the U.S. I belive you will find crime levels lower in CR.
I do believe that the Ticos are doing a great job on cracking down on a lot of the crime that is happening! Maybe not to some people standards but they are making a dent.
OK Mr. scottbenson the time has come for me to break this all down for you. First marrying a Costa Rican doesn’t make you their spokes person. Second a country the size of Costa Rica with its diversity and separate regions is bound to have differences of opinions on every subject including Gringos and immigration. Next the key issue you missed in my initial post is it wasn’t part of any research about relocating to Costa Rica. What happened is I read the news paper as I do everyday and not just one paper but that is one of several I read to keep up on current events, to educate myself on what is happening in the entire world or sometimes just to relax. Now after reading that article in a Costa Rican Spanish written newspaper which is read mostly by Ticos I decided to share its English translation with the members of WLCR via this forum. I never made this a Gringo issue or a Tico vs. Gringo issue seems you did that as you do with many issues as you see yourself the Tico people’s spokesman. Judging by your continuing effort to cause strife between Tico and Gringo I am certain most if not all Ticos would prefer it if you would resign that position including your in-laws. I suggest that you evaluate your reasoning for living in Costa Rica and if you choose to remain what kind of lifestyle you would like to live. Unfortunately you never adopted this Tico lifestyle you write about and pretend to understand. I can relate to your wife’s family feelings about Gringos if they base them on their interactions with you. Since you are so close with them and they get a bird’s eye into your opinions and thoughts. As I wrote to you earlier if you were my in-law after listening to you I wouldn’t want you living in my country no matter what country it was.
Not sure why you keep on wanting to compare CR to the US. I’m not trying to nor am I from the US.
If you are comfortable with that level of crime around you then kudos to you.
I would venture a guess that the major difference between CR and the other “cities” you mention that have higher crime than CR is that those places aren’t being promoted as a tourist destination. And those other “cities” may not be as dependant on tourism dollars as CR is. Let crime continue unabated, and those tourists will stop flocking to CR and go elsewhere. Meanwhile, back in CR desperate people will be doing desperate things and may even reach your enclave of Tres Rios. OMG!
I don’t think the police lack the will to combat crime, but they lack the resources and the citizens generally don’t want to get involved. You may not be interested in doing something about that, but I think other people on this form think differently.
There have been news stories on foreigners and business owners actually putting up the money to buy the police vehicles, computers, setting up a station just to give them the tools they require to effectively patrol their own area. These are people who didn’t take the head in the sand mentality.
Now grab the hand of your neighbor and sing a rousing chorus of Kumbaya!
You are right put on the rose colard glasses and sing Kumbaya!!! Because here comes the gringos trying to change the world again!!!!
I guess when you mean Gringo, you mean a foreigner?
And change happens all the time. Pull your head out of the sand and take a look around. You seem to be afraid of something and appear to loathe the very thing that you are and that is being a Gringo in Costa Rica. Get over it because you should know better.
vegasknite
I’ve just returned from a glorious two weeks in the Central Valley and thus a my absence from the forum. I have the opportunity to respond now to your post about my previous comment. Vegasknite, I had hoped that the quotes around the word news would tip you off that I was referring to the information in the article as being familiar to forum members. I guess it was an ill-chosen writing device and I apologize. I understand that the article itself is recently written.
My comment was directed at your statement that negative opinions are not welcome on the discussion forum. There have been plenty of postings that scared the bejezus out of me. Accusing scottbenson of trying to stifle negative comments is off base. He isn’t saying that we should only focus on the good side of Costa Rica. He is saying that immigrants to this “paradise” aren’t in a position to charge in like John Wayne and make everything right.
It seems to be a common trait in Americans to want to take charge and show others the correct way to do things (i.e., in this case, how to prevent violent crime in Costa Rica). The problem is that Costa Ricans don’t want their country to become a mini U.S.A. So, if you are talking about changing Costa Rica’s culture or government, forget it. The best that we can do is, as individuals, to avoid dangerous places and situations.
Thank you for your brief curriculum vitae, vegasknite. I’m impressed with the dangerous areas where you have lived and worked. I also live in a large city, (Chicago) and there are neighborhoods that I would not go into in broad daylight, let alone after dark. Also, I wouldn’t walk through the most upscale neighborhoods with a hundred dollar bill hanging out of my pocket. These neighborhoods are often populated with numerous lawyers and politicians and that c-note wouldn’t last one block.
editer
I happy you had a great trip I will be there myself mid February. I hope I will be leaving to pack up some clothes and return for good.
I read your words and I agree with a lot of your arguments however, I don’t know where you read my words saying I want a mini USA or to charge in and change anything. When we talk about violent crime however, take note this is new to Costa Rica on a grand scale. I don’t know that the native population like it any more than I do I don’t know that they will accept it either. What I have done through my posts is identify it as an issue and yes when questioned if I would come charging in and form marches I clarified I never said that nor did I intend that. I do believe that we can all do things to assist in the minimizing or elimination of violent crime and stated such facts. I know the Costa Rican Government is looking into this and trying to combat it as well. The President has clearly stated that he is concerned with this new rise in crime and has proposed some immediate measures and will be looking into more long term solutions.
As far as members with knowledge on here are concerned I am always happy to listen to and learn from experienced members that is why I always take what GringoTico posts to heart as well as others. Then there are those I have no respect for what they type because they post to see their own words in print or some other reason I don’t know or care about. I find those members to give misinformation many times and also make arguments that are invalid. In fact some of them don’t even live in Costa Rica yet they write as though they are speaking for every Tico/Tica. It would be fine if their words were just a biproduct of ignorance however, I read it as youth combined with stupidity and mostly stupidity. I can forgive ignorance and youth without making a comment. It is the real stupid comments I can’t let go of all the time yet I do most of the time.
To be clear I don’t find anything you have written to be stupid or ignorant in fact I agree with almost all you wrote. Thank you
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