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Then you believe everything they wrote about their world without asking for any substantiating details? I amnot wishing ill to anyone here. It is just that I don’t know them and I would want something more than what the article gave us as to how it is done.
Edited on Jan 26, 2009 07:28
‘They’ never wrote the article! It was the realtor, Jefff Wicox, and as far as I can see it is ‘just an advertisement for ‘living or buying in Atenas’.
HaHaHa! Sorry, I was laughing so hard when I read these responses, I had to fly back to Canada to get more Kleenex.
Of course you need to believe what you read. People don’t lie! Or stretch the truth! Just talk to some of Bernard Madoff’s friends. People accept unsubstantiated stories every day. Please just don’t invest your money that way.
Why does it matter if the story is true? No one is asking for donations!
It’s not a life and death matter here, of course. We are just chewing that fat, so to speak, on a matter of mild interest.
I also think there are several jealous folks trying to stir things up in the forum however I did just read the article on the young couple from San Fran. Also, in my early 30’s and considering a move to Costa Rica I found the article as mainly just a sales pitch but then again it was posted by a realtor trying to sell property. I would love to see more real life living situations of folks that make the move to Costa Rica – struggles they face, successes they’ve had and not being so vague as to just point out the wonderful Pura Vida lifestyle…after all that is why I use this site and forum for real information and to research without all the sales pitches.
Ok so you want the truth,
1.) Costa Rica is like other Latin countries where there is a big differance from the rich and poor.
2.) Polution is a big problem! Go for a drive and look in the rivers along the city and towns you will find appliances, plastic, tires and everything else.
3.) The country doesn’t bring in engough taxes so the normal school system has big problems. The kids have to copy the school books because they don’t have enough money to buy new ones. ect.
I could go on but really its the same in all of latin america. I know of this because my wife is a real Tica and all of her family is in Costa Rica. Her cousins are coffe pickers in San Ramon and they can paint even a harder picture. If you really want to know what Costa Rica is really about I challange you to live in a normal Tico neighborhood where everyone has bars on the windows, suicide showers, metal roofs and everyone makes less than $800.00 a month!
So when you see these people moving to CR because they don’t want to do the normal day to day chores, remeber most Ticos would love to have the opertunity to live in the U.S.!
Don’t get me wrong and think that I am slaming CR but I will not put on the rose glasses and tell people it is paradise!
Almost everything you say above is right, Scott. Interestingly enough, however, I keep running into Costa Ricans who have lived and worked in the U.S. and who have elected to return home. And they’re happy about their decision. I say to them that “Los dineros estan en los Estados Unidos pero la pura vida esta aqui”. Man and boy, they all agree.
scottbenson, I agree with what you are saying, as we live in small house in small town, Costa Rica and before that we employed coffee pickers but lived in a small house in a Tico neighborhood.
But, I don’t see what this has to do with the article this post was about.Scottbenson is talking about the quality of life in Costa Rica. He states some truths but despite the many things CR has in common with other latin countries, there seems to be a significant difference.
Like David, I also know of Ticos who moved the the U.S. for a short time and then returned to Costa Rica. I lived in Miami for 30 years and I only met ONE Tico in all that time. Compare that to inumerable Nicaraguan, Cuban, Puerto Rican and other South and Central American communities represented in Miami with permanent residents. The few Ticos who leave home tend to return quickly.
scottbenson you say that “If you really want to know what Costa Rica is really about I challange you to live in a normal Tico neighborhood where everyone has bars on the windows, suicide showers, metal roofs and everyone makes less than $800.00 a month!”
Why would any sane person want to do that?
As an American, perhaps “if you really want to know” what America is “really about” I challenge you to live in a normal (??) American city like New Orleans where they have some of the highest levels of murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft and car theft in the USA!
Sorry to state the obvious but there happens to be a big difference between the rich and the poor in the USA and the UK and by any normal accounting methodology the US is more bankrupt than any other country – The UK is also has serious financial problems.
As for pollution – The USA remains the world’s biggest polluter although China is catching up fast ….
The US is the #1 biggest polluter of nuclear waste [ http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_pol_nuc_was-environment-pollution-nuclear-waste ]
The US is the #1 municipal waste generator [ http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_mun_was_gen-environment-municipal-waste-generation ]
The US is the #1 producer of Carbon Dioxide per capita [ http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_pol_car_dio_per_cap-pollution-carbon-dioxide-per-capita ]I have sympathy with the poor and unfortunate people but this isn’t WeLoveCostaRicaForMinimumWageEarners.com
I created this site for people like me – hardworking people looking for a different life – wanting more information about living in Costa Rica, it was not created for people waiting in line outside a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, for people earning minimum wage at some fast food restaurant in Detroit or for lifelong coffee pickers in San Ramon.
Lastly – and I have mentioned this previously – I grew up in West Africa (Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Liberia) and our family was there (Nigeria) during the Biafra crisis [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafra ] and seeing bloated dead bodies (from starvation) lying at the side of the street was not remotely unusual. There is no comparison between that kind of poverty and what we have in Costa Rica.
I think it’s a bit conceited for us to assume that out of over 15,000 VIP Members – none of us have an appreciation (except you of course) what poverty is “really about”. I have met a number of VIP Members, some of whom are very comfortable now but at one time, did not have shoes to wear or food to eat.
Scott Oliver- Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comScott… I agree. There are many of us here that have had very humble starts in life that have a good idea about hard times. Those of us using this site have worked very hard in life and spent a good amount of time researching CR to be lucky enough to make a move towards what hopefully is a better way of life~!
Edited on Jan 28, 2009 11:06
I brought my sisters to CR for a short visit. Although they never spoke it, I had a good idea what they were thinking when they saw the towns and many of the small homes in disrepair. The lower economic level in which most Ticos live is simply not as widespread and evident in the mid west where my sisters live. They are not accustomed to it.
Despite the incredible beauty of the land of Costa Rica, many North Americans just cannot see past the relative poverty and cannot imagine living in a country surrounded by that poverty. CR is a great place to visit, but they wouldn’t want to live there. I believe many North Americans fear poverty as if it were a contagious disease.
I do not glorify poverty as a wonderful thing. It is not. But at the same time I don’t focus on it as I used to do. Perhaps I have become somewhat jaded to seeing it or maybe I am putting a spin on the situation, ignoring the ugly so that the beauty isn’t overcome and spoiled. It takes a certain callous and pragmatic world view to live contentedly in a place where most people are not as well off as you.
Edited on Jan 28, 2009 14:05
Spirit… The poor will always be among us. The big difference I see with those living in, and fighting poverty in Costa Rica is that they still have a sense of pride and family. Something sad to say I don’t in the more materialist society most of us were raised in.
“It takes a certain callous and pragmatic world view to live contentedly in a place where most people are not as well off as you.”
So very true, but not nearly as hard to deal with as you think if you make the effort to give something back. Living in a society that has such a range of wealth is not as difficult for those of us that realize we’re no better than those that have little or nothing. Giving of yourself and showing people that although you may have more, you’re willing to help those that need help makes it much easier and creates a lasting bond which flows both ways in the long run. Those that isolate themselves, have only gringo friends, don’t help those in need… for the most part are the least successful at living in CR.
The recent tragedy in CR showed how the country was able to pull together both “rich” and poor… in our little town they held a “rodeo” event that was well attended. In fact it was like town was shut down for the evening. Folks of all backgrounds. And seeing how our friends and neighbors reacted in seeing us there was a sure sign that we’ve become part of the neighborhood!
Edited on Feb 04, 2009 09:37
Well Scott I was just giving one of your readers the real truth “why I use this site and forum for real information and to research without all the sales pitches” that they wanted.
I do know that Costa Rica is by far not the poorest of countries and also not the worst in polution in Central America, but we also have to give the bad with the good to your readers. The U.S might be the most ” The USA remains the world’s biggest polluter although China is catching up fast ” as one country but if you compare the rest of the world to us as a whole we would be the lowest. Lets take all of EU, Germany, and all of the rest as awhole and compare it to the U.S. Then you will have a different answer! or take all of Central America and South America and you will see that the U.S. is much better in the standards preventing polution. You can’t say that Costa Rica has the resources such as sewage treatment plants and garbage collection points to keep up with the demand.
The good news is compared to Africa I would live in any Central or South American country before I would step foot there!
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