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Hello! I absolutely fell in love with CR when I visited there for the first time in Feb, 07. It appears to me that most of the people posting their experiences or questions are couples who have retired or have bought a business in CR. As a single woman not ready to do either, I am finding next to nothing about what I need to know to even begin my search for a job or affordable housing. I am middle aged, and am learning little about how I would be accepted in the culture, as a woman alone. I am serious about the possibility of moving there, and willing to research for as long as it takes to prepare, but a little discouraged as I continue to search in vain for the information I need to even begin. I have learned about an extensive course to be certified to teach english offered at a very prestigious university in my area. I have very good command of english, and know I would be able to teach the language. I am a registered nurse, but exhausted with it. Presently I am working with drug addicts and alcoholics – and even though I read about the high alcoholism rate in CR, I read nothing about treatment. Please Advise, and Thank You, Barb
Have you read the articles by Margie Davis. One of her articles is about #115 of the ones on the welovecostarica website.
missingcr…..I am just finalizing my divorce from my wife (her choice definately not mine!) That is another whole story and it was not from a bad I did. But to the point I spent 3 months in C.R. last year and just fell in love with it too. Obviously I can not speek from a womens point of view but as I found almost all Ticos are extremely friendly and if you locate in a safe place you will find that you will become friends with many and they will watch your back too.
I found by going to the same place to eat and drink most every night I actually became a “regular” and was acepted by all.
I am planning to move to C.R in July or early August. If I can be of
any help I would be most happy to do so.By the way this is definately the very best venue for getting information and questions answered. p.s. I met Scott last year and he is a prince of a man and you can relly trust what ever he says. He shoots as straight as any person I have met. Oh and I just bought
one of the super new maps and I would recommend you do so too so you can look up places you hear about.
Terry From TexasMissingCR, you need to do a lot of homework and consult a knowledgeable attorney. At the very least, you must address the matters of residency and competing with Costa Ricans for employment. You cannot count on being a “perpetual tourist”, and you cannot assume that, just because you have a skill, you will be allowed to work. It would be a serious mistake to fold up your tent in the U.S., come down here, and find out you can’t stay.
Definitely good advice by David. If you want to come down and earn a living in a regular job, that is going to be tough. I’m defnitely not an expert there and consulting with an attorney is paramount. Typically though you can not work a job. There are exceptions to that, but as far as I know they are few.
I can give you a little insight about a single woman that moved here a few years ago. She was a good friend of ours, so we were able to observe fairly closely how things unfolded for her. She was in her early 40’s, but did not come down expecting to get a job. She had made enough selling her house in California that she made some investments and turned those over and was living comfortably that way. I think her biggest issue was that she was a very strong willed woman and very oppinionated. That does not go over well in a Machismo society. While Costa Rica is not as much a Machismo culture as Mexico and some other Latin American cultures, it still has many of those elements. Our friends first problems were when she was remodeling a house that she had bought. She hired her own crew and basically acted as the general contractor. That in itself is not neccessarily an issue with most Tico’s but when her personality started coming out in the way she talked to the workers, that was the problem. You typically don’t even hear one Tico yell in anger at another Tico. So when she yelled at one of her workers, the whole crew stopped and really stared her down. The worker that she yelled at immediately told her good bye and that he was no longer working for her.
I think when people are considering a move like this, more than any other time in their lives they need to be honest with themselves. It can be an incredible adjustment. Having lived here now, if our friend was planning a move now I would probably try to talk her out of it knowing her personality. She did not fit in well at all. She made a few friends, but pretty much kept to herself. After three years she has sold her house here in Costa Rica and moved back to the States.
We know another single woman living here that is very much a radical feminist and thinks she is going to teach the Tico women about their rights. Needless to say, she is not fitting in great either.
A lot of things have changed for women in Costa Rica. I believe I read where over 50% of the university population is women and it is not uncommon to see women in politics, management positions, and owners of their own businesses. That being said, it is just something to consider evaluating your own personality and expectations as a single female of what you might expect of yourself and from others if you moved here.
Wow, I this is truely a issue that has not been covered enough in this web site!!! (not !)
You really need to do some research because you can’t come to Cost Rica thinking you can find employment!!!!! There are only two ways to get employment under a residency! One being married to a Tico and the Second is to have a employer state that you are the only one that can qualify for the job and no tico can fill this. That is very hard to find a employer that will state that since a large amount of unemployed workers have masters degrees!
I don’t know what you are looking for in Costa Rica but if you think that the tico male population is as subserviant as the North American men you will find this to be not the case. Ticos are very macho.. ask my Tico brother in laws or my mother in law.
Again many people, fall in love with what they belive is paradise and Costa Rica can look that way. How ever remember you came down on vacation and even Florida can look like paradice!
Hi there 🙂
all good advice on the legalities of living and working in Costa Rica as well as cultural differences. I recommend “Living Abroad in Costa Rica” by Erin Van Rheenen, it’s a great resource to answer many of your questions…available on Amazon.com
I feel your pain too on missing CR, I was there for two weeks a couple of months ago and then last week to look at properties. Altho I cannot retire or live there in the near future, I plan on visiting 2-3 a year going forward. Been many places in the states and Europe but feel so happy there, so much beauty and kindness…hard to leave…
good luck, keep learning!
Kathleen
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