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For the first time, I saw a national TV commercial the other evening here in Miami for the sale of property in the Jaco area. The male background voice had a strong Costs Rican accent and and he touted the usual selling points for Costa Rica as they showed scenes of the Pacific beaches. This was aimed at retiring North Americans and others who might want a vacation home in CR. There have also been recent special reports by CNN and other news shows about North Americans retiring there.
Until a year and a half ago, I hadn’t thought at all of Costa Rica and so maybe I just didn’t notice any advertisements or news about the country. It is possible that now that I am committed to moving to Costa Rica, I seem to be more alert to anything about CR. Or could it be that more attention is truly being focused on Costa Rica recently from up here?I am retiring and moving to my home in Quepos in 2 weeks. There is not anyone that I tell about our move that doesn’t know of CR or knows someone that has moved to CR. CR is becoming very popular and interesting to the US community. Much to my dismay I really would rather CR stay the way it was 5-10 years ago when I first came. However, a great thing will not go unnoticed. That is why most of you and I want to live in CR. Also that is why values have risen at unbelievable amounts. Thats the good and bad. Pura Vida
Sprite, have you ever noticed that as soon as you buy a new car you see the same model everywhere? I think it’s increased awareness on your part.
Jafranz, I’m with you. Now that you and I are here, let’s close the gate!
Davidcmurray and Jafranz,
Let us squeek through that closing gate & then I’ll help you push!
Have to admit I don’t care much for the changes I am seeing, how about we all promote Panama as the “new” perfect place to retire to!
Let me in, too, and I’ll help Ruth close the gate! When I first started this CR project nearly 3 years ago, I was so happy to tell everyone about Costa Rica. Now that I see the influx of so many gringos, I’ve changed my tune and tell people NOT to go there; that it’s not what I thought, it’s expensive, it’s this or that thing that I know they wouldn’t want to hear. And I tell them that either Panama or Nicaragua is where it’s at; that CR is past its prime. Doubt it will do any good, but I’m trying to get away from gringos, not move to where they all are!!!
I don’t like crowds and that was one of the many reasons to move to CR. I still don’t see that many americans in the San Ramon area. Last visit, I came across a half dozen either gringos or Canadians at a few restaurants and at the hotel. Out in the sticks where I have my build site, there is not a single gringo to be seen or heard…except for me. I think they are still clustering together in gated communities. Makes me wonder why they come here if all they really want is to stay with each other.
Exactly what I was thinking…same thing happens with new cars…but it still feels like there is actually more interest now than even a year ago. Places get discovered, forgotten about and then rediscovered for all kinds of reasons but the fact that CR might be rediscovered at this precise point in time could be significant. The first of the Boomers are coming into their retirement next year. The numbers will increase dramatically in the ensuing 5 to 10 years and the economic effects should be huge and be felt everywhere from the stock market to the real estate market by that point. Does it seem like there are more speculators in CR these days than just 5 years ago?
I’m up in the campo where there are more cows than people, but we have had an influx of gringos into our community of late. Thankfully, we have some Europeans/Canadians there as well. It really distressed me when I went into an appliance store in San Ramon and when they asked me where I lived so they could deliver my goods, the sales person scrunched up her face and said, “Oh, you live on la calle de los gringos!” I told her not to consider me a gringa, please, and I asked her why she was making such a face and she replied, “Los gringos estan muy fao!” Now I wonder who from our hood went into that store and made an a** of themselves! I guess it’s the herd mentality for a lot of people who flock to those gated communities. If I had my druthers, I’d move farther out into the campo where there are no gringos at all and life is really simple!!
Although I am not particularly proud of my country, especially lately, I recognize that I am an american. As with all cultures, there is good and bad and our culture certainly has its share of both. On the whole, though, I try not to generalize. The occasional “ugly” American will always be present in other countries and people there will many times generalize and put us all in the same grouping. It may not be fair but it happens everywhere. We all do it. I wonder what bad experiences you have had with Gringos that would make you want to avoid them.
It’s not that I’ve had any particular bad experience, it’s just that I don’t prefer gringo culture, never have, never will. I was raised by European parents, so I never considered myself American per se, and only ever felt at home in any other country but the USA. It’s a hard thing to explain, but I am not looking to live in Costa Rica and then surround myself with the kind of gringos I see moving there because I would’ve had less than zero in common with them in the US, so I certainly have not much in common with them in another country. It’s the mindset mostly and I find myself completely embarrassed by the typical gringo who moves to another country, wants everything the way it was back home, right down to the junk food they prefer to eat, refuses to integrate into the local community, refuses to learn Spanish unless it’s forced upon them. I’ve encountered way too many of this type; assuredly it’s not ALL of them, but way too many of them for my preference. I take consolation in the fact that they won’t last long in Costa Rica or any other place they decide to move.
OK. I guess I see your point. I am certainly not moving to CR in order to seek out other americans. I don’t even do that in Miami. I have lived the last 25 years in Miami and we have friends from all over the Caribbean and Central and South America and not a single gringo among them. I enjoy the variety of cultures here since no single culture really dominates. I think it should be very easy to avoid making american friends in CR if that is what you wish. There are far fewer there than here.
In fact, Costa Rica so far strikes me as very mono cultural. There are not that many foreigners there compared to Miami and it may take a while for me to lose the feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb. It sounds to me like foreign nationals in CR are more xenophobic that the Ticos are in there own country.Ah, like you, we have friends from all over that part of the world. My husband is Italian and we have very few gringo friends even in the States. I just never seemed to gravitate to the average American after living in so many places where there weren’t that many. And yes, some of the gringos I’ve met in Ticolandia are incredibly xenophobic. Go figure!
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