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Dan, don’t worry about wearing shorts all the time. I’ve worn long pants twice in four and a half years (once to dinner in Ann Arbor, Michigan) and nobody’s said a thing. That goes for doctors’ appointments, closings on our mortgage in downtown San Jose law offices, banks, etc.
When I worked in a Federal Bureau of Prisons halfway house years ago, I quickly came to the realization that, try as I might, I could never be black. Likewise, I will never pass for Costa Rican.
wearing shorts in a cathedral is extremely BAD taste. other than that, almost anything goes. for women, you can be nearly naked but your nipples had better not be visible. this is, after all, a catholic country, and there ARE rules, subtle as they might be.
[quote=”maravilla”]wearing shorts in a cathedral is extremely BAD taste. other than that, almost anything goes. for women, you can be nearly naked but your nipples had better not be visible. this is, after all, a catholic country, and there ARE rules, subtle as they might be.[/quote]
Thanks to both you and David….I wouldn’t wear shorts in a church really, and I PROMISE to keep my nipples covered….Well, MOST of the time anyhow. LOL
I can’t tell you how much the information you have imparted to me over the last several days has laid to rest most of our concerns….SERIOUSLY, my Wife is ready to get on a plane RIGHT NOW. She’s all for SELLING everything, or sticking it in storage, BREAKING our Lease here (I don’t like that idea), and making a serious LEAP.
….FOR ONCE, I am the voice of reason and advocate taking it slowly, it’s USUALLY the other way around, I am usually the impulsive one, but I think we BOTH want the Tico lifestyle so badly that she is having trouble taking it slow.
I know that at least for the last two pages of this thread, my questions have dominated the scene, I don’t mean to be a hog, but I sincerely hope that some of my stupid questions have helped someone else along THEIR journey, please, keep it coming, and I’ll try to ask intelligent questions along the way…..yeah, right…..LOL
Dan, I just want to add a comment to everything else that’s been said. maravilla and I disagree on some things and agree on others. But she and I share the common experience of having come to Costa Rica for the first time ever, gotten over the culture shock (for me, at least) in short order, and made a commitment. This is not the safe route for everyone, but it has obviously worked for maravilla and it has worked for Marcia and me.
Our first visit here was for the express purpose of ruling out Costa Rica as a destination. We kept looking for the disqualifier . . . the thing we couldn’t tolerate. When we couldn’t find it, we jumped.
Now to be sure, it ain’t perfect, but it’s a lot better (for us) than what we left behind and it may be for you, too.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]Dan, I just want to add a comment to everything else that’s been said. maravilla and I disagree on some things and agree on others. But she and I share the common experience of having come to Costa Rica for the first time ever, gotten over the culture shock (for me, at least) in short order, and made a commitment. This is not the safe route for everyone, but it has obviously worked for maravilla and it has worked for Marcia and me.
Our first visit here was for the express purpose of ruling out Costa Rica as a destination. We kept looking for the disqualifier . . . the thing we couldn’t tolerate. When we couldn’t find it, we jumped.
Now to be sure, it ain’t perfect, but it’s a lot better (for us) than what we left behind and it may be for you, too.[/quote]
Thanks David, it seems from some extensive reading, that THAT is a common story across a broad spectrum of people…….This truly will be an adventure of the first order.
Can’t wait to get there…….We’ll be looking for that very same “disqualifier”
[quote=”maravilla”]the problem with the chicken here is that it is loaded with antibiotics and steroids. they are raised in huge factory farm (shudder), but occasionally i’ve found a neighbor who said he could get me a patio chicken that was free range and NOT fed all those things. when i used to buy it i would always ask the vendor about these two items and he would say, “there are no ADDED hormones or steroids,” which i learned later meant that besides what’s in their feed, they don’t give them any extra. as for the beef, it is unlike anything you ever ate in the States. it is grassfed and not aged, and not the cuts you are used to, except for hamburger (carne molido). having said that, i have had some great lomito (tenderloin) but it is expensive here — about $12.00 a pound. there are carniceria’s everywhere so you won’t have a problem finding meat; the question is do you want to eat it. grassfed beef is actually better for you, but don’t expect to find cornfed — that is an american thing; torture for the cows, and bad for you because the meat is very acid. i have a neighbor who has made some great brisket here, but she had to bring the butcher a chart so he would know how to cut it. people eat a lot of cerdo (pork) here, but i talked to a butcher the other day about how they are raised and again, they are pumped up with all kinds of hormones and antibiotics. i used to buy a few hundred grams of uncured bacon about 3x’s a year, but when i asked the butcher if it had nitrites, nitrates, or preservatives in it, he smiled and said, “oh yes!” as though i were hoping for those things. i never bought bacon again after that. when you see the variety of vegetables here, you will be excited about vegetarian cooking. eating meat in the tropics isn’t such a good idea anyway, but to each his own.[/quote]
Oh Maravilla…have you seen “Food, Inc”…this documentary has totally turned me toward organic foods and all free-range meats/eggs. I’m surprised to hear about steriods/hormones added to livestock there…that is disappointing, but I’m trying to move toward more of a Mediterrean diet anyways: fish, nuts, fruits, fresh veggies, and red wine (yum!). I’m glad the question was asked about meats…I hadn’t thought about this, only assumed…and we know what that means…i have not seen food, inc., but i have researched the topic so much in 30 years that you couldn’t pay me to eat factory-raised anything. it’s only a little better here in that they don’t have massive feed lots (that i know of anyway), but if you crowd 1000 hogs into an enclosed pen, you have to give them antibiotics. the Mediterranean diet will prolong your life. the standard american diet will kill you. it’s really easy to follow the Med diet here because of all the good stuff that’s available to support that kind of eating. we get fish at the fish market in puntarenas; it’s about half the price there, and it’s right off the boat. we stock up on giant shrimp when in season, and red snapper and sea bash, then portion it out and freeze it. we get enough to last about two months because we only eat it once every two weeks or so. i know so many people who got healthier living here, and managed to ditch some of their lifestyle meds in the process.
I’ve been waiting for a couple of days to see if anyone added anything here, and no one has, so here I go again…….LOL
MOTORCYCLING. Speak to me of this, anyone who knows. I’ve followed a lot of threads from people touring the world, some made round-the-world trips, but I would only be interested in touring Central and South America (Primarily Costa Rica tho…).
I know cars are EXPENSIVE, but what of Motorcycles? Still the same thing applies?
And LASTLY, a question on a different note……..What areas, if any, of Costa Rica need to be avoided, especially by a tenderfoot Gringo fresh off the boat?
Thank you all, this has been a most informative thread, I hope it continues.
Dan.
with the way they drive down here, the narrow windy roads with no guard rails, the pot holes that will swallow your car or cause a major collision, FORGET MOTORCYCLES unless you want to die young. stop signs are merely a suggestion, as are red lights. passing on the right is a right. crossing a double yellow to pass in a no pass zone is also a right. the highways are full of yellow hearts where pedestrians were run down. it’s not the car’s job to stop; it’s the pedestrians job to get the hell out of the way.
A few years ago, there was a gentleman posting on a Central America travel forum who was riding his motorcycle from the States to South America. He was in his seventies!!
His name is Ted Simon and I’m sure that you will find information as how to contact him if you google his name.[quote=”maravilla”]with the way they drive down here, the narrow windy roads with no guard rails, the pot holes that will swallow your car or cause a major collision, FORGET MOTORCYCLES unless you want to die young. stop signs are merely a suggestion, as are red lights. passing on the right is a right. crossing a double yellow to pass in a no pass zone is also a right. the highways are full of yellow hearts where pedestrians were run down. it’s not the car’s job to stop; it’s the pedestrians job to get the hell out of the way.[/quote]
Thanks Maravilla, that is about how I had it figured, but I’m not going to want to do this on a Goldwing, I’m talking about something made for off-road, long haul riding, so I’m not scared (Yet)…….I still want to look at that aspect once we’ve been there.
…My Wife wants to go NOW…serious.
Dan.
I moved to Canada from England in my twenties with very little thought beforehand except I knew a friend of a friend there, but I had never been there, didn’t know much about the country and didn’t really have any plan to stay permanently but ended up staying for many years.
For me the difference in thinking of moving to Costa Rica is the amount of stuff involved! I left England with two suitcases, now we have two properties filled with belongings, pets, vehicles,a boat, kayak etc etc that need to be dealt with.
What holds us back ( or maybe down) is all our accumulated things and the need to replace a lot of them once we do make the move. It was a lot easier when I was younger and had much less.[quote=”janetready”]I moved to Canada from England in my twenties with very little thought beforehand except I knew a friend of a friend there, but I had never been there, didn’t know much about the country and didn’t really have any plan to stay permanently but ended up staying for many years.
For me the difference in thinking of moving to Costa Rica is the amount of stuff involved! I left England with two suitcases, now we have two properties filled with belongings, pets, vehicles,a boat, kayak etc etc that need to be dealt with.
What holds us back ( or maybe down) is all our accumulated things and the need to replace a lot of them once we do make the move. It was a lot easier when I was younger and had much less.[/quote]It sure would be easier if one were “Unencumbered”….We face this to a lesser degree, as we lost MOST everything in Hurricane Charley. What we DO have now will be divided up, some we may try to bring and the rest may go in storage, then again, we may sell everything we can and just go make a fresh start.
These are the decisions facing a lot of people, I suspect, and the question is….. Can we make that leap?
I guess everyone’s motivations are different, it’s the execution that hangs us up.
I wish you luck coming to whatever conclusions YOU personally have to come to in order to make your own personal leap.
My apprehensions have been diminished by talking to the fine people here and I hope that when we make OUR journey, we can shake the hands of some of those who have given THEIR time to come to these forums and talk to people like you and me.
Regards,
Dan.
[b]janetready[/b] we did this same move, although to family who had established their home there.
When we made the move here, over 9 years ago, it was very different, since our [i]’kids'[/i] and their families had established their own homes in Canada.
The [b]#1[/b][i][/i] reason for returning ‘home’ [i]seems[/i] to be [i]missing the family.[/i] Talking this past week to another American couple who have just sold their home here and will return to the USA in June, and to others, [i]if[/i] there has been second marriage, that seems to increase the chances of turmoil regarding [i]families back home[/i].
If one has [i]’young family members'[/i] possibly students at university or new grandchildren, that is hard as well.
Forum members are just that, forum members. Chances are you will never meet them [i]face-to-face[/i] and could pass them at the [i]feria[/i] with no idea who they are, unless of course they post a recognizable photo.:)
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