[2bncr]

I own my home on a 3 acres

to maintain it full time caretaker.

25 hours of maid service

two cares (no car payment) one is luxuary.

Private school

$800 a month in resturants and lquor and entertainment

Car insurance

expensive international medical insurance

caja insurence

utilities

property taxes

maintainece

I spend $5,000 a month

I can’t duplicate that in the US.

And the women? Ha!

Don Diego might not be envious but all my friends back home are…

Where is Don Diego? I miss the provacatuer…

[2bncr]

Nude B&B? Sure, my house, depending on what you look like Ar ar ar… 8)

Are you allergic to camaras too. Jejeje 😈

[2bncr]

The uptightness regarding sex in the US is a large part of the problem. Many many Tica see attraction as flattering. Weather it comes from a 17 year old or a 70 year old. In the US if a 40 year old man express that he finds a 22 year odld woman attractive, he is flipped off by the woman. Unless of course he is rich or famous (double standard and an example of an opportunity for veiled prostitution). Many Tica also feel that sex is natural and humane. So they see no problem with providing a service in return for reward. People provide services for reward all the time. Its encouraged, so why are providing sexual services for reward discouraged. Veiled prostitution is why.

I know guys here that go to the Del rey once every couple of months and they say that just knowing that it exists reduces their sexual urges – that is right – reduces sexual urges! Why, because its human to want what you cannot have. They know they can have sex when they want it so they don’t need it as much. If water was scarce one would really value water. If sex is scarce ita the same. But if water is east to get.. well, Prostitution is humane. There is so much veiled prostitution (which is inhumane) going on in everyday life. Women trading sexual favors all the time, even in a committed relationship! Now I know this is not going to go over well, however, trading sexual favors for any kind of result is prostitution, weather it is in the Del Rey or a married couple’s bedroom.

Now her is the double whammy that you women are going to hate and I have the guts to say (many feel this way but few will say it). Women have been taking advantage of men’s physical requirements to reproduce (spread the seed) since day one! No one ever talks about the way women provoke men with sexy clothes and perfume and lewd behavior. Men are set up by women to want sex and are then denied sex and then are enslaved by women that provide sex. Sometimes these women take men for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in the name of love, when all the time its veiled prostitution becuae of manipulation and dishonest intent. So who is more honest here, a woman that pretends to love a man to marry him and get his money or manipulate him through withholding sex. Or a woman at the del ray exchanging sexual favors for a fixed sum?

Veiled prostitution has been so deeply ingrained into our culture that it is completely acceptable. However, you cannot talk about it. Its similar to talking about being black 40 years ago and not being a black person. It’s a taboo subject. Until women change their behavior and become more honest and less provocative regarding sex (which encourages veiled prostitution), there will always be a market for sexual favors. The more women withhold sex and the more prostitution is illegal, the more problems with rape etc.

Look, men want a lot of sex, some women want to trade their sexual favors for money for the things they want. Its an honest deal. Now women who marry for money are honest too as long as they provide their sexual favors and spousal duties (whatever they may be), but women who marry for love and them withhold sex to manipulate their husbands are veiled prostitutes and dishonest ones at that. At least the prostitutes at the del ray are honest. Here is the price and terms. Physically it’s a Win win situation. Emotionally less than ideal. However look at the extreme emotional damage women create when they fake love to marry and then divorce a man for his money. Or marry for love and upset the emotional balance of the family by with holding sex until they get what they want, weather that is obedience or material objects. Veiled prostitution is devastating especially with children involved. Veiled prostitution is thriving and a growing business due to cultural acceptance. Legal prostitution would help eradicate veiled prostitution. That is why many women do not want legal honest prostitution. Bad for business.

[2bncr]

First you are welcome for the spa tip. Second pura vida was a phrase used by a mexican comiedian when things in life would go wrong the comedian sarcastically exclaimed “Pura vida” pure life at its imperfect best. So the next time your maid scratchs your new $50 teflon pan with a metal spoon (simply because its not hers so she could care less) you just exclaim Pura Vida.

Now what has Pura Vida been corrupted to mean? I don’t really know, do you? I mean I am sure you have your idea of what Pura Vida means to you but I don’t think we would get a consensus on it. Envirornmental cleanliness, ( i don’t think CR is particularly hygenic and Ticos throw trash commonly. Pura Vida, like as in the calm life? If you have been part of this society, then you know functioning here (unless you stay at home) is anything but calm. Pura Vida is so ambiguous that its an enigma, and in that way, I guess it works for Costa Rica, because like the Ticos Costa Rica is really an enigma (unknowable) as in there is no rhyme or reason as to why the goverment and most of the people do what they do, Maybe Pura Vida means ignorance , but in an animalistic blissful way! LOL.

[2bncr]

Ha! David that is a good one.

[2bncr]

Imported a CRV Honda from Florida and love it. If you have to deal with 4×4 condition then no. But around the central valley yes. AWD always around 20 MPG, great ride, fast, eats front tires though. Roomy and super quality well built auto. Reminda me of the quality of the older mercedes, Super solid. That is if you import the USA version with steel rails in the doors. If you open the door of a CR version and then open the door of a US version you will want the US version. It a huge noticable difference.

A huge factor for me is the saftey, The US version has front and side air bags (as the CR version does) but the big difference is that the US version has an airbag curtain that cover all the side windows. The frame is similar to a dune buggy frame in that it is tubeular so you are riding in a steel tube cage.

The reason I picked the CRV was that there is no safer car made and legendary Honda Qualty. Its almost as tough as toyota, classy, comfortable and pretty fuel efficent for an SUV. Solid solid solid.

If I lived in the sticks on dirt roads I would have went with the 4 runner turbo diesel 4WD 5 SPD.

Not as elegant and not a nimble or fast but great ride and super sturdy.

[2bncr]

Finca,

Foe those of us who are invested here this is a shame. I love CR. So what can we do about it.

CR has to go one of two ways. It has to become like the US or isolate its self. Which do you think will happen?

To become like the US Ticos have to be their job. They have to become worker drones. Effectness and efficency must rule.

If this is to happen the people that employ the workers must demand quality execution. No more “Its Costa Rica ” excuse. Accepting excuses here will only enable Ticos to continue their mediocraty. Services are mediocre here at best and they have to improve or the country will not be competitive; hotels will continue to close etc. For me selfishly I wish they would all close and Costa Rica would go back to its conpletly dysfunctional and cheap lifestyle, devoid of westwen comforts and technology.

That aint going to happen.

So it seems to me to keep this place in shape and the have nots ruining it for the haves we need to find away to get them a slice of the pie of change their perception. Arias greed machine has altered perception and Chanchilla is only a period on the end of that sentence.

So Ticos will realy have to embrace competition. Unfortuantely I don’t see that they have the stomach for it. I hope i am wrong.

The stolen wire illustrates two things:

1 Greed

2 The disdain of the haves by the have nots.

How can you enjoy wealth with no peace?

I am not talking revolution here, but the continual disruption of services etc.

When peoles values change, and they PERCIEVE themselves in a differnt way, attimes according to thier neighbors affluence, they become bitter and/or desperate.

Its all abot perception. I think the Ticos did not percieve their lives as empty because they lived without material comforts. Now I think many do. Materialism is a mental illness. I have it, I am recovering from it but am hardly cured. Material fever is spreading to the rest of the world. Get ready as the cure may be worse than the disease.

[2bncr]

Sprite, when was the last time you lived in Costa Rica? if ever. When was the last time you visited? I an very well invested here and belive me I wish things were getting better. I see your point about it getting worse in the states and yes if your world view consists of the states and Costa Rica I guess CR is still the better choice. It seems that many visitors to this site have probally been to Costa Rica but maybe like yourself have not been back in a while (years?), so reporting on the changes (although negative) is not useless for those who see CR through tourist eyes or are infrequent visitors.

However, I am guessing that things are not getting worse all over Latin America. I will be on an extended (monkey) business vacation for about 3 month and I will be in Colombia, Brazi and Chile. So lets see how it is over there.

Let me think of some good changes here… The overdevelopment has slowed… if anybody can help contribute to a list of good changes here I am all eyes…

This thread is about people leaving CR and although Scott rebutle was well constructed, I shop craigs list specifically looking for US products to furnish my rental units and meet many people who are leaving and selling off their stuff. So I know what the issues are with them.

Most of the time its the culture. They don’t like the habit of throwing trash, the increased cost of living, the driving habits and the arogance and the rampant petty thievery, increased street poverty and drunkeness. Most of the forigners I encounter live on the west side and they are concerned with saftey as well.

San Jose is changing and like you allued the gap between the haves and the have nots is widening. That is an even larger problem here as Ticos with less means are getting desperate. Desperate people do desperat things.

I see it as a matter of greed. IMO Ticos used to be happy with a simple life. Not so anymore, and they want more material items. Therefore they jack up the prices among themselves, not just forigners. It leads to costs spiraling upwards. If you have the means you absorb it, but with may Ticos only able to afford one light bulb at night there is no room for absorbtion.

So if you are a realist, then get ready for more lamenting because that is the view in the streets. Ticos are lamenting their compatriots greed that is causing extreme hardships. To me Pura Vida has been replaced by Pura Greeda. If you never experienced it here when the smiles and brotherhood were in vouge and living as you do so far away, it easy to say, aw its bad all over, give me a break. But that is the callous way of western thinking that has now overtaken Costa Rica and the inconsideration that perpetuates Pura Greeda, which is a combination of Tico and American values that has brought us the Tican.

The indoctrinations of Americans to have excess is spreading here. I came here because I liked the culture. I don’t like it anymore. That was a long time ago though and yes things change. But its too easy and IMO callous to judge and dismiss them when you are not affected by them.

I know this is a we love costa rica website, and probally the finest Costa Rica website around, Scott does a great job and I admire his dedication so I have not been posting recently because I have not had a lot of postive Costa Rica inspiration lately. So I will try not to be a downer and post when i have positive things to say. Overall I believe that it is still better than most places and lifestyles in the states.

[2bncr]

First of all perception rules everywhere. Most of the time you are more affected by your perception of the event then by the event. Second people tend to belive what they want to believe and if you diliver a contray message then its the shoot the messenger syndrome. This to me is one of the most distateful thing about human behavior as when one is trying to provide food for thought many people look at it as, well you don’t think as I do, so you are lame and “shoot that lame messenger.”

I found that people are living longer but maturing less. Oh well. Either wisdom is on the decline or all the really wise people are truly wise because they are in hiding!

Stupid eh? What exactly is stupid? Lack of ability or lack of information or lack of effort or all of the above? Look, there is a learning curve to everything. Costa Rica’s learning curve is steep and rises the moment you choose to live here, and then again when you choose to build or work here.

Tourists are on vacation. Let me repeat myself. Vacation. Does anyone ever consider that when they travel to a large city at home they are not on vacation????

So right there you have the vacation mentality. They don’t want to think. They think all the time at work. They see all the uncivil wild behavior here and they want to go feral: Domesticated now gone wild.

If you chose to live and work here and behave as if you are on vacation, well that is really stupid. Tourist also are choosing to travel well outside their comfort zone: language ability, social and infrastructure difference, so it leaves them more vulnerable to a higher tourist learning curve.

Yes there is a learning curve for tourist and many do not want to endure the learning curve. They want to be on vacation. So when you are not thinking you do dumb stuff and you pay the price.

Regarding all the bad stuff blown out of proportion. It is true that one hears more from a dissatisfied customer. Just look at the Amazon reviews, If every company was as bad a one or two of the reviews of their product I would not buy anything from any of them.

So the internet and the huge amount of disinformation can actually be a disadvantage.

You have to weigh and then make a decision. Take your best shot (calculation/guess) and let the chips fall where they may.

If one out of every 1000 tourist experiences crime here you might say that crime is no big deal, unless you are that one tourist out of a thousand.

[2bncr]

Hey Steve, right you are. You also failed to mention the declining exchange rate. The cultural degredation and the rising ethnocentric behavior. Seems like the good aspects of living here are decling and the bad aspects are rising. It was all so good for such a long time I guess it was an invetible decline. But one thing that has not changed is the weather, and also unfortuneately the ignorance level. Also after you have lived here a good while your level of performance expectation drops so low that you think at times things are improving, ha!. At times I have seem glimers of hope but in general Ticos at work seem to me to be the most disintereted work force I have ever seen. Also I know many people, like me, that absoulutley lothe the two tier pricing. Gringo price Tico price. What is amazing is that it so blatant. A service provider was on the phone to a transport guy and I was listening and when the service provider asked how much, the transport guy asked if it was a gringo. I find this most distasteful.

Another aspect that is changing is women’s behavior. Men have fallen into disdain and fewer women want a traditional family. Fatherhood is denigraded although this seems to be the trend worldwide. More and more womens day rehtoric and laws biased against men. These changes make living here less diserable. The amount of women that are the bring home to mother type is rapidly shrinking. Honorable women that will sacrafice thier time to raise a family seem in shorter supply than ever. Ticos tell me that they would rather have a forign women for a wife. Amazing. Traditional attitudes bye bye. It will soon be a country of Kardashians. Civility women’s honor and chivalry are on the decline. look at the driving habits.

The other day I saw i guy wanting to fight over a minor traffic mistake. That would have never happened several years ago.

I lament all of the above. I wish it was not so. I would trade all the equity in my property to turn the clock back. Still we have the best weather and some intereting characters and there is never a dull moment if you speak Spanish. However, chosing to live here is not the no-brainer it once was….

[2bncr]

As a layman that has been here a while, and not an attorney, the most obvious one is that the corporation owns the property but does the corporation own the contents held inside the property? If not then the corporation has no legal right to sell it. Look if you have a house full of disposible stuff then go ahaed and do it any way you want. However for me its differnt and I want my child to have full access and avoid any problems so I have both a will and trust. Depends on how much skin you have in the game I guess.

Not only that but my consultant is a major source of security in this completely absurd back assward country. You will never know the heart ache and financial drain, let alone the insecuity you will face untill you have had a legal problem here and faced it head on. HAAA!

You simply cannot imagine the unprofessional attitudes, fraud and two faced self concerned legal professionals you will find.

My best advice is that you better have someone you can trust and develope a relationship with that person long before you have a problem. You do not want to be facing an urgent crisis and have to shop for an attorney, unless you want to lose hair, stomach lining and money.

Attorney like maids here, will tell you what you want to hear and act like your best friend and then they will steal from you. 95% guaranteed. Attorney and maids, you let em inside and that all she wrote. Better to have someone that undestands your culture, been there done that, and understands your expectations of service and performance. Most people are to tight or think they can understand the learning curve on their own. They are like patients who self medicate. oops, one wrong mixture of medication and they are dead! There is no substitution for experience and ever if you can figure out this tilted, puzzle, untill you have actually walked through the challenge, it can me intellectually understood but emotionally deveastating. Depends if you are smart enough to be proactive and prepair for war in times of peace. That’s how I look at my CR consultant. My war room strtegist. people who wnat to prepair a will should understand this, The frivilous will not. Try finding an army when the enemy is knocking on the door. Prepare yourself as when things go wrong here they go way wrong my friends… You will be the forigner trying to fight a forign systen written in a forign language in a forign land.

[2bncr]

Guru, Very astute observations. Bravo

[2bncr]

David,

It appears that foreign wills are acceptable but not preferable.

From Client email sent by Phil Baker:

Dear friends, acquaintances and clients,

I urge you to create a Will or better yet a Trust here in Costa Rica. Below find some general information regarding Wills. What will happen with your estate after your death is your choice. Please choose now while you still can. Probate in Costa Rica can be a long dreary and expensive process that your heirs will not want to endure. I have seen people simply walk away from property here as they did not wish to travel or endure expenses and uncertainties of the Costa Rica legal system and the probate process. You must avoid probate. A Will or Trust is the best way to do so.

Regard /Saludos

PB

FORIGN AND DOMESTIC WILLS

Foreigner have two options: a will made by Costa Rican notary regarding assets in Costa Rica (domestic). The other option is to validate a foreign will with the Costa Rican government; in this case, an exequatur must be granted and sent to Costa Rica for approval and then duly recorded in the Public Registry. Recognizing a will executed in a foreign country requires embassies proceedings and the exequatur. This takes more time and is more expensive. Executing a domestic will is faster and easier.

The Costa Rica Civil Code recognizes two types of wills: The Open Will (public) and the Closed Will (sealed or private).

Open Will
An Open Will written in the presence of a Notary or written by the Notary requires three witnesses. If the grantor (testator) writes the will by hand, then a Notary Public and two witnesses are required. A Notary Public is unneeded if the grantor signs the attested hand-written Open Will and it is witnessed by four witnesses. If it is not hand written by the grantor, six witnesses must attest to it.

Closed Will
The writing of a Closed Will follows certain requirements. Once signed by the grantor the will is sealed in an envelope and a Notary must draft a notarization on the envelope. The notarized statement must state that a sealed envelope containing a will was handed to the Notary by the grantor and that the grantor has informed the notary as to the number of pages contained in the will. It must also indicate that the will was written and signed by the grantor and whether or not it contains annotations or smudges. The Notary must record the proceeding in their protocol book (acta) and it then must be signed by the grantor and three witnesses.

Intestate Succession
In the absence of a will or if a will is found invalid, inheritance follows intestate succession. The distribution of property and assets, in the absence of a will, depends on each case but usually if the deceased was married, the spouse inherits the major portion of the estate. From the total wealth of the deceased, the judge allocates the amount corresponding to conjugal property rights, and the balance is distributed between the legitimate heirs appointed by the judge. The Civil Code defines legitimate heirs as follows:

First Degree: The spouse, children and parents of the deceased. If the deceased has no spouse, children or parents, the judge summons other relatives arranged in the following degrees:
Second Degree: The grandparents and other legitimate ascendants.
Third Degree: The natural brothers and sisters on the mother’s side.
Fourth Degree: The nephews of the deceased.
Fifth Degree: The uncles of the deceased.
Sixth Degree: The State. If the estate does not pass to the preceding five degrees, then the Civil Code specifically directs that the property must pass directly to the Board of Education in the district where the property of the deceased was located.

Minor Children
If the property (or part of it) goes to a child, or children not legally adult (minor) the property can be registered under the name of the minor in the Public Registry; however, the minor is not able to administer the property. In this case, a guardian must act on behalf of the minor. A guardian should be appointed in the will, but if not the court can appoint one. The guardian priority order established at the Costa Rican Family Code is as follows: The grandparents are first; and in their absence, one of the brothers or sisters of legal age, and aunts and uncles are the third option. If relatives are unwilling to accept guardianship, the court appoints an independent guardian.

The above information addresses frequently asked questions. We urge you to contact us immediately regarding your specific situation and any questions regarding a Will and/or Trust.

Scott featured Phils’s book Phil Baker’s Costa Rica Now. Contact philbaker@cr-now.com

[2bncr]

Better and cheaper. That is the key. Now you understand why I am writing about this. Culturally Costa Rica through their antiquated leaders and Tico passivity is making a bad turn. What a shame… Now we got Ticans… What next?

I love campesino culture with washing machines. In balance and hoped that would become a model instaed of new stadiums and more cars and fast foods. Too bad

[2bncr]

How many neighbor types are there for every Maravilla? A 1000 to one? More?

I applaud your and admire your effort and do my best not to consume and repair things. I buy a new car every 10 years, consolidate trips, eat red meat raely (less than once a month0 and cut back on meat in general etc.

So now how many Ticos that move toward consumerism through cultural values will be like Maravilla? Who is hardly the average American, and how many will want to be like the average Americans that hoard and have bought so many things that they actually have become addicted to things and seek help for clutter problems (like it’s an addiction). My point here is that the cultural values dictate consumption. Look how fat these people have become. That is consumption attitude.

Fatness and not doing what is required to maintain a healthy weight is a sign of an overblown sense of self-importance. Oh, I can be fat because I am so important that everybody will like me/need me no matter what I look like. Fat people tend to hibernate and consume.

These are all cultural values that are changing drastically here. That’s why I say the country is becoming full of Ticans. Per capita it may be the fattest place I have ever been too. Go to tagged.com and do a profile search. You will see about 90% of the photos are of overweight women.

The larger problems (all puns intended) is the culture we have exported and or karma for being such abusers/over – consumers is going to come back and haunt us. It already is in Costa Rica.

I was hoping this nation would be moderate through traditional values but it is becoming a progressive paradise with gender blur and huge new stadiums through antiquated leadership values and basically selfishness.

This is not the Costa Rica I knew even 10 years ago let alone longer. They are Ticans now, and many of then are fat Ticans at that. What’s have the Arias and Chanchilla values done? Look around you. The progressive have screwed this place up fasters by promoting ties with the US and a break in agricultural ties, You say all cultures move away from agriculture. Yes maybe that is true but it does not have to be that way. Its not a natural progression. But since it seems normal now you see it as natural.

What is and what is natural are two different things.

Ticos are moving away from natural and to normal (US values). I left to get away from what is normal to find what is natural and “normal” is following me. Pura Eata

[Author]

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