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Unfortunately, all true. I’m told by people who lived there in the 60’s & 70’s, when everyone was poor in money terms, but rich in human terms, and no one locked their doors. This is the idealic Costa Rica of the past. I was there in the 80’s, and things started to go South after the war in Nicaragua. Ex contras, armed to the teeth, bored and hungry. This is when bank robberies started to become commonplace. Before that time I remember a peaceful workers’ demonstration in downtown San Jose, someone broke a window. It was headlines the next day, people were mortified.
There are definitely bad elements from Colombia and other parts taking refuge in Costa Rica, and teaching the Ticos how to become violent criminals. Don’t get me wrong, most Colombians, Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans (and Americans for that matter, and Canadians, and…) are wonderful people, but Costa Rica has always tended to offer safe haven for predators.
The good news is that President Arias has mounted a new offensive against crime, and I’m told that police presence everywhere has markedly increased. Crime is biting into tourism, and that’s forcing some action. Plus, Arias is very influential and smart enough to be a powerful president indeed, in a country where the first power is “congress” (diputados).
Costa Rica is a treasure to be enjoyed, but you’ll fare better if you’re paranoid about your belongings, and sensible about the situations you put yourself in.
Greatest things about living in Tiquicia:
1. Unbeatable climate pick your own personal best altitude
2. WONDERFUL people, generous, warm, giving, unpretentious, happy, well-educated&
3. A government which promotes peace
4. NATURE, NATURE, NATURE
5. Visiting volcanoes & hot springs
6. BEAUTIFUL BEACHES
7. Childhoods (they actually still exist there)
8. Fake road rage (they fake it the 1st time around the rotunda, then smile & wave the 2nd time ’round)
9. Much less stressful way of living
10. The farmer’s markets and all the delicious, fresh, varied & exotic fruits & vegetables
11. Live your same lifestyle for 2/3’s less dollars
12. Casados & Gallo Pinto (if you don’t know, you must go&)
13. El Barco de los Mariscos in Santa Barbara de Heredia (best seafood at the best price)
14. Café con leche
15. Mangos falling from the sky
16. Witnessing an entire national population of s turn into kids again during the biggest soccer matches
17. Aguinaldo (if you’re employed there, you get paid twice in December)
18. Free medical care (even if you have to wait in line a while)
19. Monteverde, Manuel Antonio & Flamingo
20. Drinking guaro Casique with fresh lime with my Tico friends & family at any bar/restaurant with a view of the central valley at night.
21. Asking people directions. You make their day.
22. Not having to shovel the snow
23. Not having to charge double for your products & services to pay all the lawyers you need to defend you from all the people just itching to sue you for every little thing
Things I miss about the US when I’m in CR:
1. Being able to leave my house alone.
2. Driving my motorcycle down smooth roads with shoulders
3. Needing only one afternoon to instead of an entire month to complete a to-do list
4. Twinkies, HoHos and Hostess cupcakes
5. Fast & reliable internet connections
6. Not spending 1/10th of my life waiting in line
7. Driving in a straight line
8. Driving on freeways
9. Driving 25 miles in less than an hour.
10. Not having to change out by brakes, clutch & shock absorbers every year
11. Being able to maintain anything not made of plastic or concrete for more than a year (everything else deteriorates quickly unless you keep it in a humidity-controlled environment)
12. Addresses that don’t involve where Matute Gomez used to live 80 years ago, where the Coca Cola billboard used to be, or where the barking dog still is. (On the other hand, this is also one of my favorite parts of living in CR)
13. Roads with names
14. Good customer service
15. Streamlined government beaurocracy
16. Don’t have to buy stamps to pay taxes.
17. Family & friends
18. Mexican food (haven’t found a good one there yet)
19. Decent pizza
20. Clean bathrooms with toilet paper and toilet seats when traveling
21. General conveniences
22. The change of seasons
23. Long summer days
Now that is a more general reply. Thank you.
Can a root cause ever be out-dated? To back up your opinion, I can say that young people in Costa Rica are like young people everywhere. They are part of the world youth culture, all interconnected with their music, tv, internet and Ipods. But the differences I see between Gringos and Ticos are real. I generalize, yes, but only for the purposes of discussion. I also believe that historical events have long-lasting consequences.
Guru – Please point me to the source of your assertion that Costa Rica gets the majority of its revenues from import taxes. What happened to Tourism, Coffee, Sugar, Bananas, and all the light industry installed there in the last 20 years?
Regarding deforestation in Costa Rica, it is true that years ago there were incentives for people to slash woodland for farming & ranching. This policy may very well have been prompted by the World Bank. I know it is also true that illegal tree harvests are still taking place. However, there has been tremendous reforestation going on there for two decades now, as well as continuing efforts to expand the protected areas, which already make up a greater percentage of land than any country in the world. I think the World Bank also recognizes mistakes it has made.
Regarding US multinationals, there’s definitely some sad history there, but there’s a good side that should be acknowledged. US companies operating in Costa Rica offer some of the best employment opportunities around for Ticos. Ask them yourselves. They are well paid, well treated, and highly trained, which is more than can be said for many Tico companies. Don’t forget, many US entrepreneurs learned how to conduct business in large US firms, then went out to do it on their own. Ticos can do the same, and that is a positive thing for the country.
Regarding CAFTA, while there are still many inequities out there, and many people will suffer through the change, it is a case of pushing a fledgling bird out of the nest to see if it will fly. Costa Rica has several fine institutions that did great things in the past. The ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad) did a FANTASTIC jobs providing Ticos with electricity, even in very rural settings. AyA (Aquaductos y Acantarillados – Waterworks) did an equally terrific job in providing quality drinking water. As far as the MEP (Ministerio de Educación Pública) is concerned, I never bought the “95%” literacy rate (what does that mean anyway?), but no one can say that Costa Ricans aren’t highly educated, they are. In my opinion, they’re much more globally aware than gringos.
HOWEVER, the times, they are a changin’, and I don’t think we can go back. Sure, there are inequities and injustices that need to be righted, but the fact is that Costa Ricans have recently stagnated in a protected environment. There is no such thing as a “free market”, but there is certainly a “freer market”, and that’s what Costa Rica needs, the opportunity to compete head to head in the world. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Incidentally, in case you haven’t heard there’s a very large segment of the US population that’s against CAFTA, and NAFTA, because of the very same things that Costa Ricans are afraid of. My comments about Costa Rican protectionism are equally applicable to the US. The greatest promoter of the “free market” greatly limits immigrant labor, food and textile imports, as well as foreign ownership of national companies on “security” issues. The US also provides huge incentives for farming and other industries to continue to engage in unproductive activities.
In Costa Rica, the ICE has since become a formidable barrier to progress, impeding the success of businesses of all sizes because of its poor handling of the telecommunications market. There’s nothing worse than a slow, inept, beaurocratic octopus of a governmental agency with a monopoly over one of the fastest paced high-tech industries around, one that can make or break a business. It’s ironic that Costa Rica’s idealic past prevents it from accepting change when it’s undeniably needed. Nicaragua and El Salvador, countries with less than stellar pasts, are embracing change because of it. Costa Rica is taking baby steps into the future, screaming and complaining all along the way.
We all need to break down the walls that inhibit free trade, because this will bring us all closer together. There’s pain in change, but none so great as the absence of change.
That said, I agree that systems are not in place to keep it fair, or to minimize the pain of transition.
With regard to Mexico, I believe that NAFTA has had a tremendous impact in Mexico. The Mexican economy of today is thriving compared to 20 years ago and before. These free trade agreements have helped the US as well, in that we too are stronger for it, and are more prepared for the future, in spite of the pain it has caused here.
There’s an interesting link between the seed issue and a single global economy though. The less seed variety, the greater the risk of famine. The fewer economies, the greater the recessions. However, I still believe that linking economies and international business both on large and small scales (even an American B&B in Costa Rica) is the best avenue toward political stability and social justice.
Edited on Jul 15, 2006 07:09
A cédula is the government ID card for Ticos. (Ticos are Costa Ricans). It’s akin to a Social Security card, but it’s used more like a drivers license as proof of identification.
Ocotal is very nice. Small, and not too remote. I don’t remember any marina there though.
It’s 2 miles South of Playas del Coco, a beach very popular among the Tico middle class.
Since you’ve been down there, you know about the problems relating to theft. An operational B&B sounds interesting, since someone will always be on site to take care of things (right???). You couldn’t leave it alone.
Frankly, if I were to start a lemonade stand, I’d locate it near 10 other lemonade stands, since that’s where everyone goes to buy lemonade. You might do better where there’s already a lot of traffic, like Tamarindo or Flamingo (there’s a marina there). Unless of course this is more a hobby for you than a needed source of income.
Here are the 1st 4 sites that came up when I googled the title of your message.
http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_12.htm
http://www.crystalinks.com/costarica.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_spheres_of_Costa_Rica
http://www.landmarksfoundation.org/projects_diquis.shtmlNow try it yourself. Google “costa rica” guayabo.
You’re right, Canada, the US and Mexico are all in North America, and I was definitely only generalizing about “people from the United States” (which is how I should say it all the time, but it’s so ungainly. From now on I’ll just say “Gringos”). I said “North Americans” to avoid saying “Americans” so I wouldn’t insult Latin Americans. My noble attempt to be politically correct just got me in more hot water. My apologies. I hereby grant your request to be excluded from my generalization.
Regarding Catholics and Christians, my words are less a glaring mistake, and more a religious incorrectness (I guess I’m both politically and religiously incorrect now). My intent was to contrast Catholicism, which I fully understand is a Christian sect, and all the subsequent sects of Christianity. I did state in my original post that I hoped this would not insult anybody, but what you want and what you can have are two different things. I didn’t mean to start a holy war. There are already too many of those, and I hope they don’t clog up this thread.
Yes, most homes in Costa Rica do now have electricity and refrigerators, thanks to the good work of the ICE (though their time has come and gone now). However, I maintain that refrigeration is a relatively new technology there, and it is still generally used for very short-term food storage, and mostly unprepared foods at that.
And yes, the wonderful Ferias (markets) are attended by many Costa Rican. I stick to my guns though. You’ll never open a Costa Rican refrigerator and find a sealed jar of soup with a date on it. Gringos definitely store much more food for much longer periods of time than Ticos.
Thank you for your feedback on the details. It will help me shape how I write about these issues in the future. How about some more general feedback?
Lake Arenal – HOT, remote, very rural, has it’s own charm.
Grecia – Cooler, less remote, less rural, quintessential small-town Costa Rica.The “Green Season” in CR general runs from May through October or November, depending on the hotel and micro climate. This low season is not just due to rain, but to the public school calendar which goes from February to the middle of December. Tourism is still going strong in February & March, and Easter week is in April when the country shuts down and the entire population goes to the beach.
September through November is the real rainy season when it may shower day and night for days on end, particularly in October.
August shouldn’t be that bad, aside from the usual T-storm that passes through in the afternoon.
3 caveats:
1. I’ve only been South of Manual Antonio 4-5 times, and never to Osa.
2. The climate in CR, like the rest of the world, is changing. It’s a crap shoot.
3. It’s always green in SW Costa Rica. It’s the only place in Western CR where the mountains come right down to the coast. When the weather comes in from the West, the clouds are forced up, and the water vapor is cooled and condenses into rain.
Probably Spanish, since if the alternative is Latin American, Spanish must mean Spanish from Spain.
Besides the words that change meanings across every border, and accents that morph in even smaller distances, the big difference between the two is YOU GUYS, or, if you’re a Southerner, Y’ALL.
People who only speak English need to learn about conjugation to understand Spanish. No, I’m not talking about visits from your friend when you’re in jail. I’m talking about the different forms of a verb. Take take for example. In the present tense, I take, YOU take, WE take, THEY take, HE takeS, and SHE takeS. Notice that for HE and SHE, we add an S to the verb.
In Spanish, as well as a lot of other languages, changes in the verb, like adding the S, changes who you’re talking about. You can say “Yo escribo” (I write), but the “Yo” is redundant, because of the way the verb “escribir” (to write) is written. Here’s how that goes:
Yo escribo (I write)
Usted escribe (You write -informal)
Tú escribes (You write – formal)
Nosotros escribimos (We write)
Ellos escriben (They write)
Ella escribe (She writes
El escribe (He writesNow, here’s the difference (finally).
In Spain they also use “Vosotros”, as in Y’all, and they have another conjugation for this. I don’t know it, because I never learned it. In fact, I never wanted to learn it, because I didn’t want to go to Spain.
Little did I know that in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and I believe Argentina, they use a similar form. Instead of using “Tú” for YOU (informal), they use “Vos”.
The conjugation is easy. Take the infinitive version “Comer” (to eat), drop the final “r”, add an “s” and an accent mark on the last syllable, making it “Vos comés. This works on all but irregular verbs.
O.K. I guess this is more than you wanted to know. I’ll stop now.
Why are you still reading this. Can’t you see I’ve stopped!
Humidity & buying bulk – The environment in Costa Rica goes from humid to just plain clammy. Storing items susceptible to decay under these conditions requires some kind of dehumidification. Thank goodness video tapes are on their way out, they have a 6 month shelf life in CR – mold loves all those tiny metal scales.
Computer & copy paper is routinely kept in a cabinet with a light bulb turned on 24-7 to keep it dry so it doesn’t jam the machine.
If it can negatively affect paper and videotape, just think what it will do to foodstuff. You’ll need a strategy to deal with this.
Why not move the entire operation to Costa Rica. If it’s that big, it’s big enough to consider one of the many tax free industrial zones. PROCOMER and CINDE are the two CR governmental organizations you’d need to go through: http://www.procomer.com (Spanish) http://www.cinde.or.cr (English)
Costa Rica offers an excellent, well-educated and reasonably-priced labor force. Also, the level of sophistication and technology needed is available. Baxter Medical has a plant there, with a huge clean room for packaging the sterile products we use in the U.S.
Like model T’s, you can have any color you want…as long as it’s black. Telecommunications, Energy and Insurance are nationalized monopolies in CR. That said, the INS is one of the better ones. The ICE (telecommunications) is the worst.
If you have a house or car, you need insurance. The INS is the only game in town.
Books in English, especially the type of books you’d read when you’re on vacation, are worth good money in CR. Any used bookstore in San José that stocks books in English will by them at a good price. If you want to make a few bucks and don’t mind lugging a heavy suitcase down there, fill it with 25 cent garage sale books in the US, and make an 400% profit. Then fill the suitcase with coffee, jam and Salsa Lízano for the return trip.
