Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
[quote=”costaricafinca”]Unfortunately, it is common, when thieves decides it is much easier to poison the dogs to keep them quiet during a robbery.
But if you think about how many dogs are here, the chance of yours being one of the ones, poisoned, the odds are in your dogs favor.
And you must not let your dog eat anything left [i]’lying around’.[/i][/quote]There sure are lots of dogs around….But if you make a point of being the “Rich Gringo” in the big house with the new car and the 50 plasma TV… chances are that your dog will be the unlucky one!
Keep you dog inside at night… and train them NOT to eat anything that you don’t give them.
Just a few point that will make you more likely to make it here in the long run!
1. Learn SOME spanish… even your attempts at broken spanglish will make you much more popular in town! If nothing else you’re trying… and might even get a laugh out of a new friend in town! TRYING is more important than just not doing so, even if your spanish is AWFUL!!!!
2. “A” type persons should stay home! Lunch or coffee can become a day long adventure! A trip to the hardware store for a bolt should be allotted a three hour slot in your day! Adjust your lifestyle to match the daylight hours here… up early… and in bed at 9pm!
3. Tico’s don’t seem to attached the same importance to watches or days of the week… just get over it!
4. Make local friends… Tico’s are a wonderful people… and much smarter than you think! We make a point of having pizza or spagetti night and inviting folks we know from town… be it the bank teller or the guy you know from the gas station! Play Uno…. or have a movie night…. even if it’s one you’ve seen and it’s in spanish without subtitles!
5. Remember people’s names and faces… the guy at the hardware store or the lady from the bank live in town… you’ll see them around… say hi… shake their hand in passing… when you call folks by their name and acknowledge them it opens so many doors!
6. Become part of the community… you’ll find a way to help someone else, or a cause… and it will come back to you tenfold! I can speak from personal experience on this one!
7. Don’t try to make CR like home… remember… you left home for something different… and this place is different… some good, some bad! Just like home!
I could go on and on but this topic has been touched on before… some folks will never be happy ANYWHERE… and as for the original question… there really isn’t any solid data… but no doubt there’s a good amount of folks that don’t last more then a few years… some of us are lucky enough to be able to enjoy homes in several different places… folks that find themselves unhappy and place all their eggs in one basket without really doing their research are rarely happy with the outcome.
Holly Cow!!! A bed wetter and a liar! Sounds pretty bad for folks that involved themselves with these two!
[quote=”sueandchris”]What an appalling remark about Latinos…why would anyone holding those views be on a Costa Rican forum?[/quote]
Sometimes reality can be a tough pill to swallow…. petty theft and dead or poisoned dogs are unfortunately something many folks have had to face in CR. Since Ticos look at dogs, and all pets for that matter, in a much different way then gringos do, it is a common situation.
David, I guess the real issue is the V8 and price of gas… or the need for heavy duty towing capacity. I’d agree… might be a better idea to sell and look for something with better fuel economy.
Just as we’re seeing in the US…. CR has a flood of used cars on the market these days… and prices are a little softer than they have been in years! Then there’s always that expat that imported a car and is now leaving CR and selling everything! LOL
There seems to be quite a few on the road… so I’d guess parts and service are available. The bigger question is the need and usefulness of a V8… gas is quite a bit more expensive in CR… between the shipping cost, import tax, and fuel cost you might want to think about selling the truck in the US and finding something in CR.
There are folks that swear by shipping a car to CR… but when you look at bringing in a $20,000 car that winds up costing $32,000 after all is said and done… that’s a lot of money to shop with here. The economic downturn has put a BUNCH of nice newer cars into the market here, with prices that would not have been seen three years ago… and… Yes I know the horror stories about used cars here… but with some time and effort I’m sure you can find something for much less!
Just my two cents!
Better take a good hard look at that form folks…. seems that although you might think of your S.A. has having no “economic activity” and thus not generating a problem for you… they ask a bunch of questions about assets held by the corporation. Looks like a lot of trouble in the making giving up too much information that can bite you down the road!
Funny that you can hold property in CR in your name and NOT have to let Uncle Sam know anything about it… yet doing so in a corporation requires all this filing!!! Go figure!
Scott Posted…
“PS. And yes! I do know people that have been fined.”Like folks that post in public forums with their full name, current location, and a photo telling the world that they don’t file their tax returns legally? I hope the cat can cope with some time in the big house! LOL
Sorry… no insult intended… just couldn’t pass up the chance… it’s a big world out there folks and sometimes a little bit of a discretion should be used. Although we think of this board as a private conversation sometimes we need to be mindful that it’s not! There are a lot of folks out there that have found that the things they’ve posted on MySpace and Facebook have come back to bite them in the butt!
Nice decent women and not into the bar scene….hmmm, so I guess Jaco is NOT on the short list of places you want to be! LOL
Agreed! Cheap oil is the better term. Oil is a finite resource… And we all saw what happened when oil spiked at $140+… reality raised it’s ugly little head and sent the world economy into a tailspin! And that was just a speculator caused spike! A pretend shortage… or was it a drill to see what would happen?
When the REALITY of oil production and it’s future development cost hit… there won’t be a price retreat back as we saw this time. It will be the new order of things in the world. And folks are NOT going to like it!
Slander and libel laws being treated as a criminal matter in Costa Rica DON’T mean you have to keep your mouth shut. The TRUTH and FACT still mean something, even here! If you’re right and the guy is wrong…. go for it!
Didn’t Paragon use the threat of criminal (for libel and slander) action against all those that dared to say a bad word about them for year while they FLEECED everyone that bought into their scheme? Seems those that challenged them were on the right side of reality and, unless I’m mistaken, not one of them is in jail for bad mouthing them!
While David is on target with the customs import rates being the lowest for newer cars there are a few points you might want to think about. A new car will have the HIGHEST purchase price. This in most situations will offset the higher customs fees for a 4 year old car. A NEW car will have you taking the biggest hit on depreciation and value once you turn the key. A NEW car’s price includes a built in manufacture’s warranty cost which I’m pretty sure will be useless here in Costa Rica unless you’re close to a dealer (if there is one). A new car might not have the repairs parts supply network in place yet if it’s a newly designed model. A new car is a much more attractive target for the bad guys. A new car will let everyone know you’re the new Gringo on the block with money. Not something you might want to do, even with a Kia.
You might want to think about the balance of getting a new car as compared to something a few years old. Just my two cents.
Perhaps Paragon might want to change all these projects into rough camping grounds… dirt roads, back to nature sites unspoiled by man… no electricity, water, or other modern bothers… they could market it as “Paragon Campgrounds of Costa Rica” for the backpackers out there that find their way to Costa Rica…. of course the poor folks that bought into this whole “deal” might be unhappy to find that the lots that they spent BIG money on are now being used for folks to set up tents and campsites!
I have to agree with Maravilla… friends that paid big dollars to load a container to ship to their “things” to their new home in CR were quite disappointed when they suffered the loss of items at the hands of the handlers. Then found that leather couches grew green hair as they watched here in CR… a baby grand piano that is useless and now destroyed due to the weather… and a book collection that became dust at the hands of the critters that invaded. They are quite disappointed that they spent all that money on what they thought was important.
And as Maravilla has pointed out, I had my entire home furnished with beautiful handmade wood items that I could never have dreamed of in the US. And the total cost was less than what most folks in the US pay for an expensive dinning room set!
Costa Rica for many is a new start and a new adventure… other then some personal items and things that you can carry… why spend the time, effort, and money to ship the “old” to what you hope to be a new beginning?
