COSTA RICAN LIFESTYLES TM

The Real Truth About

Living In Paradise

Most of What You Read About Costa Rica is CRAP
I Know I LIVED IT!

First they tell you that the culture is different. What they mean is generally the people are Inconsiderate, Lazy, Have no concept of time, Believing that Gringos are all rich, it is OK to overcharge and cheat them.


For the first six months I lived in CR, I had a funny feeling that these people didn't like Americans. Even though I have a very well developed perceptive sense, I just thought the uncomfortble feeling was normal, with the different culture and language. As I moved on different situations such as the postal customs cheating me on an incoming shipment of product for a friend starting a new business. Watching the government incompetence, allowing convicted murderers out on bail awaiting sentencing. Crime imcreased in numbers and violence and even though my house was clad in steel bars and concertina razor wire and ADT alarm. It stressed me to leave the house for fear of being attacked on the street or coming home to find my home pillaged. That was in the daylight at night an extra added problem was the potholes in the streets. Broken axels, blown tire etc. I was a legal resident and had a legal gun permit. but my Tica lawyer told me if I shot a Costa Rican criminal I would probably go to jail.

After a year in a half I was starting to get the point. All of the gringos that I confronted with my feelings told me I just didn't undestand the culture. I had brought my car down from the states and in preparation to move back to the states I had my lawyer prepare the paperwork for an exit permit. To this day the only reason she or I could come up with for their denial of the permit was that if they stalled me around enough I would abandon the car and they would be able to steal it. My lawyer could not get an explanation for this. The car could be sold locally which a friend of mine did and fortunately I didn't lose anything.

Another signal was the government was making it incrementally harder to get retirement residency, things like the certificate of good conduct from the US local police department expiration changed from six monthe to three months. The immigration department in CR is more dysfunctional than the police and the courts.

Even though the country is mostly poor, the Ticos (this what they call themselves) have an inherent egotism that precludes their doing menial work. Security guards, which you see everywhere, field workers, housekeepers, nannys are all Nicaraguans. The population of Costa Rica is 4 million. 500,000, 1/8 of the population are Nicaraguans on Permanent Work Visas.