Estimated Reading Time: 12 Minutes I always see blogs from realtors about all the great and positive things. Most sugarcoat their reporting, but I see never one that shows the cons of living in Costa Rica. I am well known for giving it straight up, although some don’t like it. I think Costa Rica is…
Amazingly, you’d be surprised how many “gringos” treat Ticos like shit. Because they’re stupid, they’re ignorant, they’re uneducated, dumb, or idiots. First, Ticos are not like that; even if they were, you should be ashamed of yourself if you’re one of the name-callers. I know I shouldn’t use bad language, and I apologize for the…
Estimated Reading Time: 10 Minutes Looking for free apps you can use in Costa Rica? If you’re a tourist or an English-speaking resident, this blog should interest you! You’ll be surprised how much assistance these free apps can give you in Costa Rica. Many of us now live with our phones in hand, all day…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes This week, we had the monthly ARCR seminar, part of the Christopher Howard’s Live in Costa Rica Tour. Elizabeth, one of the participants, asked me about Dutch cooking, and we ended up talking about vegetables and Tico Cooking. So I thought to re-publish this article. In 2015, I felt an…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes Would you like to learn how to handle culture shock when you move to Costa Rica? Did you know that culture shock is good for you? Honestly, I didn’t either. George Santayana explains in his article that you should try culture shock to keep the mind nimble, kill prejudice, and…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes In this blog, I’m not going to solve the problems you have with bad neighbors. I’ve heard complaints from readers, who often forget that back home there are bad neighbors too. Everywhere! Hence the decision of writing this blog, so you can pick any of the 7 ways to deal…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Let me show how different things can be in Costa Rica. I am going back to an old theme here, but the culture of Costa Rica is a constant source of amazement to me. Here are a few differences I have observed. In Costa Rica, there are many things different…
Estimated Reading Time: 10 Minutes When you come from a different country and you want to use hand gestures in Costa Rica, you have to be a bit careful. Even if you’re not planning to learn Spanish, although you should, you might want to learn a bit about hand gestures. You might be saying something…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes Is it true that gringos living in Costa Rica do stupid things? Hey, I found 16 stupid things. Maybe you’ll come up with a few more. Post them in the comment box, please. The first thing that I should do, in case someone misunderstands the term “gringo”, is to explain…
One of the most difficult things for me adapting to the Costa Rican culture has been the fact that Ticos are not really proactive. Of course, there are those who are, but they are an exception. Most are pretty reactive. If you wonder, yes I am still trying to adapt to a different culture after…
