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Rico's
Costa Rica!
The
opinions expressed here are his
own and do not necessarily
reflect the opinion of
insidecostarica.com.
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Advice for 'newbies'
These last couple of weeks I had the opportunity to meet
and mingle with some newcomers to Costa Rica. At the
moment they are still 'tourists', with an eye to making
Costa Rica their home.
One took the step to buying property and car, others, they
are still shopping.
I see in their eyes the spirit that I once had when I
first came to Costa Rica. They are ready to take on this
new world, to change it, to make it better, in plain
words, simply take it by storm with their ideas and
greenbacks.
They get annoyed when I tell them that they have to
considered 'newbies' and should take it easy. Learn the
lay of the land, get to know how things work here. After
all, it's a different world.
And though they don't vocalize the words, it can be well
understood, that, hey we come from the 'first world' and
if we can make it there, a piece a cake this banana
republic - no pun intended - though Costa Rica now
produces and exports more than just bananas.
What lies ahead for these people are a lot of frustration
and anxiety as they begin to tackle the 'new world'. My
words, that things are different here fall on deaf ears.
How, different can it be?
Well, lets look at some of those things that make life
interesting in Costa Rica. With tongue and cheek, of
course:
1. Ticos line up for everything. So, get used to it. You
want to do something, mail a letter, get your dollars
converted to colones, buy milk, you need to form or join a
line. Without a line, things just don't move.
2. Thinking of renting or buying a car, make sure the horn
works. Without a horn, you will feel useless and simply
dumb as you sit in traffic, patiently waiting out the car
or bus that stopped, because of more traffic, in the
middle of the intersection. Without a horn, well you won't
feel like you fit in.
3. Stamps. I don't mean postage stamps. I mean those
stamps that are not worth more than a few colones, a
fraction of a cent, that you will need on any important
document. It seems that if you don't have a stamp - the
right stamp for that matter - the document is not really
worth anything or at least taken seriously.
One example of the stamp thing, is when you leave the
country. You need to buy a 200 colones red cross stamp or
you simply can't leave. Try to leave without it and your
flight will be recalled, you will be taken off the plane
and forced to buy that stamp. Of course, by the time you
make it through the line to first get the 200 colone
change and then to buy the stamp, the flight is gone.
4. Hiring a lawyer. You are better off asking your cabby
to recommend you a fine lawyer. He will know or with any
luck, he is a lawyer and is just driving a cab to keep in
touch with the people.
5. Getting anything done at any government office. Well,
first you have to figure out which office you need to
visit. Then find it, no small feat there and then to know
who it is you need to talk to. Good chance after getting
in line at the counter you will be told that the person is
not in. Come back tomorrow and we will see.
I could go on and on with much more, but, well I think you
can get an idea from these few. Not that you will listen
to them anyways.
Costa Rica has a learning curve. You need to understand
and accept that before you can make any small
progress.
My advice to all newbies is to start out your idea with a
list. If you can complete at least one item on your list
in one day, you doing fine. If you, by chance or good
fortune, get two items in one day, pat yourself in the
back.
Once in a while you will occasion to have a great day, but
be careful here because repeating it is almost to
impossible, you can get to three items count yourself one
of the lucky few.
A suggestion, so that it doesn't get you down too much if
you can't get to that one item a day, make one of the
items "do nothing" today. You will be sure to
complete that and have a fine day.
Believe me it works!
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