To open your
mouth and draw
attention, or
lie low and
remain
inconspicuous?
I'm reading so
many negative
comments lately,
though, that
it's difficult
for me to sit
here quietly.
We moved to
Costa Rica in
early 2000,
after having
visited a couple
times a year
since 1993. We
knew from our
first visit that
we liked it
here, but did
not have the
ability to
retire at that
time. I suppose
my biggest
complaint about
the country
would be that
they have made
the pensionado
et al process so
difficult and
time-consuming,
as well as
expensive,
including
renewals, but I
suppose that is
true of all
bureaucracies
everywhere. The
absolute worst
was their
requirement that
my US car not
only pass a
smog-check, with
the MECHANIC's
signature
notarized, then
notarized again
at the CR
consulate in the
United States,
but then the
very first thing
that has to
happen when the
car enters Costa
Rica is pass
THEIR version of
the smog check
inspection!
At any rate, we
moved here
because we liked
the weather, the
people, and the
cost of living.
The first two
are still fine.
I also liked
their laid-back
way of life,
though, and have
emulated it, so
I don't have a
lot of patience
with gringos who
keep thinking
that somehow the
people HERE are
supposed to
change. I have a
gringo friend
who is always
complaining
about the way
Tico's drive,
especially the
way they will
stop in the
middle of the
street to chat
with friends on
the side of the
road. Hey, I get
to do it, too,
then, and where
am I going in
such a hurry,
anyhow? I don't
care much for
their habit of
passing on blind
curves, true,
but if you
passed only
where it was
legal you'd stay
behind the same
sugar-cane truck
all the way from
La Fortuna to
San Ramon, just
about.
Considering the
nature of the
roads and the
amount of driver
training they
get, I think
Tico drivers are
rather
successful, on
the whole. There
are always the
exceptions who
drive too fast,
or drunk, or
pass
dangerously, but
every driving
population I've
ever encountered
in quite a large
number of the
United States
contains about
the same
percentage,
seems to me.
Actually, I
sometimes wonder
where these
complainers are
driving, since
my experience
has been that
Ticos are rather
courteous in
yielding right
of way. Even in
congested San
Jose traffic
I've seen people
manage to
squeeze in off
of a side street
when they'd
still be sitting
there waiting
for midnight in
some US cities.
My wife once
described Tico
drivers as
"intent"...you
can have the
right of way
when it's your
turn, but you
have to be ready
and waiting to
take it, they're
not going to sit
there while you
make up your
mind. Strike
while the iron
is hot seems to
be their motto.
In rural areas,
like where we
live in La
Fortuna, the
other driver is
as likely as not
to graciously
wave you ahead.
In more
situations than
you might
imagine, I've
been given what
seems to me to
be extra
consideration in
situations where
I didn't
understand
enough Spanish
to figure out
what to do next.
I don't think
I've ever been
refused help
doing anything,
and often
offered it when
I didn't need
it. I'm 75 and
my hair is, er,
very very light
blond, shall we
say, and I make
almost daily
walks to the
grocery store
for exercise as
well as
necessities, and
often when I'm
walking home,
puffing, some
younger
person--total
strangers--will
offer to carry a
bag. I thank
them, since I'm
purposefully
engaged in
weight-bearing
exercise for my
health's sake,
but they offer.
If fact, in
general I have
been so well
treated in Costa
Rica by Ticos
that it has made
me feel guilty
about how little
courtesy I
unthinkingly
missed offering
to
Spanish-speakers
in my native
California much
of my life.
Frankly,
sometimes I
wonder how they
manage to have
such a friendly
attitude toward
gringos, since
we sort of view
a lot of them
with some
suspicion,
ourselves.
If there's a
perfect country
then I haven't
lived in it yet,
and while there
are a few things
I could wish
different about
Costa Rica,
perhaps, that's
also true of the
others, as
well...just
different
things. I like
the Pura Vida
attitude, the si
Dios quiere
philosophy, the
fact that
everyone you
encounter, even
strangers for
the first time,
shakes hands,
from the kid who
pumps your gas
to the kids who
stock the super
market shelves,
the bank guard
as well as the
bank manager,
taxi drivers,
waiters who
unfailingly
greet me by name
and come by to
say hello even
not expecting
more than the
tip on the bill
and many of them
not even
involved at my
table. I enjoy
their
compliments on
my disgraceful
Spanish even
while I feel
ashamed it's not
much better than
it is.
Our 7-year-old
is in the first
grade and we're
struggling
learning Spanish
while helping
him with
homework, while
he tells us his
teachers often
call on him to
help with their
English, and on
the whole we
think the school
system is pretty
good, we're
trying to help
when we can to
improve things.
So I can't be
too sympathetic
with the gringos
I hear
complaining when
it seems to me
there is so
little to
complain about
compared with
what is going on
back in much of
the United
States, from
what I read.
Pura vida,
indeed!
Gregg Calkins
Re:
La Fortuna Now
With It's Own
Fire Station
I think we were
their first
customers. We
live only three
blocks away and
pass it on daily
walks to town
and have watched
the progress for
quite a long
time now.
Finally the
truck arrived!
We introduced
ourselves and
our 7-year-old
Costa Rican son,
who impressed
them with his
command of both
Spanish and
English. Since
we have a hive
of what some
locals have said
are Africanized
bees in some
trees on our
lot-lline we
asked what could
be done. That
evening they
were there in
full force,
rolling out
their hoses and
spraying the
bees out of
business, to the
great interest
of all of the
neighborhood
kids. Our son
later made a
present we took
around the next
day to thank
them.
I wonder if this
means the street
in front of the
fire station
will now get
paved?
Gregg Calkins
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