As we prepare to leave Costa Rica for a few months to arrange for a long-term relocation to this beautiful country, it occurs to me that this would be a good time to introduce a little counter-balance to the glowing praise we have so generously dished out.
Over the past months, I have formed the opinion that the only thing backward about Costa Rica is the infrastructure. Certainly the people are anything but backwards!
For the most part, Ticos are well-educated, with a 95.9% literacy rate. They benefit from a constitution that affords them freedoms and protections very similar to those we enjoy in the U.S. And they understand those rights – especially as they pertain to employment, healthcare, land ownership, and renter/landlord relationships. They understand and utilize as many of the current high-tech gadgets they can afford. Some own luxury appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators with ice-machines.
They understand the importance of learning English. Many high-school students enroll in multi-lingual studies. Parents want their little ones to learn English early. Grade-school children show off their fledgling English skills as we pass them on the street or in the grocery store or at the feria. Adults enroll in English classes. And almost everyone who speaks even a little English clutches every opportunity to practice!
Ticos also recognize the opportunities that tourism presents to them personally and to the country's economy. I've probably met more people enrolled in tourism programs at the University of Costa Rica than any other course of study.
Costa Ricans are not a backward people, for sure. The infrastructure is quite another matter.
I have spoken lightly of pot holes and crumbling sidewalks. These are, indeed, a problem both for safety and continued economic progress.
As in the States, bridges are aging and in a mountainous country, riddled with deep gorges that carry the runoff from tropical rains to the ocean, bridge failures can be both tragic and economically problematic. Modern services like city water, electricity, and Internet waft on and off seemingly at will. At home, keeping candles and a few gallons of water on hand can get one through the outages easily enough, but I can only imagine the challenges that businesses face – especially small businesses.
The battle of the bugs must be fought every single day. I know that spiders are not technically “bugs” but to me if it’s creepy and crawly it bugs me! So I’ll lump them all together for purposes of this discussion.
In case you didn't already know it, let me tell you... spiders are very industrious creatures. Webs form just about everywhere over night. I try to maintain a live and let live attitude, reminding myself that they make dinner out of the other creepy crawlies. But if they cross my threshold, they’re gonners! And I’ve killed my fair share.
Ants are a bigger problem. Not just because they don’t respect the three-second rule (you know, the one that says that if a cookie hits the floor and is retrieved in 3 second, it’s not really dirty ;)
Seriously, every crumb, drip or splash has to be cleaned up immediately, because failure to do so will result in a near-instantaneous convergence of armies of several different species of ants. And these guys bite!
As it turns out, I have a sensitivity to one or more of the ant species that share our apartment. And, it also turns out, that some of the bites I had attributed to mosquitoes and/or spiders were in fact from ants. I saw the proof with my own eyes yesterday. Today I have 2-inch welts around tiny red scabs where they took their bites.
On a more serious note, crime is a real and growing problem. Yesterday, President Obama included Costa Rica in the black list of countries with a serious drug trafficking problem. Almost daily, I read reports and complaints from expats; some are just plain worried, other downright afraid, some have become victims of burglaries at one time or another. Every once in a while the papers carry stories about foreigners who have been murdered. Most of the offenses are drug related.
Like in the U.S., anyone here can become a victim of crime. Here, like there, few places remain where one can walk down the street at night without keeping a watchful eye out for suspicious activity. And in both countries there are places where a mid-afternoon stroll might be likened to a game of Russian roulette.
So it would seem that the old real estate adage – location, location, location – is as important here as it is back in the States.
While towns like Palmares, Zarcero, and Sarchi are not immune from crime, falling victim of anything more than petty theft in one of these towns would be a rare exception. By contrast, gringos who choose to live in the capital city of San Jose or in beach communities or in upscale, gates gringo enclaves face very real safety issues on a daily basis.
Presidenta Laura Chinchilla appears to be taking the problem seriously. It remains to be seen, however, if she can mobilize the rest of the government to enact solutions.
So why choose to live here, many would surely ask? Good question. One that I have asked myself dozens of time. Perhaps the answer is because we can.
We can live here because we have the willingness to live with spiders, ants and other annoying creatures.
We can live here because we can prepare ourselves for those times when modern conveniences fail.
We can live here because we don’t mind (and actually prefer) using public transportation, relieving us of the stress of driving with crazy drivers on insane roads.
We can live here because we have the Internet (most of the time) and can maintain contact with the people we love at home.
We can live here because we can live in a small, quiet, relatively safe town with Tico neighbors who have welcomed us as part of their community -- neighbors who keep a watchful eye for us and do their part to ensure our safety and happiness.
We can live here because here we -- like everyone else, no matter how rich or poor -- have access to good medical care...unlike in the United States.
And most importantly, we want to live here because we have the psychological makeup that makes us love how the experience has opened our eyes and our hearts to new people and experiences.
Pura Vida
