There are so many more questions that I could list here than what I mentioned above. Doesn’t a day go by when the question of why comes to mind at least once but please for your sanity take this advise…..

Remove the word WHY from your vocabulary when you move to Costa Rica!

IF you are able to find out the reasoning behind the question you are asking, you would be one up from the rest of us left to ponder the reasoning behind why Tico’s do what they do.

It will drive you crazy if you question things all of the time and it won’t change anything, they will still drive down the middle of the road. They will still run you off the road with no regard for the rear view mirror. You will never understand even if someone answers your question as to WHY they do what they do.

Remove the word WHY from your vocabulary and you will live a much more peaceful existence in Costa Rica.

The incident took place at Juan Santamaría airport. The Policía Aeroportuaria of the Fuerza Pública said they found 95 fake bills in the pocket of the 34-year-old traveler. He was identified by the last name of Modia. Police officers sought the expertise of workers at a bank at the airport. Some of the bills had the same serial number, police said.

The man is a U.S. citizen originally from Cuba, police said.

Police could not hold the man or his female companion because there is a flaw in Costa Rica’s law. So although the pair missed their flight, they were allowed to leave later without the bills. They headed to Miami Thursday.

The $9,500 was below the limit that would have required reporting in an international flight if the bills were authentic.

The crackdown extends to those U.S. citizens who have control of overseas corporations, what the IRS calls an entity. Many expats in Costa Rica fall into that category if the total amount in bank accounts is $10,000 or more at any time in the year.

U.S. citizens face complex tax requirements overseas. For example a citizen has to file a report with the IRS if they transfer personal property, like a home, into a foreign corporation.

Nevertheless, the IRS is less than aggressive in trying to inform or help U.S. citizens. The U.S. Embassy in San José does not have a full-time IRS agent in residence.

Many humble souls were lost in the mudslides in the middle of the night when the rain brought down much of the mountain in the hills of San Antonio de Escazu. Rescue workers found at least 23 bodies after pounding rain sent mud rushing over 5 homes around 2:00am Thursday morning the 4th of November.

Because of the slides and unsettled land another 2,639 people have sought refuge in 46 shelters.

President Laura Chinchilla declared a state of emergency the following Friday and Saturday and further declared that these days would be national days of mourning.

Schools throughout the country were canceled on Thursday and Friday.

I am sure that some of the larger corporations have better results than those of us relying on ICE for a connection. Those with their own server surely have better service than those of us waiting on ICE to turn on the juice and boost up the power.

Meanwhile we keep asking, “Lost Internet?”

Recently we took a trip through La Fortuna because the bridge was out going to Playa Coco on the Caldera Highway. We stopped for dinner in a place in La Fortuna next to one of those tourist booths and for some reason took a shine to go in and ask for a hotel recommendation. We knew several of the hotels in the area as we have stayed at many in the past and thought we would just stay with one that we knew to be good again. Since we weren’t looking for a resort atmosphere and only there for a nights stay we thought we would take a shot at whatever the tour guy recommended. This was our first mistake.

He recommended a place called “Pura Vida” How bad could that be with a name that had such a strong name right? Wrong! We went to this place that was just 300 mtrs down the road and part of a chinese restaurant. The owner was very loud and very rude upon check in. This was our second mistake. We should have known better at check in and run before checking in.

Once we got in the rooms it was bad!! We had to leave immediately as I would not stay in the hotel nor let me my kids sleep in these conditions. When we arrived in the rooms I turned down the beds to check out the beds and that was my third mistake.

When we went back to the front desk to get a refund and leave the woman charged us for messing up the towel that was on the bed, for turning down the bed and for turning on the water in the sink so we ended up paying for one room out of the two that we had paid for originally upon check in but at that point we would have paid for both I think just to get out of that horrid place.

Moral to the story, be careful what recommendations you take from the tour guides in those kiosks. No matter how great they make them sound (and he did) they are usually not so great!

Oh and another thing, come to find out, the tour guide was making 20.00 on our reservation. That is a lot of money in Costa Rica. As we were driving away we saw him walking up the street to gather his commission. Can’t say as I would have wanted to be in his shoes that evening for the way that woman was yelling and screaming at us. I can only imagine how she would have lit into him for referring us to her place

Imagine driving down the road, minding your own business, listening to your music, talking to your wife, husband, children and all of a sudden cows are running towards your car followed by a man screaming carrying a big long stick. It is a site that words cannot describe but one that you must see at least once in your life to consider it whole
Now you have cows in front of your car and behind you and you cannot move because cows have overtaken the road and the man with the big still is not making much progress with his yelling and stick waving but it is definitely fun to watch.

If you are lucky you got a picture of this like we did to send it home to your friends because no one is ever going to believe the story with out proof.

When people stomp all over ones feelings in business acting as though they are better than you, arrogant and egotistical in their manner. This is absolutely stupid and pointless and it gets them nowhere but on the bad side of the person they are needing help from. This is a big problem in Costa Rica. So many foreigners come down and act as though they are better than the nationals when in fact they are not. This is NOT the attitude to take with people you are going to be living next door to for years to come.

Mind your manners. Follow the golden rule. Treat others the way that you would want to be treated and you will be treated well in return. Do not degrade or belittle people or point out flaws. It doesn’t help it the situation that you are in and it only hurts the person that you are working with.

Whether you are in the grocery store or having a house built or hiring someone to move your furniture, keep a smile on your face and keep your attitude in check. Remember these people that you have hired work very hard to please you an many other people every day. They really don’t need you to act stupid and arrogant towards them. They have their own set of problems much bigger than you could possibly get your head around and they don’t need your garbage and trash talk on top of that. Be nice! Treat people with respect! I know they are treating you with respect. Just do the same!

I’m not the cyber guru that Ramiro is and i could not figure out how to get this video to open on this page but I believe that if you cut and paste the link into your browser it should work.  This video portrays the directions one would get and how an expat would interpret those directions EXACTLY!  It is definitely worth the time and a good laugh that you all could relate to if you have ever asked for directions in Costa Rica

Good luck and my apologies that I am not more internet savvy!