Newcomers to Costa Rica have it much easier today. When my then wife and I made the decision to come here in 1989, there was no internet, no Facebook or message boards where all of the questions we had could be thrown out to be answered by those who had already made the move. I remember paying about thirty dollars and ordering a large soft cover book full of information about the country. It took over a month to arrive.
Now one can go to Google and Facebook and find numerous sites geared toward newcomers. There is no shortage of transplants ready to instantly advise on the pitfalls to avoid and shortcuts you can take to make your life here better. The inquiries vary, but typically begin, “I am thinking about relocating to Costa Rica” or “What are some things one should consider when moving to Costa Rica?” or “What should I expect that will be different from the US?” or “Please tell me about expat friendly communities.”
The many responders can be broken down to a few categories. First of course, are the experts. This is a country of experts. When I sold vacation packages, I presented myself as an ‘expert’ on Costa Rica. When I watch the morning news shows, I see information segments with nutritionists, lawyers, agronomists, meteorologists, all of whom are presented as experts. So it goes that a Facebook page geared toward newcomers would be full of self-styled experts ready to answer any inquiries. One thing most of us experts have in common is that what makes us an ‘expert’ is that at least we know more about our field than you.
As common as the experts are the whiners. They complain about anything– the food, the rain, the heat, the potholes, the crime, the limited English spoken by the locals, the slow internet, the corruption, the local customs, and of most of all, how expensive everything is. They typically live in an expensive area such as a popular beach or upper class urban area, in a gated community or condo, and their contact with locals is limited to their empleadas and trips to the supermarket and hardware stores.
Another class of whiner is the ‘We were here way before you!’ expat. They are angry at the more recent arrivals because what was our little secret thirty plus years ago has turned into a deluge of foreigner’s intent on turning Costa Rica into Cancun 2.0. I remember the humble skyline of San Jose in the early 1990s with few high rises and that big unfinished building sitting like a haunted house on a hill overlooking downtown – now the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. The irony of course is that we are all immigrants here, and the fact that Costa Rica is home to more and more of us does not make us old timers somehow superior to the more recent arrivals.
Not all of us are angry. There is another class of responders with stars in their eyes, in love with everything about Costa Rica. They will paint the rosiest picture possible and encourage new arrivals with a full set of dos and don’ts on how to live life to its maximum here. The hyper-positive responses do serve at least, to balance out the angry and negative ones.
Finally, there are those whose interest is based on what they can get from the newcomers. They are often sneaky with their answers, at first promoting the positives here before slipping in whatever it is they want to sell, be it real estate, cars, tours, insurance or their own lifestyles (“I would love to invite you to our weekly meeting of expats”).
With the explosion of boomer age retirees combined with those unhappy with the political situation in their home countries, there will only be more arrivals here, some of whom with time, will be ready to answer the innocent inquiries of the curious, with their own ‘expert’ opinions of life here in paradise.
