he isn't but I am sort of (even if you don't work here but spend substancial amounts of time) and the reason I say it (not personal at all of course) is because our stupid /retarded system of "stay 3 months leave 3 days and repeat 150 times" is exactly that ......stupid AND retarded AND prone to abuse by good AND BAD guys, no country that respects itself should have that sort of backdoor that esentially allows people to live here forever without being anything but a 'perpetual tourist"
I know most people that take advantage of that backdoor would happily pay a fair amount for not having to leave CR every 3 months (And been able to work)....(and yes I know that you don't fit into either category of a) wanting to stay here for long periods of time b) wanting to actively work but ......unfortunately you are the minority in that group)
about what WT says "JH make that thousands....and we spend alot of do here...if we all left it would hurt CR $$ i like it here and have many tico friends " ....well yes its true....any $ that CR losses hurts the economy, it would also hurt it if all the money being laundered would leave, whats the point?
FACT IS, that if everyone paid every tax that is in the laws......the goverment would have so much $$$$ that there would not be the need to have such high taxes on imports like cars (where its next to impossible to evade the taxes and therefore that is where the gov gets the bulk of its income)
Not that I believe it can actually happen (collecting all the taxes due) but well....not even the IRS can catch everything.....
and about this "Yes in this case the drugs should´ve been taken to a safer place. No excuse for that" ...........they showed so MANY mistakes in the handling of THAT batch of drugs.....that unless you can show me similar cases....I would simply believe that those mistakes happened....because someone in charge allowed it to happen so that they could recover it.
and with that conspiracy theory.....I shut up for the afternoon :drink:
ok I lied, one more rant
what you say is true but also look at the common profile of the gringos that come here
the normal American believes that either the entire World is like their own state...with the same stores..same products....same roads etc etc OR they believe its all like Haiti (not that they know about the country......or where it is.....I am simply using the country as their concept of what it looks like)
so you have that type of American waking up one day and saying
"shit, my wife divorced me" OR "I owe sooooooo much $.......I am taking off to Costo Rico" OR "crap, I can't find a decent job.....I think I have a great idea......I am going to move to this tropical paradise that 'x' real estate/travel agent told me about"
so they come here totally unprepared for the realities of a country that is not (nor is going to be) like the US and that is a recipe for disaster
they come here.....start doing stupid shit with women/money/drugs/gambling/etc.....get screwed a few times (sexually and financially LOL) etc etc.....a couple of years go by.....never learn a word of Spanish.......and wouldn't YOU Jack be pissed?
In that context I understand most of the rants.
and of course I forgot about yet another kind of expat that comes here, the one that is reaching their old age......and can't afford to live in their native country with their pension/current resources......I know someone very smart who is in that category.....and well......lots of negative comments about CR (mostly true) but he simply can't move elsewhere
wolfie don´t go yet... you and hater are the only Mexicans here besides me. And well, hater is good for nothing.
I believe its a stupid move to move anywhere without doing some research. pubguy, who started this thread, has been researching for many months now and I know he´s put in a lot of time into this. I respect that and I believe he´s very well informed. So he pretty much knows what to expect here.
So a few of them are different, even though the kind you mentioned are not that uncommon here.
Anyways, like you said, the gringos that don´t make it here are the ones who expect this to be the US, who expect shit to be done right away and everything should be perfect like in the US, its like everyone else in the world has to be like them and that´s never gonna happen. If you embrace the way of life here you´ll be happy, just like the thousands of foreigners who call this their home.
I believe its a stupid move to move anywhere without doing some research. pubguy, who started this thread, has been researching for many months now and I know he´s put in a lot of time into this. I respect that and I believe he´s very well informed. So he pretty much knows what to expect here.
So a few of them are different, even though the kind you mentioned are not that uncommon here.
Anyways, like you said, the gringos that don´t make it here are the ones who expect this to be the US, who expect shit to be done right away and everything should be perfect like in the US, its like everyone else in the world has to be like them and that´s never gonna happen. If you embrace the way of life here you´ll be happy, just like the thousands of foreigners who call this their home.
me?? mexican???????I am totally Gringonized as a result of 9 years of being married to one......so most of the times I don't understand beaners like you , I am sorry , so refer to me as Mister Wolfie not Senor Wolfie
I agree with you, there is a small % that research what they get into (but its very hard to do....one thing is to visit ...another one staying here not thinking of 'I go to the States in x number of months for a quick trip')
there is a big % of clueless dumb asses (I already listed the categories)
and there is a % of Gringos (like NES and some others) that critize not to be annoying (although they are anyway) but hoping that it changes for their own good because they are commited to the country
the problem is that bitching about things in a forum like this.....where many are foreigners.....is not very effective. Writing letters to the Nacion sounds gazillion times better than bitching in here. Problem is......few speak the language well enough to do that.
so after what ? 6 years of so of regularly posting in here and seeing dozens of threads develop into the usual 'CR sucks'/'just leave'/'you idiots'/'no , you! idiots' things are destined to remain the same
Just for the heck of it, I looked into this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population
so if we were a state we would be at levels close to 23rd place in population, or in other words, we have more population than over half the States
and with 21k miles we are at position number 42 in the ranking of states by size
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/usabysiz.htm
for those of you that say "it was better x number of years ago" the increase in population and number of cars has a lot to do with it and if it looks crowded is because it IS crowded
in 2002 I bought a car, the license plate was in the order of 460k , I bought one last year and it was in the 760k so in 6 years......license plates went up by 300k JUST in cars (not counting trucks/motorcycles etc)
btw one more thing to add....despite the Ticos resentment against Nica/Colombian immigrants.....of which we have tens of thousands/year .........at least you see them grateful to be here (obviously we are not THAT bad)
I agree with you, there is a small % that research what they get into (but its very hard to do....one thing is to visit ...another one staying here not thinking of 'I go to the States in x number of months for a quick trip')
there is a big % of clueless dumb asses (I already listed the categories)
and there is a % of Gringos (like NES and some others) that critize not to be annoying (although they are anyway) but hoping that it changes for their own good because they are commited to the country
the problem is that bitching about things in a forum like this.....where many are foreigners.....is not very effective. Writing letters to the Nacion sounds gazillion times better than bitching in here. Problem is......few speak the language well enough to do that.
so after what ? 6 years of so of regularly posting in here and seeing dozens of threads develop into the usual 'CR sucks'/'just leave'/'you idiots'/'no , you! idiots' things are destined to remain the same
Just for the heck of it, I looked into this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population
so if we were a state we would be at levels close to 23rd place in population, or in other words, we have more population than over half the States
and with 21k miles we are at position number 42 in the ranking of states by size
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/usabysiz.htm
for those of you that say "it was better x number of years ago" the increase in population and number of cars has a lot to do with it and if it looks crowded is because it IS crowded
in 2002 I bought a car, the license plate was in the order of 460k , I bought one last year and it was in the 760k so in 6 years......license plates went up by 300k JUST in cars (not counting trucks/motorcycles etc)
btw one more thing to add....despite the Ticos resentment against Nica/Colombian immigrants.....of which we have tens of thousands/year .........at least you see them grateful to be here (obviously we are not THAT bad)
I learned the alt 164 in my first few months in CR which just goes to show that broke people benefit the most out of living in CR, atleast a lot more than the people that have money, you learn more about getting around because you have to, which means learning spanish and local customs because you have to actually deal with people other than your driver, maid, and drug dealer, and less people try to screw you over because there is less for them to screw you out of.
I have a Costa Rican son and family, so yes I would do it again, no doubt, even with some of the beef I have with some things. I have problems with certain things here as I do in the States. It's give and take. A lot of things are better. In the nine years that I've known Costa Rica, maybe it's changed, but I also believe that one's perception of things change as they spend more time in a new place. It seems like a paradise when you first get here, especially outside of the Central Valley, but as you settle into a daily life you begin to see that it has some negatives along with all those positives. One thing that sticks out in my mind: Playas del Coco. I remember going there in 2000. The beach wasn't great, but it was like this little cool fishing town. The people seemed really friendly and the night life was active but relaxed. Go there today and it's full of prostitutes and the young kids are all on blow and ready to fight. I wonder if it was like that in 2000 and I just didn't see it, or is it that sooooo many tourists have passed through there and all of them are letting loose that it just spawned this atmosphere that you see today?
It's not, just some subtle differences that Troy may be too high to understand.
1) When you say food is more expensive, I'm sure you're referring to US imports, not the regular stuff you can get at Pali/Saretto.
2) Housing is over priced here. The other day, I went to Fuerte Ventura to check out a house, $175,000 including a 10% discount. Small rooms, tiny backyard.
"I wish they would clean up the corruption in the government and the police would focus on the crime instead of coming up with draconic laws for drunk driving etc"
Everyone here wishes the same thing, don't know why he would think its stupid/naive.
Costa Rica is more expensive than it used to be, and way more expensive than it's neighbors. But still a better lifestyle than living in the US.
1) When you say food is more expensive, I'm sure you're referring to US imports, not the regular stuff you can get at Pali/Saretto.
2) Housing is over priced here. The other day, I went to Fuerte Ventura to check out a house, $175,000 including a 10% discount. Small rooms, tiny backyard.
"I wish they would clean up the corruption in the government and the police would focus on the crime instead of coming up with draconic laws for drunk driving etc"
Everyone here wishes the same thing, don't know why he would think its stupid/naive.
Costa Rica is more expensive than it used to be, and way more expensive than it's neighbors. But still a better lifestyle than living in the US.
Its called inflation maybe. If the $$ goes up, everything goes up and that has always been the the tendency here. Lifestyle has also gone up, that increases prices. Plus you won´t find the lifestyle that you have here anywhere else in Central America, maybe that´s why everything is more expensive. Plus salaries are much higher here than in any of these countries. For example, a clerk in Panama makes like half of what they make here. I agree, CR is by no means cheap, but its not that bad either.
I'm not saying the new drunk driving law is a bad thing you dumb fucking ape. They should have used their time and resources to focus on the number one problem this country, and it's crime. Ley de transito should have been second.
I applaud the nueva ley de transito. I don't drink and drive anymore, I just mug people and make sure it's under $500 so I don't go to jail.
