大咖福利影院

@Cheryl

1. In my experience, TICOS tend to be reserved around foreigners initially, but very friendly once an overture is made. The attempt to speak Spanish forms a great ice-breaker. Showing interest in the local culture (politics, sports, art, culture, religion, shopping, outfitting a home) emerges as a great conversation starter. So does finding a recommendation for doctors; hospitals; schoools, houses of worship, shopping, and leisure activities (such as visits to museums, beach communities, or other recreational actrivities). Based on my experience, a worshipping community forms a net plus for meeting people. A local bakery/caf茅 hosts an informal group of English-speaking expats on Saturday mornings.
2. In the USA, many people meet others via internet sites. I have not explored this option and have no interest in doing so.
3. Expats tend to remain in contact with family and friends via telephone, texting, or email. Some people find "face time" or ZOOM or WhatsApp streaming to be very appealing.
4. I intentionally stay on a "tourist visa" and "stamp out" every six months to visit family and friends in the mainland USA and to attend to medical appointments and to purchase items that are impossible to obtain in C.R., or prohibitively expensive.
5. I bring back items in a spare suitcase during my return trips: clothing, hardware, and food items. One domestic airline with which I hold a credit card charges $55.00 for a second bag. An international carrier charges $80.00, or $1.90 at the depart airport for a second bag. Read the small print in the contract.
6. One may elect to use a freight forwarder (in my case, in South Fla.) to send items to C.R. via Amazon, eBay, another vendor, or a family member or friend. The smallest individual package (based on size of package, weight, and contents) cost between $12.00 USD and upwards of $85.00. The service amounts to a convenience in terms of time, but is not inexpensive (e.g., USPS postage; customs fee at the airport; delivery by courier and gas surcharge; tip).
7. If money is not an object, this procedure represents a convenience and at times a necessity, since I have NEVER received a piece of "first class" mail at my address in C.R., nor did I receive multiple attempted deliveries of things such as replacement credit or debit cards via FED EX or UPS as a result of credit card fraud.
8. The biggest challenges in building or maintaining relationships in C.R. for me resulted from dealing with the bureaucracy in the telephone industry (I bailed from one of the "big three" telephonic companies and settled with another... a local phone number is vital for transacting business) and attempting to establish a bank account.
9. Re. banking, it is easier to do so in one of the FIFTY (50) branches of a large CREDIT UNION. Banks are not interested in expats unless one is: a). married to a TICO/-A; b). willing to invest $50,000,00 or $60,000.00 USD; c). owns property in C.R.聽 If one RENTS, is not married to a Costa Rican national, or is not rich, establishing a bank account will be difficult, if not impossible. Sometimes, the intervention of a local Tico will "grease the skid" in this area. The official explanation is that the local government views this policy as a hedge against money laundering.
10. I should mention that the #3 bank in the US recently bought out the credit card division of a large discount department store chain and also took over an older credit card brand/marca. While its debit card can be used for purchases, IT DOES NOT WORK in a single ATM/caja electr贸nica in the entire country of Costa Rica: not in the airport, in a high-end hotel, or in any single bank. Therefore, if one does NOT have a "back-up? debit card, one will NOT be able to draw cash (in the local currency, COLONES, or in USD) at ANY ATM in the entire country. This is a terrible development that negatively impacted many thousands among the 120-140K US expats estimated to be living in C.R.
11. Speaking Spanish is a huge net plus and will impress UBER drivers (remarkably inexpensive in C.R.), staff at stores and supermarkets, and in local bakeries and coffee shops, hardware stores and "Chinese markets." Ben Johnson once said: "A man leads as many lives as languages that he speaks." The woman or man who speaks or attempts to speak Spanish in C.R. will open additional worlds to herself or to himself.
12. Families with children will find a custom-made way of meeting folks via school opportunities, sports activities, and houses of worship. Costa Rica has a very small Jewish community. The Catholic Church is large and strong. Evangelical churches are growing. A large LDS temple exists not far from the SJO airport.
13. Digital Nomads can obtain a one-year visa, renewable once. Beware of the fact that power outages that affect Wi-Fi and streaming capabilities can occur with regularity. STAR-LINK is expensive, but wholly reliable for telecommunications. I elect not to have a television and to stream items via my laptop. Other residents where I live tend to have cable TV.
14. I probably preserve my privacy more as an expat, but tend to be an extrovert and have had no trouble making friends/associates in relationships of all ages (I am retired).
15. I speak Spanish fluently, and my conversational ability, working vocabulary, and accent have improved dramatically during the years of my "residency" here.
16. The biggest challenge/advantage of building and maintaining relationships in C.R. is a solid working ability in the Spanish language and a willingness to use it and not to be embarrassed by making mistakes or asking for help.
17. C.R. has become VERY EXPENSIVE as the USD has declined from 711 Colones to the dollar three years ago to 450 Colones now. This steep decline hurts Ticos paid by their employers in USDs and expats who have to exchange money or pay rent in USD. The dollar now buys 1/3 less than it did three years ago. Items such as gasoline and milk emerge as ultra-expensive. Cars cost 40% more than in the USA. Chinese and Korean autos now abound. Public transit (buses) are inexpensive, and seniors who are permanent residents (with a cedula, or national ID card) can ride for free when presenting documentation
18. Health care is a big challenge for expats. A large national C.R. company provides thoroughly bilingual agents and its network of doctors (thousands) who practice private medicine and speak English (and many other languages) provide "first world medicine" in a "third world country," in terms of much of its infrastructure.
19. The greatest natural resource of C.R. is NOT the beach communities or the rain forests or the volcanoes or the wildlife sanctuaries. It is the people, who are charming, appreciative, and responsive for the most part. A well-travelled sibling of mine who spends extensive time in Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia says, "It seems to me that Latin Americans in general tend to be much nicer than those in the United States." I concur. Especially in light of the present, toxic and polarized social and political situation in the United States, which I do not miss.
20. Be your best self, and you will meet the kind of people whom you wish would associate with you. Be respectful, attentive, and appreciative of the local culture and mores. Live, eat, think, shop, recreate, work, and pray like a local (with all of the pluses and minuses). If you do, you will fit in.
21. A caveat: Some unsuspecting expats can be victimized by unscrupulous local "opportunists" and petty thieves. Keep your head on a swivel and your "Spidey senses" tingling. Let the buyer beware.