The World is Flat

Living here in Costa Rica in Spanish allows me to be right in the Tico culture. It also tires me out by the end of the day. Like many ex-pats, having some great reads in English is a nice relaxing treat. As a New York Times devotee for most of my life, I easily devoured The World is Flat by Times writer Thomas Friedman.

I recommend The World is Flat as a must read for anybody wanting a big life that sees the possibility to utilize the whole world no matter where you are geographically. People no longer have to be in the same location to share information and collaborate. You no longer have to be a huge corporation to have an impact on people all over the world. An individual person's creativity allows growth, not just the amount of money one throws at a situation. This book basically describes our International life and the life of a blogger (as well as many other situations).

What a different world. I guess I'm old as I can remember living in a world without the internet and cell phones. When I traveled in Europe at the age of 17 in 1972, I used to mail aerograms to family and friends. They took about 10 days to arrive and were totally obsolete by the time they did. In a way, my travels in the 70's allowed me to really remain in my experience.... cut off from my familiar world....but in another way, the reality of living in Costa Rica is much easier now. I can keep in touch with family and friends, do business with internet banking, etc...

It's been amazing and fun for me to have readers from all the continents.... 25+ countries and growing. There was the nice note from Australia from a woman who had the same magical feelings as me about San Ramon a decade ago. She googled the bar/club Secretos and ended up on our blog and website www.costaricapm.com.

The funniest and biggest contrast was seeing that we have at least 1 reader in Baghdad. San Ramon and Costa Rica, a country without an army could clearly be the ultimate fantasy for someone living the violent insane life that exists in Iraq. It would be a total pleasure to find a home for someone in San Ramon after they survived the war in Iraq.

Life no longer needs to be a black and white choice of one thing or another but can be your own melange of what works for you. Enjoy the book, The World is Flat, and more importantly enjoy opening up your mind to how rich and global your life can be.

Riteve : Costa Rica Car Inspection

Costa Rica has a national system of annual car inspection called Riteve. Having a current Riteve sticker allows you to drive confidently and legally. It is a common experience which makes me feel like I really live here. Both of our 2 experiences at Riteve were weird and notable.

While many people think moving to Costa Rica is about living in a country with no army, ecotourism, seeing lava at Volcano Arenal, surfing at Malpais/Santa Teresa or doing the canopy tour at Monteverde ..... getting your car inspected is more indicative of day to day Costa Rica life.













The process starts out impressively smooth and logical as you make your Riteve appointment on the internet choosing place, date and time. We did our first inspection in Alajuela. They said our emissions didn't pass the test, but that was the least of our issues. By the time we had worked our way through the inspectors' paces, one of the technicians destroyed our brakes. We had to drive home using the handbrake to stop. Last week, we decided to go to the Puntarenas Riteve for our second inspection. This time an inspector destroyed a line that held the car's power steering fluids. We drove home with the steering wheel barely working. On a better note, a technician allowed us to re-do one of the tests 5 times until we finally passed.

In a different culture I might have complained or written a letter to right the wrong. That seemed like a waste of time here.

Many people pay someone to take their car for inspection. I'm beginning to see the wisdom of not going through this process.

Once again patience and a sense of humor are a virtue in navigating aspects of Tico life.

Cerveza, por favor...Gracias!!!

My Dinner With Juan

I met Juan a number of years ago when he was the head teller at Banco Popular. At 25 years old, he was half the age of many of those working under his supervision. Juan would help me in English in order to practice. Over time, he would be anticipating my bank stops, saving up lists of words and idioms for translation.

Now he works for Proctor and Gamble in San Jose, a prestigious job in Costa Rica, and during our dinner we both spoke about the challenges of living in two cultures. There are huge and numerous differences that we both see from our outsider vantage point of a foreigner living in another culture.

When he calls Cincinnati, and asks his suppliers how they are, they often respond with, “Not too bad.” There are only two answers for most Ticos to “How are you?” … Todo Bien or Pura Vida. For a Costa Rican to even have the word bad in your answer is socially unacceptable,

Juan was trained at P & G to give great service to “go the extra mile.” This is a new concept for him. In Costa Rica, “No Hay” is the most common response when a worker doesn’t have what you ask for. It is rarely followed by an explanation or a further attempt to find out more specific information.

At Banco Popular, Juan’s co-workers routinely kissed each other on the cheek to say hi and touched each other playfully and jokingly. He learned at P & G that this could be considered sexual harassment at a large U.S. company.

There is no right or wrong here, just 2 different cultural realities and norms. In order to best live in a foreign culture, it helps to understand the paradigm shifts. I’ve seen many non-Costa Ricans here filled with frustration and confusion when situations defy their logic and past experience. It’s been a long journey for me to flow smoothly here and has required a premium of patience and openness…and few shots of Guaro.

My Dinner With Juan was cool for both of us to discuss and laugh about our observations from living in each other’s cultures.

Living in the culture is an expression of eco-tourism.