If anyone ever told you that living abroad in Costa Rica, or anywhere for that matter would be a magical, fairy tale paradisaical experience, take it lightly. Yes, living in Costa Rica is awesome, especially being at the beach.
However, when moving abroad you have to come with an open mind and open heart and be willing to be tested and put in tough situations at times.
It’s not easy moving to a brand new place, even if you’re in the same country. Costa Rica is no exception – many people market and advertise it as “living in paradise,” which it IS but that doesn’t mean coconut drinks on the beach and infinity pools everyday.
I think no matter how much research you do and how prepared you think you are, there will always be things that surprise you when you’re finally there. Some are good, some are bad but that’s what the experience is all about!
5 Things that Surprised Me About Living in Costa Rica
Immersing in Spanish – Como Aprender Español?
I’ve had quite a few friends who studied abroad for 6 months or a year and came back completely fluent in the native language. I kind of expected the same when I moved here. I would be immersing myself which apparently is the best way to learn and it wouldn’t be long before I would be watching telenovelas and reading los periodicos every morning.
Didn’t quite happen that easily. Since Coco is such a touristic area, many of the Costa Ricans speak English. And they love to speak English to you once they know you do! Many times I’ll have to ask them, podemos hablar en Espanol? so that I can practice. Plus I don’t expect them to speak Ingles to me at all, I want to learn and practice!
Also this one is kind of my fault but since Yeison’s English is damn near as good as mine, it’s just easier for us to communicate in English than me stammering, sputtering and mumbling inaudible and unintelligible Spanish.
I found that I had to learn on my own – can’t count on other people to do it for me. I buckled down and did my research. I love to learn on my own so I looked up apps and software to help me learn Spanish. I discovered that watching Grey’s Anatomy in Spanish subtitles helps a lot. Derek te amo. Eligeme, escogeme, amame!
Kindness of Costa Ricans
In the States, if you are an immigrant or foreigner and you don’t speak English very well, people aren’t that nice. I’ve witnessed this with my own eyes and ears as some Americans have assumed I don’t speak English, mocked me right in my face and told me to go back to China, telling me I’m not a real American. (I was born in the US if anyone is curious).
So imagine my surprise when I first moved down and how incredibly nice people were when I did try to practice my Spanish with them. Nobody ever made fun of me, nobody ever told me to go back home. Instead they patiently listened, gently corrected my mistakes and when I said the few words I knew, you could tell they greatly appreciated the effort.
Another example of their kindness. If you’re ever in an emergency in Costa Rica, you might be surprised as how many people are willing to help you.
One of my friends and her husband were driving in the middle of the countryside. Their car broke down, they had no cell phone and it was getting dark. A truck full of teenage boys pulled up beside them and instead of taking advantage of their vulnerability, they helped them push their car to the next town and let them borrow their phone.
Stories like this are incredibly common here.
I’ve heard stories where a tourist fainted and a Costa Rican stayed with the couple to show the wife where the hospital was, 40 kilometers away. Yeison is the same way, he’ll help anybody who needs it. They do what seems to be above and beyond for us foreigners but really it’s just normal for them.
Not All Expats Are Alike
You would think that every expat: American, British, Italian, Russian, whoever, would have the same mindset when they moved here. We’re here to experience a new culture, find a new life for ourselves and open our eyes to the world. We want to live in a peaceful country, to escape the rat race and the gossip and to just live simpler and happier.
Nope.
You ever heard the phrase “Some people never change?” It applies to people here too. We live in a small town and a small community where everybody knows each others business or they deliberately pry into each others personal life.
For some reason, some expats here still like to stir up drama. Some really are here to live a different life, some are here to live their same life just by the beach. I’m not really sure why or how they can expect things to be exactly the same as the States or Canada (or even Western Europe).
It’s Costa Rica, things are done differently here as it would be in any other country in the world. Costa Rica’s not a perfect country, there are definitely flaws but what system is perfect? None.
Why move here if all you will do is complain and why move to a country where you don’t even like the locals?
Diversity
Costa Rica has a population of about 4.8 million people. Not a lot but it is a small country.
The second time I visited Costa Rica we went to Limon and Yeison pointed out many Chinese communities to me. In San Jose, we met lots of Taiwanese people which I was pretty surprised about.
To be honest, I never thought of Costa Rica being one of the more popular places for people to move to. But in reality, it is.
I learned that Costa Rica has always been a popular country for people to immigrate to, especially from Asia and the Caribbean islands due to the huge appeal of the ability to make a new life and good money in the city.
Costa Rica is a large melting pot. You can find people from all over the world – heck Yeison is half Korean half Costa Rican! We’ve met many half Costa Ricans half Italians, half Costa Rican half Russian, half Costa Ricans half Chinese. Just all sorts of diverse people.
And if you’re born in Costa Rica, you’re a Tico or Tica. That’s it. Doesn’t matter where your parents were born, if you have an accent or if you speak a second language.
Subtle Culture Shock
It probably helped that I visited quite a few times before I moved here so I had an idea of what things were like. Living at the beach helped a lot too for sure. You always had a great central place to go to meet people, always had somewhere to go and something to do.
Besides the language, the rest of the culture shock was not as intense as I thought it would be. This time, I already had amazing support and experience which was more than anything I could ever ask for!
There’s always ups and downs to living abroad but I’m loving it everyday. I suggest everybody to go international for a little bit! It doesn’t have to be for a long period of time but just to experience something completely new and see the world in a different light.
If you enjoyed this post you might like my other living in Costa Rica stories!
Things I had to get used to living in Costa Rica
Travelling Book Junkie says
I have never visited Costa Rica but it has always been on my extensive ‘must visit’ locations and after reading this post I think it has moved up considerably. I love visiting countries where they are so accepting of others regardless of where you are from or what you do.
Living in the UK people still have many preconceived ideas about people and I hate it when I hear things like “you are in England now so speak English” and yet when the English travel abroad they believe it is their right to continue to speak English and not even try because “everyone speaking English nowadays!”.
I would love to learn a different language and dapple wherever we go. So I can now have a broken, very broken, conversation in French, German or Italian but I still can’t seem to grasp languages that well. I even went to night school to learn Italian and didn’t get past the first term – my husband had said that if I could learn the language we could move to Italy, which is my dream – however, we are still in England because of my poor language skills 🙂
Great post thanks for sharing!
Sammi says
Oh I know! I always make it a point to not be that ignorant gringo who is like “WHY DON”T YOU SPEAK ENGLISH” and make a fool of themselves. It just makes me slap my forehead and not want to be associated with them. I’m not 100% fluent in Spanish but I always try to make an effort.
I’m friends with some italians and picked up some words! Well mostly bad words but hey 😛 It’s a beautiful language! I’m sure you can learn it, just keep trying. Think of some delicious pizzas and pastas as the reward hehe
Chaitanya Shah says
Great article. I can totally relate to some of the things you said! 🙂
Sammi says
Thanks!
Michele says
What a great post, I love your comments about expats. I find many expats interesting they love being in another country yet want it to be the same as America, England,Australia etc and don’t seem to get the reason they went there in the first place was to experience something different. As I always say the gossips at high school are the same people whatever their age and wherever they live 🙂
Sammi says
haha I said that exact same thing! I feel like I’m in high school but I am the young one here! It’s so interesting and just makes you really scratch your head and wonder, why are you here then? Guess we just have a different mindset of those who actually want to experience a new culture and something new versus those who just want to brag and retire in a tropical area.
frankaboutcroatia says
Nice post, Sammy! I find the language barrier the hardest thing to deal with. When i moved to Croatia, considering that I already speak three languages, I was pretty sure to learn Croatian quickly. It turned out that Croatian has nothing to do with the rest of the languages I speak. Thus, still not able to speak it. *embarrassed* about it.
Sammi says
Thanks Frank! Ugh me too, I kind of came with the mindset that since I’m already speaking two languages the third would be easier to pick up. Nooot exactly haha. I think language learning is always different from everyone though and it truly depends on the person. Me, I am a tad lazy so I don’t practice as much as I should. Hey at least we are both trying! 🙂
Diane says
I can definitely relate to the first one about language. Becoming fluent doesn’t just happen like magic and six months might be all it takes for a kid to become more or less fluent but if you’re over 18 and have a significant other who speaks English really well, it’s not that easy. So totally feel for you on that one!!
Never been to Costa Rica but I’m enjoying reading about it!
Sammi says
Definitely! I wish it was easier but even full immersion takes a long time unless you’re a kid. I’ve met a Costa Rican/American couple where they only speak Spanish to each other because the Costa Rican’s English wasn’t very good so the husband had to pick up Spanish and is 100% fluent. It’s definitely much much harder than it looks. I’m glad you can relate Diane! I bet your French is going great though 🙂 Merci!
Sharon @ Where's Sharon? says
It sounds like it has been a relatively easy adjustment then?
The Spanish thing I can relate to. I have spent a lot of time in Central America trying to learn Spanish and thought it would be so much easier than it is! I will get there one day though!!
Sammi says
It was in some aspects. Other aspects no haha. I’m determined to be at that point as well, I’ve been getting lazy but I’m close!
A Southern Gypsy says
Great post Samantha! I don’t have this experience myself…yet. I hope to one day and be able to write about it as well. I think it’s great that the locals are so kind and eager to speak English (even though you want to practice your Spanish) 🙂
Sammi says
Thanks Ashley! Don’t worry you will soon embark on these experiences yourself whether you’re just visiting or living. 🙂
Constance - Foreign Sanctuary says
Great post, Samantha! Great minds must think alike because I am in the process of writing a post a little similar to this as well about being an expat in Taiwan!
My expat experiences have been a little like yours as well! The locals are amazing and super helpful! And it took me awhile to conquer the language (but I don’t know if I will ever consider myself fully fluent). I tried learning from my husband and I tried practicing with the locals but I ended up going to school for a year to learn the basics of Chinese such as tones. It was then easier for me to increase my vocabulary and practice communication. With that being said, my husband and I have always communicated in English and his English was always good but now it is great!
Sammi says
Hey that’s great you are learning Mandarin though! So many expats here don’t even bother to learn Spanish which is in all fairness, difficult but so many words are similar in English but they don’t even know how to say good morning after living here for 10 years. Mandarin is HARD so kudos to you for learning it! I don’t think I would be able to if I didn’t grow up speaking it haha. I think it’s a mental thing as well – Yeison and I met speaking English so it’s all that’s in my mind and hard to get out of that habit!
Raphael Alexander Zoren says
Latin People in general are extremely friendly towards foreigners, although it is always a few bad seeds out there the ones who are giving us the reputation of being from “dangerous and not safe” countries. Glad you’re having a nice time in Costa Rica! 🙂
Sammi says
True! But majority I’ve met are wonderful. There are always bad seeds out there wherever you go in the world. Just gotta ignore those ones 🙂
A Brit and A Southerner says
This is really a great post that I can specifically relate to being an expat of England and moving to USA 7 years ago. I think I was fortunate in the respect that I came from a developed country, one that is English speaking and probably one of the closest related to USA! However, you make a great point about the American culture sometimes finding it difficult to accept or maybe tolerate foreigners, especially those speak a different language. Rather than immersing yourself in the cultural diversity that this creates, many oppose this which is fair enough but I think it’s demeaning for the country as a whole.
I enjoyed this post a lot, keep up the great work!
Sammi says
Thanks Chris! Even a change where the native language is the same can be huge in terms of culture. Even English itself there are different words and saying for each country. I agree, it is demeaning and the States was built on immigration. Everybody there has roots back to another country (unless you’re Native American/Indian) so it seems ridiculous that they are not as accepting.
Andres says
Hi Samy, this is a fantastic text. And it seems, there is a gift of a totaly funny humor. Can we us your text and translate it to our german friends?
Andres
Sammi says
Hello Andres, sure you can 🙂
Juan says
The states are very accepting. Have no clue what you are referring to. Maybe you’re just too sensitive. The US takes in more immigrants than any other country in the world. And, not every non-indigenous person is an immigrant to this country. The country was built in 1776. So, if you have ancestors that were settlers prior to this time, they are not an immigrant to the US. Because they existed in this country prior to the existence of this nation just like the Indians.
Sammi says
Yes the states are accepting, in most areas. But I don’t think I’m being too sensitive when someones mocks me to my face about who I am and tells me to “go back home” because I am Asian even though I grew up in the US. That doesn’t sound very accepting but that is just my own opinion. Would you call that being sensitive or … perhaps something else? The US is built on immigration, you can’t deny that. That’s why it’s called a “melting pot.”
Jennifer says
This was a good article. Do you have any resources for people who are looking to move to CR?
To Juan, the US was built on immigration but to the sense of taking advantage of those who immigrated to the country. The Africans were taken as slaves, the Chinese were brought in to build railroads, the Mexicans were “allowed” to stay to tend to farms and become migrant workers and on and on with stories all the same for every single immigrant group that came to the US. The draw for immigrants however is the promise of a better life for their families, only to be treated marginally. The US has long history of oppression, hate, conspiracy all under the guise of democracy and a better life when in reality it is the continued pursuit of those in power for the mighty dollar. Let’s not get things twisted, this is a country that was taken from Native Americans, who they themselves were treated atrociously and was practically wiped out.
Sammi says
Hi Jennifer, thanks for reading! There are some good resources on the Internet, International Living is a good one and if you do a quick Google search you’ll find a ton of websites for foreigners looking to relocate to CR.
Larissa says
Thank you, very interesting. What about medicine cost?
yeison says
Medications are cheaper than the US or Canada and for most of them you do not need a prescription you can visit Farmacia Fishel website to get an exact idea of much each medication cost here.
Tony says
In fact Fishel is one of the most expensive places for meds, try Farmacia La Bomba there are several of them in San Jose. They really have the best deals !!!
Sammi says
That’s true, unfortunately they are only in San Jose.
Debbie Kane says
Farmacy Fischel is VERY expensive I recommend “LA Bomba in San Pedro San Jose it has GREAT discounted meds and high quality . OOPS I see someone ealse just said it LOL I second it then :)..
Sammi says
I’ll have to go check it out next time we go on a San Jose run! I wish they had some in Guanacaste