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
Sammi says
Hi Jamie, you can read this post about the healthcare system in COsta Rica: Seeing a doctor in Costa Rica as a foreigner.
If you are retired, many retirees apply for a retiree residency in Costa Rica which allows them access to the healthcare (this is why there are so many retirees in Costa Rica, they move down to take advantage of the healthcare system in CR since the USA is too expensive and Canada takes too long). There are many private clinics and hospitals or you can go public
Jamie Rush says
Hello Sammi,
My husband and i are thinking of an adventure now that we are closing in on retirement. I, however, am worried about the medical part of living out of the US. I am diabetic and worry about getting the meds and the medical care I need. I know that Medicare would not be possible so how does it work?
Sammi says
I’d look at the small towns around the Central Valley like Zarcero (not too touristy, not an expat haven), Sarchi or Poasito. These are pretty local towns, not super touristic or have a lot of expats. Most expats who choose to live in a town instead of on the coast like Grecia or San Ramon. If you go up to the mountains of San Ramon like Concepcion, it’s not too expat-y and not touristy at all and it’s a very beautiful area.
We also lived in San Isidro de Heredia for a period of time, it’s in the city so you’re close to all the traffic but it’s in a beautiful area up in the mountains, only Ticos for the most part.
Monique says
Just discovered your blog, and I really appreciate what seems to be a realistic and balanced view. My husband and I are traveling to CR with our infant son in a couple of months, and are hoping to move there in the next 5 years. Can you recommend towns semi-close (an hour or so) to the beach that are not expat havens? We would like to find a safe, affordable, and less touristy/ ex-pat place to live.
Dallas says
Thank You, VERY MUCH for a very well written article that paints a pretty but semi-realistic picture of life there.
I know I’m leaving the US, not sure when but I’m getting out of here. As a mature black man in America I’ve had enough and I’m looking for a place where Dr. Kings words are alive.
Can you share some of the town sides AND is there a difference in the Spanish dialect therected compared to the US?
Sammi says
Hi Dallas, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. The Spanish here is Costa Rican Spanish, so the accent is completely different to the Spanish they teach in the US as well as the words they use.
rick says
As a semi-mature white male I’m looking for the same place getting out of America.thanks for the blog ,how is the drinking water?
Ariyah says
Hi Sammi. Have you met LGBTQ expats in Costa Rica? Do they feel safe and comfortable there (maybe even more so than they do in the US)?
Sammi says
Hi Ariyah! I have met a few, generally Costa Rica is pretty open especially in the beach towns and touristic areas. The majority of Costa Ricans are very Catholic but LGBTQ awareness is growing considerably in Costa Rica and there even been gay pride marches and parades. The ones we have met haven’t mentioned anything negative.
Gus says
Hi Ariyah, with time ticos are becoming more and more accepting of the LGBTQ population. As a gay man who lives with his partner I can say you won’t have any problems moving to Costa Rica. We can’t marry but we are gaining more and more rights. You don’t need to live only surrounded by gay people either. We are the only gay couple in a closed community and nobody has a problem with our sexuality. Most of our friends are heterosexual Costarricense too. And most of our gay friends mingle in mixed groups.
Public signs of affection are not common even though younger generations don’t care and hold hands and kiss in public.
Gay Pride is celebrated every year and is a big event, last time over 20000 people marched.
I hope this is useful to you.
Sammi says
Thanks for the input Gus! Great to hear your personal experience.
lachelle barnard says
Appreciated this space to see a few comments and loved the immediate responses to the posted comments!
For some strange and bizarre reason, I feel I am moving to Costa Rica!
I will continue to research but in the meantime, I am looking to book a trip there for the summer for about 2 weeks and take things from there.
#Freedom
Sammi says
Good luck with your trip and hope everything works out! 🙂
Terence Walker says
HI Sammy,
This is a wonderfully insightful and helpful post. I totally concur with many of your views and observations. Especially how different American cultural ideals are as opposed to other cultures. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to many other countries around the world, and we Americans certainly leave bad impression many times. I’ve never quite understood why since we say American is the ultimate melting pot. If this is true then we should be the shining light of acceptance and tolerance, not the divisive and arrogant bigots we often see today.
I was born and raised in Detroit. My family heritage is black, white, native american, with asian, Arabic and Hispanics in good numbers by marriage and blood. Never a truer example of acceptance and diversity in one family. It sure makes for interesting family reunions. My wife is from the Philippines and of course the kids were raised in both Filipino and black cultures. Lately we’ve been considering leaving the states and migrating to the Philippines. More so for future retirement and a restructuring of life. I’ve just become too disenfranchised from the so called American dream.
My family and I have also been looking at Costa Rica and Belize and possible alternativeso to PI. Due to the proximity of both to the US, as well as more secure political, economic and cultural environment, these seem to be better choices. You are correct, no one place is perfect. It is up to each individual to decide their specific priorities and allow oneself to be open to change and differences which will surely come. But that’s all part of the cultural education and enjoyment of living in another culture. Yes it sounds romantic, yet many thousands are successful daily around the world when keeping an open mind.
Your post here just helps reinforce what I’ve already learned. It’s a never ending process but listening and getting advice from mutiple reliable sources does help reduce anxiety and reduce potential problems before making a life altering change. You can best bet I’ll email keeping a sharp eye on more of your posts. Thanks for the help and keep up the good work.
Karen says
I am studying Spanish and will be in Costa Rica this summer. Do you have advice for how to get people to let me practice Spanish with them, beyond greetings?
Sammi says
When you first meet them, tell them “Estoy aprendiendo espanol, podemos hablar solo en espanol por favor?” and they’ll get it. Once I told locals I was learning Spanish, they automatically stopped speaking English and were delighted to speak Spanish to me.
Dominique says
Hi, I am French and moved to the USA 23 years ago. I can tell you from my experience that I am sooooo ready to move out! Costa Rica is on top of my list for sure and even more so after reading your post Sammi. I can totally relate to the unfortunate experiences you had with some people saying such thing as “go back to your f’ing country”. It has been said to me many times even in my workplace. You name it, I have been called, french fry, toast, frog, and the list goes on. Fortunately, not all people are like that.
I have been fortunate to travel to many places, but never did to Costa Rica. I consider myself fluent in Spanish which helps when travelling, although I look more like a gringo haha.
I look forward to exploring Costa Rica and meeting with locals.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Sammi says
Hi Dominique! I’m very sorry to hear about people calling you names and things like that – the US still has a long way to go in terms of that despite how diverse it is! It really depends on which area in the US but there are always the bad seeds out there.
Hopefully you make it to Costa Rica soon 🙂 It’ll actually be a lot easier for you since you “look like a gringo” (it’s hard for me as an Asian here) but we have met a TON of French people here so you won’t be alone!