Two Years Living in Costa Rica- 11 things I have learned

hey there and welcome to Costa Rica story and today April 21st marks my second full year here in Costa Rica and in that two years I've learned a lot you know some from mistakes some from positive things that have happened to me so I'd like to share just I think I've got 11 random things here that I've learned in my first two years here in Costa Rica [Music] so the first thing and in my opinion the most important thing when you're moving here to Costa Rica is your mindset mindset is everything you need to be able to come here with with expectations but realizing your expectations may have to be adjusted so many times when we go on an adventure we have an Endeavor we travel somewhere we have a preconceived idea of what things are going to be but in in traveling to Costa Rica you need to be able to have your plan a b c d e f and g as I've said many times you need to be able to adjust and adapt so your mindset is everything [Music] two not being able to communicate in the native language can be a very very lonely experience it can also be a very frustrating experience but not having the Spanish speaking skills really it isolates you sometimes and that's been a problem for me it continues to be a problem I'm learning my Spanish little by little so if you come here with a decent amount of Spanish ability your life is going to be much much easier your relationships are going to be a lot easier and it's just easier to function all around sometimes I feel like a complete idiot when I'm trying to I'm trying to Converse in Spanish and I've got my words down and I get this little stage fright sometimes I'll have everything I'm going to say in my head then I start talking to somebody and I really want to I'm trying so hard for it to to work and it doesn't work I I get I get up there and I just start forgetting what I things that I I normally know for example I once asked for black coffee and I said Cafe Blanco por favor I was like no it's a cafe negro por favor but I knew that but it was just that little bit of stage fright right here right at the time it's difficult so if you can learn a little bit of Spanish the more the better before you come here and you can fit in a lot easier number three the stereotypes and you'll hear especially on YouTube there's a lot of people that have their own ideas of what it is to be in Costa Rica and how Costa Ricans act and how things function here in Costa Rica and a lot of that is true a lot of it's based in fact but don't come here expecting all these stereotypes to be true you know people just want other people and places to fit into a certain slot and that's that will not serve you well to have that mindset for instance the expression Tico time and of course that is true here sometimes things sometimes take longer a contractor may not come as quickly as you had hoped they would but I'll tell you I had the same problem I had the same problem back in the States I was trying to get my house ready to sell and contractors would say they're going to come and they don't come and they put you off so so the stereotypes exist but don't try to apply that with a broad brush to everybody because it will not serve you and it will not serve your existence here number five I found that there are a lot of big talkers here if you're if you've got any kind of business and I'm talking mostly Gringos that have ideas that you know they want to collaborate with you for this and that and just take that with a grain of salt because the majority of them are not going to follow through on it a lot of people have dreams and the dreams and good intentions but if you're if you've got a business you're you're going to have to steer that business you're going to have to drive that business and if you can Network that's fine but you're in charge of your own destiny number six as a light-skinned Gringo it's not really 100 possible to completely blend in as if you are a Tico it's just you just not you're not a Tico it doesn't matter what hat you wear your clothes you're just always going to be a gringo but that's not a bad thing you're a gringo a cool Gringo you know you're a gringo that is a part of the community but you're still you know you're a gringo it's it's your heritage be proud of who you are and it's not a bad thing [Music] number seven and this goes back to the previous point of being a gringo if you are a gringo here in the eyes of some people here you will always be thought of as somebody who has unlimited funds who's a rich person even if you're not a rich person it's just it's just a stereotype they have about us it's it's their version of racial profiling so keep that in mind because it can affect your business relationships it definitely can affect your personal relationships and just your day-to-day how you go about things you just have to accept that and you know it's it's just it's just part of life here [Music] number eight living in Costa Rica specifically ovita it's it's pretty expensive here it's more expensive than I thought it was and I did a lot of research before I came here so the cost of food and everything is going up worldwide and ovida is not immune to that and living here in uvita it's a it's a tourist area so things are even more expensive so living in Costa Rica is not cheap I never thought it was but it's it's even more expensive than I thought it was your money will will go faster you'll go leave your fingers much quicker than you probably expect so plan for that [Music] number nine crime here is a real thing and it's not just the petty crime you know things getting sold at the beach there are robberies there are break-ins and home invasions in Costa Rica so that's something to consider I'll talk more about that in a future video but it's it's just part of life everywhere these days crime is going up worldwide also so unfortunately [Music] number 10. if you give off positive energy you're likely to get positive energy in return and that applies everywhere and I see people come here and they say everybody's so positive here and that's true but a lot of it is you know when people come to a new place and they have high expectations and they're happy they tend to be positive so you're going to see that reflected you come here off the plane and and you're happy and you're positive and you're being cool to people people are going to be cool back to you but in general I think people are here here are pretty cool I don't like to generalize but in general that's what I find to be true so be positive and it'll come back to you [Music] number 11. meeting a gringo here that's been here a long time and has a lot of experience here can be one of the greatest assets that you can have here you'll learn so much from them and it will save you some heartache some some trouble some problems and learning from their mistakes is great having having them take you under their wing is great and it's great for networking it's great for a lot of things and that's the majority of of Gringos that I've met here have been in that category but there's a small percentage of Gringos that have been here a long time that have what I call Grumpy Old Gringo syndrome and that's you know they're here they've been here a long time say say 25 years right and they their purpose in life in meeting you is to show you how great and awesome they are and how little that you know about Costa Rica and a lot of times most times the conversation will be well I've been here 25 years etc etc etc and it goes beyond the humble brag I mean we all like to say you know I've been here a couple years I've been here a year they come off as actually being helpful but really what they're about is getting the spotlight on them so you really can't let them into your head you know don't let them into your head space along with other negative people that you encounter here if there's somebody that's giving you negative energy you know just avoid them you don't need to be rude or anything but just say you know hasta luego and I need to take this quick opportunity to remind you that Costa Rica's story is also a travel and relocation service with more information in the link down below but that's all I've got for this edition of Costa Rica story make sure you like if you liked it subscribe if you want to but most importantly share this video with a friend hasta luego [Music] one of the hardest things for me here is is finding the right time to to do these intros because I've got a business next door that they do acupuncture and massage and things here and usually by eight which is now they come in and this morning I was going to get out real early and do some intros but it was weed whacker day so that they were out with a weed whacker so I had I waited an hour or so for that to get over and uh but it's a little bit of a struggle because of the the temperature and things you start to melt at a certain hour of the day so I had I had a really really small window of opportunity no stop no [Applause] shut up [Music] if every conversation that you start with somebody begins with I've been here for 25 years you may have Grumpy Old Gringo syndrome [Music]

Channel: Costa Rica Story

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Keywords: costa Rica story, Costa Rica, move to Costa Rica, South Pacific, video Diary, Costa Rica website, Costa Rica vlog, Digital Nomad, Costa Rica Blog, costa rica lifestyle, cost rica life, Costa Rica Vacation, Costa Rica tours, Things to do in Costa Rica, Costa Rica Emersion, Costa Rica Tours, Live in Costa Rica, Costa Rica Information, Costa Rica Guide, Travel Costa Rica, Costa Rica Travel, 2 years in Costa Rica, living in Costa Rica, Move to Costa Rica

Id: kfoFkrTXP28

Length: 11min 1sec (661 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 21 2023