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Costa Rica’s English language newsle er January/February 2015
El Residente
El Residente
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January/February 2015
Contents: Editorial Note
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Across The Board ............................ 4 - ARCR Board
Club Corner ..................................... 5 Learning The Language ................... 7
As we try to do at the beginning of each year, once again we have made sevral changes to the format of El Residente. Using other publica ons as guides, we have tried to make this newsle er younger, fresher, and more modern looking. We hope you enjoy the new look.
- Christopher Howard
Taste The Tropics ............................ 8 - Ryan Piercy
Paradise, We Have a Problem ........ 10
And speaking of new looks, Tony Johnson takes another look at the PERMAs, and helps us to take a closer look at our own selves. In other areas we take a look at some of the different tastes the country has to offer the adventurous.
- Tony Johnson
A Day in the Life ............................ 14 - Allen Dickinson
Wild Side of Costa Rica .................. 18
Of course, when it comes to looks, this months wild side will certainly bring to mind an animal that indeed requires a second look, especially if you are anywhere in the vicinity of a live specimen, for most certainly he or she will be looking closely at you! and I don’t mean your inner self.
- Ryan Piercy
Ryan Piercy
Press Pass ...................................... 20 - ARCR Staff
Legal Update ................................ 23 - Allan Garro
My Costa Rican Experience .......... 24 - W. Peter Vanderhaak
Business Directory ....................... 26
This magazine has been published every two months since 1995 as the official communica ons media of the ARCR. Our organiza on provides service to thousands of foreigners who have chosen Costa Rica to reside for short periods or for permanent residence. Since 1984 the ARCR has been offering reliable SERVICES, INFORMATION and ADVOCACY to Costa Rica’s foreign residents. We have the experience and ability to help you with your residency applica on, immigra on, business and financial management, real estate purchases and rentals, property management, insurance, pet importa on and much more. If you wish to place an ad in El Residente, please contact the ARCR main office. Goods & services offered are paid adver sements. Neither ARCR Administracion nor El Residente research the companies and take no responsibility for the quality of such goods and services.
Contact Informa on: Published by: Email:
ARCR Administra on info@arcr.net www.arcr.net Ed tor in Chief: Ryan Piercy Adver sing, Publicity: Cindy Solano Office Hours:
Monday- Friday, 9 am to 5 pm CRC me GMT-6
Address:
#101 Casa Canada, Av 4 Calle 40 San José, Costa Rica Tel: 506-2233-8068 Fax: 506-2255-0061
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1191-1007 Centro Colon San José, Costa Rica
El Residente
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Across The Board
A Word To The Members! The Board extends to all our wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Now, to recent changes which can effect members “prosperity” in 2015. Beginning on January 1, 2015, there are fourteen major addi ons to the annual vehicle inspec on requirements of which every vehicle owner should be aware. Some new rules do not apply to private vehicles, like the one for truck res, and there is only enough room to touch on the more per nent ones here, so check the official government newspaper, La Gaceta, on Nov. 21, for further informa on. NOTE: GRAVE = Fail. LEVE = A deficiency exists but the vehicle passes and a new inspec on s cker will be issued.
2015 and forward, the meter must issue audible sounds loud enough to be heard by the hearing impaired and the meter must print out a receipt. On another vehicular news front, according a recent ar cle in the Tico Times, traffic fines are also expected to increase on January 1. There are five categories of traffic infrac ons, from A to E, depending on severity, which are covered by Costa Rica’s Traffic Law. The below summarizes SOME of the offenses and their associated fines. Amounts are shown in Costa Rica Colones. Fines for the highest class, Class A, which includes driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with an expired license, and speeding over 120 kilometers per hour (74.4 MPH), AMONG OTHERS, will increase from ¢293,000 to ¢306,000.
Here’s some highlights of the new rules: 1. License plates must be up-to-date. GRAVE. (That means that if you don’t have the new plates on your vehicle by the month of inspec on, your vehicle will FAIL.) 2. A windshield crack longer than 50 cm (approx. 2 inches). GRAVE. 3. Buses and micro buses registered on or a er January 2013 must have two- or three-point seatbelts on sideway seats or front-facing seats at the back of the vehicle. LEVE. (The key words here are “registered on or a er January 2013.” However, it won’t be surprising to find the rule being applied to other vehicles, like older Land Rovers or those with ‘jump seats’, regardless of the date of registra on.) 4. The odometer must be in good working order. Mileage will be noted. To insure the mileage hasn’t been changed rela ve to the official number registered when the vehicle entered the country, star ng in January 2016, a GRAVE will be issued if the number shown is less than that originally registered. 5. Headlamps of different colors on either side; LEVE. 6. Oil pressure warning lights will checked. If the light is on with the engine running, GRAVE. (Simply removing the bulb won’t work, the light’s opera on will be checked.) 7. The installa on of airbags will be inspected. Depending on the type of problem found, one of four types of GRAVE, or one of two types of LEVE, will be noted.
Class B fines, which covers such things as running a red light or failing to use car seats for kids, will increase from ¢198,000 to ¢207,000.
There is one more addi on to the inspec on procedure that can be of interest for those who u lize taxies; in
The ARCR Board of Directors
Class C fines will increase from ¢99,000 to ¢104,000. Offenses include driving without a seat belt, while talking on a cell phone, or failing to present a valid driver’s license. Class E fines, which include driving in San José on vehicle restric on days and tailga ng by truck drivers, will rise by ¢1,000 to ¢22,000. Class D offenses or fines were not defined in the Tico Times story. The no ce of the increases in the fine amounts were sent for publica on in La Gaceta. Traffic Department Director Mario Calderón said the raises aim to create awareness among drivers and reduce roadway accidents. He said he believed the hikes are fair because they are, according to him, propor onal to Ticos’ purchasing power. A last item of more cheer, ARCR has long supported the Cabécar Project, a program to help the indigenous tribes here in Costa Rica. Board member Martha Rollins has wri en an update on her recent ac vi es and wants to remind you of the need for dona ons. To learn more about the Cabecar Project, read her column elsewhere in this issue.
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Alcoholics Anonymous Groups meet daily throughout the country; mes and places change frequently. Call for up-to-date informa on. San José 2222-1880 (Anchor club, also serves Narco cs Anonymous) Av 6 Calle 1, 2nd floor Maryland Building. Heredia (Laura) 22677466, Puerto Viejo Limon 2750-0080, Zancudo 2776-0012, Tamarindo 2653-0897, Flamingo (Don) 2654- 4902, Manuel Antonio (Jennifer) 2777-1548, Jacó (Nancy) 2637-8824, Zoo Group Escazu 2293-4322. Grecia (Jay) 2494-0578. Southern Zone, mee ngs in English & Spanish, 8634-9241. Puriscal, Fred 8866-0128. Al-Anon Mee ngs English language Al-anon mee ngs are open to anyone whose life has been/ is affected by someone else’s problem with alcohol. Mee ngs are one hour long and held twice each week in Escazu centro, above the Buena Tierra Restaurant, 25 meters south of the San Miguel Catholic Church. Tuesdays at noon and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. Tel: 89 93 17 62 (Rosemary) and/or 22 28 10 49 (Barbara) email: rosemaryzitek@yahoo.com. Also in Grecia on Tuesdays at noon (English), contact Cheryl at 2444-1515. American Legion Post 10- Escazu The A L Post 10 has relocated the monthly mee ngs to Casa de España in Sabana norte. The next mee ng will be March 5th beginning at 12:00 noon on the second floor. There is an elevator so those with a handicap will not have a problem entering the building or reaching the mee ng area. If you wish to a end please e-mail or call for direc ons. Terry Wise, Cell#: 8893-4021, Outside CR: 011-506-8893-4021, U S # to C R: 904-352-7043. Claudio Pacheco, Cell#: 8876 1394, Home#: 2225 4239. American Legion Post 12- Golfito Mee ngs are held 4 p.m. 1st Tuesday every month at Banana Bay Marina. The Golfito GOVETS have been helping Southern Costa Rica for over 20 years. Contact Pat O’Connell at walkergold@yahoo.com or 8919-8947, or Mel Goldberg at 8870-6756. American Legion Auxiliary The Legion Auxiliary meets the Second Saturday of each month, at 1300 hours in Moravia. Contact Doris Murillo 2240-2947. Asociación Carita va Canadiense- ACC The ac vi es of this charity began in 2000 as part of the Canadian Club of Costa Rica. Our Vision is that every student has access to a clean, secure, well-maintained and healthy physical environment in which to learn and grow. The focus of the program is to build the capacity within the poorer communi es to access resources for their schools to repair the infrastructure that compromises the educa on of children. We work with the personal in the schools and use our dona ons to complement what the locals can raise. Our dona ons come primarily from fundraising events. In the past 15 years, we have raised over $325,000 for 85 projects throughout the country. Our volunteer membership is made up of both Canadians and Costa Ricans, male and female. If you would like to contribute or learn more please contact Fred Boden, fredrick.boden@gmail.com Bird Watching Club The Birding Club of Costa Rica sponsors monthly trips to observe local and migrant birds in various areas of the country. For more informa on contact us at costaricabirding@hotmail.com Canadian Club The Canadian Club of Costa Rica welcomes everyone to join us for our monthly luncheons, and at our special annual events, like our Canada Day Celebra on, no passport required. As of this year there is no fee or dues to pay, just sign up with your email address and we will keep you informed of Canadian Events, so you can par cipate whenever its convenient for you! For informa on visit our website: www.canadianclubcr.com or email Pat at canadianclubcr@yahoo.com to sign up.
Democrats Abroad Democrats Abroad meets on the last Saturday of every month at the Aurola Holiday Inn, San Jose. Contact Nelleke Bruyn, 22793553, e-mail cr.democratsabroad@yahoo.com. Join Democrats Abroad at www.democratsabroad.org. Register to vote absentee at VoteFromAbroad.org! Li le Theatre Group LTG is the oldest con nuously running English-language theatre in Central or South America. The group currently puts on a minimum of four produc ons a year offering a choice of modern, classic, serious, and farcical plays. The group’s monthly social mee ngs are held in the theatre on the first Monday of the month from 7p.m. to 9 p.m. and everyone is welcome. Membership: Student C2,500, Adult: C5000, Family: C8000. Also, earn your Wings, become an LTG Angel. For more informa on Call the LTG Box Office 8858-1446 or www.li letheatregroup.org Marine Corps League Meets at 11 a.m. the 2nd Saturday of every month, at Tres Hermanas Rest. big bull statue in front. On service road opposite Hospital Mexico on the autopista. Call Bill Enell at 8812-0126. Newcomer’s Club Newcomers Club of Costa Rica (for women) meets the first Tuesday of every month, September through May. September mee ng will be an interest fair. Contact: 2416-1111 costaricaporo@yahoo.com or h p:// www.newcomersclubofcostarica.com PC Club of Costa Rica This computer Club meets on the third Saturday of each month at Pan American school, in Belen, 830 to 11:30 a.m. Two months Free Trial for newcomers. For informa on call Chuck Jennings. Phone 2266-0123 www.pcclub.net Radio control Sailing Club Meets at Sabana Park Lake. For informa on contact Walter Bibb. Wwbbsurf40@yahoo.com Wine Club of Costa Rica Please mark your calendars. The wine club usually meets at 1 p.m. on the last Sunday of each month. Join us to tantalize your taste buds and expand your educa on. For more informa on on upcoming events please contact us. Phone 2279-8927, 2257-2223 Women’s Club of Costa Rica The Women’s Club of Costa Rica is the oldest, con nuously opera ng, philanthropic organiza on for English-speaking women in Costa Rica. Founded in 1940, WCCR now includes over 250 members represen ng 25 countries worldwide, drawn together by the mo o: Friendship through Service. The Club a racts fascina ng women who are interested in serving community needs in Costa Rica, par cularly focused on children’s educa on while, at the same me, making deep, meaningful, personal rela onships. Along with its philanthropic fundraising ac vi es, WCCR also hosts regular lunches, teas and many special interest groups, including a Professional Women’s Group. Guests are welcome and further informa on and a calendar of planned events can be found at www.wccr.org Women’s Interna onal League for Peace and Freedom Open to men too. English language group in Cariari de Belen, EnglishSpanish group in Heredia, Spanish language group in San Jose. We work on peace and human rights issues. Call Mitzi, 2433-7078 or write peacewomen@gmail.com. Veterans of Foreign Wars: Post 11207 No-host lunch at 12 noon in the Club Colonial Casino dining area, mee ng at 1:30 p.m. on the second floor. All members are welcome plus veterans who served overseas may join. Call Bob Sempell at 2588-1475.
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January/February 2015
Learning the Language
by Chris Howard
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A Language Program For Residents Of Costa Rica I am a semi-re red Spanish language instructor. My specialty was teaching Spanish as second language to na ve English speakers of all ages. If you live or re re in Costa Rica you should have at least survival level Spanish. What do I mean by survival level Spanish? Specifically the ability to handle most situa ons you will be confronted with every day. Learning a new language can be daun ng and quite a challenge for adults, but it does not have to be if they put themselves in the right learning environment. Many re rees who move to Costa Rica want to learn the language but do not know where to start. During my lectures at the Associa on of Residents of Costa Rica’s (ARCR) monthly seminar I talk about different methods of learning the language. One of the best ways is to enroll in a language school here. The problem is choosing the correct one. Most of the language ins tutes try to get their students to study as many hours as possible because they charge according to the number of classes a student takes per week — the more classes, the more the school makes. Some of these total immersion programs are just too much for adults who become overwhelmed and quickly get discouraged by the workload. I encourage students to take fewer weekly lessons so they can devote more me to mastering what they have studied and not end up dropping out. I am really impressed by the program that Epifanía Language has designed for English speaking residents of Costa Rica. I have had the opportunity to observe their classes on several occasions and really like their approach to teaching Spanish as a second language. In fact, on my monthly reloca on tours we pay a visit to the school and my clients receive a sample lesson. All of my guests love this educa on ac vity. At the end of the half-hour class all of the par cipants receive a diploma with their name on it for their par cipa on. I recommend Epifanía’s residents language program for anyone who really wants to learn the local lingo. They have one school in Escazú which serves expats and
re rees who live west of San José and another ins tute east of the city for those who live in that area. Here is their contact informa on: 506.2524.1726 Email: info@epifaniaschool.com h p://www.epifaniaschool.com Tiquismos (Costa Rican expressions) of the week: jupa – a person’s head. Jupa de clavo is a person with a big head in Costa Rica. Clavo is the word for nail and nails generally have a large head. Cabeza is the correct word for head. jupón – is a stubborn person or a person with a big head. Cabezón, necio or terco are also used for stubborn.
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Taste The Tropics
by Ryan Piercy
For the traveler, and of course expats living in country, the weekly street fruit and vegetable markets quickly become a draw for obtaining the fresh and delicious local goods. As one wanders the markets there is a bombardment of sights, sounds, and smells to astound the senses, and even overcome the unsuspec ng. Undoubtedly one will encounter various fruits, vegetables, and other foods that are unusual in appearance, and completely unfamiliar. This series is provided to help you know and understand some of the amazing and tasty na ve delights that await you, if you just know what to do with them. We’ll start with the: Pejibaye (pronounced, pahe bäy ) When the Spanish explorers landed on the Atlan c Coast of Costa Rica they encountered a large planta on of Pejibaye Palms growing there, an es mated 30,000 trees in all. These were being grown by the local indigenous peoples, who had adopted the fruit as a replacement for corn in their diet. Today the fruit can be found everywhere in the country, from local markets to the high-end supermarkets, and even on the table of some of the finest restaurants. This fruit, known as peach palm fruit in English, grows on the species of palm known as Bactris gasipaes, a long term perennial plant that produces fruit for 50 to 75 years. The trees generally grow erect,
typically up to 20 meters tall, with slender stem or stems. The plants also produce palmito, or heart of palm as we know it. This tropical plant requires the correct climate to flourish and they grow best in the range of 18° to 24° C (64.4°-75.2°F). The trees usually thrive only up to 1800 meters al tude, with less fruit yielded at eleva ons above 1500 meters. Excessive rainfall can also be a problem for them. Because of the long spikes along the stem of the tree, the fruit is generally harvested by knocking the fruit off with a long pole or using a long pole with a cu er. Some harvesters may also use long ladders to reach the fruit, cu ng the en re bunches and lowering them down to the ground by rope. Another method is to cut the bunches and drop them to a sheet held below. A single palm can yield up to 70 kilos of fruit in one season, usually September through April in Costa Rica. The Pejibaye itself is yellow to red in color and must be cooked in a salt brine for several hours, a er which it can be peeled and the meat removed from the seed for ea ng. The meat has an interes ng flavor likened to sweet potato or squash, perhaps with a scent of chestnuts. You will o en find them in the markets in a large square vat of hot brine where you can select the ones you feel are the most ripe. if you aren’t sure which might be most desirable you can get assistance with your selec on from the vendor. Probably the most common way to enjoy the Pejibaye is to simply eat the cooked fruit, peeled and cut off of the seed, commonly with a spot of mayonnaise on top. However there are several recipes available for dishes that include the fruit with one of the most popular seeming to be a cream soup which I myself have found to be quite delicious. Here’s a recipe:
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Crema de Pejibaye – Cream of Peach Palm soup
leaves.
Ingredients: 18 Pejibayes (cooked, peeled, pi ed and chopped) 6 Cups of Chicken Broth 1 Cup of Heavy Cream 1/4 Cup bu er 4 Tbsp of all purpose flour 2 yellow onions, finely chopped 3 bay leaves Bundle of 1 sprig of thyme and rosemary Salt and pepper to taste
Using an immersion blender, blend the contents of the pot un l smooth.
Direc ons: In a medium to large pot, melt the bu er and sauté the onions un l they begin to caramelize. Slowly mix in the flour and then add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add the chopped Pejibayes, turn down the heat, and simmer with the bay leaves and the bundle of thyme and rosemary for 10 minutes. Remove bundle and bay
Simmer for 10 more minutes to allow it to thicken and add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and serve hot.
El Residente
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Paradise, We Have A Problem
by Tony Johnson
was his actual visit? His actual LIFE here? Is This All There Is? If you’re asking yourself this ques on, perhaps you haven’t figured out why you’re here in Costa Rica . . . and maybe the why of your very life. Iden fying the meaning of our life is very important to our happiness and well-being. But, for many, the answer is not easy to determine because it’s not very clear what we mean by “meaning”. In the previous ar cle, I skipped ahead to the last P.E.R.M.A. guideline, Achievement, to explore the suicide of Robin Williams, a man of great achievement. Mr. Williams’ death gave us a chance to explore the downside, as well as benefits, of achievement. In this edi on, we get back on track and examine the role of Meaning in our lives. Imagine a first- me tourist in Costa Rica who is touring the world alphabe cally. When “C” turns up, he travels to Costa Rica. “That sounds as good as any other ‘C’ country” he thinks. He has no other purpose than checking off a “C” from his list; there’s nothing in par cular that he wants to see or experience in CR other than to be able to say he’s “been to a country beginning with the le er ‘C’.” So he spends his me in a hotel watching TV. True, this is an unlikely situa on, but it helps to make my point: how meaningful would such a trip be? Would such a visitor experience the best, most dis nc ve, most memorable features of CR? How much would be missed or ignored? Would his visit feel like me well spent and meaningful, beyond the checklist? Or more like an empty exercise? Yes, it may be meaningful for him, if his only goal is to eventually be in the Guinness Book of Records as someone who traveled the world alphabe cally, making him someone unique and special. But how meaningful
Now consider a first me tourist who comes to CR with specific objec ves: enjoying CR’s tropical beauty, seeing an ac ve volcano and stunning birdlife, zip-lining in the jungle, taking surfing lessons, and so on. Which trip is likely to feel more meaningful? The purposeful tourist will feel that his visit has direc on, coherence, meaning, and was well-worth all the expense and effort because many important goals were met, many new experiences enjoyed. Our lives, including the me we spend in Costa Rica, also need a sense of purpose and meaning. Otherwise, we might be asking “Is this all there is? WHY am I here?” Now the judgment as to which trip had more meaning is completely up to the personal perspec ves of the two tourists who took them, but I think you see my point: a life with purpose feels more sa sfying than one without. Like all tourists, we are all temporary visitors on this planet and in this life. We must all make choices about how we spend these precious few years here, how we spend the limited, non- renewable resources called me and life. At the end of our “visit” we want to feel that our life was well-spent and not wasted; that our lives had some value, significance, some meaning beyond survival, as important as survival is. So, the ques on is, “What have we survived for?” The fourth of the five P.E.R.M.A. happiness guidelines (Posi ve emo ons, Engagement, Rela onships, Meaning, and Accomplishment/Achievement), Meaning, is less intui ve than the others. Now we have to ask, what DO we mean by “meaning”? Think of the of the word “water”. The five le ers refer to something beyond themselves. We cannot drink, irrigate, wash, or do all the other things that we daily do with just the le ers “w-a-t-e-r”. It is what those le ers “talk about”, refer to, that gives us a way of easily communica ng about a concept that has meaning. Similarly, the “meaning” of our lives is the something
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beyond our existence that our lives point toward. What exactly is that “something” for your CR life and your life as a whole? Does it point to some larger reality or purpose? Or, is your life focused solely on the “C” word; checking one more day off the list? Certainly, a life that meets our needs and gives comfort can feel sa sfying. However, it’s o en that very type of life that leaves many of us asking, “Is that all there is?” Many want more than their needs met and comfort; many of us want to feel that there is a REASON for our existence, a purpose, a meaning. Recall the great sense of meaning that you felt as you pursued your CR dream of living here in re rement, or moving here early enough for your children to enjoy the experience too? Remember those thrilling days of yesteryear when you were excitedly planning and working toward the CR dream? Your goal gave you energy, direc on, excitement, persistence. It gave you a meaning and made you feel fully alive because your efforts had a greater significance than merely ge ng through another day. The days felt precious because there were so many important things to do, rather than being simply a me to endure. Frustra ons, setbacks, and sacrifices were faced and overcome because you looked beyond those problems to the greater meaning of achieving a life in CR. Sadly, for some, that exhilara ng sense of being fully alive in our meaning and purpose was lost once the CR dream was realized. “Yeah, the place is gorgeous, the sunsets sublime, and the weather is so much be er than back in Detroit. BUT WHAT NOW? What do I DO with my me here? WHY am I here?” Does your life here feel something like Lady Dedlock’s life in Dickens’ “Bleak House”: “I’m bored with this place. I’m bored with my life.
I’m bored with myself.”? Those were very predictable feelings for Lady Dedlock because she had no meaning, no purpose, beyond being the trophy wife of the much older Sir Leicester Dedlock. She had no ac vi es, interests, goals or meaning. Does your CR life ever feel that empty? I recently spent a few hours with a person who lives fully, who enjoys an astonishing sense of life’s meaning. No “Lady Dedlock”, this FIVE-year old had a remarkable talent for ge ng the most out of our me together. Returning from a successful Panama shopping trip with my wife, our smooth running car suddenly died and refused to re-start. In a shadeless spot along the 18wheeler-filled highway, during the ho est part of the day, I fruitlessly tried to get the car running again. It seemed like nothing and nobody was around our Godforsaken loca on. Then my wife, Kay, no ced a lone, ny house down in a gully below the road, almost hidden by trees. I gave it a try and found a wonderfully helpful man, Alexi, who was working on his own car. He generously spent a couple hours in that blistering sun trying to get our car going. His diagnosis: the engine was not ge ng fuel from the half-full tank. Since he didn’t know the phone number of the local mechanic, Alexi drove his car to seek help for us. While he was gone his extraordinary daughter, Antsiri, persistently peppered us with ques ons. Since my Spanish is poor, but ge ng be er (one of my purposes), I was able to answer only a few of her many, many inquiries.
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Ever crea ve and determined, the super-cute, supersmart Antsiri began to bring out her toys: her ball, purse, scooter, and drum. Tired a er a long trip and the frustra ng breakdown, I didn’t really want to answer ques ons or play, but with her father doing so much for us, and her mother, Sylvia, offering us shelter, food, and water, HOW could I ignore this remarkable child? As it turned out, to ignore her would have been my loss. I’ve been thinking about her ever since. Given her family’s extraordinary generosity, I owed her some sincere response. A er we taught her to play her drum with her finger ps, and then some twigs and not just bang it with her fists, she collected a box of ROCKS!! from their driveway. She first just lined up the rocks on a shelf. I challenged her to arrange them by various categories: size, color, texture, type. She immediately got the idea and rose to my challenges. When the tow truck arrived to haul our car to the nearby town, Antsiri stood sadly watching us leave. Probably realizing we’d never see each other again; she was once again without new playmates.
recall the many, many ques ons and her wan ng more challenging rock puzzles. Sure, she was playing for fun, but the fun SEEMED to have the greater purpose of her deeply wan ng to grow and learn. She may find her isolated condi ons limi ng and boring, but her purpose seems to be to grow beyond them. Not all meaning comes from great purposes beyond oneself, like saving the planet and environment, crea ng fairness, following a religion, or raising a family. It can also come from ac vi es that go beyond themselves to meet deeper PERSONAL needs, such as learning and growth. While Antsiri might not be able to express it (and with my limited Spanish, I might not be able to hear it said if she could) I’m convinced that she got more out of the play than just fun. This child played so wholeheartedly, so fully engaged, that I believe she could not feel “Is this all there is?” about her life. She aimed for more, for something beyond immediate gra fica on.
The whole family, living in a three room wooden house that would be regarded as a shack in North America, gave us a great gi : shelter, help, and hope.
A wise man who reviewed this ar cle before publica on commented that “Antsire didn’t ask herself what her life means. he knew intui vely that it’s to ask ques ons, to learn, to grow. We adults some me are so caught up in the struggle of life that we forget what we know: that our lives need a why.”
But Antsiri herself was the greatest gi and experience of that day. She was FULLY engaged in her life and purpose: make the most of these unexpected visitors. “Learn all I can. Make the most of this me.” There was NO self-pity about their hard lives in any of this family.
The mechanic in Palmar Norte confirmed Alexi’s diagnosis: a broken fuel pump wire. A li le me may have been lost, but something of far greater value came from this minor mess; Antsiri demonstrated the necessity and value of living a life full of meaning.
This child reminded me of the necessity of engagement and meaning. Her energy, smiles, giggles, persistence, and intelligence are unforge able. It was sad to think I may never see her again. We le them some money as a thank you.
How would your life in CR feel if you lived as fully, as meaningfully, as Antsiri? Let’s visit her again in the next column. She has much more to give us on this topic of Meaning.
You might object, “Hey! Wait a minute. As bright and engaging as Antsiri is, she’s s ll just a five-year old kid. How could she possibly capable of finding a meaning beyond just fun and play?” I’d reply that your objec on makes sense, UNTIL you
Any thoughts so far? Write me at: paradise.we.have.a.problem@gmail.com
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El Residente
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A Day In The Life
by Allen Dickinson
Things That Are Different IV. Going to start this a li le differently. In the past the focus was only on differences. This me I’ll begin with some items that can only take place in Costa Rica, then move on to things that are just ‘different’. In Costa Rica you can:
CR law. It’s easy to see why -- Ticos tend to use them a lot. In more sophis cated countries car horns are rarely used, except as a last minute warning or to signal great displeasure. In some places their indiscriminate use can even net the user a fine. In Costa Rica, however, vehicle horns are used in a mul tude of other ways:
Stop in the traffic lane of a street and (maybe) turn on the hazard warning lights while you take a quick run in to a store. Pass other vehicles on the right side - at speed and without slowing. Dump your household grey water (sinks, showers, washing machine water) into the street. Not stop, or even slow down, at STOP signs or red lights. Drive into oncoming traffic with high beam headlights AND auxiliary lights on. Have your water meter physically removed if you fail to pay the bill on me. “Sue” the other driver if you run a STOP sign and collide with them.
- to signal the vehicle(s) ahead that the traffic light has changed
Get a good haircut for $5.00 USD.
- to no fy poten al other travelers you are approaching when entering a blind corner - as a signal to say “here I am” (o en by motorcycles in a blind spot but intent on passing at high speed)
Store LNG or propane containers in a designated “Smoking Area.” Dig a hole in the paved traffic lane of a street, then fail to fill that hole for months.
- to say “I’m wai ng outside - hurry up
Get broken things “fixed” that would be deemed “unfixable” and thrown away back home.
- to pass a gree ng to someone in another car or walking on the sidewalk
Pass out half-once samples of rum, vodka, scotch, etc. to passers-by in a grocery store.
- to no fy another vehicle, for instance one emerging from a parking space, that “I’m coming and I don’t intend to slow down for you”
Blow your vehicle horn for any reason. That one requires expansion: Vehicle horns are mandated to operate by
- to request permission to turn or merge ahead of you,
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connota on in North America. But, I have learned that Bimbo is one of the world’s biggest bakery companies (19 countries worldwide) and has a large presence in the USA and Canada. In fact, Bimbo Bakeries USA is the na on’s largest bakery company, headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, and they market under many well known brands such as Entenmann’s, Thomas’, Arnold, Sara Lee, Earthgrains, and several others. (Yes, THAT Sara Lee.) The original company, Groupo Bimbo, began in Mexico in 1945 and its current worldwide opera ons are based out of that country. So, now when I see the corporate name emblazoned on the shirt of some pre y girl on the street, I know it’s not a personal reference. Vehicles originally sold in Costa Rica are not usually equipped with cruise control. (Where could you ever use it?) and / or to say “Please” or “Thank you” for allowing them to turn or merge.
Food stores employ people who constantly arrange the packages on the shelves so that the shelf always looks full.
Thus, for the expat driver who is trained to regard any occurrence of horn blowing as a signal of eminent danger, a bit of confusion can occur when they encounter a random horn blast; the standard reac on is, what did I do wrong?
Clothing stores, when conduc ng a sale, will frequently put the mannequins in their display windows “naked” – that is, without any covering or clothing. (That gives a new meaning to “half-off” sales.)
Of course, this short list is only the p of a large iceberg of things you can do here if you have moved to this developing country where many of the rules are either not the same . . . or possibly haven’t been developed yet. To wrap this up, here are a few more things that are different I have encountered: I started to make a “cute” entry about Bimbo bread and how the word Bimbo has a totally different
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Private vehicles o en display colored lights (red, green, blue) externally, without penalty. When buying a package of US brand cookies, inside the main package will not be a tray filled with single cookies, but rather individual packs containing 4-6 cookies each. Circuit breakers, or even glass fuses, are not o en found in older Tico homes. Commonly, the main distribu on panel for all household electrical service will be a single, old-fashioned knife switch, without fuses. These are o en located in the bathroom where their “box” may also serve as a sort of medicine or storage cabinet. In a country which grows some of the world’s finest coffee, the locals’ consump on habits are unusual. First they add massive amounts of sugar (I have witnessed as much as five heaping tablespoons added to one cup.) A er it is prepared, they don’t sip the brew and savor it, but gulp it down quickly. (It’s been pointed out to me that some of the things, like Ticos not savoring their coffee and just gulping it down, may not be true across the board. Apparently, some of the more sophis cated ones do sip and enjoy the drink; it’s just the ones I encounter in sodas, etc., who don’t. So, if your experiences are counter to mine it just means you’re mingling with a be er class crowd than I do.) Many Ticos are obsessive about keeping up the appearance of their vehicles -- they don’t comprehend the Gringo a tude that a vehicle is an appliance to be used and not necessarily cleaned frequently. (However, doing rou ne maintenance things like changing the oil is o en overlooked.) In sodas or other small restaurants, a “salad” is usually no more than chopped le uce (or cabbage) and tomato, served only with oil and vinegar dressing. “Salad
dressings” as we know them (thousand island, french, etc.) are rarely available. (And the le uce is not the kind found in North America.) Possibly due to the effects of the sun and problems with the underlying structure materials, Ticos repaint their homes frequently. O en, when they do, they will change the color; one year a house will be yellow with a black fence, the next year it will be orange with a brown fence. This can mean problems with addresses, because addresses are frequently keyed to the general physical descrip on. So, if your address is something like: Heredia Oeste, Walmart, 300 metros Sud, 30 metros este, circa casa verde (next to the green house 300 meters south, 30 meters east of the Walmart in west Heredia) and your neighbor changes their house color from yellow to green, mail and bill delivery can suddenly cease (or you might find you are ge ng some other casa’s bills.) TV sta ons o en have no commercials, but instead run a half dozen or more program promos back-to-back, at every commercial break. (And they will run the same ones over and over and over and over and . . .) Last, a safety p: If you encounter a three-foot high plant of some sort (living or dead) suddenly “growing” up out of a paved street where there was none before, it’s not some freak of tropical nature, it’s a sign that there is a major hole in the road (possibly where someone has stolen a manhole cover) that should be avoided. Someone has kindly put the object there to warn other motorists to avoid it. Allen Dickinson is a member of ARCR. In 2006 he re red and relocated to Costa Rica. He holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of New York and a Masters Degree from the University of West Florida. He can be reached via email at: allen@humphree.net.
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Wild Side LXXXIII
by Ryan Piercy
Jurassic Park... no, really. If you take one of the many tours available on Costa Rica’s rivers and wetlands there are mes you can feel like you’ve been transported backward in me. You can feel very far back when you come eye to eye with one of the country’s most formidable looking creatures, the Spectacled Caiman, known as Caiman crocodilus. The Spectacled Caiman is one of country’s several crocodilian species, found throughout various wetlands and rivers on both coasts. Sigh ngs are most common in the areas with high rainfall. It is unlikely that any adult crocodile would be mistaken for any other animal, though the young may remind you of the primi ve animals from Upper Triassic period because they are the closest living rela ve to the dinosaurs from that period. Specifically, the Spectacled Caiman is easy to differen ate due to a ridge on the head just above the eyes, somewhat resembling glasses, hence its common name. The are smallish among the caiman species, with the larger males averaging around 2 meters in length and weighing up to about 65 kilograms. The females are smaller and may reach 1.4 meters total length. The diet of the caiman generally includes insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and fish, with the older ones
occasionally taking small mammals such as wild pigs. Fish may also be in the diet of different groups. As condi ons become drier the caiman will stop ea ng. They are considered to be very versa le and adaptable which is, in all likelihood, the basis for their success at surviving over the centuries. Both sexes of caiman reach maturity between four and seven years and will mate in the drier season. The females will make a nest of plant materials and soil where she will lay a clutch of up to forty eggs. Interes ngly, the temperature of the nest will determine the sex, with males born when temperatures are under 31 C. If the nest stays warmer than this, females will be born. The babies will incubate in their shell for about 75 days, then will begin to vocalize and encourage their parents to help break them out. Spectacled Caiman are very maternal creatures and they will care for the young in clutches, including the young of others, for several months, usually un l a er the seasonal rains and flooding have subsided. The Spectacled Caiman is not considered at risk, and though it is hunted, it is not commonly sought as the scales are of a type that’s undesirable in leather goods. It is, however, s ll a protected species in Costa Rica and many other countries. This has led to discussions in recent years because protec on may be becoming a problem; as crocodilians are becoming quite prolific and are a threat in several areas. For those wan ng to see a caiman up close and personal, some good areas include Tortuguero, Corcovado and the Tempisque rivers. When you spot one it is amusing to think about just how protected they are, because when looking at one close up, protec on is probably the last thing you will feel they are in need of.
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Press Pass
CCSS Rule Change For Spouses Just since November 2014 the Caja Costarricense published a rule that the spouse of a foreigner must enroll seperately in the system, thus crea ng a duplicate charge for those who have no income, and most members as well as other foreigners are very concerned about this extra cost to their monthly budgets.
At the ARCR we obviously feel that this is an uncons tu onal ac on by the CCSS, and are taking the appropriate steps in order to fight it. To do so requires an actual case, which then must follow bureaucra c procedure before we can file in the Court. We have to have clear informa on of how the CCSS is handling this officially, and have it in wri ng regarding a specific couple. This was begun just a few weeks ago, and we are working alongside the couple. Once the case is made the decision it affects everyone, and it must be done carefully.
The Real San José was wri en to introduce new arrivals to Costa Rica’s capital and inform them about what they need to know to get their feet on the ground and start enjoying this exci ng city. Mr. Miller believes that the more you know about San José, the more you will enjoy the tremendous variety of a rac ons it has to offer. The Real San José has 25 photographs and a helpful foldout map of the downtown area which will help visitors to: * Get familiar with the layout of downtown San José and to make it easy for them to find their way around * Find hidden gems of restaurants * Learn about the “don’t-miss” a rac ons within walking distance of their hotels
This process will take a few months, and unfortunately this has come at probably the worst me of year with everything due to process regarding taxes, marchamos, aguinaldos, and so forth, combined with the closure of the government. This will again delay things further.
It also contains informa on on loca ng basic services such grocery stores and good pharmacies, changing money, and much more. It is quickly becoming an essen al tool for the visitor to explore this wonderful city.
Like EVERYTHING at the CCSS different people are going to have different experience when talking to them as that has always been the case due to the knowledge levels of different employees of the Caja. We are facing the Head office, which is where the decisions and prac ces are actually decided and enforced more accurately.
The E-book can be purchased at Amazon/Kindle and other popular vendors. A paper-back version is available exclusively in Costa Rica and can be purchased at the Associa on of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) office and at select hotels, restaurants, and other loca ons.
I can only hope we are able to get through this as soon as possible, and maybe even convince someone in the government how damaging this is for the a rac on of foreigners and new investment. First of its Kind Guide Book for Downtown San José Hits the Market. A new guide book, The Real San José, Michael Miller’s Guide to Downtown San José, Costa Rica, which focuses on downtown San José, was released in November.
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January/February 2015
Legal Update
23
by Allan Garro N.
New Movable Guarantees Act On May 20, 2015 comes into force a new law called Movable Guarantees Act, which aims to provide loans secured against property other than real estate. This way it is possible to pledge specific or generic goods or rights such as: a. Enforcement of rights of contracts, b. Contracts with economic value as rent, construc on contracts, tourism bookings and similar, c. Accounts receivables, d. Crops and agricultural products, e. Shares represen ng capital stock on corpora ons. As for goods not required to be listed in the Na onal Registry (such as cars and boats are), the warranty can be granted to whoever has possession of the property. This is in the case of goods such as jewelry, pain ngs, watches and the like. To register all kinds of movable guarantees a Special Registry of the Na onal Registry will be created. The guarantees shall be recorded using electronic forms for which surely will use a Digital Signature in order to speed up the registra on process. Electronic forms contain the data necessary to iden fy the creditor, the debtor and the collateral. Such informa on shall be publicly accessible. It is also possible to s pulate that the collateral will remain in the possession of the debtor, the creditor or a third party ac ng as depositary. The warranty period shall be for the term agreed by the par es or, failing that, for a period of four years. Upon registra on of the form the guaranteed credit takes precedence over any other debt. In case of default in payment by the debtor, the execu on can be performed by a stockbroker, a notary or a trustee pursuant to which the par es have agreed upon, otherwise it will be mandatory to go thru the Court Collec on System. To start the execu on it is necessary to grant 5 days to debtor to prove full payment, otherwise a no ce is published in a newspaper and then the lender may proceed to make the public auc on of the assets. If there are no bidders the collateral is awarded to the creditor. The par es may agree that once the auc on is made
there is a repossession procedure by which the creditor can get the collateral back. In the case of vehicles is very likely that banks or other creditors establish a clause that allows them to maintain possession of a set of the car keys and in case of default the bank can send a person to open the car and take it back to the bank or the establishment of the creditor. This is very similar to the procedures used in other countries such as the United States. Another possibility set by this new law is that the debtor may authorize the creditor to have access to bank accounts of the debtor, in order that the creditor can keep track of income and expenses obtained by the debtor. That is called Right of Control. If the warranty are shares of corpora ons or securi es such as cer ficates of deposit if the par es do not s pulate anything about it, then any dividends generated by the shares or interests of cer ficates belong to the creditor.
An important ques on to ask is whether this new law affects the Real Estate market? The answer is YES. This is because a person or company could purchase a building or a house without knowing that certain goods such as air condi oners, furniture or lamps could have been pledged in favor of another party, and if the debt is not paid the creditor could collect such goods. This involves checking that the seller does not appear with credits registered in the new guarantees system s ll to be created. It is also important that the lessors of premises, buildings and houses add a new clause in the rental agreements sta ng that the tenant cannot give the lease as collateral without prior permission of the lessor. Otherwise if the tenant takes a loan using his contract as collateral in case of default the creditor is en tled to become the new tenant, may be a person who is not liked by the lessor or causes unwanted problems. This is par cularly relevant in the case of commercial property with excellent loca on. Allan Garro Navarro A orney at Law www.garrolaw.com
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My Costa Rican Experience
First Full Day... Near death I am falling further and further behind in my journal. It is now noon (roughly) on Saturday and I already have adventures to report today, but I have not wri en about our first full day or yesterday. I told Lisa that I would tle Thursday’s episodes as “near death” and “new discoveries”. Also, because they are ever expanding I will share our adventures having to do with the cats, other animals, shopping and u li es in separate episodes without truly expanding upon them in the daily journal (probably will be less than daily as we get too busy to write each day. This re rement thing is exhaus ng!!!!) Well, it did not take us gringos (or non-Ticos) very long to understand that a house is not a home with out at least the bare necessi es, so a er defla ng our bed and wri ng in our journal we headed back to the big city we had just le the day before. Old hands at making the trip (having traversed the path on our own 4 mes) we began our journey to San Jose for the purpose of buying only essen als. We stopped at Steve & Lisa’s for breakfast (an establishment just outside our community on the main road to San Jose from Jaco) where for ten dollars we had a very fine breakfast, and then loaded ourselves up for the less than 2 hour trip. For brevity I will report that we bought a refrigerator, BBQ, washer and dryer combo, and a microwave among other essen als like silverware, cat food, ki y li er etc. at Price Smart (the CR equivalent to Costco). We then proceeded to the Mall where we had lunch/dinner bought a Spanish transla on dic onary, speakers for the lap top, and took a quick stroll around the mall to see what they had. Just to compare it was more like the
by W. Peter Vanderhaak
Costa Mesa Mall than the Temecula Mall. Lisa was quite impressed and I will have her write about it a bit later. The adventure was the trip there and the trip home. I drove there and created quite a s r early on when I drove (weaving through traffic) down a one way street. I did not no ce the sign that I swear was blocked by Rain Forest and was quite surprised how friendly the other drives were as I passed through them. I almost did not turn around when Lisa advised me of her suspicions
because there were many people on either side of the road that I would have to pass again in a rather embarrassed mood. Having lived through that, and definitely revising Lisa’s opinion regarding my expert driving skills, I was a lot more watchful while ignoring the usual rules of not crossing double yellow lines etc. We took the back roads (the route from Jaco to San Jose is a major route but it includes sec ons where only one direc on traffic can pass at a me. It also has its share of HUGE pot holes) which has turns where, if you meet a bus or large truck, you can easily be run off the road and sent down a deep embankment. We are happy to say that I got to the city in fine shape without nearly another mishap. In the city was another story. Following a bus through a major intersec on I ran a red light right into a two young men merging on motor cycles. Our eyes came inches from each other and I
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expect they were a li le more afraid than I was. A er they straightened his bike he pulled along side of me, he shared what he thought of my excellent evasionary (word?) driving skills (at least that is what I thought he was saying in Spanish). We got to the Price Smart alive and Lisa insisted on driving the shopping cart. Well, she will not be happy to find out I shared this, but I feigned being very red and asked her if she would drive home! The loving wife that she is (almost wrote was) and already ques oning whether I le my once excellent driving skills in California, she took the wheel. Be it known that it was 5 PM and despite my es mate was that since the official work day begins at 7 and ends at 3 PM, the traffic would be light, it was not, it was closer to the 91 in LA at rush hour with cars broke down in the middle of traffic lanes (there are no places to pull off as right next to each road is a rain culvert about 4 feet deep) and bus stops in traffic. The trip took 3.5 hours and Lisa
being frustrated at the long line of slow moving cars ahead, during one juncture, tried to imitate my Mario Andre style of passing on the curve only to find out that the traffic shortly ahead was stopped and oncoming traffic was quickly headed in our direc on. She expertly slipped us in behind a truck carrying rebar (you know that stuff that hangs precariously off the back of the truck right about eye level). I think it was half inch rebar from the view I got of it. All was safe and very slow the rest of the way. No passing for either of us as I took over driving part way through because Lisa had somehow developed a headache. Two days in and the cats probably thought we abandoned them. We got home a lot later than we expected. We did not get to bed un l a li le a er 10 and that is quite different from the 1st and 3rd night where we were in bed by 7 PM (6 California me). The night produced some light rain but we slept pre y well. Tomorrow the day of: “new discoveries”.
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26 Exchange rate of the Costa Rican ¢ to the US Dollar June July August September October November
548.66 543.93 545.32 545.52 544.71 541.19
Basic Interest Rate June July August September October November
6.95 % 7.00 % 7.10 % 7.15 % 7.20 % 7.20 %
Exchange rate of other currencies to the US Dollar Giro Canadian Dollar Euro Swiss Franc Nicaraguan Cordoba Danish Krone Norwegian Kroner Swedish Krona Honduran Lempira Bri sh Pound Argen ne Peso Columbian Peso Mexican Peso Dominican Peso Brazilian Real Guatemalan Quetzal Korean Won Japanese Yen Venezuelan BolĂvar Hong Kong Dollar Taiwan Dollar Bolivian Peso Chilean Peso Russian Rouble Peruvian Sol Polish Zloty Australian Dollar Chinese Yuan
1.46424 1.14160 1.24820 0.96260 26.57900 5.96030 6.98050 7.43320 21.42540 1.58930 8.53010 2,202.00000 13.83250 43.87500 2.56530 7.62550 1,108.06000 118.42000 6.29210 7.75410 30.95700 6.90280 605.03000 49.34110 2.91550 3.34830 0.85060 6.14500
Libor Rate 1 month 3 month 6 month 12 month Prime Rate
0.15400 % 0.23360 % 0.32620 % 0.56460 % 3.25 %
January/February 2015
27 Holidays of Costa Rica Thursday, January 1st New Years Day - Na onal Holiday March 30 - April 3rd Easter Week - Na onal Holiday (ARCR closed) Saturday, April 11th Ba le of Rivas - Na onal Holiday A Touch of Wisdom “A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.� - L. Stephen (1868) “Cowards die many mes before their death.� - William Shakespeare (1599) “Each year one vicious habit rooted out, in me might make the worst man good throughout.� - Ben Franklin (1706-1790) Funniest One Liners...
Nuke the Whales. I started out with nothing and I s ll have most of it. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. Out of my mind. Back in ďŹ ve minutes. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools. Laugh alone and the world thinks you’re an idiot. Some mes I wake up grumpy; other mes I let her sleep.
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