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I've lived here for more than twenty years, with six years in the States in between. The luxury gap has narrowed considerably during that span with a considerabla narrowing in the last five years. I break it down to te following categories:
-Consumer goods; the supermarkets now have much more variety than ever. Some of my favorite additions in the last couple of years include: frozen OJ, bratwurst, various spices, diet Dr. Pepper, real italian tomato sauce, fresh pasta, risotto, various marinades, turkey breast, etc. The areas that could use some improvement are cheeses (there are some good ones, but I miss having a variety of sliced cheeses for sandwiches) and cookies. We're also starting to see some increased variety of beers; hopefully taht will accelarate when the Brazilians come to market.
We're also starting to see a lot more ethnic food available (Chinese, jewish, Indian, Mexican, etc) but there's still plenty of room for improvement. The big surprise for me is how little Mexican spices and chiles are available; OTOH Chinese food items are readily available, but not always consumer friendly unless you can read Chinese labels.
Don Fernando is a great place for all sorts of cuts; if they don't have it on display, you can special order no problem. I've asked for pork shoulder (forget the exact name in english) to make North Carolina pulled pork BBQ several times.
-Big ticket items: To me this is the biggest gap, which includes cars and most electronics. . Stuff gets here late or never and is usually much more expensive. Part of it is the tax structure and another part is that the electronic companies don't think we're ready for some of their first world goods. Though the situation is much better than in the past, there's still plenty of room for improvement. One notable excption is personal computers; I think we're pretty competitive in that sense, in large part because Dell has been agressive with this market.
-Media: Biggest frustraton for me. This is the new version of imperialism. The first world media companies decide what I can and can't see. They don't know that I love college basketball, instead I get crappy Mexican baseball on ESPN2. And where is Tivo? I was so happy when Blockbuster went bust here; they were trying to push that Zone 4 crap down our throats. I'm hoping that eventually I will be able to download movies, sports and TV shows and watch at my convenience wherever I am located. AMNET has had virtually the same channel lineup for the last five years. Some positive developments in media are: a)with the Internet you can keep up with news in the States, b)107.5 and 99.5 are pretty good English-speaking stations on FM c)Tico Times and AM Costa Rica are good sources for a gringo perspective.
-Services: Beisdes consumer goods, this is an area that has seen notable improvement. Banks, believe it or not, are much more friendlier and efficient than ten years ago or so when banking was limited to public entities. We have a much improved dining scene with a lot more variety than in the past. Service can still be shaky and prices are lofty, but at least we now have a better selection. Personally, I almost cried the day Subway and Quizno's opened; it was great to have a healthier fast food option. Aerocasillas is a lifesaver; that together with Amazon has allowed me to shop in the US with ease, going from boooks & DVDs to fancier things like digital cameras and golf clubs. One thing I miss about the US is the variety of public spectacles that don't make their way down here. While we'll have a few concerts a year, there is very little to choose from. Usually when I visit the States, the date is usually contingent on some show or big game.
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