www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Naturally credit is not an option for a "working girl". Tico's wish the interest rate was 30-40%. Hypermas routinely charges 58 to 60% and appliance stores are in the same range.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

From my experiences traveling to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and having been married to a girl from Cali, Colombia I can pass on a few interesting facts.

On my first trip to the Dominican Republic I met a 21 yr old with a 4 year old daughter. Her father kicked her out when she got pregnant by a local teen who said he loved her. The amazing thing was this girl's father had 6 K*ds by 3 different women.

I also met a girl working in a take-out strip club who was divorced with 2 K*ds. I saw her on 7 trips. Outside of paying the club to take her out for the rest of the night (about $90 of which she got $70) she never asked me for anything.

In San Jose I know a girl who is 24 with 2 little K*ds (never married, of course). She lives with her two punk younger brothers and her father. I think she may be the main source of income.

When I met my ex-wife she was living in a small house with her parents, 2 sisters (one with a son) and another sister and her husband and their daughter. They all still live there today including the oldest daughter's boyfriend and their young son.

She wouldn't let me get passed the dining area because she didn't want me to see how bad the kitchen looked with no back door and one cord running up the wall to the single light bulb.

Three months after she came to the US her mother passed away. I think we paid half the docter bill and a good portion of the funeral, if not all.

They had an old TV that you could almost watch if they held the rabbit ears just right. No stereo, no computer, no stove (only 2-plate gas burner just as ID described), no microwave, no washer/dryer and no hot water.

Over time they acquired all of the above plus new mattresses (except a dryer, stove and hot water) courtesy of me and my wife. I'm pretty sure she still sends them around $100 a month (or more) and probably picks up incidentals like birthday parties and such.

I saw her father when he was here visiting last month (courtesy of her) and he said when he retired 2 years ago he was making the minimum wage, 400,000 pesos a month or roughly $185 US.

She told me stories of when the K*ds were little and her father would pull up next to a field that had been harvested and they would run to grab any vegetables had been left behind.

She also told me about the time they had sand delivered to their house so they could finally put a brick shell around the wooden walls. That night a big rain came and washed all the sand down the street.

And it goes on and on.

But as was mentioned above I saw more love in that family than I ever saw in mine. They shared their space and anything they had and they still do.

It's a big world with many sad stories. Our dollars or colones or pesos make a big difference in many people's lives even if we never see it.

We can't do much to change the way things are. All we can do is try and sprinkle a little sunshine here and there without causing anyone any harm.

Wit

I was going to say that the interest rate was that high but was afraid no one would beleive me. Incidently, there was something in AM Costa Rica this morning showing that intrest on a 3 year loan was as high as 60%.
LVSteve

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Just an old horney, fat gambler.

60% that is ridiculous I believe it though, I know they have inflation and it is a huge factor but inflation can only contribute 10-20% of that interest rate number. If they have to pay 60% on top of the already high price for the appliances then after 2-3 years of payments they pay 100-300% more for there appliances when all is said and done. Therefore Credit does not explain this at all, unless they all choose to default on the credit, and possible the high interest rates could be caused by high default rates on the loans, another mystery or maybe the answer is everybody defaults. Real estate loans are not so near as bad because the default factor is mitigated by collateral and title, so high default is the probable root of the high interest rates for appliances that can walk away.

Witling,
Your experience is pretty much spot on what I have seen as well.
They are warm loving and share everything.
Once you become part of the family you are definitely sharing with the family circle. So if your novia is fortunate to have you, that fortune now smiles on the whole family, (down to the K*ds even talking and being proud about you at school). They make the most and most use out of everything that you give them for example if you give them a xbox, wikki or playstation they share and play the hell out of that thing giving it more use and miles than it would ever have in your house and use it for movies etc. I do not have any regrets about helping out these families especially how you see first hand how just a little goes a long long ways.