www.CostaRicaTicas.com

maybe its time to start a ball shaving thread

Florida's
Maybe but I can't imagine that many would post replies to a thread like that ???

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"Run silent, run deep"
Spunk glazed Chicas are the building blocks of the universe!

A wingman is usually your safest security. they tend to rob what they perceive as weak, drunk or unsuspecting solo tourists. If you arent friendly enough to have a wingman to walk back with...just talk to your imaginary friend in a loud voice as you walk down the dark sidewalk. That may scare the bad guys off as well...

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All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts...

Ok, I'll explain it for you. Unlimited , unspoiled, beautiful girls and year round 75 degree weather.

Thank you for your concern. I will try to clear up confusion that you may have. Being alert, street-smart and taking precaution does not make me miserable or paranoid. It makes me and my company content and secure.

Other's have had serious problems and minor problems.
Many, many muggings and "grab and runs" occur here daily and most go unreported.

You seem to have a constant theme of associating cautious and safe behavior and practices with "fear" , "paranoia", and "misery" .

I do have a car and have rented cars here in CR in the past. My rental car was broken into the second day I had it. I have left all kinds of different cars all over ATL so many nights and never had one broke into. This is a big example of the security difference between CR and the USA. Anything here that is not behind bars or bolted down will be stolen.

This does not make me miserable , paranoid, or fearful. I am simply more careful as to where I park now and wish to advise other CRT bros about this so they can learn from my mistake instead of having to learn for them self after being lulled into a false sense of security by people like you.

By your own words in your post, you wrote that anyone that is " careful and aware" must be "miserable , paranoid , fearful" and shouldn't probably live here.

No one is stopping you from walking all over the city any hour of night so you can be happy , live without fear and not be paranoid. I really don't think this is good advice for other's that are happy paying a few dollars to take a taxi at night.

Please .... everybody stay home or go to Rio... it is too dangerous here and Colombia (please note spelling) is even more dangerous.

HA HA stand your ground, comrade...no, wait, you want to get laid tonight


Rule #16 Refrain from starting repetitive TOPICS like "Guy gets mugged in the Gulch"

Rule #17 Refrain from reading all 4 pages of blah blah blah from the same guys who said the same thing about the same subject not too long ago.

Rule #18 Don't pay cien...oh wait, unless you want to discuss that too.

PHX

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

I was in Cali just over a year ago. I was in a taxi on the way to the mall and I heard a very loud explosion and the Taxi driver hits the gas. I asked him what is going on and he says that a car-bomb just went off. Other than the car-bomb two blocks away, I had a great time in Cali. I don't think we have car-bombs here in CR .

Personally, I think it is a very important subject, one that warrants a lot of discussion. Perhaps there is no more important discussion on this board. I just wish that we could have the discussion without the nastiness. It is really unnecessary.

Everyone that comes here needs to strike a balance between personal safety and personal liberty. That balance is going to be different for each and every individual.

I have found my balance. I feel that I am pretty damn safe with the things that I do. For others, the things that I do might not be safe at all. I am convinced that there are a lot of factors that go into making these decisions. There is no "one size fits all' answer to the question.

If you are a 60 year old guy of slight build walking around at night in a Tommy Bahamas shirt and flip flops you are pretty much a fool asking for trouble. If you are wearing non-descript clothes, have some size to you and are walking with a purpose, then there are a lot of places you can go without being bothered.

Personally, I feel a lot safer walking around San Jose at night than I do in Atlanta. I said it before; there are a lot of bad things that happen in every big city. My sister was robbed at gunpoint in a suburb of Seattle. I have high school classmates that have been raped and murdered. We all know people in the states that have had bad things happen to them. On the same token there are enough CRT members, that some are bound to have bad things happen to them when they are here. Let not loose perspective because we get these reports. Bad things happen everywhere. What we DON"T get are the reports of bad things that happen to CRT members when they are in the states.

I think Kc hit it right on the head here. A lot depends on how you look and how you carry yourself. I can always spot the weak prey when I am in the DR. Paying attention to how you dress, how you carry yourself can go a long way. I saw an idiot with a rolex on his arm the other day in Jaco. He was a perfect target. Hell, I wanted to rob him myself it looked so easy. Having said that I taxi it most of the time in SJ. When I do have to walk though, I'm ok.

I for one, don’t see the point in fear mongering either but I also see the need to balance the warnings to newbies against the tried-and-true habits of the expereined travelers without either side taking exception to the advice given by the other.

I enjoy walking and experienincing life first-hand. If I felt I had to take a cab every time I left the DR to the Presidente, I feel like I’d be missing out on life experience. I understand the risks but I mitigate them. I am 35, 6’, 210# and I do try to walk with a purpose. If I get mugged, I figure the odds were stacked against me that day, I would give up my shit, and move on. I think the odds of bodily injury in SJ are lower than my odds of same in the USA. But this is based on my own local neighborhood, street savvy, etc. Maybe I like to feel like I’m going to miss out on the whole SJ experience if I don’t live on the edge a little and experience the streets at night. I have walked from the DR to the SL to ZB and many other areas after dark without incident.

Every visitor to SJ needs to evaluate two things. #1 his risk tolerance and #2 the likelihood that he will be a crime victim. I feel like I have low odds of being a crime victim (due to behavior patterns) but I also have a high risk tolerance. I have been in a few jams in the USA so I tend not to be too concerned about my ability to get through a jam in CR without injury and I don’t carry enough cash, etc. to worry much about losing it.

I think the greastest value in threads like this is simply to remind people to be on guard and try to avoid the stupid moves – especially those that might be inadvertent. For example: On my second night in SJ last year I was at my hotel and wanted to explore the chica scene a little. At that time I had been to the DR and the KL but still didn’t have a good feel for the general layout of where places were with respect to each other. ZB could have been a mile away or 1 block and I would not have known without consulting the GR map. Well on this night I was undecided on what I wanted so I hailed a cab outside my hotel and asked the driver to take me to the Parque Nacional, confusing it with the Morazan. I thought if he took me to the park I could decide where I wanted to go from there…..well the cabbie did as I asked and took me to the Parque Nacional. It was maybe midnight. I got out of the cab and paid up. He had dropped me off at the northeast corner of the park. After the cab left I realized I was not anywhere near the DR nor any other landmark I knew. Fumbling through my pockets, I realized I didn’t have a map with me either. So there I was on the far side of the park and not really sure of where I was going. There were no cabs in sight. I ended up, by chance, deciding to walk west and, after a rather tense period, I luckily happened upon the DR.

Knowing where you are going helps you not to look like the lost and scared gringo wandering in the night. Now, with 5 trips under my belt I don’t need maps to get around pretty much anywhere in the gultch and also all the way out to the MPs in the Paseo Colon area.

I have also wandered through Barrio Mexico during the day and the Coca-Cola bus station area at night. I know these are not wise decisions. There was also a night when I left the DR, headed for the Prez., when I got mixed up and actually got lost…WTF!!??

My main point here is that even with good intentions it is easy to end up where you don’t belong. There is no reason to fear SJ but not only should you understand the risks, you need to be able to realize that you are not in Kansas anymore and need to adjust your behavior accordingly to avoid bad situations before they arise.

If you came of age in white bread America you need to realize that walking around SJ is different than going to the basketball game when your high school played against the team from the hood. If you know how to carry yourself (which means you know how to avoid trouble rather than confront it) odds are you can walk a lot of places trouble-free.

But if you get lost easily, wear gold, get drunk, walk with a chica, mouth off, look scared, etc. you are asking to be a target.

IMHO, this is a great statement. Simple, but extremely accurate!

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

KCC said on one line what took me paragraphs to relay. I could not agree more.

The difference in this city and other cities is that in other cities, there are safe and unsafe areas at night. In San Jose, everywhere is unsafe at night. You have to be very careful . Using ATMs, walking between locations, etc.

I have to respectfully disagree with your generalization.

When I lived in Miami there were areas that were dangerous at night. Where I lived (Kendall) you could use the ATM's, walk, shop at night with little concern for your safety. Was it 100% crime free? Off course not there were occasional muggings, robberies, etc.

Now I live in San Jose. The area I live (Sabana) you can use ATM's, walk, shop at night with little concern for your safety. Is it 100% crime free? Off course not there are occasional muggings, robberies, etc.

As far as safety I see no real difference and I imagine in most cities they experience is identical to what I have experienced in Miami and San Jose.

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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

With all due respect, where did you come up with that?

That is simply untrue. You know there are a lot of Gringos that live right in the city. I keep a place in the city. There just is not as much violence as a lot of you guys want to think.

I also lived in downtown Seattle for many, many years. I can say from personal experience that there is as much or more violence in Seattle as there is in San Jose, and Seattle is not a particularly violent city, not by American standards.

I just think a lot of you guys have a perception that San Jose is more dangerous than it really is because it is a foreign environment and because you are not completely comfortable in it. This is somewhat understandable, but ask Gringos that have lived in US cities and San Jose and I think most will tell you something completely different.