www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I can speak for Mente...he has a car. He is usually my transportation from the aeropuerta.

dapanz1

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Paradise= Sitting outside the Bodega in Panama City about 1 am. Drinking cool Balboas with cool friends and blazin' hot Colombianas. I want to be there..RIGHT NOW!

Sure...cost of cars here are no good value. BUT...you can still find a decent running $3000 used car...and good mechanics who charge about $4-5 per hour labor. Basic insurance (without collision on MY vehicle) is $250 per year. Of course it's nice to be back on USA smooth roads and highways...for a couple days. Then you get tired of the traffic...I begin missing the fun of dodging Tico drivers, running red lights and speeding without incrimination.

WHen you compare costs to value like Vegas Bob did here...there is just not much to miss really. But, he didnt mention the health insurance I get here... $65 month full coverage. Put that into your comparisons module.

As for food comparisons made above...sure, there is not as much prepared frozen, preserved, high sodium, easy and fast food in a bag or carton here. I also used to live on that stuff stateside. But, after studying the food chain there and seeing all the cancer in my friends and family THERE, I have decided it is much healthier eating here. I lost weight rapidly and healthily when I moved here...and I eat much better for less. How? Fresh fruits and vegetables are much better here than USA and you can buy hordes at pennys on the dollar at the open markets downtown and elsewhere. In addition, there are certain kinds of meats here that are good and a value. The biggest gap for me is the cheeses, milk and butter. They are not as rich and tasty...so we pay a little more for imported stuff from time to time. I still spend much less on food here than in USA. If I spend more than a week stateside, I gain 8-10 pounds...almost overnight.

Oh...and they really know how to make their soups down here. I'll never eat Campbells again...

Tman,

Several of your posts talk about cancer as if it is worse in the USA. No offense but believe you should look into this a little further. In all the years I have been traveling to CR I have seen so many cases of stomach cancer it makes me sick . Do some study on this & see what you find it may shock you . Here is one link of many you will find.

http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PUB/HIA1998-p168-174.pdf

I have my theories on this as the pesticides they use there are not regulated very well & I would grow my own fruits & veggies but it may also be from the different flora that sets up in the GI tract from the high fungal conditions there from that type of climate many factors involved but check out some of the findings.

Several years (6-7) back I hooked up with a bartenter from KL. IT was after she quit this job & was taking classes to be a card dealer. I finally talked her in to going out & when we spent some time togther I found she had lumps in her breasts. So I told her to seek medical attenion right away which she did & from what I know the out come wasn't good. She was I think around 19 & really a sweet girl that had not been around from what I could tell. I can still remember her friend telling me you better be nice to her she is an angel. Really sad. Lots of cancer in CR tman sorry for the bad news. Another one I have seen for several years lost her cousin that was 17 to cancer. Its everywhere you can run but you can't hide from this one.

One thing about the USA the lights don't go out as often as CR. Think I would have a generator around if I lived in CR.

Zippy...good points and I am not saying that Costa Ricans are the healthiest species in the land. I breezed through the link and this covers one form of cancer. Yes, cancer is everywhere, but I previously have read studies on the growth of cancer in recent years that indicates a higher growth rate of incidence per capita in the US than many other countries. I lost a parent figure recently which causes a lot of this personal study. Just on an informal basis, I hear of much fewer cases of cancer here than in my immediate circle of US friends and family. To me it is not a political or geographical issue...it is a lifestyle issue. Sure alot of Ticos live very poor lifestyles and health habits here and get sick. In the USA I still contend that it is our food and water chain with tons of chemicals, chlorine, preservatives that are killing us faster and at higher percentages. Wont take the time right now to look up previous studies...but I stand by my contention. I think it is very rational versus emotional.

Tman I agree with that & might add that I believe there is a postive link to cancer & being fat. Americans have become so fat they are moving the charts a little higher on what should be normal body weight which is more pure BS of political correctness instead of reality. Biggest enemy of Americans I see & contributes to the rise of cancer is eating like pigs because we are so unhappy about all the pressure & BS in this society it all goes hand in hand or should I say mouth? It is like what Chicago guy said in a post about Americans with their blank stares when you say hi.

One think for sure you are not going to phuck your body into shape in the USA unless you are a porn star.

Also the longevity for men & women in CR vs USA is about the same. Last I looked men lived about 2 yrs longer in CR than USA & women 2 yrs less on average. Wonder why?

Luxury idems are expensive in CR from what I have seen & some of these things I would miss but after getting adjusted you probably would replace them with other play things.

To answer Gringo Tims question...yes I have a car.

Some of the items being pointed out as missed are readily available here,

Real Ketchup....Heinz at Price Mart and Super Saretto.

Pretzels....Snyders at Auto Mercado and Super Saretto.

Bagged prepared salads....Dole at Mas x Menos, Saretto's & Auto Mercado.

It seems more things become available everyday and all the new super markets have larger frozen food sections than the old markets. The Auto Mercado in Santa Ana is almost identical to a US super market.

Am still in search of real NY style pizza which is the thing I miss the most. It is also virtually impossible to find a shank or butt portion of cured ham.

There is now a NY deli in Pavas that has corned beef, pastrami and real Jewish rye bread.

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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

Regarding cancer in CR, I have to lean towards Zippy's views/statements. I think there's probably more cancer in CR than people realize. One factor could be the soot and exhaust fumes from the buses and trucks in San Jose. Truly horrendous. I knew one Tica, a long-time (20 years?) pro at the BM who died from cancer several years ago in her early forties. Her daughter worked as a bartender at the KL for a little while.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

I miss going to to a big Home Depot, or (I hate to say it) WalMart, and those megastores.
I hate myself for saying that after those big corporate companies choked off all the mom & pop type stores.
I like variety, and I like it to be a one-stop shop. I suppose thats why the Blue Marlin is so popular! Variety!
You go to a mom and pop hardware store, and they may have 2 different hammers to choose from, in Home Depot or Lowes, you just go to the "hammer aisle". and have 100s to choose from...
Anyhow, its true. Clothes are not as good and more expensive in CR, so are electronics. I bought a $15 CD boom box for tunes in my room, ended up giving it to my novia, she said it was the best gift she ever got, and still is playing it to death! I compared prices, and the same type sells for $60 there.
I will be furnishing an apartment when I am down there in Nov. I cant help but think how cool it would be to pimp out my crib with some styley furnishings from Ikea... any suggestions?
Electric showers are a good concept, if they can figure out a way for you not to get shocked to death when you touch the shower head, Electrical wiring is dodgy, I appreciate building codes when you go to a house and everything is bare wires stapled to the wall with no ground wire. (A friend told me this is to protect homes from lightning storms, Im no electician, but that doesnt make sense to me)
I would NEVER drive a car in CR. I feel I take my life in my hands just walking across the street! I can brave roads full of chuckholes, but the drivers!?
The ICE cell-phone monopoly is a pain in the ass to anyone who visits CR...
I also think its a shame the Ticos dont respect the beauty of the nature there. I was in Samara over a weekend, mostly locals go to that beach, and the beach looked like a dumpsite by monday. Snorkel out to the reef tho, and it was awesome.
Despite all of this, Costa Rica is my #1 destination. Why go to Hawaii and pay exorbitant prices? its cheaper to fly to CR, and cheaper to stay.
I keep an open mind wherever I go. I look at the beautiful sunsets and latinas and all the other BS disappears.
To me, "Pura Vida" means "Simple Life".
OD

Good point on the soot in the San Jose valley. Just blow your nose in a white Kleenex after being there a few days I couldn’t believe all the black stuff & think about what gets past your nose. Look at the sides of some of the buildings & you see soot also. It is a lot cleaner where I live in the States. I just hate to see people gloating on how we live with all these modern conveniences & are so damned unhappy & unfriendly kind of a hollow victory! One study I was told about was that the worst air to breath was in Escazu. Think the study was from a German base company?

Orgasm Donor well put & my feelings also. Years ago all the rivers were just full of foam & trash from pollution it was awful & better now but still needs improving. Agree with you about locals trashing places. Once I was walking on the beach & found all this hospital trash had washed in used syringes etc. A local said this happens sometimes as they dump trash in the ocean & it washes in. I think this is better now also, at least I hope? A simple life may really be the best way less things to go wrong & less people that can threaten you with phucking it up. Also need a phone line or want to add a second land base line step right up & wait a few years. Nothing like a govt owned & run monopoly for fast service!

Gringotim;
Yes, I have a car - A used 92 Hundia Elantra that I bought a year and half ago for $2800.
Very happy with it. Its a little under powered but most of my driving is in the city so thats not a prob. Its a very clean little car that gives me no problems. The insurance runs me about 70,000 colones every 6 months and I put 5000 colones in the gas tank every week. Parts are plentiful here and cheap.
LVSteve
PS: I have no trouble finding heintz ketchup at all automecardos.

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Just an old horney, fat gambler.

I have thus far chosen not to own a car here. I have many taxis that arrive at my home within 10 minutes any time of the day or night. So it isn't really that it is cheaper (though it certainly is) it just is more convenient for me.

Pah you dont know cancer until you live where I live. Highest rate in Canada, which translates to highest rate in North America.

Wahoo for the Annapolist Valley of Nova Scotia, damn farmers and their pesticides.


Im not to sure about whats readily available in CR, but when I spent 2 months in the Dominican Republic, the only things I really missed were peanut butter, and the odd frozen product that your use to having ( pizza pockets and the such )

In general though everythings much cheaper. Where can you walk down the road in the U.S/Canada and find yourself a nice fresh BBQ chicken meal for 3-5$. No KFC is not fresh, although they try.

A family member, who only works at a resort as one of the entertainment guys drives a near new Mercedes Benz. I mean, how many people working the lower end of the hotel business drive around in Benz's here?

Everything in my opinion is much better off in South and Central America. Companies in North America have blown prices way out of proportion and keep raising them to make up for loses in other departments, marketing etc etc. Its not like that at all in those countries.

IMO, its a way better life living in a country like CR if your able to adapt to the lifestyle and arent so caught up with American ways.

Probably because of the wealth in the USA - you can eat poorly, smoke and drink yourself nearly to death and they do everything under the sun to save you from yourself to a point. A lot of people in the USA would be dead if they lived in CR.

I think life span has to be compared against those in the same ecomonic class, because those with more wealth have more resources to see a doctor more often. They can get bad things detected before it gets too bad - time enough to save their ass!

It gets complicated!

I tend to agree with Tman, because despite all the statistics I think he is basically saying that natural foods are better for you as compared to the garbage in the freeze section of the store. Besides the freezer section, the fruit in the USA is picture perfect because they pick it way before it is ripe and so they have to radiate it on the way to the market so it has color. It sucks! CR depends on local fruit from what I hear.

Lucky for me California has pretty good local fruit and veggie due to the wonderfully pleasant weather.

Thats what you get for living in California

Hey, CR has Hiper Mas (the blue whale)

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)