The severe water problem in Atenas was in the news again, this time in the Diario La Extra. Before you decide that Atenas is not for you and close this blog, let me tell you: the severe water problem in Atenas is only in certain parts. The gringo communities don’t have any problems because they…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Any idea who Tica Linda is? You’ll probably say “something like a Miss Costa Rica”? You’re partially right. She is the queen of the “festejos populares de San Jose”, but more about that later. This was the start of the use of the word as a designation used by…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do you often have a creative moment, just like I do? If you are a creative person, Costa Rica is probably a good place for you. In fact, you need to be creative to be able to survive. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can make a living by being creative,…
I am a landlord myself. Dany and I thought it was a good idea to purchase a small 2 bedroom condo in Sabana as income property some years ago. Hey, I’m a real estate broker, so we should own some rental property too, right! First, we had several tenants from hell, one after another. Sadly,…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Costa Ricans use animals quite a bit in their expressions. The tiger is one of them. Pa’l Tigre means not feeling well, feeling sick, or not having done well. Estoy pa’l tigre = I feel terrible. Something that is not usable anymore, out of order, esta “pa’l tigre”. Esta…
Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes Did you read Ned Nossaman’s Costa Rica poem last year? The title of this Costa Rica poem was Costa Rica ~ Pura Vida! in which Ned shared his feelings for Costa Rica with us. Is moving to Costa Rica a consideration for you? Ned wrote another Costa Rica poem, with…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes You don’t want to be called The Mother of Tarzan in Costa Rica, you know why? In the past, I have been telling you about certain slang words used in Costa Rica, to give you the opportunity to go a little bit native when you move here. Learn the…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes The use of slang in Tico Spanish is just as common as it is in any other language. Que chapa is one of those often used words in Tico slang. It would be helpful for you to understand why someone might call you a chapa. Or maybe when someone is…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes The translation of huevo in English is egg, but manda huevo is something totally different. When you move to Costa Rica, you will want to communicate with your local neighbors. In their own language of course, not in yours. They speak Spanish. Spanish is a really easy language to learn…
If you really want to go native when living in Costa Rica, you should learn the typical Tico slang or Tiquismo that is used by the locals. In other blogs, I have told you about Chunches, Upe, and some others. Today’s turn is for “estar parado de uñas“. What is parado de uñas in Costa…
Everyone in Costa Rica knows what upe is. Or uuuuupeeeeeee, when you yell it. If you don’t say upe loud enough, nobody will hear you and they won’t come to the door. Do you want to know what Upe in Costa Rica is? Alf Giebler, in his book “A lo Tico”, says that is means…
Estimated Reading Time: 9 Minutes My blogs are meant to make things easier for you when you live in Costa Rica. That’s why this time I have tried to find 5,555 genius household hacks that should work in Costa Rica. I decided to start with only 20 of them and leave a few for some other…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes When you first arrive in a new country, there are concepts, habits, and unique facts that everyone notices. They might be the reason you move to Costa Rica or not, but you assume you’ll do all you can to enjoy them. After a while of living in Costa Rica, you…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Did you know that a landmark can be incredibly important so visitors can find your house? Few things are as hard as directions or finding an address in Costa Rica if you have recently arrived. Even if you are fluent in Spanish. Our addresses are weird. Even if you use…
Do you think you will be able to adjust to the food in Costa Rica? Moving to another country is a much bigger step than most think it is. Especially when it’s about trying to adjust to the food in Costa Rica. There is so much information available online. Nonetheless, I find that only a few…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes If you’re planning to move to Costa Rica, we would like to mention that living costs in Costa Rica are below average, but you better learn how to make things work. If you were born and raised in a developed country, you are used to going to the store and…