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Besides its excellent weather and natural beauty,
Costa Rica's unique people are probably the country's
most important resource and one of the main factors
in considering Costa Rica as a place to live or retire.
Costa Ricans proudly call themselves ticos.
They affectionately and playfully use this nickname
to set themselves apart from their neighbors. This
practice is derived from their habit of adding the
diminutive suffix - ico to words instead of
- ito, as done in most Spanish-speaking countries.
For example, instead of saying un ratito (a
little while), ticos say un ratico.
Foreigners who have traveled in Mexico and other parts
of Central America are quick to notice the racial and
political differences between Costa Ricans and their
neighbors.
Costa Ricans are mostly white and of Spanish origin,
with a mixture of German, Italian, English and other
Europeans who have settled in Costa Rica over the years.
This makes Costa Ricans the most racially homogeneous
of all the Central American peoples. More than 90 percent
of the population is considered white or mestizo.
Argentina and Uruguay are the only other countries
in Latin America with similar racial compositions.
There is also a small black population of about two
percent, mainly living on the Atlantic coast. Indigenous
groups in the mountainous areas of the Central Plateau
and along the southeastern coast account for one percent
of the population. Costa Rica has never had a large
indigenous population compared to other countries in
the region.
In recent times, the country's stability and prosperity
have made it a kind of melting pot for people from
less stable Latin American countries, such as neighboring
Nicaragua, Colombia, Cuba and Argentina. Many Colombians
have sought refuge in Costa Rica because of the strife
at home and similarities between the two countries
food, culture and language.
Nicaraguans make up 10 percent of the population.
About 400,000 Nicaraguan immigrants make their home
in Costa Rica. Economic hardship in their own country
has caused them to flock to Costa Rica to find work.
Most Nicaraguans work as domestics, in construction,
picking coffee, cutting sugarcane and in other kinds
of manual labor. As prosperity and opportunities have
increased, fewer and fewer Costa Ricans will do this
type of work.
Most of these new immigrants come to Costa Rica to seek a
piece of the so-called, sueño tico or Costa
Rican dream, the Latin American equivalent of the American
dream.
Unofficially there are about 50,000 North American Englishspeaking
residents living in Costa Rica. Many more North Americans
and Europeans live here illegally as tourists. Some are snow
birds who spend only part of the year in the country.
Politically, Costa Ricans have always been more democratic
than their neighbors especially during the last
45 years. Indeed they should be congratulated for being
the only people to make democracy work in such a troubled
region.
National Geographic reported several years ago that, when
asked why Costa Rica isn't plagued by political instability
and wars like its neighbors, a Costa Rican replied, in typical
tico humor, or vacilón, We are too busy
making love and have no time for wars or revolutions.
Because they have the largest middle class of any
Central American nation, Costa Ricans love to boast
that they have a classless society. Most people share
the middle-class mindset and tend to be more upwardly
mobile than in other countries of the region.
Although there is some poverty, most Costa Ricans are well
to do when compared to the many destitute people found in
neighboring countries.
Another thing setting Costa Ricans apart from other countries
in the region is the cleanliness of its people. Costa Ricans
take pride in their personal appearance and are very style-conscious.
We know a tico of modest means who dresses so well
he is often mistaken for a millionaire. Men, women and children
all seem to be well-dressed. Above all, you don't see as many
ragged beggars and panhandlers as in Mexico and many other
Latin American countries.
Costa Rican Family
Costa Ricans are healthy people and have a
life expectancy on par with most first-world countries 76.3.
In fact, they have the highest life expectancy in all Latin
America and just about the same as people in the United States.
This is primarily due to the country's excellent Social Security
System that provides cradle-to-grave health care. A recent
study by sociologists at the University of Leicester, England,
demonstrated that Costa Ricans are the happiest people in
Latin America and the 13th happiest in the world. Surely this
contributes to their longevity.
The people of Costa Rica place great emphasis on education.
Education has been compulsory in Costa Rica since 1869,
and the federal government currently spends about 20
percent of its budget on education. Costa Rica's 95
percent literacy rate is among the highest in Latin
America. A higher percentage of the population is enrolled
in universities than in any other country in Latin
America.
Costa Ricans are friendly and outgoing and will often
go out of their way to help you even if you do not
speak Spanish. They are also very pro-American and
love anything American music, TV, fashion and
U.S. culture in general. Because of these close ties
to the United States and just the right amount of American
influence, Costa Ricans tend to be more like North
Americans than any other people in Latin America.
Surprisingly, Costa Ricans, especially the young people
of the country, seem to have more liberal attitudes
in some areas. Costa Rican women are considered to
be some of the most sexually liberated females in Latin
America. Their liberation is due in part to the fact
that the Catholic Church seems to have less of a foothold
in Costa Rica than in some other Latin American countries.
However, you should not get the wrong idea from reading
this. The vast majority of the people are Catholic
and can be conservative when it comes to such issues
as movie censorship. Also, Costa Ricans don't miss
the chance to celebrate the many religious holidays
that occur throughout the year. (See Chapter 11 for
a list of some of the most important holidays.)
Generally speaking, the people of Costa Rica love to have
fun, to live with gusto and know how to enjoy themselves.
One has only to go to any local dance hall on a weekend night
to see ticos out having a good time, or observe entire
families picnicking together on any given Sunday the
traditional family day in Costa Rica.
The people of Costa Rica, no matter what their station
in life, seem to enjoy themselves with less and do
not give as much importance to materialism as do North
Americans. Even people who can't afford to seem to
be able to eat, drink, be merry and live for today.
Recent polls indicate that the majority of Costa Ricans
are happy with their quality of life. Out of 162 countries
polled, Costa Rica was in the top 40 when it comes
to quality of life. More and more job opportunities,
accessibility to education and a state-run health care
system are cited as the prime reasons for the country's
excellent quality of life.
Basic old-fashioned family values and unity are very
important to Costa Ricans. Just as in the rest of Latin
America, a strong family unit seems to be the most
important element in Costa Rican society. Social life
still centers around the home. Much of one's leisure
time is usually spent with family. Mother's Day is
one of the most important holidays. Parents and relatives
go to almost any length to spoil and baby their children.
Elderly family members are revered and generally treated
better than their counterparts in the United States
or Canada. Most are not sent to nursing homes as in
North America. Young adult singles, especially women,
tend to live with their families until they marry.
Costa Rican families will help each other through
hard economic times and in the face of poverty. Some
foreigners complain that it is difficult to develop
deep friendships with Costa Ricans because the family
unit is so strong and predominant.
Nepotism, or using relatives and family connections
to get ahead, is the way things work in business and
government in Costa Rica. In many instances it doesn't
matter what your qualifications are but who your family
knows that helps you.
Despite all their admirable qualities, there is a
negative side to the character of the Costa Rican people.
While similar to North Americans in many ways and with
a fondness for some aspects of gringo culture,
Costa Ricans are distinctly Latin in their temperament.
They suffer from many of the same problems common in
Latin American societies.
Corruption and bribery are a way of life, bureaucratic ineptitude
and red-tape thrive, the concepts of punctuality and logical
reasoning are almost non-existent by North American standards,
and the Mañana Syndrome leaving for tomorrow
what can be done today seems to be the norm rather than
the exception.
Unfortunately, as in most Latin American countries, machismo (manliness)
is prevalent to some degree among Costa Rican males. Machismo is
the belief in the natural superiority of men in all
fields of endeavor. It becomes the obsession and constant
preoccupation of many Latin men to demonstrate they
are macho in a variety of ways. Fortunately,
the Costa Rican version of machismo is much
milder than the type found in Mexico, but it nevertheless
exists.
There is no telling to what lengths some men will go in order
to demonstrate their virility. A man's virility is measured
by the number of seductions or conquistas he makes.
It is not unusual for married men to have a querida or
lover. Many even have children with their mistresses. Since
many married men do not want to risk having a lover, they
sleep with prostitutes or loose women called zorras.
For this reason many Costa Rican women prefer American men
to Costa Rican men. As the Ticas say, Costa Rican men
are machista and always have to prove it. You marry
a Costa Rican man today and tomorrow he is out chasing other
women and drinking.
Costa Rica is said to have the highest rate of alcoholism
in Central America /-an estimated 20 percent of the
population are problem drinkers. This should come as
no surprise, since drinking is part of the macho mentality.
Making love, drinking and flirting are the national
pastimes of most Costa Rican men.
As we discuss in Chapter 9, foreign women walking
along the street will be alarmed by the flirtatious
behavior and outrageous comments of some Costa Rican
men. Many of these flirtations or piropos, as
they are called in Spanish, may border on the obscene
but are usually harmless forms of flattery to get a
female's attention. Foreign women are wise to ignore
this and any other manifestations of Costa Rican men's
efforts to prove their manliness, or machismo.
Sadly, many Costa Ricans have misconceptions about
North Americans'wealth. A few people seem to think
that all Americans and Canadians are millionaires.
It is easy to understand why many Ticos think
this way because of the heavy influence of U.S. television
and movies that depict North Americans as being very
affluent. Also, the only contact many Costa Ricans
have with Americans is primarily with tourists, who
are usually living high on the hog and spending freely
while on vacation.
It is therefore not surprising that some individuals
will try to take advantage of foreigners by overcharging
them for services and goods. Others will use very persuasive
means to borrow amounts of money ranging from pocket
change to larger sums of money, with no intention of
ever paying the debt. Please, take our advice: do not
lend money to anyone, however convincing their sob
story.
Another thing to be wary about is the regálame
mindset of some Costa Ricans. Basically this term comes
from the Spanish verb regalar, which means to give
something as a gift with no intention of repayment. The verb
dar is the correct verb to use when requesting something.
People here use regalar in a figurative way in everyday
conversation when asking for everything from small items in
stores to ordering a beer in a bar. Unfortunately, too many
people take this verb literally and expect something for nothing.
We know of many instances where foreigners have been overly
generous to locals. As long as they continued their altruistic
ways, they were liked. Once they got wise or decided to curtail
their generosity, they were considered cheapskates. The bottom
line is not to be too generous or spoil people here. Some
people will take advantage of your generosity and misunderstandings
inevitably will arise.
There have been cases of foreigners who have married Costa
Rican women being taken to the cleaners. Because family ties
are so strong in Costa Rica, you can end up supporting your
spouse's whole family. We talked to one retired American who
could not live on his $2,000 a month pension because he had
to support not only his wife and stepchildren, but his wife's
sister's children as well. Furthermore, he had to lend his
father-in-law money to pay off a second mortgage because the
bank was going to repossess the latter's house. This is an
extreme example, and though we have heard many similar stories
while living in Costa Rica not all Costa Rican families are
like this one.
When doing business with Costa Ricans, you should exercise
extreme caution. A few years ago, we had the pleasure of dining
with a prominent Costa Rican banker who eventually became
the country's Minister of the Interior. We mentioned that
we wanted to start a business in Costa Rica. He replied, Be
very careful when doing business with Costa Ricans. This is
not to say that all people are dishonest here. Just be cautious
with whom you deal.
We suggest that you do not dwell on these negatives
and hope you realize how difficult it is to generalize
about a group of people. After you have resided in
Costa Rica and experienced living with the people,
you will be able to make your own judgments. The good
qualities of the Costa Rican people far outweigh any
shortcomings they may have. |
