I’ve lived in Costa Rica for a year now, and honestly, it’s expensive. Why? Some people say it’s because of tourism. That might explain part of it, but there are many nearby countries that also receive tons of tourists, and yet their prices are far lower than those in Costa Rica. For example: Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico—even Brazil.
But tourism isn’t the whole story. There are other factors:
IVA (sales tax)
Tariffs
Imported products are much more expensive, including:
Phones and computers
Cars
Gasoline
About 80% of what you find in a supermarket—even coffee
Government fees, such as:
Tolls
Car registration
Parking meters
In short, a lot of things cost an arm and a leg here. So my opinion is that the high prices in Costa Rica come down to the country’s size and a long history of poor governmental decisions.
Expensive items include gas, cars, electronics, most supermarket products, coffee, imported goods, and even McDonald’s. Government services are also pricey: tolls, car registration, parking meters, IVA.
Hitched a la Mexicana
Recently, I got married. My wife lives with me now. She’s Mexican—we met while I was traveling through Mexico in 2021. During COVID, I was unemployed, so I took the opportunity to travel through the U.S., Brazil, and Mexico. In Xalapa, an enchanting city I had visited many times, I stayed at a beautiful hostel in the historic district for only seven dollars a night. My future wife worked at a café nearby. I was struck by her beauty, so I kept going back. Eventually, I worked up the courage to ask her out. We went to an Italian restaurant known for its wood-fired pizzas and shared a few glasses of wine.
We stayed in touch for a few years. I invited her to visit me in Costa Rica, and eventually, I asked her to marry me. I felt like I truly knew her—her looks, her personality, everything. We complement each other well. We divide household duties easily and we get silly together. Once a week, we go out for a few beers.
Enter Feline
My cat is loving but has a dark side. It has bitten and scratched me out of nowhere. The other day, it even pooped inside the house, though it normally uses the litter box on the balcony. So I told my wife, “Unlike a dog, we don’t have a cat because it’s affectionate. We have a cat because it keeps life interesting. It pushes us into both positive and negative emotional states—but hey, that’s change, right?”
Social Stimulate
Today I did 120 interviews. Most days it’s around 100. It doesn’t exhaust me. It reminds me of when I worked physical labor at Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill in St. Pete—I would just go and go, never getting tired. Ten- or twelve-hour shifts, no problem. I need to keep my mind and body busy.
In conclusion, life is good when you have a partner and you stay active, and don’t worry about the prices.
People, it’s been a while since I’ve done any updating. I’m now in Costa Rica. Been here for about 7 months. This city isn’t small but it has the feel of a small city. There’s not many skyscrapers or wide boulevards. It’s like the main structure of the city layout and character hasn’t changed in decades. Kinda dirty. Lot’s of vegetatation, especially adjecent to the 4 rivers that cross the city. While driving , one doesn’t actually see the rivers because they lay below the city. You could say that the city sits on a mesa above the rivers. Yet away from the rivers, there are many streets with no trees and with a hodge podge of types of cement of various levels that make up the sidewalks.
But the job is enjoyable. This is a whole new world. It’s nothing like any job I’ve had. Well, the closest is working for the military overseas. There’s lots of benefits but lots of restrictions. Unfortunately, I haven’t got into the Costa Rican society. Yet, I have gone out a few times and had a few beers and talked with locals. I went on a date. I’m trying to make Costa Rican friends, but not trying hard enough due to I like being alone and I find it difficult to initiate conversations with strangers. I haven’t always been like this. It wasn’t my plan to become the person I’ve become.
Noticias: I bought a car. I haven’t owned a car since 2003. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have all my ducks in a row. Apt, job, free time, health, car, disposable income….all checked. I have a wonderful balcony where I am king. And nobody can see me, well, without binoculars. Drinking only on weekends and no smoking. I miss the happiness and moments of ‘zen’ that smoking gives me, but it does have negative physiological effects that have become increasingly annoying.
Roadtrip:
I’m out of the city for the first time. I’m traveling with an old friend, Richard, to a small touristy town called La Fortuna next to a volcano, Arenal. The town attracts tourists because of the hot springs in addition to the volcano. This place is fairly warm, tropical, humid, love it. Richard has had trouble with drinking before and now he’s on a bender. I’m not drinking and he’s pissing me off but he’s a good friend so I tolerate it.
The first night he was here, in San Jose, we celebrated and drank a lot, which resulted in me enthusiastically opening the front glass door to the apartment building lobby and broke it, which could have gotten me into hot water. Fortunately, nobody said anything more.
San Jose can be chilly. It’s higher up elevation, much like Medellin, eternal spring. But I miss, and prefer, the hot humid climate of Miami.
People at work are worried about what the Trump administration is doing. Cutting government waste and therefore people are going to lose their jobs. I’m cool with it. If I lose my job, I go back to where I was, which wasn’t bad.
Conclusion: It’s never too late in life to start a new job or live in a new place.
I went to a cocktail party hosted by the Italian Embassy. I willed myself to talk to others. I talked to the Italian Ambassador and to a retired artist, retired doctor, and many others. It was a hit. Also, as I was waiting for the event to begin, I saw a young woman looking at some historical items on display so I approached her and acted as if I was a tour guide at the Library. I was upbeat and friendly and consequently she responded positively, and we had an enjoyable conversation. Playing make-believe in an imaginary situation. Conversation ended. I didn’t ask for a phone number, perhaps could have acquired it. I just wanted to talk to someone, and conversation in Spanish is an awesome plus, too.
Social commentary:
At work my co-workers annoy me but I don’t say anything. Is that wrong? They think I’m a nice guy, but I’m not, I’m just holding my tongue. Is this a proper way to behave? I’m not sure. I have to work with these people, so if I’m honest and piss them off then I have to go back to work and face them. Perhaps I’ll be honest with them, but in the past that has ended badly, so now I’m gun shy about being honest.
Secret of success:
People talk about how to get ahead, like what we NEED is a good education, money, or friends in high places, but I present something people don’t talk about but is very helpful to success: DELAYED GRATIFICATION. What is it? The ability and/or willingness to postpone immediate pleasure for a bigger prize in the future, sometimes a distant future.
What are the benefits of delayed gratification? A better and more rewarding education that leads to a good career. A job that pays more. More money in the bank account. A rewarding retirement plan. A long marriage. A marriage that is happy and fulfilling and therefore a happy family with children who are confident. To make a long story short, delayed gratification leads to a higher standard of living.
Years ago I read about a study that was done, a human experiment. In a room was placed a table, two chairs, and on the table a sweet, a candy bar I think. In one chair sat a child and in the other side of the table sat an adult who was a member of the experiment team. The adult told the child that he would leave the room and the child could eat the sweet but if the child waited the adult would bring back an even better sweet. The adult stayed out of the room for a bit and the child found themselves in a difficult situation, no? Some ate the sweet and others resisted temptation. They repeated the experiment with many children. And then the Experiment Team followed the lives of the children until adulthood. As you can guess, the ones who resisted temptation had better academic success and more success as adults.
So this leads me to the question: can delayed gratification be taught or is it innate? Both, some people are born with this ability and some need to be taught and some unfortunately, will never master it.
Today in our society we shouldn’t just teach traditional education but also teach delayed gratification: HOW to do it and WHY it’s important.
Until the next report, my friends. I’ve got news brewing.
Hello! So I’m living in Arlington, Virginia just outside the capital of the USA. I love it here, and so far I love the job, which consists of training and orientation, so far. I’m meeting a bunch of people including my classmates and this makes me happy. I don’t normally talk to strangers so this is a new wonderful addition to my life. Within our group of 70+ people, there are people who have been hired because they speak Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic, and Spanish. We’re working for the State Department so there’s lots to learn about how this organization functions and what they expect of us while working at an embassy.
The Beat Generation
Also, I haven’t smoked tea leaves in over a month because the new job has random testing, which makes me happy because it’s not a healthy habit, not a really bad habit but not very healthy. Granted, it does make me happy and causes me to smile. Plus, it makes the state of ‘not being high’ not as fun compared to when you are not a habitual smoker. But, the lack of smoking has made working on my tedious projects, editing video and writing, more difficult, however studying Spanish and exercising regularly is still very easy to do.
Miami Blues
I met up with an old friend of mine, Cullen from the Miami Days. He manages a beach club, The Cove, in Washington DC. It’s a swanky spot and is similar to a place he managed in Miami’s Wynwood district called 1-800 Lucky. He’s a cool dude who makes art himself, in fact, he designed The Cove. We met many years ago in Miami Beach. He was regular at a bar that I worked at called ‘The Sandbar Lounge’.
The Sandbar Lounge on St. Patrick’s Day.
That bar had sand on the floor and mini life guard towers inside. I even filmed a web series there called ‘The Island of Doctor Taco’.
James Bond
I met a girl. I was taking a bus back to my apartment and we met at a bus stop. My bus arrived and I said good bye. One stop later I got off and walked back and asked for her number. She’s Honduran and she’s only been in the States for a few months. We’ve been playing phone tag, she’s reluctant to hang out. But we’ll see.
Conclusion
Life is looking up and I am not only happy but simply relieved. I’m not carrying around a weight of stress everywhere I go, due to not being able to pay for anything nor knowing when I was going to run out of money. For example, during my year in Colombia I was everyday surrounded by happy reality and possibilities: parties, beautiful women and good times and good people who want to have a good time and wanted me to join them in their good times. But I couldn’t because I was always so worried that I wouldn’t have any money in the immediate future. I was negative and frankly had a bad attitude and I saw everything around me through a negative filter, even if on a conscience level I knew that life was wonderful and was extending me an olive branch of joy.
I’ve been staying at The Rock Hostel for a couple of weeks. I like it here. Good social vibe. There’s many nationalities here: Peruvian, Argentine, French, English, American, Colombian, Italian, Brazilian, even Japanese. I checked in on December 31st and we went out to a lookout point next to a statue of Jesus to watch the fireworks. I got really drunk and had a good time. I didn’t really want to go out and just kinda got corralled into the taxi.
El Truco
En la calle, mujer me dio dinero. Yo observaba un juego “esconder un objecto debajo uno de tres cubiertos. Una taza. Una persona jugo y ganó dinero. Fue una mujer. Yo estaba dentro de la multitude y ella volteó para ver y me dio un poco de dinero como 5 mil. Yo lo rechazo y ella trataba de convencer que yo lo tomara. Pensé que tal vez fue un truco y me fui.
El Trabajito
I got accepted, finally for the embassy job, which I’ve been trying to get for at least 6 years. Now I have to go back to the States to prepare for the ‘call’, which I could get at any time. My money is almost all gone. I may have to borrow from family members. Yet, this job is going to be life changing. I will earn more money than I’ve ever earned. And the increase isn’t gradual. It’ll be night and day. From penniless to hefty pay checks.
Un Año en los Andes
From my drone above my Sky Palace, Lol.
My time is almost done here in Colombia. It’ll be un año next month. I don’t know how honest I want to be with myself. I could have had a lot better time in Colombia. My first 6 months were in Bogota, the 2nd in Medellin. I really want to do better next time. To be more social. Initiate the convo. I did meet many people here and I enjoyed riding my motorcycle through the mountains. I will always miss it.
Conclusion:
Sometimes you are surprised that you can’t get off the merry-go-round.
Wander and Ponder 