It’s funny the kind of assumptions I find myself making in life sometimes. Not consciously, of course. Somehow I’ve found myself buying into subconscious little misconceptions of reality that have later led me to disappointment later in life.

At its core of many of misconceptions I think is, “If I’m a good boy, people are going to like me.” Ha ha ha! Now that’s a seriously messed up statement!

I’ve seen many volunteers make that wrong assumption and try to warn them about it when they arrive here in Costa Rica. For instance, one assumption volunteers make is thinking that just because they work hard to help others, everyone around them will shower them with love, appreciation and thanks.

Often, especially in Costa Rica, that is the case – but not always. And when faced with ungrateful people, it often comes as a shock and a surprise. And it hurts!

I fell into that same trap yesterday thanks to Amanda, otherwise known as “The Grinch” around our office now.

We sent out our end-of-year newsletter yesterday, which we were very excited about. We had an amazing year and wanted to share about all that we accomplished and what we were looking forward to for the next year with our friends, volunteers and supporters.

When we saw our first response come in we were very excited. We mistakenly thought it was going to be a “good for you, congratulations and keep up the great work” kind of response. But much to our surprise, we opened the email and found this:

“I have unsubscribed to your email list. As a professional fundraiser, I find your volunteer program to be totally repugnant. The idea of charging to volunteer and call it a vacation does not sit well with me. Are you a tour business or a non-profit? Figure it out because I really think it's slimy.”

I find it really interesting that people think because we are a non-profit that all our employees should work for free. That our landlord donates the property to us, and the gas station puts gas free into our vehicles. What about the phone company? Should they let us make free phone calls too?

Anyhow, at the same time (after I calmed down for a minute), The Grinch’s email made me thankful for the many wonderful supporters we do have. Without them, we would not be able to provide the wonderful programs and services to our local children, families, communities and wildlife.

The truth is, not everyone is going to like us or appreciate us. That’s okay. We don’t do what we do to impress people. We do what we do because we believe in it. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that in the face of hatred and nastiness.

To all you Grinches out there: A very Happy Holiday Season to you. We hope you find Peace and Joy somewhere deep in your hearts. And that if you yourselves find you are in need someday, there will be someone to help you without judging you.

Open letter to Rob Meyer, Go Budget Travel.com:

Dear Mr. Meyer:

It was very interesting this morning waking up and reading your article questioning the business ethics of organizations such as ours and to hear you suggest the money our clients pay don’t to our communities. At first I laughed, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to respond to you.

I really can’t speak for other organizations. But I can give you my perspective as Executive Director of the non-profit Casa Milagro Foundation in Costa Rica.

We run a so-called voluntourism company, Tropical Adventures, in which we offer volunteer and tour opportunities to those with the desire to help and experience Costa Rica.

We started out by doing a six-month analysis of certain impoverished areas of the country. And we continue to perform analyses each year. This comprises difficult travel and meetings with untold numbers of communities and individuals. It was a beautiful process of “listening” and sharing from a compassionate perspective. We wanted to know what real needs were present and how we could be of assistance if we had some warm bodies in the form of volunteers to help.

The truth is, not all communities are even ready to accept volunteer help. It was a tough job narrowing down to just a handful of projects from our long list of serious needs.

Another thing we found was that tourism in Costa Rica, the number one industry here, had many negative effects on the people in the country. As a natural by-product of many visitors spending time and money in the country, inflation has run rampant. Because wages move at a snail’s pace, Costa Ricans get priced out of homes and can’t afford basics such as food.

Therefore, from the beginning, our objectives have been threefold:

1. Convert would-be tourists from inadvertently exploiting the country to volunteers who could make long-lasting, positive and eco-friendly impacts on the country and people.
   
2. Provide the volunteers with life-changing, positive experiences, so instead of returning home with just vacation photos, they can return having learned much more about the world and about themselves.
   
3. Use the money we are able to generate to keep inside the communities we’re trying to help.

As you mention in your article, some of the extra cost goes towards our providing in-country support personnel, as well as organizing the trip itself. What you left out was the cost of the wide range of other services, some of which include:

• Airport transportation
• Project Training
• Medical Insurance
• Free use of Cell Phone
• Orientation costs
• Assistance with Planning Excursions and Activities
• Free Guided Tours
• 24-hour in-country emergency service

Again, I can’t speak for any other organizations, but as a non-profit heavily invested in the welfare of our communities, we run at a loss (though we expect to be self-sustaining by 2009). We are very proud to say that the money we take in stays in the community.

Your article honestly makes it sound like 10-50% of the volunteer payment goes towards the community, whereas the balance goes into the pockets of these organizations. For us, what money is left over after these expenses are paid goes towards donations we give to keep our projects running, research, employee salaries and basic administrative costs. Besides a few costs such as advertising that is done around the world to attract volunteers, all of the money we receive stays in Costa Rica.

Apart from all of this, you didn’t take into consideration that the majority of individuals, communities and non-profit organizations in Costa Rica who are in most need of help do not speak English. So if a person has an interest in helping those in need here, how will they actually:

1. Identify who actually needs help and what kind of help they need?
2. Communicate with these groups about all the details?
3. Best prepare themselves for the trip and their time here?

Tropical Adventures and other such organizations handle all the details from A to Z.

You also suggested in your article that people take their money and donate it directly to local projects. In a perfect world, that is a great idea. However in Latin America (and elsewhere in the world), sadly, the majority of donated cash ends up in the pockets of individuals who either steal the money outright or have no experience in properly managing those funds. I’ve seen untold numbers of instances when people, organizations and countries donate money directly to communities where said money disappears without a trace. This is neither fair to the donor, nor to the communities.

I do have to agree with you there are many companies in the industry who do nothing but market voluntour programs and match them with other non-profit organizations. It’s a shame to see that money not going directly into the communities where the help is needed.

Therefore, I always suggest individuals considering an international volunteer program to consider the following questions before making their final purchase:

• Does the volunteer organization operate as a non-profit, or are they merely a tour operator?
• Does the organization respond in a timely and friendly way to your requests for information?
• Are they willing to let you speak with past volunteers to get an idea of what their experiences have been like?
• What kind of services does the organization have in place in case of an emergency?
• Is the organization from the country they are supporting?
• What is their refund policy?
• Will they customize your volunteer experience so you can get the most out of your time there?
• Does the organization accommodate any special needs you have (physically or dietary-related)?
• Are they set up to support family or teen volunteering?
• Are the employees hired from the communities in which they serve, or do they bring people in from other countries?
• Do the employees of the organization also participate in the volunteer work?
• Are you supported once you arrive, or are you just "dropped off" to fend for yourself?

I just thought you and your readers deserved a different perspective.

Sincerely yours,

Scott Pralinsky
Executive Director
Casa Milagro Foundation

A friend of mine called me yesterday to tell me that his beach community here in Costa Rica is experiencing a big increase in crime. This, of course, if not unique to just his area. Crime is increasing at an alarming rate, but most especially in beach areas.

His community responded by holding a meeting. They have set up neighborhood teams. They all decided they would work together to fight the crime. They will do their best to work with the police and prosecutors. Experience has shown that neither the police nor the prosecutors are able to effectively deal with the crime. Most frustrating is that those on the receiving end of the crime usually know who the perpetrator was, yet still nothing happens.

The community further decided that they would take matters into their own hands should the authorities not control the problem. An example from this week is that a well-known criminal who has gone unpunished by the authorities was shot twice and is now in the ICU of the Limon hospital.

I like the fact that the community is pulling together, but I’m not sure how I feel about combating the crime in the area by committing more crime. Yet at the same time, I sure can’t blame them.

As usual, I once again had to suspend my ideas of how things operate in life when I came across the need to get some things repaired. Both with my car and with my lawnmower I was required by the repair shops to go buy my own parts and deliver them to the shop. This meant, of course, an hour drive to drop off the equipment and an hour home on day one. Then several hours on a different day to shop for – and to deliver – the parts. Finally, another couple of hours to pick it up once it was repaired.

Whenever I’ve asked anyone about this, I’ve always received the same reply: “That’s just how it’s done here.” Talk about frustrating! All I want to do is to take my brainwashed North American ideas of how things should be done and force it into the “common sense” of some folks around here.

Yes, there has to be another option. What about paying more? What about finding a person who can run around for me? I think the mindset here is that if you do it yourself it’ll be cheaper. As much as I like to save money, the ridiculous amount of time it takes to do anything here is too much to bear.

Yesterday I had to take the new car in for its 1,500 kilometer service. Between the round-trip drive and the wait time, it took me almost 6 hours. Add that to the 6 hours from the previous day’s trip to the dentist (for a routine cleaning) and it doesn’t leave me a whole lot of time to get my work done!

So as to not just sound like I’m (only) complaining, I’d like to suggest something: If you find yourself in the same shoes, ask friends, post on forums and seek out alternatives. If it costs a bit more, it’s worth your sanity.

Oh yeah, and we got a new car. We were totally over having both cars in and out of the repair shop. This last time the truck was in there for more than 5 weeks and cost us $995. Had the truck been in the driveway this past weekend, perhaps our dogs would still be alive. With us working with clients and driving all over the place, we really need something reliable.

We got a new, 2006 Subaru Forester. The buying experience was interesting too. It’s more difficult to buy a car here in Costa Rica than it is to buy a house in the US! We had to have a meeting with a lawyer, manager of the dealership, insurance company and the bank. The lawyer had to read aloud 8 legal-size pages of mumbo jumbo and we had to sign.

Of course, welcome to Costa Rica, they pulled some fast ones on me at the closing. The interest rate magically went up to 9.5% (from 9%) and they tacked on a bank commission of about $800. Not to mention, they told my insurance agent he couldn’t represent me after he drove all the way over there, after we filled out all the paperwork and after he charged my credit card. I’m not sure why they couldn’t tell me that before when I told them he would be coming to the meeting. Lastly, they are amortizing the loan in some weird way I don’t understand that puts an extra $12 in their pockets each month.

In the end I felt pretty walked-over. But I just smiled and took the car keys. I’m learning slowly to just roll with the punches. And I can say it’s really nice having a new car.

Just a quick update. Not much to say. I have been in such an awful mood since Saturday when the thieves killed our dogs and stole our stuff. Kind of like a zombie walking around. I’ve been trying to get the millions of things done that I’m supposed to do, but it’s tough keeping it all together.

Of course, nobody knows anything and the police won't be ever getting back to us. Period. Just the way it works here. And people are so numb to this kind of thing around here that nobody seems to care. I was telling a friend what happened yesterday. He said, "Gosh, that's too bad. Hey, have you got your tickets to the party for Saturday night yet?" I guess I have to keep reminding myself that dogs here for the most part are not pets.

Isaac was in the US the whole time and just got back a few minutes ago. He’s just walking around in a daze too. It’s certainly strange to come back to your home where everything is now different.

I guess, though we knew theft was a possibility, it wasn’t “real” to us until it happened. Neither of us can stop thinking about the dogs. Our hearts are broken.

The only good thing that has come of this is that the neighborhood has rallied together and we’re meeting tonight to talk about hiring a security guard, installing a communication system and maybe fixing the road.

Sorry I haven’t posted anything else this week. Every time I’ve thought about it, I couldn’t think of a thing to write.

I don’t even know where to begin with this entry. Words cannot describe the feelings and emotions I’m going through. As we all know, crime is a way of life here in Costa Rica. It’s one thing to be surrounded by it and hear about it all the time – and obviously another thing to experience it.

I had been thanking God every day that I not only felt safe here, but also had not experienced too much crime here. Other than the guy who broke onto the farm last year and cut down all my fruit trees, I’d avoided being hit.

Yesterday I was working in Puerto Viejo and got a call at 5:30 in the morning. One of my employees had been watching the house for me, but was sleeping in a second house we have on the property. During the night, some people killed my dogs (click on picture above to see full size photo), broke into my house and stole lots of stuff.

It took me 6 hours to get home. The whole time I was driving, I was nauseous and my mind was racing. I was distraught over the loss of my dogs, angry with the people who did it and pretty much in a daze. But the worst part of it was wondering how and if I could prevent something like this from happening again.

Once I arrived I had to deal with the police, OIJ (investigatory department sort of like the FBI), the insurance people, repair people, friends, etc. It was such a long and painful day. I also had to sleep with a window wide open as the repair people couldn’t take care of it until today. Let’s just say it was pretty hard to fall asleep wondering if they were coming back.

I can’t say that I have any answers yet about what – if anything – I’m going to do. Will I install an alarm system, put bars on my windows like a prisoner, get more dogs or built a fortress? At this point it doesn’t feel like any of that will make me feel safe leaving the house again. But they say time heals all wounds. I hope there is some truth to that!

Thank God I had hidden my credit cards, passport, and my main computer well. They did not find them. Everything else can be replaced, except my poor, sweet Paco and Oprah (the dogs). The best advice I could give to anyone is to build a small, cement room with a metal door and some super-duper locks. It wouldn’t be fool-proof, but it would be a lot tougher to get into it. Yes, they might steal your TV and microwave, but hopefully your most important things would be safer.

When I find myself getting frustrated about the way things are going here in Costa Rica, I usually just remind myself, “this is just how it’s done here!” But when does the line get crossed? Does one always have to put up with “the way it’s always been done here?” Is there a time to stand up for oneself and speak out?

I’m asking this because I’m in the process of buying a new car here. If it works out, soon I’ll be driving a new 2006, Subaru Forester. However I’ve never had the opportunity to take it for a test drive!

The dealership has a policy that they don’t use new cars for test drives, only used ones. And to make it worse, the salesperson does the driving while you sit in the passenger seat and try to make your mind up how well you like the car!

For instance, to help me decide I wanted to buy the 2006 Forester, they gave me a 1-hour ride in a 1999 Forester. This makes no sense to me. On top of really having to pee, I found myself getting more-and-more upset about the situation.

As cars cost so much more here than in the US, I’m going to have to pay $29,000 for this car (after negotiating a $2,000 discount). Yet I’m not allowed to drive it until I pay for it!

I suppose that is the time I should have stood my ground and told them I wouldn’t buy the car without driving it. But instead I fell into the whole, “I guess this is just how it’s done here. Hard to get mad at the messenger (salesman).”

In truth, as long as the car drives fine I’ll be okay and will probably forget all about this. But if I end up not liking the way the car handles, my blood will be boiling as long as I own the car!

My friend, Steven, brought up an interesting point to me the other day. He was talking about a long-term friend of his who is a genius in the thought sciences (Latin American Thought, Philosophy, etc.). Just super intelligent. And he mentioned to me how fascinating it was that this guy has such unbelievably bright thoughts coming from a generation where education wasn’t that advanced here in Costa Rica.

It led me to thoughts of other disparities, such as how talented my many architect friends are. I’ve seen the most amazing designs they have created and listen to them talk often about aspects of architecture I’d never heard of or would have dreamed that they include in the process of creating a design. I’m super impressed. However, if you were to look around at the architecture in Costa Rica, you’d be pretty depressed. Nothing here has style. One exception would be the National Theater pictured above. It’s really sad. It makes me feel like all that talent is going to waste.

I’m not sure where I’m even going with this line of thought. Just thinking out loud I guess. Thanks for putting up with me!

I guess I'm getting old. My idea of "fun" isn't what it used to be. I went out last night to a club in San Jose called "Club Oh!" for a Madonna tribute party. There were hundreds more people inside than what I consider to be safe. It was scortching hot and I had to wait in line for a minimum of 30 minutes every time I needed a drink. I had to ditch before the live show even started. But I ended up going back and staying until after 4am. Yikes! No wonder I feel like crap today.

The club itself is really great. Nice sound and light systems, separate VIP section and the owner, Martin, is a great guy. And Club Oh! offers open bar, which when there aren't so many people there, is a pretty cool thing. For somewhere between $6 and $12 depending on the night and if you're in the VIP section or not, you can drink 'till you drop between I think 9pm and 1am.

But watch out! "Open Bar" doesn't mean the same here in Costa Rica as it does anywhere else I've been in the world. Here you choose your poison when you arrive and you have to keep drinking the same thing all night. So you can't start out with (God forbid) a water, otherwise you'll be stuck drinking water all night! You merely hand your empty bottle or glass back to the bartender and you're served up another!

Sometimes (okay, pretty often) I run into situations which remind me why I escaped the United States in the first place. Last night was one of them. I went to a club with some friends called Osio in Escazu. I had been there three times before last night, but wasn’t able to get in. It’s one of those places where people crowd to the door outside and wait to get “chosen” by the bouncers for the honor of entering (while still having to pay the cover, of course).

Last night I was with a friend who knew one of the bouncers. We got in right  away. And let me tell you, there was nothing special about this place. Basically one not-so-big room, snobby people and over-priced drinks. For instance, we were able to get a table, but we had to spend a $100 minimum. Not that any of us even sat down. I’m not sure why they wanted the table. I guess it’s probably a prestige thing for some of them.

But it was easy to meet the minimum. One bottle of Chivas Regal whisky alone was $100. We did polish it off though!

I so didn’t move to Costa Rica to wait in line for the chance to be chosen to get into a place like that though. First of all, I hate the whole “you have to be good enough to get in” attitude. But for crying out loud, this ain’t New York folks! Get real!

I think I’ll stick to my hole-in-the-wall places where people are friendly and talk to me.

Though there are many things in Costa Rica one can buy for less than in other parts of the world, automobiles and electronics are not among them. About six months after I moved to Costa Rica I bought a 1999 Mitsubishi Nativa (similar to the Sport they sell in the US) for $20,000. I could have picked it up in CA for about $6,000 through a dealer friend of mine.

Crazy, eh? But from what I was told by many people, the cost of transportation plus the taxes, import fees, etc. wouldn’t make it worth my while. Honestly, I took their word for it. I did not research it on my own.

What I understand is that there is a book of values that the government keeps – based upon how much it would cost to buy that particular vehicle here in Costa Rica. The fees have nothing to do with how much you acquired the vehicle for.

Why I’m even thinking about this again is because our truck – and our car – are constantly in the shop being repaired. The road conditions here in Costa Rica ensure the mechanics stay in business! So we’re thinking about buying a brand new car with a warranty. But the thought of spending that crazy kind of money really bums me out.

Anyone else out there go through the experience of bringing a car or truck into Costa Rica? Would you be willing to share your experience with us?

The legal system in the United States is hard enough (okay, impossible) for me to understand.  But then try to figure this all out in Costa Rica! More than overwhelming.

Many of you already know about our existing problem with the property we bought last year. In short, someone sold us property that  includes a parcel of property sold by the same seller to another buyer 10 years ago.

Two weeks after moving in, the “other guy” broke onto our property by cutting through the fence and then continued to cut down all of our 40 fruit trees claiming the land was his and he was going to build a house for his daughter.

The seller, Karen Belyea, has been hiding out in Canada while we have been sued three different ways by this other guy. He is claiming, of course, that we stole his property and that we stole his tools, not to mention a further claim that we threatened him and two other big guys with a rifle and a machete. (Need I even say we don’t own a gun or a machete? Not to mention that by time we arrived back at the property the police were already here.)

The first two lawsuits were dropped, thank God. The third came before a judge in a preliminary audience this morning. I’m happy to say that, though we won’t have her decision for 10 to 45 days, things went well for us.

The hearing (audience) was surprisingly informal. We met in the judges “chambers” in private. Each lawyer was given the chance to present their case – or in our situation a defense.

Supposedly if the judge throws the case out, this guy can't come back on us for "usurpacion" (stealing someone's property) or "assault with a weapon." But he can (and will be) directed to file a civil lawsuit. The judge already suggested he might think about such a thing -- but against the seller. We'll see. This guy doesn't give up easily. (Did I fail to mention that he didn't actually pay for the property, but isntead stole it from this woman in Canada who didn't know what she was signing when she filed the original paperwork on the sale?)

One would assume (very dangerous) that since we bought the land in good faith, we would have some sort of recourse. As it turns out, unless we spend a fortune in legal fees and sue all parties (which supposedly would take up to 10 years), we have nobody to turn to for support in this country. What about people with even less money than us? Do they just lose everything?

These kinds of land games are famous here in Costa Rica and number in the thousands. The legal fees for JUST TODAY’S hearing were $11,000. Can you imagine a 10-year process and what that would cost?

I can already hear you saying, “Why didn’t you research the property before buying?” Well we spent a ton of money on that too. But it turns out most of the documents in the Registro (town hall record department) were filed (and accepted mind you) illegally. Bottom line is we had no way to further verify what appeared to be perfectly free & clear property documents.

I’m still searching for the greater lesson in all of this. The only advice I can give to other people who are buying land in Costa Rica is to beware of these kinds of problems. Spend all the money you want researching, planning, preparing and “protecting” yourselves, but in the end it’s still a crap shoot.

This is a reprint of a letter I wrote yesterday to the editor of the Tico Times in response to an article published in the May 26, 2006 edition entitled, "Tips on Shipping Items into Costa Rica."

Dear Editor:

I wanted to comment about your article this past week about "Tips on Shipping Items into Costa Rica." I can really appreciate the reason for the article, as getting goods shipped here to Costa Rica can be challenging -- at best. But as optimistic as the article presents the subject, I find the reality of receiving packages here in Costa Rica to be much different.

I originally used Jetbox, but had to say goodbye to them and search for another service. I always sent things to my Miami Jetbox address using a tracking number. But quite often I would have to wait 2 to 3 weeks to receive my package here after my package was received at the Jetbox office in Miami.

Now I use DHL's Net Express service, but I occasionally run into problems with them as well. For instance, they have had a package of mine for four months and can't seem to get it to me. Sadly, the goods are perishable and have already reached their expiration date. They did fax me a bill for 300% tax on the total of what I bought. We're talking $150 tax on $50 worth of espresso pods here folks.

But what I find more frustrating is the fact that I get charged way more tax than I should for the items I order. This week I picked up something from the DHL office that cost me $5. I was taxed $10. A few months ago I paid 50% tax on a DVD. They called me today and told me I had a $10 book from Amazon to pick up and it would cost me $5 in taxes to claim.

In the end, I'm finding that it's better to do without than it is to end up paying too much and getting upset. I've also had to reduce my expectations of these companies. Customer service is an oddity to them and I've never ever received a return phone call from them when they say they'll "research" the problem and get back to me. I end up having to start all over again with the next person and the cycle continues.

I really feel like a prisoner of the system. Someone gets away with over-charging for taxes. I have nobody to hold responsible. DHL blames aduana, and aduana doesn't respond to my questions. Perhaps sometime you can do an article on customer service?

Kind regards,

Scott Pralinsky
Paraiso de Cartago

As most of you know, I don’t usually use this blog as a political soap box. But sometimes something crosses my desk that moves me to say something. The evil empire, Halliburton, won another US contract (surprise, surprise).

According to their website, their “Government and Infrastructure division has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the event of an emergency.”

Furthermore, they say “the contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs.”

How interesting. The US is preparing themselves for an “emergency influx of immigrants.” More surprising to me than that is the possibility (or is it already a reality?) that they will rapidly develop new programs? What kind of “new programs” require a “Detention and Removal” facility?

Who are they going to detain and remove from the US now? Gays, lesbians, Muslims? Read the entire press release here.

I often find that, in general, Costa Ricans (Ticos) have wonderful manners. Their mothers have taught them well! For example, you won’t find a Tico who would enter your house without first asking, “Con permiso?” (Unless he is a thief!) That means, “With your permission?” Waiters will also always use that phrase when leaving your table.

Another of my favorite phrases is “Para servirle.” Literally meaning, “To serve you.” After you ask for something in a store or say thank you for the service you just received, you’ll also hear the same thing. This weekend I was walking past a vendor in the mall. She very politely smiled and said, “Para servirle!” – of course, trying to get my attention and let me know she’s there if I’d care to buy anything.

On the other hand Ticos can be very offensive and rude in certain situations. I have this friend with whom I’ve tried to make plans with many times. He always says, “Sure! Let’s do that.” And then we make plans to meet somewhere at a specific time and place. He never shows up! Needless to say, after getting burnt several times now, I’m not going to make plans with him anymore.

He is certainly not the only Tico who does that to me. If they show up at all, they are terribly late. I had firm plans with two people on Saturday night. We were meeting at the mall at 7:00 pm. One didn’t show up at all and the other was an hour late!

From what I understand and have experienced, it just seems that Ticos don’t like confrontation. They want to please everyone and tell you what they think you want to hear. One last example is going someplace like a farmer’s market. Someone trying to sell their goods to a Tico will never hear back, “No thank you.” Ticos will tell them, “Sure. On my way back over this way” or something to that effect. All parties know it’s a lie, but it’s the way things are done here!

I thought I'd let you know that the prices of postage stamps just went up about 15 days ago. Now sending mail within Costa Rica costs 115 colones for the first ounce and 155 colones from Costa Rica to the US. This reflects an increase of 35 colones (about 7 US cents) for the international stamp. I found out the hard way yesterday when I took some mail in to the post office. I had already placed my stamps on the letters. So when they told me that the prices went up, I asked for the "make up" stamp rate to add postage to my letters. I was informed there is no such thing as a stamp with a value of less than 115 colones here in Costa Rica.

How crazy is that? At first I was a bit perterbed. But then I realized that there is probably nobody except me who actually buys postage ahead of time in this country. Costa Ricans are nuts for standing in lines no matter where they go. I just don't understand it. I suppose it comes from a long history of not having enough money. Perhaps the mindset is that they would rather not spend 30 cents on a stamp they are not using now, so they can use that 30 cents for something else.

And just as I thought they were crazy, they thought I was pretty crazy too when I stuck the new stamp on top of the old one that was no good. But what did they expect me to do? I can't use the darn thing!

I've really been thinking this over for the last 24 hours" Is it better to buy things in advance to help us save time from standing in lines? Or is it better to adopt an attitude of "live for the moment?" Where do we draw the line between American over-consumtion and smart investment of our time and money?

It took over 2 years, but I finally saw my first Costa Rican snake yesterday. This comes a week after my friend, Colin, lost his dog to a snake bite. Isaac and I had just driven home and all the (five) dogs came out to the gate to meet us. But stretched out all across the entire gate was this green, almost transparent snake. It was doing the crazy snake thing with his tongue. I was so afraid the dogs were going to get bitten! But all ended well. The snake jumped at me and I ran away like a little girl. Then Isaac tried to run it over with the truck! But the little bugger got away. We're told it was a "lapas" snake, but I couldn't find any info about it anywhere.

We do have lots of snakes in Costa Rica. But I guess I've just been lucky that I hadn't seen any before this one. A couple of years ago on the property that we own, one of our workers, Jose, had a run in with coral snake (extremely dangerous). I'm hoping I don't meet her!

In this episode we begin to look at assimilating to life here in Costa Rica. Surely not the last time we'll visit this subject. Today we talk about customer service, phone & internet service with ICE / RACSA, as well as a bit on mail servcies such as DHL's Net Express, JetBox and Aerocasillas.

In the show, I promise to provide you with the following links:

• DHL's Net Express mail service.
• JetBox mail service
• Aerocasillas mail service
• ICE telephone service FAQ
• ICE (RACSA) internet service
• Skype internet calling

Do keep an eye open for next week's show when I will most likely be moving over to a different podcasting host. I may not be able to figure out how to automatically change my feed address with iTunes, so may need to you re-subscribe to keep getting the latest Crazy Jungle Podcast episodes.

Please do keep your questions and comments coming! You can listen to the podcast below, or subsribe to it via iTunes.

MP3 File

Some of you will remember me speaking about my friend, Colin, who owns a gay guest house in Puerto Viejo. Well this week we were chatting and he told me about an email he received this week from an organization in the United States. It's a home for children.

They were looking for Colin to donate a few nights -- or a week -- for free so the organization could auction it off on eBay.

Colin's response was kind of surprising to me. He told the guy:

I am very surprised that you would be marketing to "developing countries" for donations to your charities.  I can assure you that if you have travelled to one, you'll realize that our first priority here is to help our own communities here rather than donate our meager resources to the richest country in the world that refuses to pay enough taxes to finace education and heath care for it's citizens that are most in need.

If you have any extra funds, there is a project here called The Bridge is in desperate need for the native children of this area.  This is where I currently direct my resources.  I hope you understand my position.

I do realize that this is a charity trying their hardest to raise funds for their own group. Certainly the shortcomings of the US government aren't their fault (directly). But Colin does have a good point. Any thoughts out there on other possible responses? Do you think Colin was right?

Having worked most of my life in the United States, I got kinda used to the way sick days work. Usually I worked for a company which gave me 5 to 10 sick days per year. If I felt sick, I just didn't go in. No questions asked. And I still got paid.

Here in Costa Rica if one were to get sick, they need to bring a doctor's note to be able to get 50% pay. If they are sick, don't get the permission and still stay out of work.....they run the risk of being fired. I've seen it happen!

What does that say about our level of trust? What does it teach our society? Talk about feeling restricted and controlled!

Costa Rica has long held a reputation as a hide-out for criminals. Supposedly that has changed, but I still hear plenty of stories. I imagine when CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) is finally and inevitably passed, the US government will have more say and control over things here.

One big problem has been Costa Rica’s way of handling pedophiles. To date, they are still allowed to be teachers after getting out of jail. The latest ridiculous thing to happen is the release of a guy named Calvert Bleasdale.

Bleasdale is the former San Cristobal sales manager who was apprehended in Panama and extradited to Costa Rica not long ago. He was wanted here on charges of fraud. As the story goes, he swindled investors out of millions of dollars selling them fake sugarbonds and other non existing investment vehicles. He then kept the money himself and eventually fled the country to Mexico and Brazil.

He somehow ended up later in Panama, where he worked as a sales manager for the land and investment scam San Cristobal, which has since seized to exist with its principal Tom McMurrain in jail in Atlanta, Georgia. Two defrauded investors from Costa Rica had tracked him down, and handed him to the Panamanian police which in its turn shipped him onwards to Costa Rica.

Bleasdale has an impressive and well documented history of child sex abuse. In Panama he became a client of infamous Madam Tonya, who ran a child prostitution ring which was basically being protected by the authorities.

Costa Rican prosecutors have now dropped all charges against Bleasdale and even let him keep his residency. The reason stated is that not enough victims came forward to file criminal complaints and/or came to Costa Rica to give evidence in court. However, it looks more like a case of lazy or even corrupt prosecutors.

"The problem I have with this is that there is overwhealming evidence of everything he did, a very large fraud," says one of Bleasdale's victims. "Maybe Costa Rica can give Bleasdale a job in a kindergarten considering they have that information on his criminal sexual abuse of children," he added.

Today is day five of no water here in the house. I tell you, that’s one thing I took for granted when I moved here. I really thought basic things like electricity and water would be readily accessible. And it’s not that they aren’t available,  they just aren’t reliable.  It’s not unusual for us to be without water 2 to 3 days a week on average.

I keep wondering if our lack of water has to do with the fact we’ve filed official complaints against the city for dumping sewage into our property. But I honestly don’t think they are advanced enough to be able to control water to one person’s property. Their systems seem pretty antiquated. 

We do have a water tank, but it only lasts so long. So when we are out of water it really makes us appreciate the need for conservation. I wonder what we could be doing on a regular basis to conserve water – be it from the city or from our well (which we’re not connected to at the moment, but perhaps we should be).

We had a friend arrive yesterday after 7-hours of riding three different busses to get here. Needless to say, he needed a shower. Thankfully there was enough water to stand underneath the shower as it dribbled onto him. But it made me think about how some people just aren’t cut out for “roughing it” and that I should warn our gests before they arrive!

One of the most amazing things to me is that it seems to be acceptable to receive this kind of intermittent service. I certainly don’t hear of anyone pulling together petitions or storming city hall. After all, we pay for a full month’s worth of water. It’s not metered. And we certainly don’t get what we pay for!

I guess I keep imagining that someday the service will improve.

I guess with the world's ever-increasing population it should come as no surprise that the traffic here in Costa Rica is getting worse. I was in downtown San Jose yesterday at 5pm near Parque La Sabana. It normally takes me one hour to get home to Paraiso de Cartago from there. Yesterday it took me over two hours!

The government is implementing new measures to cut down on traffic, but mostly to save on fuel. Last year they began a ban on 20% of the cars driving through downtown Monday thru Friday. Basically, if you have a license plate ending in 1 or 2, you can't drive on Monday within the downtown limits, or expect a fine. Then there are different days assigned to different license plate numbers.

Now they just began re-routing many of the bus routes to try and ease congestion a bit. Those busses which used to run down Paseo Colon are now traveling down Ave 1 and Ave 10.

I think they ought to start thinking about new roads and repairing the ones they have. But when we're talking about poor countries with bad credit ratings and a rapidly-increasing population --- it's a recipe for disaster!

I received a comment today about my post, "Exercise in Frustration." I knew someone was going to call me on complaining. That's okay! I appreciate it. I do want to keep a careful balance between expressing my love for Costa Rica -- and being realistic about some of the things that are hard to get used to here.

In Terry's comment today he said, "What I see is arrogance and a blind assumption of superiority running around constantly looking for something to complain about. In those long lines, The only people I ever hear grumbling are gringos."

I hear you Terry! I admit I get irritated by the complaining Gringos too. And I certainly don't want to become one of them. I really do LOVE it here. In general, my quality of life is 100 times better and I only regret not having moved here earlier. I, too, left the US so I wouldn't be in that mindset and have to deal with all the "spoiled" people.

But that being said......Costa Rica is less than perfect. For instance, I got a call today from DHL. There is a package of espresso waiting for me at their office, but they are holding it at the airport location because I have to go and pay FIFTY PERCENT taxes on the purchase price.

I really wish it were that simple. But in reality, I have to:

• Go to the DHL office almost 2 hours away from my home.
• Find someone to review the contents of the package with me.
• Wait for them to fill out a mountain of paperwork.
• Stop by a copy center and make a copy so I can give one to the auduana office.
• Drive to the aduana office.
• Fill out more forms.
• Pay a tax.
• Wait for someone else to enter the data into the computer.
• Go buy a "timbre".
• Have my paperwork reviewed and approved.
• Drive back to DHL and get another signature.
• Go pay the "rent" for the few days the box was there.
• Head back to the original person and pick up my box.
• Drive back home almost 2 hours.

The last time I did this it took 4 hours (plus driving), during which time I had to see 19 different people.

It's not that I'm not appreciative of life and can't "let go" a bit. I just would love to see some basic things improved....AND am willing to help with the process, not just complain. But it's tough to find avenues to do so when I am the "extranjero." Though I've been here a couple of years and I consider this "my" country now, it will take many more years (if ever) that I'm accepted as a resident. And it'll take longer before Costa Rica streamlines some of these processes.

So I just try to remind myself that I live in "paradise" and move on. But I do think it's my duty to be realistic on my blog about what people can expect when they are considering moving here. It may be a hell of a lot better than the US, but it isn't all roses!

I just went to a BBQ this past Sunday. It was really nice to take a drive to Grecia (almost 2 hours from where I live) on a beautiful afternoon and hang out with fun, laid-back people. The picture to the left is a 5,000 colones bill. There is a picture below of folks from the BBQ.

I understand this part of the culture: taking time out on a regular basis to relax with people you really enjoy. Ticos seem to do a good job of this – much better than other cultures.

The part that I have a hard time getting used to is the financial end of things. Usually when I go to a party here in Costa Rica, there are snacks provided. And I have to bring my own booze. Though it’s not what I was used to, I can deal with it.

This last host threw in a new twist though. We were required to pay 3,000 colones (about $6) for the BBQ meat and bring our own booze. Could we pay at the door? Heck no! We were asked to bring our $6 to the bank, wait in line for a half hour and then deposit the funds in the host’s bank account.

I’d gladly pay double or triple if I didn’t need to go to the bank! But after talking to friends here, this is not totally out-of-the-ordinary.

Is it because I came from the US where everyone is crazy about making things faster and easier? Nothing here in Costa Rica seems “fast” or “easy.” And it is certainly an exercise in “letting go” in order to not let things bother me. (It’s okay Scott, just breathe!)

Thankfully, Isaac went to the bank for us. I would have just skipped the BBQ.

One of the many things a person has to get used to when they move to Costa Rica is the level of service you can expect. I’ve already written about customer service issues before, but today I’m talking specifically about expectations versus the reality of reliable service.

Take for example something so simple as water. I am lucky if I have water in my house four out of seven days of the week. This has gone on for two years. I guess this is normal. Certainly I don’t see anyone picketing in front of town hall or refusing to pay their ($4) monthly bill.

Can you imagine only having water in the US or Canada for 4 out of 7 days per week? People would be rioting in the streets! Here we just say, “Oh. We don’t have water again today.”

What is it with customer service these days? Here in Costa Rica I’m getting used to the non-existent service. But when I have to deal with US companies, I’m continually shocked at the poor service.

For instance, I looked on my credit card statement today and saw that a magazine subscription got charged to my card twice. I wanted to send them an email, but when I went to their “contact us” page, the only departments available were advertising or letter to the editor.

So I had to call long distance from Costa Rica to try and get my refund. When I mentioned to them that their was a problem with the website and I would have much rather communicated to them that way, I was rudely told that many people send emails and I clearly don’t know what I’m doing.

Continue reading "Customer Service" »