Pet Care in Costa Rica

I am very happy to write this article on the quality of pet care available to you here in Grecia, El Cajon, and in fact all the surrounding areas as well. Since most of us here are “empty nesters”, almost all of us expats who live in Costa Rica are pet lovers of some sort – dogs, cats, birds, etc. And in most cases, we care about their health more than our own.

As in most cases, our own experience is the most telling, so I will start there. A year ago, on New Year’s Day, Truman – our eldest – began whimpering when walking and yelping painfully when trying to run or jump. Considering how much of a ball chaser he is, it was a painful situation for us as much as it was for him. We called César Seco by reference of our trusted friend Elaine, and in less than two hours he was here at the house examining Truman and in less than 5 minutes diagnosed him with Patellar Luxation, which is common to the breed of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. We began his treatment plan, and in less than two months Truman was walking, running, and chasing his ball again. He waits for help in getting up on couches, chairs, etc., but we feel like we have our dog back again. $24 later, our visit from our veterinarian on New Year’s Day was concluded. How often would that happen in the States and on New Year’s Day? My ventured guess is almost never.

Cheryl (my wife), being the self-admitted over-reactor, recently called César to check out a bump on Cooper’s back. Again he arrived at the house, did a thorough checkup, gave Cooper a shot, told Cheryl to rub some cortisone on the affected area, and four days later no bump.

If you feel your special pet might be a bit modest about allowing a male vet examine personal areas, you may request service from César’s beautiful wife, Alejandra, who is also a vet.

Again I say, fret not about the availability of good vet care here in Grecia, El Cajon, and the surrounding areas as we trust our most valued possessions to César’s care. I provide his business card here (click image to enlarge) to confidently refer him and for you to always know where to find his number. Nicer people you will not meet, and the home visit is just a huge bonus for you and your pet! Our pets always feel more comfortable in their home environment, and we don’t want to lug them around when they feel bad. And once you see him (or them), you will receive a follow-up phone call regarding the visit and an email from them every other month or so just checking in on you and your pet(s). Could you possibly ask for better service?

So there you go, and as always, our wish for you is Pura Vida!

Can You Buy Blue Jeans in Costa Rica?

We try to cover people, points of interest, cool things to do, and all the information that someone might want to find out if they were considering a move or even just a visit to Costa Rica. The most valuable information we can provide is that for which you, our readership, ask. Chances are someone else has the same question, so we want to encourage you to seek the information YOU want to know about Costa Rica. So please write to us at david@costaricalandtoday.com or drop a comment anywhere on the blog if you would like a certain topic covered or a specific question answered.

The “better” half of Don from Dallas (our soon-to-be neighbor) has questioned whether one could find blue jeans in Costa Rica, so we set out on our mission to find blue jeans in the new mall that just opened in Grecia and then in the MultiPlaza in Escazu. She, rather they, will be coming for a visit to Grecia in a couple of weeks, and Cheryl (my wife) has the assignment of showing Carol (the questioner) various places where she might take Don’s credit card to do “blue jean damage.”

We began our foray by seeking out recognizable brand names and were quite successful as you can see from the associated pictures. However, please know that Costa Rica is also a country where major brands seek to distribute seconds, overstocks, and outdates, so cheaper prices can be found throughout Grecia and, in fact, the entire country. We have a Raul Vega department store in Grecia that carries all major brands including the bargains I mentioned and now that we have the new mall, which is only 3-4 minutes from our house, we have most of the availability of all types of sports to very formal clothing and yes, blue jeans! We even have a Trek bicycle store in Grecia, which includes all the associated clothing, helmets, and specialty equipment for the ultra-enthusiasts.

Just a brag, but Victoria’s Secret has a manufacturing facility here in Costa Rica, so clothing for all occasions is available. I maintain hope for the sake of our male readership that they run into “out-of-stock” conditions frequently!

It’s almost not news anymore when we get a new fast food place in Grecia as we wrote an article on our new Burger King and Church’s (see previous post We Just Got Cityfied). But the new mall has added a Papa John’s pizza, KFC, and a few others that I cannot remember at this point, so I will leave the junk food posts alone until we see some golden arches.

A final note on the blue jean availability question: I have only worn blue jeans perhaps half a dozen times as shorts are the dress code of the day unless it gets a little chilly out at night. Most formal restaurants in Costa Rica accept shorts and a nice shirt, similar to dress codes in the nicer restaurants in Hawaii. The dress code police have not been allowed in the country to date, so “tranquilo” (relax)!

Until next post, Pura Vida!!

Where We Put Our Money!!

Another very common question we get here in Grecia is about where we deposit our income, and this is a simple one for us. We use Banco Nacional, which is right in the heart of downtown Grecia, and the biggest reason we use Banco Nacional is that it is a government bank with deposit guarantees similar to those we have in the States by the FDIC. We do not keep large amounts there, but rather a monthly amount to cover a month’s living expenses in Grecia. Certainly we wired some fairly large amounts while we were building the house and to purchase the car and for a few other large purchases, but for the most part, especially now that we are done, we rarely have more than a few thousand in the bank. And that is dollars by the way.

You might ask why we transfer dollars and maintain a U.S. dollar account, and the answer is simple. The residency requirements state that since we are Rentistas, we must convert $1,000 dollars per month to cover both our requirements for residency. Those who are Pensionados and their Social Security checks are less than that amount can qualify on amounts as low as $600 dollars per couple (see Residency Requirements and Classifications in Costa Rica for more details).

We have many more reasons for using Banco Nacional, and certainly one is that it is a nationwide bank, not just here in Grecia. And finding a branch or ATM is a very easy thing to do.

It is also a fairly large bank with full-range services, including payment of utility bills and user-friendly electronic transfers. Cheryl handles all our bank stuff and if she has a problem, she can call the customer service and get all the help she needs and in English.

As we have taken quite a few folks there and helped them open personal and corporate accounts (for purchase of property), we are well-known at the bank and get very friendly service, and Mariela, pictured here, is VERY friendly and yes, she speaks enough English to help non-Spanish speakers through any transaction.

I tried to take a picture of the inside of the bank, but they asked me to focus on Mariela and the outside of the bank for security reasons. So unfortunately, I could not illustrate that all the conveniences you are used to in the States are right here in Banco Nacional in downtown Grecia!!

Bring Local Dough!

Many folks have asked about bringing $100 bills to Costa Rica and with the recent asking by Megan from Pennsylvania, I feel this now deserves an article to cover the question. My answer to you is to bring colones with you, which is the local currency here in Costa Rica. If you fly American from the western half of the States, you will stop through Dallas and there is an international currency exchange place in the airport. If you fly Continental from the western half of the States, you will stop in Houston before flying to Costa Rica and there is another international currency exchange place there. From the right-hand half of the States, the entry point wherever you embark for the final leg to Costa Rica is where you will have an international currency exchange window.

Out of courtesy to the locals and to reduce your confusion, you will want to have the local currency. Few places, even banks unless you have an account with them, will want to deal with your $100 bills. The more exclusive hotels will probably be able to deal with your big bills, but you will not receive a favorable exchange rate. And outside the nicer hotels, they will be hard to break. The people of Costa Rica are very paranoid of counterfeiters, and many stores won’t take anything over a $20 bill if they accept dollars at all. It is very confusing for the locals to take foreign currency as the exchange rate is constantly in flux, and they will probably charge a premium to cover the exchange to make sure they get their just due.

If you forget or can’t find an exchange place, there is one at the airport here in Costa Rica and I wouldn’t guess the exchange rate to be favorable there either, and more importantly, you will be wanting to get to your baggage and customs, etc. If you forget altogether, we can take you to our bank here in Grecia and get the exchange thing done for you. If you use the international exchange places at the airports, they will guarantee your exchange rate back to bucks when you return. So, if you bring extra $100 bills, please know you will probably need and want to break them to colones when you get here. Current exchange rate is about 550+ colones to one dollar, so you will feel rich and your pockets will be full!

Until next post…

Gimme a Cut Please!

Just another one of those “services” that we don’t think about much until we’re here in Costa Rica and then we seek the input of others or we just experiment around until we find what we want, and that can be trying as we want more than the army type of haircut with an electric razor, which means a scissor cut from a salon, not a barber.

Today I am talking about a good place to get a haircut, one comparable to the one I used to go to in Dallas for a haircut that I was paying way too much for. You will be pleased to know that this quality of haircut can be obtained right here in Grecia, and more importantly, I can get my hair cut 4 times for what I paid in the States! That is a huge difference, and I am very happy to tell you about it! Cheryl and I both go there, and the people in the salon are all very nice and with all their hearts, they aim to please. They have all the hair and body products you could want, most of which are imports from the States. Andrea, the proprietor, is quite fashionable and also carries a wide variety of purses and costume jewelry.

She is learning English at an impressive rate, and it is quite comical to watch her speaking English to me whilst I practice my Spanish on her.

They provide a full range of services that include:

• Haircuts (with scissors and layering just like in the States).
• Manicures and pedicures (I’ve seen quite decorative fingernail painting too!).
• Hair coloring and frosting.
• Massages and nutritional information.

Andrea and team are located just up the street from the Red Metal Church in downtown Grecia in the same building as our recommended attorney Sylvia Eastwood. Stay tuned to this very channel for an upcoming article on Sylvia, as one of the most important contacts you can have in Costa Rica is a meticulous attorney who speaks English!

Dr. Who?

No, this is not the beginning of a James Bond thriller, but merely a brief introduction to our family physician, Dr. Jose Francisco Jimenez Q., who is young enough, I think, for me to call him Jose, but he still commands my respect of his skills as a doctor, so I intersperse calling him Jose and Doctor. I feel like he is a friend, and yet I certainly respect his abilities and I want to convey both to him.

He has been our GP, family doctor for over a year, and I trust him with my own health and that of my family’s. I even involved him recently in a prescription for Truman, who has a difficult time with the lightening and thunder here during the rainy season, and I want to say he went to extra lengths to call a close-by vet to validate the appropriate medicine and proper amount by weight.

While I joke with him way more than I have a right to, I can get away with it since my mother cannot see my disrespect of the good doctor from where she is, and for reasons unknown he tolerates me. He oftentimes speaks Spanish to me to help me learn more, but when it comes to health issues that might be over my Spanish head, he breaks out into very good English to ensure his practice of medicine is clearly communicated.

I have his home phone number and yes, I have called him there, and he answers and he talks to you just like an ordinary person does. I recently asked him if he would make house calls and he responded, “Of course, it is very customary in Costa Rica because many of my clients do not have transportation.” Being the shy and introverted person that I am, I then asked if this would hurt his ego or his reputation to be seen outside his office on a house call. He replied, “…there is no ego thing involved as it is customary for doctors to make house calls.” Please compare this to how many doctors you know in the States who will visit you at your home and you have their home phone number. It is really refreshing. It is one of those things that make me say we are living in the “United States of the 1950s.”

I respect him highly (please don’t tell him I said that), and if I trust him with my family and dogs (no, he is not a vet), then it is very easy for me to recommend him to you and your family for the general practice of medicine. His office is in downtown Grecia, and he coincidentally lives among us in El Cajon de Grecia. Please contact me at CostaRicaLandToday if you want his number, office or home.

His father, also Dr. Jimenez, conveniently runs the laboratory downstairs, and he performs all my blood tests (and there are many) and I have threatened his father, Dr. Jimenez, jokingly that if I ever have pain in his clinic, I will demand kisses from his staff, all of whom are pretty young girls, and nary even one kiss have I gotten! I think I am going to have to start learning how to fake the pain! Until next post……….

How Safe Is Costa Rica?

A question often asked is, “Is Costa Rica safe?” The answer, to a great extent, is yes.

The crime rate in Costa Rica is the lowest in Latin America, and Costa Rica is, without a doubt, the safest country in Central America. Over one and a half million tourists, most of them Americans, visit Costa Rica every year, and they feel as safe as ever exploring the country. The Ticos on the whole are very friendly and warm people by nature, and they live a simple life devoid of all its excesses. There are no acts of terrorism in Costa Rica, and recreational drugs, other than tobacco and alcohol, are illegal. And, as mentioned in Costa Rica: a Land of Peace, Costa Rica has no standing army, and unlike all other countries in Latin America, the country has not experienced any political strife since 1949.

With the single exception of robbery, the crime rate in Costa Rica is very low compared to other countries. For the purpose of comparison, according to the United Nations’ Seventh Annual Survey on Crime, crimes recorded in police statistics show that the crime rate for all index crimes (murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft) in Costa Rica was 1208.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1999, comparing very well with 1529.75 for Japan (country with a low crime rate) and 4184.24 for the U.S. (country with a high crime rate).

The crime in Costa Rica is generally much lower and less violent than that in the States, and the crime here tends to be opportunistic as opposed to violent. In other words, rapes and murders in Costa Rica are very few, almost unheard of, compared to those in the States, but petty theft, car theft, and pick-pocketing are not uncommon here, especially in downtown San Jose and on the beach. In smaller towns, the crime rate is much lower.

It’s always best to exercise caution at all times, not only when visiting Costa Rica, but also when visiting any other foreign country. Traveling to any country is not without some risk. The good news is that you can very much enjoy a safe and wonderful stay in Costa Rica by following the simple common-sense safety tips outlined below, which also apply to any other foreign country you may want to visit.

• Be careful when stepping into the wild, going off a beaten path, or roaming national parks. Pay attention to warning signs, and always check with your guide if there’s any danger ahead.
• Be very wary of dangerous trails, volcanic areas, riptides, and waves.
• Do not swim into the ocean. There are few lifeguards, so always stay near other bathers.
• Do not walk alone in secluded areas or go into public parks late at night.
• Steer clear of deserted side streets, properties, or undeveloped land.
• Watch your luggage, never leave it unattended, and write your name on it.
• Do not hand your luggage to any stranger except the airport porters who carry an official identification.
• Lock your doors and your luggage when staying at a hotel.
• Do not carry a lot of money or flash big wads of money, and remember to keep your wallet in a safe place. It is also recommended to wear a money belt.
• Make sure that your personal belongings (keys, laptop, cell phone, credit card(s), etc.) are within reach, in a secure place, and never out in the open.
• As a foreigner, your passport is your ID. Keep your passport in a secure place, and always keep several photocopies of your passport as well as your Costa Rica airline ticket and insurance policy.
• Do not make yourself a target for thieves and pickpockets – do not wear flashy jewelry or expensive watches.
• Do not hold expensive equipment, such as cameras, all the time while walking.
• Guard yourself against car theft – always lock your car, and do not leave your keys or anything of value in your car even if you run into a store or supermarket for a few seconds to buy something.
• Do not park your car on the street – use secured private parking lots whenever possible.
• Use your common sense, do not trust anyone who approaches you and wants to act like your tour guide, and do not get separated from your tour group.

If you fall victim to any crime, please report the incident to the local police and contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance.

Be not afraid! Remember that traveling to any country in the world is not without some risk, and you should follow these safety precautions anywhere you go. With some common sense, no crime will ever happen to you and you will find Costa Rica a safe and wonderful country to visit or stay. Most of this advice is well taken in the States.

We have not suffered any crime that we are aware of in the last two years (knock on wood), but that can happen in just about any community in the world. Remember, the crime rate in the U.S. is about 4 times as high as it is here in Grecia. And in Dallas, TX, I had my Chevy Blazer stolen twice (only to steal the radio) and had the house burglarized once, so things like these can happen here, in the U.S., or anywhere else.

If you want to talk to us about any of the safety tips above or want to share some of your own, please contact us at CostaRicaLandToday.com. Your comments and feedback are much appreciated. Till next post!

Pura Vida!

Job Opportunities in Costa Rica

Even though we came to Grecia to retire and we had no inclinations to get into real estate, it evolved that way through requests, opportunities of listings, and our continued observations of Americans being taken advantage of by other Americans. Cheryl and I could find plenty to occupy ourselves with in full retirement, even at our youthful retirement ages of the mid 50s. There are many of you who feel the need to subsidize your retirement, or you just have the need to work. Remembering that you cannot just go to a company and apply for a job because of Costa Rican law, so what are your options and opportunities?

Finding jobs in Costa Rica for foreigners can be a little tricky, and foreigners must either get a work permit, which is granted on an occupational priority basis and must be renewed every year, through their employer or apply for residency through a lawyer if they want to start their own business. The paperwork can take months, but the process can be a lot easier if you visit our recommended specialist at http://www.residencycr.com/residency.html. On the other hand, scientists, artists, sports figures, clergymen of any religion, spouses of Costa Rican citizens (Ticos or Ticas), and those who own or hold stocks in registered Costa Rican companies can get their work permit quite easily. The Director of Immigration may also grant a few exceptions to doctors and nurses, especially those who come to Costa Rica for humanitarian service, as well as bilingual professors.

Obviously the tourist trade has the most opportunity, but that could represent my own closed mind. Opportunities exist everywhere if someone has the imagination and bold tenacity to pursue it. The most common jobs for Americans are the ones that are hard to fill by Costa Ricans: teaching English as a foreign language or working as English-speaking tour guides, receptionists or front desk agents in tourist hotels, or real estate agents. Most of these jobs require fluency in both English and Spanish. Remember that you should always search for a job while in Costa Rica, as not many schools and hotels will hire you from overseas. Some Americans might also be able to find jobs in multinational companies operating in Costa Rica like Intel, Motorola, etc. You can always find other jobs by simply looking in the local English-language newspaper The Tico Times, the main Spanish-language newspapers, or the yellow pages.

Foreigners may also choose to start their own business in Costa Rica, something which I strongly recommend since there are few restrictions on self-employed foreign residents. As self-employed, you don’t need any work permit, and all you have to do is apply for residency in Costa Rica. Foreigners do not face any restrictions on owning and operating a business in Costa Rica, and there are no restrictions on capital or profit repatriation and foreign currency management. Business taxation rates are very low, and forming a company or opening up a new business in Costa Rica is easy and very inexpensive. Forming a corporation generally costs between $300 and $600 and takes between two and three months. Plus, no Costa Rican partner is required for you to start your own business. Just remember that the name of the company should always be in Spanish. You will generally find that Costa Rica is an ideal environment for business, and business opportunities here are indeed endless, some of which are real estate, hotel and tourism, and the food franchise. You can open up your own dive shop, restaurant, or bed and breakfast inn. All of these are great business ideas, and the earnings they will generate are definitely much greater than the income of salaried jobs.

Many Americans visit Costa Rica once a year, and quite a few even decide to stay here for good. The investment-friendly nature of the land, the business opportunities, and the wealth of activities available encourage many to settle down in Costa Rica and start their own business or look for jobs.

You should always open your mind to the opportunities you see that avail themselves to you when you are here. I know a former executive who buys beautiful wood carvings from artisans and travels Costa Rica’s finest hotels Tuesday through Friday and resells these wood carvings, and he does quite well. I have another friend who imports all the touristy gadgets such as key rings, refrigerator magnets, shot glasses, and on and on from China and sells them all over Costa Rica, and she also does quite well. I know two different couples who own and operate B&Bs quite successfully.

We have pet relocation specialists, and we have transition specialists to help people, who don’t know whom to trust here, adjust and find the services they had in the States. You will need doctors, dentists, hairdressers, lawyers, TV repair guys, computer guys, and on and on. Hopefully you will also need a good real estate company in Grecia. May I shamelessly suggest CostaRicaLandToday.Com?

Remember that there are legal and cultural implications to be considered with regard to working in Costa Rica, so it’s always best to visit Costa Rica in person and connect with and learn from your fellow expats before you decide to settle down in Costa Rica and start your own business or look for a job. At CostaRicaLandToday, we are happy to help ease your transition to Costa Rica and address any concerns you might have. So if you have any questions about working in Costa Rica that we haven’t covered in this post, please let us know at CostaRicaLandToday, and we will do our best to answer your questions and bring you closer to the Costa Rican “Pura Vida” lifestyle. Till next post!

The Movies and TV

Something Cheryl and I did almost every week in Dallas was to go to the movies and since we have been living in Costa Rica, there have been only a couple of times that we have been out to see a movie at a theater. Yes, we have a state-of-the-art movie theater here in Grecia with the big comfortable captain’s chairs, and fake-buttered popcorn, just like the States. And no, they are not in Spanish; they are in English with Spanish subtitles so if you do want to go to the movies you will hear the same dialogue you hear in the States and the opportunity to learn some Spanish through the subtitles is just an extra.

What we have become fond of doing is renting the DVD and just watching it at home so we can have the real buttered popcorn and by the way, we get first run movies on DVD the same time they are at movie theaters in the States. Don’t ask me how that works because I don’t care as long as I can watch the very same movie at home as when it comes out in the States. Lots of people want to know how and I really don’t know how because there are lots of questions I just don’t ask.

What many people do not know is that we also have American TV and watch the same channels and with all the features you have in the States. We can watch everything recorded on a DVR and skip through the commercials and see everything first run just the same as you do in the States. Same time—same channel. If you need more information about American TV in Costa Rica, please contact us at CostaRicaLandToday.Com

We miss nothing at all when it comes to watching TV and first run movies in Costa Rica!

Pura Vida from the land of polite smiles, spectacular scenery, and lots of sunshine!

Mail and Parcel Post

There are nuances to the mail and parcel post in Costa Rica that you can begin preparation while in the States just to make things a little easier and have fewer things fall between the cracks once you are here. First, do not expect the mail man to show up at your mailbox each day with magazines, junk mail, bills, and letters from Aunt Matilda. I am going to guess conservatively that more than 90% of the country does not have a mail man to show up at their home. First of all, you won’t have a mailbox and secondly you won’t have a street address. So, how does this all work?

We have a post office box in Grecia that we visit every 3-4 weeks just to see if it has our electric bill, so we can monitor our usage at the house and I think my mother has sent a few things via snail mail to our P.O. Box, but that is about it. Someone sending a letter to that P.O. Box must use 90 cents worth of stamps, so it is definitely more expensive and it arrives in about 6 days. Everything else I have sent to my mother’s house, so obviously nothing very important gets sent there. So the key here to save lots of headaches (and lots of dough) is to cancel all your junk mail, because you can access all your favorite catalogs online, and if you have them mailed here, it will cost the sender or yourself more than a catalog is worth.

The second option, which we did also, is to join ARCR, the Association of Residents of Costa Rica at: http://arcr.net/index.html. They provide a number of services, one of which is a Miami address and all letters and parcels are then forwarded from Miami here to San Jose, where you can pick up your mail or parcels when they notify you by email that you have received something. It is not convenient to go there because it is almost an hour from our house to downtown San Jose, but we get maybe one or two letters a month and maybe one or two parcels a month. And it is not cheap either! Letters cost us about 70 cents on top of what the sender puts on their end. Parcels are charged based on size and weight. I consider this method only because I am an eBayer and most eBay sellers will not sell internationally, so it gives us a U.S. address to which items can be forwarded to us here when I can’t wait for a trip back to the U.S. to pick up the items myself.

The third and final option that I am aware of is a UPS store, and they are just like they are in the States, except again they charge you by weight of received mail or parcels by the month, and again this is in addition to sender charges. They have several programs to choose from and many of them are far closer to home than ARCR in downtown San Jose. Please call anytime at CostaRicaLandToday.Com if you have any questions about these services.