How to Know When You're Completely Acclimated to Costa Rica or 'Tico-ized'
Moving to any new location requires some life adjustments. Relocating to another country comes with a whole other set of unique sensory and life changes that include; learning the culture and traditions, understanding laws, embracing idiosyncrasies and even making a concerted effort to become at least semi-conversational in the language.
U.S. native and Costa Rica resident Charlene Fertig has compiled a list of 33 things a person will know when they have become "completely acclimated" to the ways of Costa Rica. If the humor of the below posting is lost on you, don't worry - you're just not fully "Tico-ized" quite yet...
1. You aren't just surprised that the electrician/plumber/gardener etc has come on time, you're just surprised he came at all.
2. You give everyone you meet, including new acquaintances, a 'cheek to cheek air kiss' to say hello because not doing so is considered 'muy frio'.
3. The sight of really overweight women walking around with their bare bellies hanging out over their pants doesn't even phase you anymore. You've have learned the true meaning of 'Let it all hang out'!
4. You can't speak Spanish without using one of these words: maje, que dicha, si Dios quiere, digámole, tuanis, pura vida.
5. You know Bimbo isn't a slutty woman, it's the brand name of a white bread.
6. You eat 'Gallo Pinto' for breakfast and know that is not a painted rooster and the 'Patrulla' you had for lunch is not a police car.
7. You start speaking in 'Dichos' to make your point. 'El que madruga, come pechuga'.
8. You're not surprised that everything pretty much closes after 10PM.
9. You are not shocked that everyone comments very directly on everyone else's appearance and actually calls them by that name to their face: 'Hey, Gordo, Flaco, Chino, Ñato, Macha'.
10. You have learned that you can say 'caja' 'cajita' and 'cajón' and you can say 'huevo' and 'huevito' but NOT 'huevón'.
11. You no longer try to make Spanish words out of the English simply by adding 'a' or 'o'.......it works with 'beer' but not with 'peach'.
12. Having 5 or more cups of coffee a day no longer seems like a health hazard.
13. You have learned to ask, 'WHERE does this road take me?' instead of 'Does this road take me to such and such place?' because YOU KNOW you will ALWAYS get a 'yes' answer even if they don't know.
14. The sound of barking dogs is now just part of your life and you really don't hear it anymore (even at 3AM).
15. Some of your friends have really religious names like Maria de los Angeles, Jesús, Concepción, José Maria, María Jóse, Ángel, Milagro, Rosario and yet others have permanent nick names like Jonnie, Freddie, Lady, Yanci and Fanci.
16. On instant messages you type 'jajajaja' and not 'hahahaha'.
17. You tell everyone to come at 6 when you really want them to show up at 8.
18. You start to believe that potato or macaroni 'salad' really IS a kind of vegetable.
19. A meal without Salsa Lizano or a Chilero? You MUST be kidding!
20. You realize that 'Que toque!' does not mean that the other person wants to be touched.
21. You're not offended anymore when someone asks you what you paid for your car, clothing, pedigree dog, your house or anything else.
22. You now know that 'ahorita' could mean 5 minutes, 2 hours, 3 weeks or next year.
23. You wait patiently while the clerk, cashier or bank teller finishes their personal phone conversation before they wait on you.
24. Driving 'Kamakazie' style is just normal for you now. WHY stay in your own lane or use your blinker BEFORE you actually turn?
25. You can find any place without an address and from landmarks that haven't existed for years......'500 metros Oeste y 50 Sur de la Magnolia'.
26. You recognize that 'cutting the line' is a highly skilled art form that some people have perfected to a 'T'.
27. Eating cake with a spoon is totally normal for you.
28. You have perfected the art of crossing the street even though every driver seems to want to run you over.
29. You know that you need to stock up on the liquor before Semana Santa because all the alcohol in every store gets locked up.
30. You would LOVE it if 'El Gordo' were yours and it's not the fat guy down the street.
31. You know that the wrist watch that everyone wears is really just another piece of jewelry with no practical function what so ever.
32. You understand and can follow driving directions like 'arriba' and 'abajo' instead of 'right' and 'left' and you also know that 'recto' means 'go straight' and is not referring to your 'rectum'.
33. Ice in my already cold beer? Of course!
How to Know When You're Completely Acclimated or 'Tico-ized' was written and reposted with permission by Charlene Fertig, a U.S. native and Costa Rica resident.
Categories: Learning Spanish in Costa Rica, Moving To Costa Rica, Retire in Costa Rica, Culture in Costa Rica, Retiring in Costa Rica, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica, Humor, Driving in Costa Rica
Tags: Culture Lifestyle Retiring Costa Rica Moving Relocation Living Retirement humor Spanish
I am trying to send something to Costa Rica. Basically, a letter and two DVDs. I think I heard somewhere that when someone there gets a gift, they have to pay money in order to actually claim it or something like that?
Is that true? I don't want this person to have to pay anything... This person is a native of El Salvador but studies in Costa Rica... And I am from the U.S. and I just remember when I studied there, they warned us that it's not worth to have our family send us gifts because we would have to pay for them anyways to pick them up...
Anyone know anything about this, or can provide me any information?
Thank You
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Doble,
I live in Costa Rica and order things via eBay, other online retailers and receive packages from family and friends all the time.
Don't waste your money on any 3rd party mail forwarding service the school or others might suggest as their costs + mandatory customs (Aduana) fees make sending even the simplest things VERY expensive.
If you ship the letter and two DVD's via United States Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail International it will usually arrive in 7 days from the U.S. to a Post Office Box in Costa Rica (Apartado de la Correos de Costa Rica).
A USPS Priority Mail International flat rate envelope will hold up to 4lbs and cost $12.95. If you want to send the items in your own box, simply take it down to your local post office without sealing and the clerk will assist you in finding the least expensive method of shipping and filling out the simple forms.
The school where your friend studies should have a Costa Rica mailing address where this envelope or package can be sent.
There will be no extra fees to your friend as long as the contents are not of "high value" (ie: electronics over $500).
Be sure to insure the contents, declare the items honestly and also obtain a tracking number just in-case it gets 'stuck' somewhere in the Costa Rica system.
¡Pura Correos!
Resource(s):
USPS International Mail Prices: www.USPS.com/Prices/Priority-Mail-International-Prices.htmReply to this
Hey, thank you for answering my question about shipping to Costa Rica.
The person I am shipping to lives in a residential house. It's a house that hosts a lot of international students, but it is not actually part of the university and everything would me mailed directly to that family that owns the house. So everything would be mailed to the house, basically.
I obtained the address, and of course, it's a little quirky. It's in Montealegre in Zapote in San Jose, but the rest of the directions is pretty much like, "200 meters South of here, in front of here, 75 meters of house number 2024, 2 story house, yellow color." Something like that. I mean, this is the address the actual family gave me. Is it safe to really mail it to this address?
I am also wondering, since my package would probably be the small flat-rate package (rather than envelope), will the Costa Rica mailing service just drop the package off at some mailing center and ask the family to pick it up? Or will they actually make an attempt to go to the actual house and see if that person is there?
Well, thank you for your help!
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Doble,
The address given to you for the actual house is typical for Costa Rica. Actual building addresses have just begun to be implemented on a trial basis in certain areas - as you can imagine this is a huge problem not only for postal delivery but also for emergency services such as police, ambulance and fire.
You cannot mail to this address via the United States Postal Service because it will not be delivered and once in the Costa Rica postal system (Correos de Costa Rica) it could simply sit in the holding facility the town called Zapote until your friend tracks it down.
For delivery to the house, you will need to use a private carrier such as UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. This will be EXPENSIVE and still not all that reliable.
The owners of the house and/or school more than likely have or use a post office box (Apartado) for correspondence. Have your friend obtain this information or find another person with a p.o. box to save yourself money and time.
If you cannot find any other solution ... I live 1/2 hour Northeast of downtown San Jose and have an 'apartado'. I would be willing to allow the package to be sent to my mailing address as long as; the item is as described, not illegal and does not require pick-up in Zapote because it gets held by customs due to the content (a letter and 2 DVDs should not have any customs issues).
Hope this information helps!
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Bill, thank you for your information. May I contact you somehow in Costa Rica? Well, in case you were wondering... My name is Dmitry and I am a college student at the University of Pittsburgh and I am trying to send a gift to my girlfriend... So nothing fishy hehe. If it is possible, I would like to call you by using Skype and discuss this. Specifically, I would like to discuss the option of mailing it to your mailbox.
Thank You,
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Dmitry,
I'm happy to discuss with you off-line.
Assuming she is limited to public transportation, I am also willing to 'pay-it-forward' by delivering to a common and nearby location such as the Mall San Pedro food court at a mutually agreed upon day & time.
I'll send you my Skype, phone and mailing information directly.
-Bill
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Your forgot one other item:
You have become ticoized when you refer to the summer season as the winter and the winter season as the summer. It doesn't matter if we are north of the equator (10degrees) or not nor does it matter if every well educated scientist in the world defines summer as when we have the longest day. I believe many of the local schools also teach that summer is winter and vice versa regardless of science.
In fact, I have written an article if anyone is interested which clearly defines this issue scientifically.
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