Hi Everyone

Dee Light, you are embarking on an exciting adventure at the age of 60! I hope it lives up to your expectations!

I'm glad you're doing a lot of reading as this is certainly the first step towards learning. But the main education will come when you actually go there and begin to learn about the country and its people.

One thing I recommend is taking the bus, at least sometimes. That way you really learn how the great majority of Costa Ricans live and maybe get to know the people too if you speak some Spanish.

That's the 2nd thing: Learn Spanish, even if you have never learned a language in your life. Of course it takes years to be able to understand and converse fluently but even the beginning like learning phrases like "Where is the bus stop to _______?" and "I'd like scrambled eggs and coffee with milk" show that you are trying to learn and the people appreciate it. And the more you learn of Spanish, the more you will make friends and be accepted by the Ticos.

Oh, and one more thing I think is good advice for "newbies":
Read the book "Culture Shock: Costa Rica". This is one volume in a series of books about cultures all over the world, including the USA. In fact it is informative to read the one on the USA and see how other cultures see us, too.

Hola DeeLitht!
If you are not sure where you will be residing once you live here. but are planing on retiring on a small fixed budget,visit the small towns. They are charming, clean and way less expensive than Escazu or Santa Ana. Once you find a community get active volunteering and Experience the real culture while making a real difference in people’s lives.

Hi Sam -
re "Culture shock Costa Rica" - I was extremely disappointed in that book.  It had a lot of plain mistakes, and some opinions ("cost of medical is very high") that don't hold true for those of us from the USA (I think I remember the author was British, so that explains the medical cost comment).
I would certainly check it out from the library :-), but read it with a grain of salt, and add in information from other sources.
I purged the details of the mistakes from my memory, so can't list them here - just the "ack!" remains...
Julie

JulieH, I agree that it was not 100% accurate on every aspect of Costa Rica culture shock, but I do think it had enough in it of value to warrant reading it, especially for newbies.

I think most any book about Costa Rica - including stuff written on forums in many cases - has to be taken with "a grain of salt"!

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True on all counts! :-D