By Ivo Henfling
 

In my first years of living in Costa Rica, I was always surprised that Costa Ricans have an amazing quality that most of us don’t have: patience. Over the years, I have learned there is more freedom of speech in Costa rica than in many other countries.

Costa Ricans have a huge quality that most of us foreigners don’t have. They can stand in line at the bank in Costa Rica for hours, no matter how long it takes or how bad the service is, they can stand stoically in line forever. I don’t know if it’s my Dutch up bring or that I am just an impatient person, but I generally cannot put up with it longer than 10 minutes. My wife does most such things that need standing in line. She is Costa Rican though she seems to starts complaining too. Even my 24 year old son is getting impatient. Impatience seems to be contagious. But if we get to change those things, everything would be just like we were back home again. It’s all about balance, and that is what we look for when relocating to another country.

Wars

The Costa Rican civil war in 1948 lasted only 5 weeks and I am sure it ended in a cantina (bar). I am now joking about it, but this war still took 2,000 lives. But that civil war is all the fighting Costa Ricans really did in their whole history and I am sure it is what made the Costa Ricans so easy going, which is what makes Costa Rica such a nice country to retire to.

In the 80´s, I got arrested once. I was charged sales tax in a restaurant and the manager wouldn’t give me an official invoice, to assure me of the tax indeed getting into the government’s pocket, so I wasn’t willing to pay my bill. Halfway to the jail, discussing the issue with the police officers, they just let me go. 

Vacation in Vegas

This week, while on a vacation in Las Vegas Nevada, I was stopped by a traffic cop inside a National Park on a two lane rural road, because I was obstructing traffic, driving between 25 and 40 miles p/h and “all over my lane”, 3 violations no less. I just told the man that I was a foreign tourist in a National Park, enjoying the beautiful views. That was when he started treating me like I was Osama Bin Laden in person. In Cancun, some years ago, I was also stopped by a cop because I was doing more or less the same thing and we ended up talking about an upcoming soccer game between Mexico and Costa Rica.
 

A traffic ticket

Thankfully the Nevada cop didn’t give me a ticket nor did I get arrested, after radioing in my Costa Rican driver’s license and my rental car agreement. But the dear man should be trained by his superiors to be nicer to the people who feed their babies. That was when I realized how great it is to live in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, even though cops have a certain amount of power and sometimes will try to get you for a bribe, you will never feel  afraid to get thrown in jail. With the officer in Vegas, had felt the need to say yes sir, yes officer sir like I was back in the army again.

Confrontation

Costa Ricans citizens don’t complain publicly because they don’t like confrontation, they just put up with things, which is what makes them nicer people. That is also the reason nothing ever changes in Costa Rica. This lack of confrontation of the locals is what makes it so great to live in Costa Rica and as a bonus we the freedom to say what we think. It is a great reason to move to Costa Rica.

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By Ivo Henfling, your Costa Rica realtor who speaks out about his opinions freely. Those opinions, hand in hand with lots of knowledge, can help you purchase the right house for sale in Costa Rica. Call me now at 8834-4515 when you think you are ready to buy a house in Escazu, Santa Ana or elsewhere in the Central Valley.