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Let me tell you all about kissing and greeting in Costa Rica. Not that I’m a kissing expert… But I do know that people kiss a lot more in Costa Rica than you might be used to. The title of this blog should really be “how do people in Costa Rica greet each other”, but […]
by Ivo Henfling
Costa Ricans smell good, at any time of the day. Men and women alike, they always smell good, as opposed to some other varieties of humans. Now, you will probably say that you always smell good too and that you’re not a Costarican. That means you’ve either been living in Costa Rica long enough to […]
by Ivo Henfling
Looking for free apps you can use in Costa Rica? If you’re a tourist or an English speaking resident, this blog should interest you! You’ll be surprised how much assistance these free apps can give you in Costa Rica. Many of us now live with our phone in hand, all day long. Even a lot […]
by Ivo Henfling
When you are totally over your head in work, you can say “estoy hasta el copete de trabajo”. Then Ticos will understand you perfectly well. When you’ve had enough food, you can say estoy hasta el copete de la comida. Also, being totally fed up with someone’s behavior, you say estoy hasta el copete de […]
by Ivo Henfling
If you say no me toquen el pito in Costa Rica, make sure you’re sitting in your car. If you are not, this can become quite a misunderstanding, especially if you are a male. Tocar el pito means honking. Another way to say honking is tocar la bocina or tocar la pitoreta. In slang though, tocarme […]
by Ivo Henfling
Let me show how different things can be in Costa Rica. I am going back to an old theme here, but the culture of Costa Rica is a constant source of amazement to me. Here are a few differences I have observed. In Costa Rica, there are many things different than what we are used […]
Qué vaina is one of those expressions your landlord might use when you complain about a leak in the roof. Or when your coffee maker stopped working and you’re asking for another. In this case, the translation is “what a problem”. But. instead of qué vaina, it is also possible to say qué torta. It […]
by Ivo Henfling
Have you ever tried to pull yourself a cake or jalarse torta? That doesn’t make a lot of sense in English, but it does in Spanish. You really wouldn’t want to pull yourself a cake, believe me. That’s why learning a new language can be so difficult for many. You cannot just translate word for word […]
by Ivo Henfling
When you live in Costa Rica, you’ll hear the word tuanis quite a bit. You’ll hear tuanis used by the younger population, it’s a “cool” word to use. It’s a word that you wouldn’t use in a business meeting or with your doctor unless you grew up together or are drinking buddies. Tuanis is a […]
by Ivo Henfling
Did you know that a rooster is a very important animal in Costa Rica? Wherever you turn, you’ll hear people talk about the rooster. I’m sure you all know about Gallo Pinto (no, not Pinto Gallo Kathy!) and más Tico que el Gallo Pinto if you follow my weekly blogs. If you’re a good Catholic, you’ll […]
by Ivo Henfling