Country’s sagging infrastructure becomes a priority

November 23, 2009

Narrow streets, massive amounts of potholes, century-old rotting bridges and two-hour long traffic jams for a trip that should take 10 minutes. Sounds like one dreaded Monday morning? Such is the reality of transportation in Costa Rica, which just last month reached a breaking point. The tragedy Oct. 22 when the bridge that communicated Orotina [...]

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Rental law is the key to being a happy expat tenant

November 9, 2009
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Renting properties in Costa Rica is as common for locals as it is for foreigners. However, relationships with landlords may be negative for expats who expect property owners to adhere to the basic rental laws. When renting a property in Costa Rica, expats can expect many headaches along the way, most of them provoked by [...]

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Customer service finally getting a hard look here

October 26, 2009
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Having a business — despite the effort, paperwork and bureaucracy — can certainly pay off. A small entrepreneur may dream about earning so much success that the local business goes global and becomes a landmark around the world. However, do schools in Costa Rica teach future business owners that what pays them is their clients’ [...]

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Preparation lacking for those inevitable earthquakes

October 12, 2009
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Believe it or not, the little green dots represent the epicenters of earthquakes in Costa Rica from 1985 to 2008, based on a new map released last week by the Red Sismológica Nacional. Arrows show the direction of tectonic plates that are causing many of the quakes. Even though it is common knowledge that Costa [...]

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For expats working here, it’s a very different world

September 28, 2009
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Being an important expat destination, Costa Rica offers great weather, beaches and plenty of rainforests, and it can be, bureaucracy and all, a good location for expats who want to grow their businesses. However, there is a group of expats who not only do not own businesses but also need to make ends meet. They [...]

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Trash and littering have become major problems

September 14, 2009
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Generating, disposing and treating waste has become one of the biggest and most serious problems of Costa Rican culture. The problem is not only a contradiction to the self-proclaimed ecological, diverse and clean reputation of the country, but also accurately illustrates the Tico short sightedness that prevents Costa Rica from becoming a developed nation. The [...]

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Underdevelopment and the origins of Pura Vida

August 31, 2009
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There is a Chinese proverb that says, “If you are thinking one year ahead, sow seeds. If you are thinking 10 years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate your children.” This proverb gives light into how much planning goes into Chinese culture. Therefore, if the Chinese think 100 years [...]

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