Costa Rica Expertise LLC

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

The rule of thumb in Costa Rica is when you cannot plan — or do not plan — panic.

This malady is part of the culture. People in the campo, the rural areas, learn this from childhood. Parents instruct kids sent to the pulperia, the corner mom and pop grocery, to buy one egg for breakfast. Not two, one for breakfast and one for lunch, or three, one for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner. Just one. One for breakfast.

Why, because the parents were not taught to plan and organize by their parents, so they do not teach their kids to do so.

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Ticos have to wrestle with 55-year-old law

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

A trip to the U. S. Embassy before Semana Santa proved very interesting and enlightening. The visit shed light on a long-standing irritation for Costa Ricans.

An expat asked an embassy worker how he could expedite his Tica girlfriend’s tourist visa application so she would not have to wait in line. There were at least 100 visa applicants waiting to speak with a consular officer that morning. The embassy worker asked him if he wanted to speak with a senior consular officer. He said yes and sat down to wait.

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When expats die, their kin have to pick up the pieces

By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Can loved ones afford an expats death in Costa Rica? Are they ready for what they find here?

Recently, a man died and his sister had to drop everything — all her responsibilities in the States — and hop a plane to Costa Rica. He died of natural causes not as a victim of a crime or accident. She was the only family member who could afford the trip. No doubt, it was going to be expensive.

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