Costa Rica Expat Hangups That Can Hang You Up

Despite the obvious fact that my blood runneth 100% gringo, often I feel that there’s a “latent latino” inside of me just waiting to burst out.

Even so, I am frequently reminded of the differences, especially by those closest to me.

We gringos just aren’t as warm and fuzzy as latinos. We are more prone to give the cold shoulder. We are not as familiar, or family oriented. We are not as open and inviting. We are impatient. And on and on the list goes.

But if I had to boil it all down to a single trait that distinguishes the gringo from the latino, I would describe it like this…we gringos are infinitely more “hung-up” than latinos.

What exactly does that mean?

It just seems that we have these ideas about the way things ought to be. And if they aren’t that way, well, it makes our blood boil. I’ll call these “Costa Rica expat hangups.”

Case in point is the way latinos, specifically Costa Ricans, view “risk” compared to gringos. For instance, a Costa Rican would not think twice about riding down a busy road on a motorbike with a kid sitting in his lap, perhaps with a helmet, but just as likely not.

You see things like this all the time here. Sometimes if I am transporting a group of gringo tourists and they bear witness to such horror, all will express in unison their outrage, scorn and derision about the “bad parent” risking the life of that poor child. But to the tico, it’s just a way to get from point A to point B.

What’s the big deal?

There are countless other areas I could mention where we gringos tend to be hung-up about things, whereas the ticos will take a more relaxed live and let live attitude.

Does that make “us” right and “them” wrong, or vice-versa?

No, not at all.

It’s just not right for women to dress like that.

It’s just not right for children to behave that way.

It’s just not right for people to hold those view points.

And our airwaves are inundated with Rush Limbaughs, who are more than ready to express outrage about how “those people” are so off-track. You know, the all too prevalent attitude of, this is “America” and we don’t do it that way.

As a by-product of growing up in a hung-up society, I’m sometimes too quick to judge someone as being in the wrong when they take a different approach than what I might deem appropriate to a given situation. That happens a lot here in the business context, as well as in the area of personal relationships.

It’s that notion of “I just can’t get over how they __________”

Well, get over it. Being “right” or being “wrong” just isn’t as big a deal here in Costa Rica as just, well, “being.”

If you want to get truly “latino-ized” (which is a good idea if you plan to live here) you really need to let loose of the Costa Rica expat hangups and take a more relaxed approach to life.

Hey, my book The Definitive Guide to Costa Rica Expat Living is live on Amazon. If you’re thinking about making an escape from the rat-race, whether for political or mental and physical health reasons, or all of the above, The Definitive Guide to Costa Rica Expat Living was written just for you!

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